by vertigogal

Last night was my first U2 concert, and it was better than I could ever have imagined! I don't know if every show is this great, but they were just on fire. The whole arena was singing and everyone was standing and dancing, even in the upper levels (where I was). Actually, my section seemed to be the lamest in the whole arena at first...some people didn't even stand when the band came on! But I was dancing and singing anyway and soon most of my section was too.

City of Blinding Lights is a great opener. From the opening chords to Wake Up until the end of COBL, the whole arena was just in another dimension, it was crazy. Vertigo and Elevation were good for getting the crowd pumped up, but when the first notes to I Will Follow were played the place completely exploded. Then Bono talked a little and went into Still Haven't Found. It's never been my favorite song, but live it was definitely one of the highlights of the night. There's nothing like singing the verses and especially the chorus (over and over) at the top of your lungs, with 20,000 other people. It was practically a spiritual experience!

Beautiful Day was also great live. The album version is overproduced and overplayed in my opinion, but hearing it in an arena with all the lights and everyone singing was pure bliss. Original of the Species was nice live, they did it with Edge on guitar and the other guy on keyboards. I did notice nearly everyone sat down for this one (understandable) and quite a lot of people seemed to take it as time for a bathroom/beer break. Still, it was a good performance. Sometimes was great, Bono hit that note and then some. The Love and Peace-Sunday Bloody Sunday-Bullet the Blue Sky "political statement" was well-done and not too obnoxious or anything, I thought. It was hilarious to see Headband Bono banging away at that drum, and the guitar work on Bullet was excellent (I have to disagree with people who say it's "tired" on this tour). Sunday Bloody Sunday wasn't probably the best performance of it ever, but the crowd still loved it.

Miss Sarajevo was an absolute highlight of the evening. I'd heard some rough audio of it from this tour, but nothing prepared me for how well Bono hit those notes and how long he held them. It was moving. After they roled 6 Human Rights articles, and when they got to the one about torture, the whole arena cheered extremely loudly. If U2 thought playing anywhere other than NYC or California meant they were playing to a bunch of rednecks (which their touring schedule kind of implies), they were definitely wrong!

Pride is probably one of my least favorite songs played tonight, but it was so much fun to sing along to...we kept the oh-oh-oh's going right through the start of Streets. Streets. I can't describe how amazing the entire arena was when they played this song. And when they flashed the lights at the bridge, it was definitely the best moment of the concert up to that point. When it was over I was just thinking "I need to see more U2 concerts." Bono talked a little before One and everyone got out their cell phones which was cool. I thought his speech was brief and pretty tactful, and he got some cheers when he mentioned it has more members than the NRA! The addition of MLK was nice and got a lot of cheers.

I was excited to see the "zoo" encore videos with images such as Michael Jackson, Bush, Clinton, etc along with the zoo baby. UTEOTW was wild, some more great guitar work and the whole place was just rocking out, definitely a highlight. I was so glad they played Mysterious Ways. It was out of the set for a while, but this being one of my favorite songs live (mp3s up til now obviously), I had really hoped they'd play it. He brought a girl named Dana up on stage and she danced really well. Then they went into With or Without You. On mp3s and DVD and stuff, this one always seems to be sort of weak, but being there it was just amazing. The only thing I wished they would've done would be to sing the "shine like stars" verse at the end.

Next were two acoustic songs. My mom (she was my date) said I looked like I was about to cry when they played this. Even though I adore this song, the live mp3s I'd heard seemed kind of weak. I wasn't looking forward to this that much and hoped I'd get something else honestly. But being there, it was so so beautiful. A guy near us was singing it to his girlfriend.

Stuck in a Moment acoustic was an absolute highlight of the show for me. It's overproduced on the album and always kinda bugged me, but acoustic it was perfect. It was funny cos Bono kind of missed the start of the song and everyone sort of laughed. Anyway, it was great.

But nothing at all in the show could compare to the final song, Bad. I literally started to cry when they played this, it's my favorite song ever and means so much to me. It was an incredible version of the song, I don't think I've ever experienced anything like it. It was never a single, yet every single person in the arena was singing every word at the top of their lungs. He snippeted People have the power, which worked well. The whole show could've been crap and it would've been worth my money for just this one song. This song is as essential as Streets, in my opinion.

Overall, the guys surpassed my expectations for the concert. Bono was able to strut around and preach a little, but he was still very funny and relatable and really identified with the audience. Just little things, like his intentional mispronounciation of Piedmont Park (which should be pronounced "peedmont"!) The lights were great, the crowd was great, and most of all, the music was amazing.

Thanks guys for giving us such a great show!

I can't wait for audio of this to pop up.

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