by Jenny

Thank you, U2. This was an amazing show! U2 was in great form & they seemed very happy with the audience's reaction. This is the 8th time I have seen them in concert & the fourth time at MSG & this was my favorite because I was lucky enough to be scanned into the ellipse.

I was holding my breath as the crew scanned my ticket & I couldn't believe it when they said that I was in the ellipse. They asked me if I had a "friend" with me. My "friend" was my husband who was born & raised in Ireland & has been going to U2 concerts since he was 15 years old. (The first time I saw my husband he was wearing a Joshua Tree t-shirt from Slane Castle & I took that as a sign that he was the boy of my dreams & he was! We sat across the room from each other, both freshmen at Brown University met because of a love for U2 & I guess I have the band to thank for my whole life.)

Being inside the ellipse was incredible. There were two girls in front of me & then there was Bono singing to the 20,000 people in the staduim with his beautiful voice. I appreciate the art & abandon that the boys bring to each performance. Bono's voice was amazing! The set list was wonderful. The other two Vertigo concerts I saw at MSG (5/21 & 10/14) began & ended with Vertigo. This one began with 'City of Blinding Lights' & it was beautiful. Bono's brother was in the audience tonight & he said that he "wrote" SYCMIOYO with Bono for their father, Bob Hewson. It was very moving to see Bono sing it without his sunglasses. Bono, Adam & the Edge were all smiles as Bono said that it sounded like a 747 taking off in the stadium because ebveryone was so pumped up when they sang Electic Co., Beautiful Day, Streets & "Stll haven't found what I'm looking for."

The crowd was great. The boys beside & behind were singing every word too & my husband was great about getting us as close to the front as possible. There was a lovely family to my right. The young girl was the one Bono picked to go up on stage with him during the encore. ( She was wearing a party hat that she made that said, "take me slow dancing." Contrary to what the site says, he brought her up, said, "look right into my eyes" & then he spun her around & gave her a piggy back ride, not because she wouldn't dance but because she was a little girl & it was a sweet thing to do. It wouldn't have been appropriate to slow dance with a child! She was thrilled beyond belief & her mom said that she was living vicariously through her daughter as the proud dad snapped pics. It was more endearing than the ususal slow dance with a woman & the child was beside herself with delight just as the little boy was the night before during "Sunday, Bloody Sunday."

I am a published poet & along with Eliot, Dickinson, Plath, Joyce, & Merwin, Bono was one of my primary inspirations in becoming a writer. As a teen, he helped shape my sensibility. He was one of my greatest influences in the disciplines of politics, morals, religion & art. Because of U2, I started an Amnesty International chaper in my high school, I was a volenteer in college to teach underprivlidged urban students. U2 taught me about the kind of adult I wanted to become & I have tried to emulate them in my personal & professional life. It was an honor to be so close to my inspiration. I appreciate everything they give the world: their music & their morality. In my opinion, Bono should have won the Nobel Peace Prize for the ground-breaking work he has done to combat extreme poverty in Africa. The world is a better place beacuse these four men have brought their message of peace & love & responsibility to the center of the world stage. Thank you, U2 for being on the center of the MSG stage. I am so grateful that I was witness to your magic tonight. It will stay with me forever & I hope it will sustain me in my dark moments as I take care of my sweet, five year old daughter who is afflicted with autism. My heart is broken because my baby was born with this devestating neurological disorder but U2's lyrics help me through each & every day. "The songs are in [her] eyes. I see them when [she] smiles." I still haven't found what I'm looking for either. Maybe someday there will be a "miracle drug" to help her but until then there's Bono's wisdom, "what no man owns, no man can take...take this heart & make it break.

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