by Jay Skipper

"Hello Tampa!" - Edge

Despite a relatively low turnout ("Feel free to spread out" - Edge), the concert was both visually mind-blowing and musically incredible. Indeed, even the songs on Pop that lacked a guitar-based emotion were quite good live. However, the old songs drew the biggest response from the crowd; the band fed off the collective energy to deliver particularly amazing performances of "New Year's Day", "Where the Streets Have No Name", and "With or Without You". Bono was his usual insufferably earnest self ("I pray that you find what you're looking for"), and Edge also delivered a beautiful version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" which seemed to stun the crowd with its emotional delicacy. Only the rain threatened to ruin the evening; however, U2 closed with a moving performance of "One/Wake Up Dead Man". Show highlights include Bono's red guitar stagger at the end of "Last Night on Earth", Edge during "Sunday Bloody Sunday", the giant heart at the end of "One" with the single spotlight directed towards the sky, and, of course, "the Lemon".

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