by Chelly

Just returned from my 5 1/2 drive from SD to Phoenix, and boy was it worth it!! I saw the Anaheim 2 show, and honestly didn't think the show could get much better so quickly, but amazingly, it has! (not that it needed to get better - if you read my review of Anaheim, you will see I was blown away by that show)

First, the set list last night was on point. It flowed beautiful, it didn't seem like anyone in the arena sat down the entire night! I think a main difference was no An Cat Dubh, but addition of Gloria and New Years Day. Cat just seems to lose the audience, whereas this mix of Gloria/The Ocean/NYD was fantastic.

Bono's voice was fabulous, he sounded incredible all night, but especially in Miracle Drug and SYCMIOYO. Sometimes the sound seemed to drown him out, which was a bummer, but this was mostly in the first few songs, it cleared up after this.

The Edge was on fire - how amazing is this man? In one song (can't remember which one it was now) he was playing keyboards, the guitar and was singing at the same time. He is incredible.

I still wish they would play even more songs from HTDAAB. The songs they do play sound amazing, and I would love to hear even more.

In Anaheim, we were in the "cheap seats" in the back of the arena. The staging from back there was great - the lights, etc. really have a great effect for the people back there. This time, we were so fortunate to be 5 rows up from the stage and it was amazing to see the musicians at work. Both viewpoints had their benefits, and I would encourage anyone who is going to go more than once to see the show from different vantage points.

I think the Phoenix croud must be a more conservative crowd in that they didn't seem to appreciate Bono's Africa message as much as the Cali audience did. As a result, I think Bono toned it down a bit, which to me is a shame - it is a very important message, and it should be shared with his full passion, even if the entire audience would rather not hear it. He speaks the truth - it is shameful that we in the more fortunate countries do not do more to help the overwhelming poverty in the Third World, and we need to hear it more.

To let you know how great this show is - I was able to convince my hubby, who was not even a real U2 fan prior to seeing them in Anaheim, to take a day off work, drive 10 hours round trip and plunk down lots o cash to see this band again. If you knew my hubby (he would rather lay on couch with rhe remote permanately attached to his hand LOL), you would know that this speaks volumes for U2 and this show. They truly are amazing, and I hope everyone gets to experience this show!

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