by mtbmike

After attening the April 6 show and standing through the entire show, my wife and I decided that we would give the floor a try. From our vantage point on the "Gold Circle" we could tell that people were being fairly civilized in the heart and it didn't look like a mosh pit.

So thanks to Propaganda, our floor tickets came and we both scheduled vacation days to ensure our place within the heart. We arrived at the 'Can' at 7AM and discovered a significant line had already formed. There was guy with a sharpie numbering those in line, we were 95 and 96. We deployed our camp chairs and settled into a long enjoyable wait in the unseasonably warm sunshine of a November morning.

People bemoan waits like these, but I relish these times when like minded people do extraordinary things to experience a shared event. Most of the people in line had travelled hundreds, some thousands, of miles to see their next U2 show. None of them were virgins to the U2 experience; I myself was at Red Rocks in June 1983 and the night after at the CU Events Center to experience U2 on consecutive nights. And there was ZooTV, PopMart and the April Elevaton show too. Everyone had a story, and for a few hours everyone enjoyed each other's similar story.

Bubba (see previous appends) came out around 2:30 and announced that the "chosen ones", the first 350 people would be checked into a corral area at 3PM. Everyone took their camp chairs and coolers back to their cars and emptied their bladders. It was made clear that noone would be allowed back into their place in line if they left for any reason. The weather had gone from warm and sunny to a rapidly deteriorating situation, due to a cold front predicted to slam into the Denver area during the show.

So we made like good sheep and went through the first gauntlet, received our first wristband, and on into the corral outside the doors. Only one door would be opened at 6PM for people to be let into the heart, so we moved into close quarters with everyone and braced for the three hour wait.

I think they security does this to sober up the drunks in attendance. That's the only reason that could explain this sadism on an otherwise orderly and civilized crowd.

About 3:30 the rain started. The temperature dropped and the winds picked up. Luckily for my wife and I, we were under an overhang that protected the first 150 of us from the elements. The others just had to stand there and take it.

At 6PM, the doors opened and the slow process of screening people in began. We finally waded in and made our way to the heart. Upon getting our wristbands we immediatly raced to the restrooms to empty our bladders and grab something to eat. Then it was back to the heart; I staked out a place about 6 feet from the front rail right in front of Edge. I figured Bono would spend plenty enough time at stage center and I really wanted to watch Edge do his work.

No Doubt was entertaining, but the mix was not bringing out the voices for those in front of the stage, so the sound was muddied. Still, they were a good warm up act.

As for the show, the closest description I can make is a religious experience. For the last 30 years, I have focused my energy on the live concert experience. I have seen Led Zeppelin, Yes, Jethro Tull, Bruce Springsteen, and the Who at the zeniths of their live performance careers; but this night U2 made a special place in those memories. They are truly the best live act touring today.

Edge works hard, and so does his tech. It would be very interesting to understand the procedures that are followed to setup each song; He has so much gear onstage, but never adjusts anything but the control panel at his feet. It's all gotta be preprogrammed, I guess. HIs tech is as much involved as Edge is, only he moves like a blur between songs, not during them. It's quite an interesting coreography....

Bono.....what can you say about him.....It's truly amazing that his sincerity is so believable after all these years through the cynicism of ZooTV and PopMart. His voice was excellent and fatigue was nowhere to be found. His rap during Please seemed spontaneous even though I knew he had done it previously. His gleefulness during the fan participation sequence for All Along the Watchtower was perfect. The fan was totally cool about being thrust in front of the finest band in the world and 20,000 of their friends. At the end of the song Bono says "I asked Bob Dylan about that song once...I said. 'Bob, that was a really good one'.....and Bob tells me (Bono drops into a Dylan impersonation), 'Uh, yeah, well, I never felt like I really finished it.....' !!!

Adam was off in his world as he usually is, and Larry hardly ever shows the joy that the music brings. It's hard work for him, and he does it well.

What a show, what a band, what an experience. After the lights came up, we wandered out into the snow for a white-knuckled 40 mile drive home.

These are the days of miracle and wonder.......Paul Simon

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