by Fermin and Leslie

Last night’s show was fantastic. Overall I think it was better than the October15th concert I saw in Chicago. The fans were more into it (even though the KC crowd wasn’t as enthusiastic about Garbage). As for the show not being a sellout…. The place was packed from where I was at…and I had a full stage view. If you want to blame anyone, blame Ticketmaster and all those scalpers. Ticketmaster needs to get their crap together. My friends waited several hours at Kemper the day the tickets went on sale…and floor sold out in less than five minutes. Yet last week I could get them online—but I already had great seats. For all the Nay Sayers, U2 sold out Arrowhead Stadium for Zoo Station Tour, and Arrowhead seats five times more people.

We got to Kemper 2 hours before the concert because there was another concert (Linkin Park) next to Kemper. So I thought it would be nice to get a good parking spot, eat some dinner with my friend, Leslie, and have a couple of beers. I wasn’t the only one with the same idea…it was packed!!! But it gave me a chance to chat with other U2 fans. Everyone was asking me about the Elevation show because they saw my tour shirt I got in Chicago. I told them it was great…and dropped the bomb when I told them not to expect to hear With or Without You. No one believed me though, but I just wanted them to get ready…so that it wasn’t a complete surprise at the end of the concert. Before the concert I tried to explain the history of U2 and their last tours with my friend, because she’d never been before.

As the band walked out on stage, I just got goose bumps all over me. Right before me stood the greatest band on this earth. The sound system in Kemper Arena is great, it was loud and clear, and without echoes. No band knows how to ignite a crowd like U2. Elevation is the best song to get the crowd going…just like Zoo Station and Mofo in the past two tours. I enjoyed seeing I Will Follow, Angel of Harlem When I look at the World etc… I consider myself a diehard U2 fan, and I loved the setlist. They have so many great songs and there is no possible way they can play them all. I love how the band has fun on stage, and you can tell. The way Bono and The Edge feed off each other, especially during, Until the End of the World. Bono formed devil horns with his hands and attacked The Edge, but at the end is overcome by The Edge’s powerful guitar riff. It is great how they admit when they screw up, like they did on Desire. After playing it, Bono called it a “rusty” version. Tonight they proved that Where the Streets Have No Name is probably the best live song ever. The entire place clapped in unison as the bright lights exposed the entire Kemper crowd. It was a spiritual experience to say the least.

During One all the United/AA victims’ names from the 9/11 tragedy scrolled all over Kemper. It was pretty emotional. I looked around and people were crying…the same effect it had with the Chicago crowd. But unlike Chicago, all of the names were shown. In Chicago, once the song ended they just cut off showing the names…which seemed a little cold.

Overall, it was an electrifying event. It sucks I won’t get to see them for another 5 years, but I got to see them twice in one month. Kemper is such a great venue because it is small, and no seat is a bad seat, which made the concert even more special. Their setlist makes everyone happy, new and old fans. Leslie and I had a great time singing to most of the songs…and my throat still hurts.

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