by Gabe Caggiano

This was quite a day for U2 frontman Bono. First,
a private luncheon engagement with President Bush
at the White House, followed by the first of two
sold out shows at the MCI center. Simply put, the
band was as near to being perfect as it will ever
be when the show ended a little after 11PM. When
Bono asked the crowd to open up their cellphones,
the MCI center seemed like its own galaxy.Bono
exclaimed, "See? Washington really is the center of
the Universe". Bono's frequent between song mini-
speeches about Third World Debt, human rights and
combating AIDS had added meaning as Bono encouraged
"people from both sides of the aisle to work together." The most astonishing musical moment of
the night came when Bono successfully sang the
Luciano Pavarotti part in "Miss Sarajevo". The
applause grew steadily as the crowd realized what
he was doing. Everyone knew Bono could scream at
will. It take real guts to sing opera. Bono went
out on a major artistic limb here and pulled it
off. Washington will always be like Boston: special places to play where U2 expends all the
energy it has. My only wish? Would have like to
have heard "Silver and Gold" "Wired" and "In God's Country." Almost nothing from "Achtung Baby".
Still, U2 was very inspired tonite. I wish everyone on the tour could see the band the same
day Bono has lunch at the White House.

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