by Ouizy

What can I possibly say about last night?

I will preface this by saying that last night I went to my 7th U2 concert dating back to the Joshua Tree tour in 1987. I will also say that last night’s New York show was far and away the best show I have ever seen in my life.

It was the 2nd night in New York, and the only show I saw on this tour, I knew it would be special. I have been checking the set lists from all the shows on tour, but I did not want that to sway how I felt about the show. I was hoping for surprises, and surprises I got.

I had seats directly behind the stage about 15 rows up, so this was a non-GA experience, which proved to be quite amazing. I do not know much of PJ Harvey’s music, but I have to say that she and her band rocked. After they got off stage and the house lights came up, the incredible thing was seeing all the people in GA’s faces facing us. It seemed like they were looking at us, and when U2 finally took the stage it was like a giant wave of emotion took over the crowd. Everyone started bouncing and the place erupted. From the back of the house you could really hear the sound definition, in that as the house lights went down you could definitely tell that the guys at the soundboard were turning the sound up, way up.

Elevation was good, Beautiful Day was good, UTEOTW was amazing, then came New Year’s Day which was simply unbelievable. The Edge on piano and guitar was truly something to be seen. The band has never sounded better. The acoustics at MSG were amazing. Bono started talking and it seemed in the middle of his rambling he just simply said, “…well, this is Kite…” The place erupted and the band brought the show down a couple of notches with the quiet song. Then came New York, which kept the crowd a little quiet. I was a bit nervous that the audience would stay that way, but then came, “…our first single here, Out of Control…” which was incredible. I think one of my highlights of the show was after Out of Control Bono started to scammer around on stage and since he was pretty much facing Larry the back of the house could see that HE WAS ACTUALLY CHANGING THE SETLIST MIDSHOW. There was some confusion in the “Underworld” and his tech gave him the wrong guitar. He did not care and immediately busted out, “…and this was our second single…” and the band played 11 O’Clock Tick Tock with barely any lights on. Sunday Bloody Sunday was next. An Out of Control / 11 O’Clock Tick Tock / Sunday Bloody Sunday trifecta. Are you kidding me? Stuck in a Moment had Daniel Lanois on guitar and vocals, In a Little While and I Remember You were special as Joey Ramone’s family was in the audience, Desire was good, and Staring at the Sun sounded great acoustically. Then came my favorite song of all time, for which I walked down to a lower section next to the stage for. They played Bad, and I knew the night was something special. Streets was fantastic (they have never, and I repeat never sounded better), Mysterious Ways was good, and the Fly simply rocked.

During the meat of the show, Bono jumped in the audience no less than 4 times, took laps around the heart, and pulled a very attractive female (“Starr” from another posting) on stage.

Encore.

I am not sure all the people around me really “got” the Charlton Heston clip as many simply applauded. Then came a ripping version of Bullet the Blue Sky. This is where the show got really interesting from behind the stage. During the song, someone jumped down from the audience and was about to run on the stage, but a security guy blocked him, he then ran under the stage and there was a big mess trying to find him. Visually it was stunning because the band was rocking out, the lights were pretty much all off except for the violent spotlights, and the security guys were running around with smoky flashlights looking for the guy. It was all very surreal, and seemed to fit with the lyrics to the song. I guess another fan saw this distraction from the other side of the stage and then HE jumped down onto the stage, grabbed an Irish flag and ran across the stage and jumped down to the floor. We saw him get immediately cuffed and arrested and the song went on to Bono’s rant. It seemed very long and in the end he just kept screaming “…Mark Chapman, Mark Chapman Mark Chapman…” It all seemed riotous and was perfect for the song… They played With or Without You and I knew from the previous setlists that the show was almost over, and I wondered if I would hear my 2nd favorite song, Pride. All of a sudden I heard the Edge give that scratch intro and they played a great version of Pride. One and then Walk On and Bono said he started to feel like he was playing a hometown gig and the crowd erupted.

The setlist was long and amazing. The sound was indescribable, and the stage set made Madison Square Garden feel like the smallest club in New York. The night was perfect and all I could think about on the way out of the venue was, “…did I really just see U2 in 2001 where they played New Year’s Day, Out of Control, 11 O’Clock Tick Tock, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bad, and Pride in the same show???”

How could you possibly top that?

I will NEVER forget June 19, 2001.

Ouizy

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