by Dave W.

I attended both shows in San Jose as well as both shows here on the Elevation tour and I have to say that I agree with Jake's 4/9 review, the shows were good, perhaps excellent, but not the memorable concerts of the previous tour. The difference between the two is pacing- one song neatly segueing into another and building on the momentum of the previous.
Both nights the first three songs had the crowd jumping and the arena rocking. Then, each night, with the first few chords of Electric Co., you could easily distinguish the long time U2 fans from the "newbies." For the long time fan, momentum was maintained. For the "newbie," momentum waned. A lot of reviews mentioned the crowd was subdued or flat. I would suggest the reason is there are a lot of fans in attendance who are simply not familiar with the material from Boy. Saturday night, the energy of the crowd ebbed from Electric Co. until we were jolted alive by Love and Peace which for me was one of the best songs of both shows. Sunday was more of same until we were uplifted by New Year's Day. The segue on Sunday from New Year's Day to SBS, to Bullet, to RTSS, was awesome.
Sunday's encore was was far better with Mysterios Ways leading right into ABOY rather than the band exiting and then coming back with ABOY.
So which show was better? I would say Saturday because contrary to some of the reviews, the crowd was deafening singing along on Elevation and, if anyone recalls, Bono stopped singing during Pride and let the crowd carry the song.
Sunday's crowd was less enthusiastic ( even on 40 ). Also is it just me or are there others who think An Cat Dubh should be permanently furloughed? ( I am not one of the aforementioned "newbies". ) Artists have never completed masterpieces overnight so by the time the show reaches the big four of NYC, Boston, Philly, and Chicago perhaps the band will again juggle the setlist and the result will be magic.
Finally, kudos to Iris, the woman Bono brought up on stage during Mysterious Ways. At first I thought she was just going to sashay around the ellipse with Bono. Then, quite spontaneously, she lit up the crowd, and a surprised Bono as well, with her slinky, sensual dancing to accompany the song. Bono must have been impressed because he rewarded her with a seat of distinction next to Larry, as the band concluded the song. Imagine having that to talk about for the rest of your life.

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