by Scott

Good show overall, though a bit short.

I met my friend John at about 12:45 and we were #161 and 162 on the GA line. Some good people around us, especially Jeff & Emily (good luck with the wedding) and the guy who drove up from Memphis (hope that your dad is doing well). Amazingly, #300 probably didn't show up until about 5 pm.

The wait wasn't that bad because it was a warm sunny fall day in NYC, and MSG security enforced the line numbers, which turned out to be a great thing. But once they let us into the hallway by the main entrance at 6:30 the wait became excruciating. The hallway was cramped and hot, and they kept everybody in a tight line even though we didn't go anywhere for half an hour. Finally, at 7 pm, they opened the gates and it was a mad dash to the heart. But, the wristband system was so slow that it led to about another 20 minute wait in the bowels of the arena. Finally, we got our wristbands, and were into the heart.

We took a place on the back rail, on the left hand side, and it wasn't all that crowded. After two GA shows outside the heart, it was so nice to not have to push and shove people all night to keep my place.

Garbage was decent. It never hurts to watch Shirley Manson prance around for 45 minutes.

Some little changes in leading up to the band -- no more Higher Ground, but instead All You Need Is Love. But when Sgt. Pepper came on all of the heart was already jumping up and down. The Elevation opening (9:20 pm) remains one of the most uplifiting (no pun intended) entrances I've ever seen by any act.

As with the spring tour I avoided all news, setlists, and rumors up until this point, so that things that are staged would feel fresh. It worked very well.

Some highlights: Well, being on the rail next to the ramp was incredible. Chris Rock was low down in the GC seats, and I could see him signing along to Beautiful Day as Bono came out onto the ramp right in front of us. I had never heard Out of Control in person, so that fun. Staring At the Sun was sublime, as was Angel. Having the MLK speech back in Pride was fabulous. But the crowd reaction during One when they put up the names of the Sept. 11 victims was truly moving, and solicited the best crowd reaction of the night. When the screen just said "NYPD" and "FDNY" there was a lump in my throat, and I'm sure everyone else's as well. The near-perfect Walk On finished at 11:10.

Some disappointments: They cut Charlton Heston out of the Bullet intro, and Bono's anti-gun rant was eliminated entirely. What was the deal with the Africa comments? I'm all for dropping the debt, but the #1 priority for the West after this war is to rebuild the democracy and economy of Afghanistan, not Africa. And for the woman next to me who was overly protective of her personal space and said to me "I really bitchy, do you have anything to say about that?": yes you are, and get a grip. You bought GA tickets. If you don't like people surrounding you, stay home.

Finally, I was disappointed by the length (1:50 is at least half aan hour shorter than the last show I saw, the 2nd Meadowlands show) but it's still a better show than anyone else is putting on nowadays, and a worthwhile day and night.

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