by Dawn S.

My third Vertigo show… and I was really excited for this one. I first saw U2 in Cleveland back on December 9, 1984 on the Unforgettable Fire tour – 21 years and a day from the date of this show. My husband came along with me for this concert and we drove up to Cleveland early in the day in order to make a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The day began with a thrill as we drove into downtown along Lake Erie and spotted U2’s private jet parked on the tarmac at Burke Airport. I took that as a good omen for the day. The R&R Hall of Fame was great – It’s an incredible museum. There is lots of great U2 stuff to see, starting with the neon sign and the little cars from the ZooTV tour, which are hanging in the main lobby. It was the perfect way to get warmed up for the concert that evening. If you are ever going to be in Cleveland, it’s definitely worth a stop. We met two really nice U2 fans in the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, we didn’t ask their names, but they were a nurse from Madison, Wisconsin and her 75-year-old mother. The mom had a t-shirt that read something like “Oldest U2 Fan” and they were on their 10th show, I believe. They had GA tickets and we spotted them in the ellipse later during the concert. I hope I have half this woman’s stamina when I’m her age! We went to the sports bar in the arena to grab a couple of drinks and some food before the concert. While we were there, a guy with a two-way radio and crew credentials sat down near us at the bar. We asked if he was with U2 and he said he was on their crew. He joined the tour about a month ago, filling in for someone who’d gotten hurt. He said U2 was the best organization he’d ever worked for and they really treated their people well. He introduced himself as “Pinky” and said he was getting something to settle his stomach because he hadn’t been feeling that great. He told us he usually wears a kilt while he’s working, but he wasn’t sure he was going to wear it because he wasn’t feeling well. He must have been feeling better because we think we spotted him on stage – in the kilt! – during the changeover between Institute and U2. Our seats were okay, but not great. We were right beside the stage on Edge’s side but up in the 200 level. We were far enough to the side that we could not see the front of the stage, including the big video screens and the images on the light curtains. Plus the side video screen seemed kind of dark – During City of Blinding Lights (ironically), I thought Larry’s section of the screen wasn’t working because it was so dark. It was a little bit of a disappointment after being in much better lower-level seats in Philly and Pittsburgh. I felt more like a spectator, instead of like I was part of the energy of the show. But, I don’t want to make it sound worse than it was. The show was awesome and we did have a great time! Personal highlights for me were the songs that hadn’t been in the set lists at my previous Vertigo shows - Gloria (which I last heard live at that show in 1984), Original of the Species, Mysterious Ways, Instant Karma, and especially Until the End of the World. That song was INCREDIBLE. Bono and The Edge did two full laps around the ellipse at full speed in the middle of the song! I couldn’t believe Bono had any breath left to start singing again and I was blown away watching The Edge play this intense, intricate guitar solo while running! Random Thoughts: During one of the encore songs, Adam was behind Bono, who obviously didn’t see him. Bono back up and bumped right into Adam. It was amusing, although I was too far away to see their reactions so I’m not sure if they were amused or annoyed. I thought Bono’s voice was a little strained, especially during the second half of the show. He still nailed the high note in Sometimes and the opera portion of Miss Sarajevo, but his voice did sound raw and scratchy at times. I was hoping for Bad during the encore, but I figured his voice wasn’t up to it. During SBS when Bono brought the young girl up on stage to sing the “no more” part, the first time she said it, it didn’t sound very clear. Bono told her to spit out her gum, which she did… into his hand! He gave it back to her before she went back into the ellipse! I wonder if she’ll keep it? One advantage of being in the upper level is that the constellation of cell phones looks even more amazing from above. It was really beautiful from that vantage point. Overall, another incredible evening and I am sad that this will be my last show of the Vertigo tour. Let’s do it again soon, boys!

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