by Keithernet

Institute, the opening act, was actually decent--I had low expectations. Very charismatic lead singer from the '90s grunge band "Bush"--name escapes me. Some chick I talked to in the beer line thought it was Bush and I corrected her.

U2 was solid throughout, if not spectacular from beginning to end. There were many more high points than lows (only a few). Gloria rocked very hard, and was great to see. The Ocean was a bit of a lul, but I can't blame them after the barn-burning opening 4-5 songs prior which were full throttle rock & roll. The middle section when they broke out the "statement songs" like Pride and Where The Streets Have No Name was inspiring. The highlight of the entire show for me was a song I had NEVER heard before--Miss Sarajevo. It blew my doors off. The Pavarotti part (in Italian I think) was spectacular--who knew that Bono's voice was that strong and versitile after all these years?
The "ZooTV" section was spotty. Until The End Of The World was fantastic, and Mysterious Ways was pretty good but went on a little long because Bono was a little late in getting the belly dancer to come up on stage to dance, so he had the band drag it out for several more bars. Don't get me wrong--the song closes very strong in most cases (check the Slane Castle DVD's version in the bonus section--it's the Mysterious Ways standard by which others should be judged--absolutely mind blowing) but this time it kind-of fell flat in the ending. To Bono's credit, he kept the girl on stage for all of "With Or Without You" which was very touching. Nice move. Instant Karma was great to hear--lots of crowd participation and you could tell the band was having fun. 40 is always the best closer for a U2 show. I love how Adam Clayton works the feedback on that strat. People in the know realise that Adam and the Edge switch instuments during this song and have for years. Yet, most reviews I've read people are surprised they do this! Generation gap, I suppose.
Go see this tour if you get the chance. It might be a while before we get to see them again.
Love and Peace to all.

Return to previous page | Post a Review of this show!