by Tim

First, the shows on both nights were excellent. Bono was in a great mood and he gave it all. I saw them up in Albany and he was sick, and the performance suffered because of it. (still a great show)
Stay was really pretty, Bono introduced it as a "beautiful song" and All I Want Is You was just amazing. It almost made up for not playing Bad :-)
Since I was in section 100, I had a pretty good view of what happened at the end of Bullet The Blue Sky and that fan. I don't know all the specifics because not all of it was caught on the microphone. Here's how I saw it:
This shirtless guy leaps over the barrier and security grabs him, Bono calms security and brings him up on stage. The guy stands up and sort of takes in the scene before realizing that Bono was gesturing him to come down to his level, (Bono was crouched) The guy said that "he only wanted to have a good time", then he said to Bono "I have a present for you." -- There were a few more words exchanged, then I heard the guy say "It's a Tattoo." The lights went down, and the guy was taken off the stage.
Bullet was shortened in comparison to the previous night. The previous night had Bono chanting "Who's that Man?,Mark Chapman" he did that over and over again with the spotlight pointed at his head like he was playing Russian Roulette. Hearing the fan saying that he had a present, sent a few chills through me. Mark David Chapman and John Lennon had been on his mind lately and this was eerily close to the idea of fame through osmosis.
One was preceded by a fairly long, and compelling speech by Bono. As he was gathering momentum in his speech, he said (paraphrased) 'There are over 2000 references to the poor in the Bible, and not one in which Jesus mentions whether or not someone is straight or gay' his point was that Aids is not a disease that we can ignore on a bibical basis, in fact the opposite is true. I'm no activist, but the numbers are alarming. Bono's speech helped me understand what "One" means to him, and in turn allowed me to get more into this performance. Oh, yeah, in the past he has sung the extra lyrics like this "Hear me coming love..."
Last night, and maybe on this whole tour, he has been singing "Hear me coming Lord, hear me call, hear me knocking, knocking on your door, hear me coming Lord, hear me call, hear me scratching, will you make me crawl?"
I have gone far afield of my intention here. I was just planning to add to the story of the guy who came on stage during bullet, but it reminded me of other powerful moments in the show. I personally like that Bono is more public about his faith these days. For years he ommitted the Jesus reference in Sunday Bloody Sunday, but now he's singing it again.
To sum up why U2 have continued to be a powerful, emotional force, I'll try to requote Bono's blender references. He said that U2 have experimented with rock, dance and blues, because only when it's mixed up is it interesting. He then said that when you mix Republicans, Democrats, some student activists and some church groups, you get the power behind Jubilee (Drop the Debt).
And when you blend Sexuality, Faith, Doubt, Life, Death and Love, you get U2, who, despite their wealth and power, still understand that the greatest questions that face us all, are still unanswered.

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