by scrittoresabino

My voice is ragged and torn, my body barely holding up, but the songs and spirit of the show are lifting me higher than drugs. It wasn’t just a great show, or amazing music being performed to perfection, or a fun lively rockin concert – this truly was an experience that has engraved itself into my bones, seeping deep inside my conscious and unconscious mind. This concert is still living and breathing life within me. There was something nagging in me telling me I HAD to go to Saturday’s show. I had tickets for Friday and that was a great show IN SPITE of the worst crowd at a U2 show I have ever experienced… BY FAR! I have been following the setlists, so I KNEW that they would play Bad on Night 2. I decided to wait in line Saturday morning to get tickets. Waited all day with fellow U2 fans. It was exciting and nerve racking. I just happened to be in line next to the perfect family that had sat behind us the night before (Jerry, if you happen to read this, I hope you and your family scored GA seats!). Its always good times meeting other U2 fans. From even before U2 came on, something palpable was in the air. I just so happened to get seats in almost the same exact spot as the night before. The arena was noticeably more crowded early on, compared to Friday. Then, to the roar of the crowd, Elvis from the night before sat in our section! Then Arcade Fire hit, and to my surprise and satisfaction, the majority of the back half of the arena bolted up immediately and cheered – YES! Real fans are present! The first 3 songs were the same as the night before, although they did seem to rock out a little more, but the fan response and sing-along was amazing! Thunderous applause esp. after Vertigo and Elevation with a deafening sing-a-long to the latter (completely opposite to Friday night’s audience who were almost nonexistent in participation). After this trio of songs I was already worn out. The entire back section was rocking out letting it all go. Every was stomping in approval after Elevation and the entire back half shook and created a huge thunderous rumble to match our roars. Then the 1st surprise of “Mysterious Ways” hit! This set the tone for the night. While the previous night was far more acoustic, this night was gonna rock hard and explode with energy. Again the audience gave back a deafening approval, then U2 rewarded us with an even bigger a rarer gift (for this tour anyways) they kept the intense pace going with Until The End Of the World, and I went nuts. Edge was completely on fire for the entire first rockin section. Where “Still Haven’t Found” was mediocre because of the audience on Friday, it was euphoric and heavenly on this night because of the audience. The fans really came through here - A classic U2 moment where the band and audience become one. It was a perfect change of pace after the relentless start. Every time I thought there couldn’t possibly be another surprise, or a greater response from the audience or the band, I was wrong. Beautiful Day hit and we all went nuts again, and the band seemed to play it even better tonight, Again Bono added the “I’ve Got Soul but I’m not a Soldier” lines from the Killer’s “All These Things That I’ve Done” (my favorite song from a new band), but his time the crowd actually caught on and sang along! “Miracle Drug” was amazing as well and with a shorter but much better speech. While the Future Edge speech is slightly amusing, I’d much rather hear about Dr’s n Nurses and it matches the song far better. “Sometimes” through “Miss Sarajevo” were all performed better, with each getting far better crowd response and interaction esp. “Love and Peace” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday” where (at least in the entire back half) we all shook the stands with our pogoing and stomping, and everyone singing along. Then that ultimate climactic moment hit… the “Pride” “Streets” combo… We already know how powerful these songs are, esp. live, and have experienced magical moments with them… but tonight it went far beyond ALL of the previous times. Euphoric, heavenly, amazing… these words don’t do justice to the experience of this combo on this night. The “Pride” sing-along was very well done with the crowd still roaring and singing as the intro for “Streets” hit. Then everyone went into a frenzy, as the entire place (at least the back half) shook from our jumping. After Streets, Bono stopped motionless in complete amazement at our rapturous response. He tried to start up talking at least 4 separate times only to be stopped in amazement and also because there was no way we could hear him due to the deafening applause. I was close enough behind the stage to be able to see his body language and the smile of amazement on his face, and also the exchange of looks of amazement the band was giving one another. He even joked about us needing to shut up. I’ve seen this band 12 times now. The only other audience reaction/participation that matches this one, was the ZooTV indoor Tour where the band left the stage after “Still Haven’t Found” and the all sang along extremely loudly for at least 5 minutes, until they came back for the encore. This moment from Saturday still lives in me and will for days! Then just when we thought we were given more than our share for one night… right after such an amazing experience with Streets – the best I have ever been a part of…. We got Mary J Blige. The high just kept on going. She poured herself completely into the song and received a huge reception. There was sooooo much soul and passion in that performance. It’s a good thing an encore came because all of us were spent emotionally and physically. I was ecstatic to see/hear the intro for ZooTV portion. I was happy to get a really great acoustic encore the night before, but I was extremely surprised at the return of the ZooTV encore. From reading the setlists for the past month or so, it seemed like they may have settled into the acoustic encore, and moved away from the ZooTV one, but appropriately they brought it back in Vegas. But not only had we gotten in back after a hiatus, I got the best version of the Fly I’ve ever experienced. The whole band really rocked it hard and gave it a real swagger, and I don’t know if these new visuals were there for Europe or the beginning of this 3rd leg, but they are amazing and outdo even the visuals done for it on ZooTV. With Or Without you was also really special tonight. Larry and Adam must have really felt Mary J Blige’s vibe tonight because they really worked a slinky sultry funk to the middle of this song that worked sooooo well, and definitely was not performed this way the night before or any other time I’ve seen them or heard them on bootleg. It was nice to be able to be a part of the celebration for Dennis Sheehan’s Birthday. This was really sweet. Then I got my wish – they played 2 songs I have wanted to hear all tour. A FULL version of "In A Little While" (one of my favorite songs) and they ended with "Bad". And to have Brandon Flowers come out and do an excellent job was just amazing. It was great to see the excitement in his face and body language, esp. as he left the stage. EVERY single thing about this concert far exceeded what I hoped for: Flow of the Setlist, change up of the Setlist from the previous night, Surprise in setlist compared to the ENTIRE tour, Pacing, Surprise Guest appearances, different arrangements/add-ons/changes to songs, Band energy level, Band Performance, Band interaction with crowd, Bono’s energy, Bono’s Voice, Bono’s speeches, Crowd energy and participation – Everything was on fire on this night…

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