by DanP

This was approx my 15th U2 concert, but the first of this tour. I was on the floor, about 5 feet off the extended stage walkway (in front of The Edge). The sound quality of this stadium show is fantastic. I've never heard sound this good at a football stadium show (sound is rarely this good at smaller venues). Highlights were Vertigo, Boots, Stuck in a Moment, Ultraviolet, and Moment of Surrender. However, I don't think this tour stands up to previous indoor arena tours. I like smaller shows better. This show is just so large that it's hard to feel intimate with the band. The band seemed to be playing to everybody and nobody at the same time. Everything seemed so choreographed - even the fans on stage were boring. I thought the set list sounded tired when I read about U2's earlier European leg...and tired it was. I would prefer some more exciting song selections (that they don't play every tour since the 1990's) instead of New Year's Day, Mysterious Ways, Sunday Bloody Sunday, One - all of which all sound so tired - like U2 on autopilot. Unforgettable Fire should have been a great addition to the set list, but somehow it didn't work. The band, and the audience around me, didn't seem into it. The band seemed to be having technical problems. Edge completely muffed the piano to guitar solo in New Year's Day. Bono yelled at the sound guy around the same time, and also seemed to be motioning about problems in his earphones throughout the rest of the concert. Compared to previous tours, the surrounding fans on the floor didn't seem that into the show. It would have been nice for U2 to apologize for rescheduling the show from Friday night to Wednesday night - but they didn't. Muse performed a solid show - good for an opening band. They also had great sound, as long as you didn't want to hear the vocals. I think Muse was actually louder than U2, but U2 had perfect sound quality (including the vocals). Muse played from approx 7:15 until 8:15, and U2 played from approx 9 PM until 11 PM. As usual with recent tours, the gap between the opener and U2 is ridiculously long. It feels like U2 was scheduled to start at exactly 9 PM regardless of whether everything was ready earlier.

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