by Andrew Roy

What a show!!!!!!!!!! It was well worth the 8-month wait. My friend and I sang along to all of the albums on the trip there. We had bought our tickets in March. It rained for much of the night. Needless to say, U2 more than raised my spirits.

First up was Third eye blind. They have a few really catchy songs. They were pretty loud, and the guitar drowned out the singer's voice. The signer spoke french to the crowd, which is always appreciated in la Belle Province.

Finally, the BAND made it's way toward the massive stage. A few notes on the stage. It had a giant screen the size of 3 or 4 theatre screens, with a giant arch in the middle, and a huge lemon to the right of the stage. Oh and who can't forget the 100m catwalk. On my way to the stadium, I noticed 20 transport trucks and eight buses. That is a lot of trucks! The screen lights up. The "Mission Impossible" theme spews out from the speakers. Single file, the band went through the crowd, aided by a human barrier formed by the sea of yellow clothed security guards. First Adam, then Larry, then Edge and Bono, in his now trademark boxer's robe. They reach the catwalk, and then Bono demonstrates his jabbing ability. The crowd erupts! The noise was deafening. The estimated attendance was 60 000. Who says U2 don't have support?

They begin the sonic assault with a super charged version of MOFO. I thought it was an unusual song to start off with. They followed up that with a classic, "I will follow". Bono's voice was as strong as ever. Nobody showed any sign of fatigue. They meant business.

At the second half of the show, they entered the stage via the huge lemon. The lemon turned into a glowing disco ball, and "pop"ped out of it, like aliens coming out of their spaceship. They continued to go through their entire repertoire, making sure everyone heard the major hits. To keep us on our feet, they threw notes here and there, creating a 'remix' of the song. The musical highlights of the show were definitely when they did "With or without you" (where Bono grabbed a teary-eyed girl from the audience and sang along with her), the politically charged "Bullet the blue sky", and the acoustic slowed down version of "Sunday bloody Sunday". It was just the Edge and his guitar. Edge also joined Bono in an acoustic rendition of oneof their latest hits, "Staring at the Sun". After pounding the skins with the force Larry was using, he and Adam deserved the break. Larry was hitting the drums so hard, I thought the entire stadium was going to fall. As Paul Stanley once said, the place lit up just like a damn Christmas tree when those songs were played.

There were 23 songs played in all. The images coming from the screens were great. My friend and I brought binoculars, but we didn't need them that much. The screens showed the band up close and personal, thanks to a few cameras catching them in all their glory. All in all, it was well worth the $60 and then some. We sang along so much, I was surprised I still had a voice left.

Nearing the end of the show, i'll never forget what Bono said. "We've taken a lot of flak about the show, and the album. Thank you for sticking by us." No, thank you Bono...In a day of big business and clone bands, you guys stay original and put us, the fans, first and foremost. You guys are truly world class acts. See ya next tour.

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