by Paul Heyworth

Best U2 concert (and any other concert for that matter) of my life! If U2 can play a better show than this, then i will be impressed. What a huge difference the indoor arena makes. Manchester is better than most as it is modern and spans around in 360 degress with two tiers. Making a capacity of 18'000. Not bad! The entrance was just stunning. No lights. No expensive. Just a plain stage and nothing else. To add effect U2 entered the stage while the house lights where still on. For a split second you really had to look again. And it was true they really where on stage in the full light of the arena. And thats the way it stayed as they kicked into Elevation. Wow! Picture the scene when they turn the lights on for Where The Streets Have No Name. Well this is what it was like when they kicked their set off. The place went mental. The lights went out at the end of the song and before you got your breath back they launched into Beautiful Day followed by Until The End Of The World. The highlight of this show and this tour was the stage. Bono just walks out into the crowd while men and women scream and crush themselves as he walks past of a matter of feet. Unbelievable to see Bono just walk past you and then stop and hold out his hand. Obviously he stops short of a few inches. This only creates havoc as everyone leans forward and tries to grab him. Some even try to take his designer D&G glasses. He really was that close!!! And it that wasn't enough, well soon after The Edge joined him along with Larry and Adam for a few acoustic numbers. For a 15 minute period the entire band of U2 where literally 6ft away. Just 6ft!! How the hell do you explain that to your friends at work? The most obvious thing i can remember was just how small Bono is!!! As per usual with U2 there are numerous hightlights. Bad is a classic and hard to knock. Where The Streets Have No Name produced yet another rousing reaction to an already crazy hyper crowd. New material like New York, Kite (dedicated to Bono's ill father), Walk On and Stuck In A Moment....all received a good reception. But the highlight for me was Bono's love of Manchester. He may not of meant it, who knows? But i was very impressed that he went to the trouble to continually drop references to Manchester throughtout the show. I know he does this at most cities U2 play at, and when you experience it, you feel that U2 are playing just for you. Here is an example of his Manchester references.... At the end of Stay, Bono adds the line.."i wish Ian Curtis was still around" During Discotheque he included lines from a Black Grape song. Bono talked about U2's early experiences with Manchester and recording at Strawberry Studios near Stockport. Before the start of One, Bono dedicated the song to Noel Gallagher (who happened to be stood across from me inside the heart). Basically Bono had Manchester in his back pocket, the rest of the band took the rood off and the crowd was as wild as i have ever seen. I challenge anyone to beat this U2 concert as their best!! EXCELLENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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