by Charles

An excellent show in Philadelphia highlighted a twenty-three hour day in my first GA line experience. I arrived at 5:30 in the morning and was #170 in line as folks had started camping out on Tuesday. It was a beautiful day in the GA line. Kudos to Brad, Amp & the others who coordinated the first 441 or so. A definite highlight to the afternoon (and just when the afternoon heat on the blacktop was starting to wear us down) was hearing the two, yes two U2 soundchecks. Around 1:40-ish the Edge, Larry and Adam played Zooropa, City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Moment of Surrender, Even Better Than The Real Thing, and Breathe. What an enjoyable summer afternoon experience to hear live versions of these without the vocals. The GA gates were expected to open at 4:30 but we were all still standing in line with growing impatience when suddenly we began hearing Magnificent this time with Bono. Apparently we were all waiting on Bono that afternoon. I had hoped to hear Magnificent again and this second sound check certainly was a good sign.

For the concert itself we were on the inner part of the outer circle dead center stage which we found to be absolutely perfect. The band really had a lot of energy tonight, really enjoying themselves. It's always fun to see Bono's high energy working the crowd but Edge and Adam also looked like they were having fun doing the same in their way. Being inside the circle was amazing to feel the band all around and over you. The set really flowed well and I didn't feel there were any parts that dragged. I've caught every North American tour since The Joshua Tree (including the Sunday, McNichols Arena show in RattleNHum) so I've seen them when they were really, really into the moment and when they were getting things together (early PopMart) (And on a separate note it's great to meet so many people in the GA line who in their way just blow away my own life long U2 obsession). I'd say this Philly show was an excellent one. Not in the top tier of their shows but certainly up there in the next group. A highlight for me was seeing Zooropa live. I'm really partial to that song but never thought I'd see it live. They performed it with the screen fully extended down and all the band inside the screen. Even Bono remained inside the screen for the duration of the song. Personally I thought it was a perfect performance of the song.

While Bono wasn't passionately agitated about any particular subject and so didn't dive into one of his famous moments I did particularly appreciate when he touched on the recurring them of America as an idea, "an idea in which people in Philadelphia were willing to risk being hanged for", "and not just the men". Bono also noted how the band recognized the special bond they have with their audience and that they don't take it for granted. Recently I saw a quote on @U2 in which Bono is quoted something to the effect of how he can't look at only the mass of a crowd but he has to focus on the individuals, and perhaps this biased my view of last night's experience but as such I can recall numerous moments where Bono interacted with individual members of the audience. I certainly have a new faith in the hand made signs after watching fellow GA line friend Gabrielle's "Dominican Republic: U2 Original of the Species…Dominican Will Follow" sign go from TV interview in the GA line to where Bono laid down on the outer circle and briefly interacted with her.

Hat's off to the crew at Lincoln. While we were waiting we decided to scope out the possibility of catching the band arriving for sound check. This was on the opposite side of the stadium form the GA line. When we walking up to the security gate we were greeted by a manager who was the most fan friendly event staff I think I've ever encountered. All of us walked away talking about what a super fan friendly guy he was and he proved it again when we saw him later around the time wristbands were being handed out.

From GA fans, to the Lincoln event staff, to the energy of the audience, to the beautiful summer night with an almost full moon over the Edge's shoulder it was a beautiful, beautiful memory.

Thanks to U2 and their crew for continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible in a stadium concert experience. Thank you!

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