by Globaljosh

Josh’s Lengthy Review
(1,500 words or less)

So there we were in Denver for our first bout of Vertigo! My fiancée Mandy for her fourth U2 show, my sister Erin for her sixth, and me for my eighth. Our four-hour nonstop from Tampa the night before took about eight hours, thanks to the hailstorm in Denver. Still, we were determined to be in line early since we had GA tickets. So, our heads hit the pillow at around 2 AM, the hotel wake-up calls came at 4:30, and we were pulling into the Pepsi Center parking lot a few minutes before 6 am.

Much to our surprise, we still managed to be #11, 12, and 13 in line. Even as late as 10 AM, there were only about 50 people waiting. This was a huge contrast to the Elevation shows we went to, where in Lauderdale, Detroit, Philly and Tampa, there were hundreds of people in line by 8 AM.

We waited as the crazy Denver spring weather went from ice-cold to hot, then back to chilly and really gusty (cold for us Floridians!) Once our spots in line were secure we went across the street to Braun’s Bar & Grill for some tasty burgers and Colorado micro-brew beers. Not exactly roughing it!

Later in the afternoon we decided to walk back to the arena’s service entrance in hopes of seeing the band. We were floored as a black SUV stopped and Bono’s big bald bodyguard John got out and informed us that Bono would spend a few minutes meeting us! Bono (it was really him!!!) got out and started working the crowd of around 80-100 people. Mandy & Erin got hugs, I exchanged a few words with him and shook hands, and we all got pics! Already our best U2 day ever!

At around 6:15pm they let us into the arena, and while we didn’t get inside the circle we got spots on the rail at the tip of the ellipse. (We had heard that Bono and the boys had been spending very little time on the catwalk, but this was not to be the case at this show, but more on that later.)

Kings of Leon: I approach the opening acts with an open mind: These guys were hand picked by U2. If they wanted to give them a shot, we should listen, right? In review, I feel that they have great musical ability and played a really tight set. The singer didn’t do much for me, although his rhythm guitar was right on. He needs to settle on a vocal style, because right now he is all over the map. KOL have some good catchy tunes, but the guy’s voice takes some getting used to. Also, as mentioned in previous reviews, the sound mix made them almost intolerable. Don’t get me wrong, I love loud music – they just had wayyyy too much treble! My ears were ringing before U2 even took the stage. Also – can’t they get a roadie? The singer had to switch guitars and then play around and tune the thing before they could continue. Come on, hook ‘em up, they’re opening for U2!!

On to the main event: I had been hoping to hear Love & Peace or Else as the opener, but COBL turned out to be fantastic. I love The Edge’s new live intro, as opposed to the twinkly keyboard intro on the album version. Bono just appeared right in front of us, raised his hands to the heavens, and confetti started to fall. Awesome and majestic – the perfect way to start a U2 show!

The band ripped into a one, two, three, four punch: COBL, Beautiful Day, Vertigo, and Elevation. The fantastic Denver crowd was going wild. Vertigo is such a great song live. Bono teased the crowd before he did the countdown in Spanish: “Un, deux, trois… No. One, two… Um, no. UNO… DOS… TRES… CATORCEEEEAAAHHH” and brought down the house. The lights for this song are sensational, especially the blazing red streaks chasing each other around the ellipse. Even better than I had imagined it would be.

Bono was as playful as I had ever seen him. While the band had some miscues, they seemed to be mostly a result of Bono spending so much time fooling around with the crowd. I’ll take a spirited, honest performance over a rigid-yet-perfect one any day!

On Elevation, Bono encouraged the “sexy mountain people” to sing the “Woo’s” along with him. As they sang, he started adding these extra chirping sounds. He got so into it that he forgot how to start the second verse. He sort of stood there for a few moments while the band kept the beat going, them he laughed and said, “Sing, Larry!”

Bono flubbed the drum ending when they played Love & Peace or Else, so when the band kicked into Sunday Bloody Sunday, he feigned frustration and kept whacking the drum, trying (obviously unsuccessfully) to keep pace with Larry. Very funny.

Bono spent a great deal of time out on the ellipse, taking someone’s bracelet (“I love these little yellow bands”), swapping sunglasses, throwing a beach ball, and fooling around. Adam Clayton! He was up and down the catwalk all night – smiling, strutting, making eyes at the ladies (including my sister). It was great to see him having so much fun. The only bummer was that The Edge never once left the main stage. He was plugged into the amp the entire night, so he didn’t budge. Larry? He sang – a lot – and loud! There were many great moments in this show.

Other observations:

Bullet the Blue Sky: Last time out, Edge played it with blistering guitar solos. This time, he plays it with a cool, blues sound. Bono’s blindfold theatrics are very cool.

Running to Stand Still: I was really looking forward to hearing this, but Bono’s voice and Edge’s keyboard clashed noticeably and badly – too bad. Funny, Bono sounded like he was on-key… It was the keyboards that sounded off.

Original of the Species: We were all hoping they would play it, and it sounded awesome live. I really hope they start playing this more because it’s a great song.

The Fly: Great new guitar intro, and the throwback Zoo-era visuals were awesome!

Mysterious Ways: Toward the end of the song, Bono pulls off this amazing spin-kick dance move. I guess Michael Jackson’s choreographer is out of work.

The Sound: Many comments have been made in this forum regarding the mix, acoustics, etc. We were on the floor, directly below and in front of the speakers. There were no bad acoustics affecting us here, since we were directly in the line of fire. The sound mix just wasn’t that great. Mind you, it wasn’t awful, just a bit tinny. On the first few songs, Bono sounded somewhat chipmunk-ish. It got better later on, but it wasn’t great, and I don’t see how arena acoustics could be to blame. Regardless, it was such a phenomenal show that it would take much more than this to make me complain.

Bono’s voice: Stronger than I have heard it since the Zoo TV days. Seriously. He hit all the high notes in Bad, which I haven’t ever heard live. He nailed the high parts in Sometimes You Can’t Make it on Your Own. Wherever you’re used to hearing him take the easy way out (Beautiful Day’s “Ree-eee-eee-EACH me”, etc) he went for it at this show. Awesome stuff.

I’m a detail guy so I could go on and on, but I won’t.

Okay, one more: Ending the show with 40! Bono shining the spotlight into the upper level and watching the crowd go wild, and then, the band leaving the stage one by one. I already knew that Larry would be the last one on stage, but I didn’t know that he would stay for so long drumming as the crowd sang. He would stop drumming, let us sing, and then pick up the rhythm after a certain point. It looked like he enjoyed this as much as we did. It felt like we were a part of the show and it was a great way to end it.

In summary, the most memorable U2 show I have been to. Denver was perfect. There were three or four sports bars right next to the Pepsi Center, and all of them were blasting U2 right before and then again after the show. This wasn’t just a concert - it was an EVENT. The Denver crowd was great. No pushing or shoving, just a bunch of fans who stayed on their feet the whole time and gave their band a warm welcome and sendoff.

I hope everyone gets to experience a show like this just once!

Can’t wait til they come to Tampa!

Globaljosh
Anna Maria Island, FL

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