by Tom

U2 and The Mirrorball Man Reunite!

This was my 3rd U2 in show in 5 days (after Mon. & Tues. in Calgary) and I was pumped for a killer finish to the whole experience!! It was also my first show at GM Place, after the terrible washout that had ruined the '97 Popmart and late '92 Zoo TV shows, I was hoping for much better. Fortunately, the sound was very good, especially from the front row on the outer edge of the Heart! :)

This long weekend started off with a retro trip last night (Thurs) at the Commodore to see Honeymoon Suite & Platinum Blonde - two of Canada's biggest bands of the 80s - and they _rocked_ the house ! What a great show and my first chance to see a show at the legendary Commodore, where yes, I knew beforehand that U2 had once played... imagine my delight when they mentioned it later in the show! :)

Before the show started and while in the lineup for the floors, my buddy Wade and I met a guy dressed head-to-toe in silver, with a silver cowboy hat - it was the Mirrorball Man !! Actually, his name was Kagan, a part-time martial artist apparently and a cool guy to hang with. He had a mission tonight to get to Bono and as you'll see it was a success! After about 30 mins were in, and by far, we were not even close to being in the first group lined up for the floor, but as it turns out we were in the 2nd row around the heart! BTW, a big thumbs-down to GM Place for the lousy way they organized and handed-out wristbands :P

I won't repeat the other extensive reviews here, but I will mention a few things others missed. Bono was in fine shape tonight and our position was awesome as he once again spent the majority of the time on the right-hand side of the stage (are you paying attention?!) near the tip of the heart. His voice first cracked during In A Little While but it held up the rest of the night - amazing considering the schedule of this tour. It was my voice that was toast after singing my ass off for so many nights this week :)

We were treated to 3 songs up close with the Edge (BTW, he was wearing a shirt that read '55' tonight, as in I Can't Drive 55, heh heh) on the catwalk: In A Little While, Desire (slow version), and The Ground Beneath Her Feet. The best part is when you can hear Bono singing OVER the amplification, how often do you get to hear his real voice IN person! If I had bothered to take my camera this night I'm sure the photos would have been spectacular but I was enthralled with the show anyways.

Kagan had been holding his hat out to Bono all night, and getting pretty tired doing so... when Bono didn't take the hat during Desire I figured that was it (rewind to Zoo TV if you don't know what I'm talking about). But then later during Bad, he held the hat out one more time and Bono picked it up !!! The silver cowboy hat had a flashing jewel light on the brim and it was clearly visible on the monitors as Bono strutted around the tip of the heart with it on - amazing !! After a minute, he took it off and gave it back to Kagan and we all cheered - what a souvenir that hat is now!

As told many times on here, Bono made a nice reference to Vancouver during the show. "It was 20 years ago this week we played here in a place called the Commodore - is it still here?" and of course we shouted yes! I mean, I was just there last night, how ironic! He also once again thanked everyone for spending their hard earned money on the show, and much to my delight he thanked the Almighty. What a rush to hear Bono say thanks to God in person, wow. Oh, and he also wished up happy Easter :)

For me, the most emotional part of the show besides screaming out I Will Follow (again the "your eyes make a circle" portion swept me away) and chanting "HOW long to sing this song" during the bit of 40 in Bad, was truly Wake Up Dead Man. It was a very unexpected finish to the show before Walk On and so amazing to hear it clearly. They had played this Popmart in Vancouver in Dec. '97 but it didn't have the POWER it did tonight when it was just Bono and a microphone.

Let me not forget to mention that Edge was on Fire tonight (love the switch from piano to guitar in the solo to New Year's Day and always will!), and Larry again came out to see us at the tip of the Heart during the introduce the band section. When Bono made a joke that Larry can't sing, I was shouting out "Dirty Old Town" but I suppose that Larry didn't hear me, heh heh (look it up, it's hilarious!) Adam once again made a few tentative steps onto the right side of the ramps but sadly did not come out to the front of the heart (he hasn't yet from what I know).

I'm sure I've forgotten a poignant moment or two but let me say that the crowd was great and you can't pay less to get a beater spot than on the floor! To have them so close and visible is so worth the experience, I truly think I will have to catch a show at the end of this tour just to get caught up in the magic one more time...

As a footnote, when the show ended Kagan was an instant celebrity. Everyone knew it was his hat on Bono (and how could you not - he was the only guy wearing clothes covered in silver spraypaint in the whole place) and a few wanted to try it on. It's not everyday you get to put on a hat that Bono sweated in :) We made our way to the bar after the show and his celebrity continued. IF anyone has a picture of Bono with the silver hat on let me know because Kagan would love to see it :)

Thanks for the shows U2, I look forward to being Elevated again sometime soon!

Return to previous page | Post a Review of this show!