by Barry Short

What a night, what a show! My 11th show in 22 years, 2nd one this tour, first one this leg with 2 more to go. We were in section 102, row A with a great view of the stage.
The night was simply magical. It was one of the best shows I have ever seen coming close to the Philly show in October 2001. What can I say, City of Blinding Lights is simply the most beautiful opener they have ever had. From Edge's intro it just builds until the crowd is in a frenzy as Bono appears, the confetti falls and the lights explode. They played the most awesome version of The Electric Co. that I ever heard and the crowd just ate it up. It is amazing how much this song has evolved on this tour. Edge tearing a solo while walking around the Ellipse was cool. Then they played Out of Control and that is when I knew that this night was gonna be special. Bono was amazing tonight, flirting with the audience, playing around with the band, moving like Mick Jagger and feeding off the crowds energy. The crowd was wonderful. They took some songs like ISHFWILF to new levels and Streets was explosive and the band at diff. points were simply in awe at the response they were getting. Once again those people who bitch about the politics and speeches my answer to you is what frickin band are you listening to? They have always been very political and we are in DC after all so you can expect Bono to lay it on a little more. Back to the show. The set list flowed beautifully, there were no dead spots. They new when to bring it down a little bit to give the crowd a break. Miss Sarajevo was beautiful, a song I never expected to be played consistently, and the crowd just ate up Bono's opera singing. I am amazed how much the light show has changed since the 1st leg. This tour has one of the most well done light shows that they have ever had. The encores were what took this show to another level. Edge and Bono coming out and singing a stirring acoustic Walk On was amazing but to top with Wild Horses(which I saw played at a Zoo TV show 13 years ago) made my night. AFter the first encore I said to my friend the only way this show could get any better was if they played Bad and they did. I simply lost it when I heard that intro come up. This is my favorite song, period! and they played one of the most unique versions I have ever heard. Throwing in Patti Smith's People Have the Power instead of the usual "40" bit was amazing and as the song was ending the crowd took over singing "People have the power" as the band got quieter and the show ended. I have seen some magical shows and this one ranks right up there. From the crowd to Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam on tonight the people truly had the power!

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