by Jon

Wow! I won’t forget it. U2 live. Unequalled.
A friend and myself made the long trek across the continent from Montreal on Sunday to see the show. It was exhausting, but I’m sure we were in good company. We went to The Field that night in the Gaslamp district and a good percentage of the place was occupied by Irish fans who had made an even longer trip to get there. On a little bit of a side note, San Diego (or the little parts that we saw) is a charming city. I’m a big fan of cities for this reason and for me to take the time to compliment San Diego here is a testament to it. Anyway, on Monday we got to the Arena at around 3pm to see what kind of ruckus was happening and with our ears up to the doors we were lucky enough to hear the band rehearsing Bullet, Streets, Zoo Station (!!), The Fly and Running To Stand Still.
The show was awesome. Aside from a slight slip up in Elevation, the musical performance was tremendous. For an opening night performance this is rare. The set list was so random I would have found it surprising had it not been for the LA rehearsal reports. I don’t care what people have been saying about City of Blinding Lights…it’s an amazing opener. For those who haven’t heard Vertigo live yet, all I can say is you are in for a treat. It’s a great crowd song. I have to add that the lights were amazing…especially the bead screens behind the band. The stage is an ellipse and most of it protrudes out into the crowd like the elevation heart with fans in the middle. The big difference is the lighting on this stage is even better. They played the new material really well, Love and Peace being one of the highlight because Bono took over from Larry, who had a single drum placed at the tip of the ellipse, and began smashing it like a madman. The crowd rewarded them accordingly. Sometimes was very well done and it seems that camera phones have replaced lighters as the instrument of choice for holding up during intimate songs. The three Boy songs were a nice bonus as was Zoo Station! A highlight for me was also the crowd repeating the Pride hum without the band for a good 30 seconds after song. I thought Streets was the best song of the evening, as usual, and it lacked the transitory intro that we’re used to. When they play that song it’s mesmerizing. The energy level is than a fever pitch. It’s just nuts! The band was maybe a little stiff out of the blocks. Bono was less active around the stage overall but I’m sure that’s just because it was the first show. It was amazing and it’ll only get better.
What a show! I still don’t know if I’m grasping what I saw. Something tells me the enormity will hit me when I can finally get some sleep. In 2 days we put 7,400km (4,600 miles) of flying behind us for one dose of Vertigo and it was worth every penny, every second and all the lost sleep. I have no voice and way too much work, but what the heck? I’m still kind of in shock. It was that incredible. These four polite and humble guys are still grateful to their fans and I would have to say are the ultimate performers. I’m already ripped to see them in London and Montreal.
Please solve the GA problem before then. It's really not fair that people who spend all day waiting outside can't get into the ellipse while people who show up at 6pm can.

Jon

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