by Julie Parker

Even now, over a week after the show, I still find it hard to articulate just how powerful this band is live. My husband Bill is one of the "diehards" that Bono referred to, but I had never seen them live before (first time for everything!) and I was looking forward to seeing for myself what they are all about.

The anticipation of this tour started when we bought our tickets back in March, and it escalated throughout the summer as we followed the tour on the Internet and waited patiently for our show date to arrive. Finally, it was THE day. We had great seats - thank you, TicketMaster! - when the band came out for their lap around the stadium, they passed right by us. There was a nice couple about our age who had brought their two boys (around ages 10-12) and the mother informed me they were trying to get them "converted" from the type of music they currently liked to "great bands like U2". I think they were believers by the time they left - I know I certainly was!

As for the show itself, I have seldom seen live performance done with such power and passion. The sometimes muddy sound mix did nothing to diminish the feeling and meaning of the songs. Despite the criticism the band has taken for all the hype, the amazing thing was that nothing was bigger than the music - and I suppose that was the whole point. The new songs sounded great performed live, and the older material has lost none of its punch. The beautiful ringing sound of Edge's guitar on "Streets", Bono's emotion during "Pride" . . . I could name so many wonderful moments. The crowd was reasonably lively for a Monday night. Those on the field stood on their chairs throughout the show. There was a "guest" belly dancer during "Mysterious Ways", a girl who had come in costume and been picked out of the crowd by Bono before the show. It was an appropriate touch. And the mirrorball lemon - what a concept in staging!

Alas, all good things come to an end, as did this show, but at 2 hours plus it was worth it. And as we drove home to Orlando, we started to get excited all over again, because we also had tickets to the Jacksonville show for Wednesday night! (Bill wanted to see more than one show, and we would have bought tickets for Miami if money was no object.)

If only we could do this all the time, instead of having to go to work - sigh.

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