by Liz Z

This was my second U2 show of the tour, and 27th U2 performance of all time. It was my fifth show at MSG, but nearly ten years since that date on the third leg of the Vertigo tour.

Walking to MSG, it was awesome to see a lot of the local bars and restaurants with sidewalk signs welcoming in concertgoers. There was definitely an air of excitement in the neighborhood that our waiter at the Breslin in the Ace Hotel mentioned to us. On our way, I noticed a man in a turban that looked like the well-known U2 fan, “Amp” who has been brought up on stage and spotted in the front rows frequently. Getting in to MSG and into our seats took way longer than I anticipated. There was a double security check and a bottleneck of fans going in at about 7:50.  I was panicking that we wouldn’t get to our seats in time but we did.

Our seats were in section 103, which was the exact opposite end of the arena from the previous show I saw in Boston. This was my first show in the newly renovated MSG and it was lovely. We had a great view of the small stage, on Adam’s side of the arena. I knew that Bono would be walking on from underneath of us. As soon as Patti Smith “People Have the Power” was wrapping up, fans stood and cheered and we watched Bono walk out to start the show. From the start it was obvious that the sound in MSG was MUCH better than Boston. A hundred times better.

One interesting point that I was impressed by was how much more Bono talked to the crowd during this show than Boston #2, my only point of comparison. Before “Vertigo” and the “uno, dos, tres, catorce” part, Bono made a nod to the significant amount of Latin American fans present in the arena tonight.  Later, a woman named Veronica from Chile who runs a U2 fan site was picked to come onstage during “Mysterious Ways” and film the Meerkat part of the show – and a surprise to hear “Elevation” instead of “Desire.” It looked like her brother wanted to be picked for guitar but Bono made overtures to him that it wasn’t in the cards that night. Veronica wore an AIG Irish soccer jersey, which Bono commended her for. At first, my husband and I snickered that she was wearing an AIG shirt before we realized AIG is a sponsor of a soccer (er, football) team.  The irony of wearing a shirt of a bank too big to fail – as the NYTimes put it, “the company that made the world feel less innocent during the economic crisis of 2008.”

The band seemed very fresh from having a few days off and excited to be in NYC.  Bono gave a lengthy explanation of the song “Iris” and explained that more rock stars had lost their mothers at an early age than you would think and drew a comparison to losing your father and hip hop that I didn’t quite catch.  Bono knelt on the stage to sing, and from our view, it was so poignant. He said her name “could have been lots of names, like Maureen….” and named some others, but said “it was Iris.”  That segued into “Song for Someone” and Bono explained the song was about his 18 year old self trying to impress his now-wife, Ali, who was in the audience!

As with any U2 show, there are so many things you notice in subsequent attendances because there is just so much going on all of the time. I realized just how much they learned from their “Spiderman” Broadway experience with “Sunday Bloody Sunday” which is actually a quite theatrical performance, especially with how the band positions themselves onstage and stands while a voice-over expounds on the historical events.  During “Raised by Wolves,” Bono added the phrase “Comfort Me!!” over and over again which was deeply moving.

We were treated to my first live performance of “Ordinary Love,” which Bono explained was about the love life of Nelson Mandela and “came in second at the Oscars.”  Next, from our seats, it was awesome to see Edge’s piano rise up from under the stage and I couldn’t help but notice a private conference between Edge and Bono – I knew there must be a set list change or confirmation and something special was coming. But I had NO IDEA it would be “October!!”  Bono recounted that they had not played that song in 25 years!  I am still left wondering WHY they would add this song in, but it segued perfectly into “Every Breaking Wave.”  “October” always had a special significance to me in that I had my piano teacher in high school help me transcribe the song so I could learn to play it – the only U2 song I can really play on piano. I love the way it evokes the feeling of Autumn and my newborn son was just born in October of this year, giving it new meaning to me. Next, “With or Without You” … I shrugged off the chance that Bono would add the elusive and magical fan favorite snippet “Shine Like Stars….” but he added it in!  This was only the fourth time I have heard that snippet.  Another validation of how special this night was for the band.

As expected, Bono gave call-outs to some of the famous celebrities present such as Mario Batali, Spike Jonze, and Harry Belafonte was mentioned after “Pride.” Bono listed out the American cities that have experienced heartbreaking violence this year… Charleston, Baltimore, Ferguson.  “We need MLK Jr more now than ever.”   “One” was dedicated to Salmon Rushdie, also in attendance. Bono made a plea for tolerance and to defy the people that “don’t like music or women.” Yeah!!

As I mentioned, the sound in MSG was so great. I was actually able to hear Edge’s backing vocals and subtleties like the excellent guitar reverb on “I Will Follow” and a delicate R&B tonality during “One.”

Upon leaving, I was able to purchase the special 7/18/15 dated tour poster, but wasn’t able to spot the commemorative t-shirt for the night. Getting out of MSG was a real bottleneck again and we were thrust out into the hot and humid NYC summer night. I looked back at the beautiful banners MSG made up for the series of shows: “Welcome Home, U2.”  What a special night to kick off what I understand is U2’s longest run of consecutive shows in a city.  I am looking forward to attending three more shows at MSG! 

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