by mcdenlee

Technically, I'd been waiting for the Cleveland show 9 months... but in reality I've been waiting for this show much longer. This was the show that I've been promising to our kids since they were toddlers and old enough to sing along with my U2 albums, tapes and CDs. (Yes, I've been a fan since the days of albums!) They wanted to see the Elevation tour but I told them they had to be older... so this tour was THE tour. The other reviewers have described this wonderful show, the set list... but I thought it would be nice to share the show through the eyes of children (they've only been to one other major concert... I took them last summer to see B.B. King) My daughter is 12, my son just turned 9 and even though we were in the third row from the top of "Q" arena (formerly known as Gund Arena) and nearly as far as you could be from the stage... we had a GREAT time. We had binoculars, and of course the four screens are great for those of us in the rafters. My daughter was mesmerized; she knew almost every song and kept giving me hugs throughout the show. We danced all night! She was delighted with the talk about the One Campaign and was proud to raise her wrist and show her One bracelet which we've all worn since the G8. Our section stood the entire time, and sang to nearly every song. My son said "It is so loud I can feel my lungs vibrate!" He did get sleepy midway through the show - (the concert is late if your normal bedtime is 8:30!) My husband took him out for a walk around the inside of the arena and when they returned he was so excited. They'd looked through different doorways all the way around, and happened to be right behind the stage when everyone had their cellphones lit. He said it looked like Christmas! They loved the lights chasing each other on the stage floor, and the graphics of the walking man and the fighter planes. They were thrilled to see "ACTUAL Edge, ACTUAL Larry, ACTUAL Adam and ACTUAL Bono" They thought it was cool that Bono picked a kid to join him on the stage, although they wondered if he ever picked someone from our section (I wish!) They both loved Bono shining the spotlight around the arena ("He saw us Mom!") They both concluded that it was an awesome show. I had to laugh when at the end my son was singing at the top of his lungs... "How long? How long IS this song?" Highlights for me; other than sharing this with our kids; were Gloria because I'd never heard it live and Miss Sarajavo because Bono's dad would just be so proud if he heard him hit those notes. It was just beautiful. The Declaration of Human Rights scrolling down brought tears to my eyes- and we were there on Human Rights Day. I also enjoyed seeing Bono laughing and kidding around during Vertigo, but I had to wait until I read it here what he was actually saying since the sound was kind of garbled from where we were at the start of the show. It means more than I can say that I was able to share a band who's music means to much to me with the people who mean the most to me. Thank you ACTUAL Edge, ACTUAL Larry, ACTUAL Adam and ACTUAL Bono! The Burgess Family

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