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by Derek Mackay

I have just returned home from the Vancouver leg of the Elevation Tour at G.M. Place and I am still trying to catch my breath. The Elevation Tour is all things to everyone. It’s intimate, exiting, spectacular, etc, etc, etc. The four of them seemed to be having the time of their life on stage and Bono was genuinely taken aback by the thunderous reception he and the band received throughout the concert. While the stage and surroundings are scaled back from previous tours, they are by no means lacking. The heart-shaped catwalk enabled Bono to work his magic with the crowd like only he can. The band early on talked about their first show in Vancouver, 20 years ago this week, at the Commodore Ballroom. As far as the music goes, tonight, to the delight of the capacity crowd, they included Pride in their encore. The rest of their songs sounded magnificent also. They are the only band I know that can make every single one of their songs sound as good (and better) in concert as compared to on their albums. I was most impressed by Streets and Bad. Bad sounded like musical heaven and Streets sent chills through the crowd. Bono made light of the bands recent efforts with GreenPeace to save the Great Bear Rainforest here in British Columbia. The two teamed up at the start of the tour to persuade the government to protect this area and just a week ago the government did just that. Bono exclaimed to the audience something like “It’s amazing what you can do when there’s an election coming up”. After two amazing and powerful encores the band thanked the crowd for their continued support. It had been a Bea-U2-ful Day.

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