by Shaun Grantski

I've seen U2 several times over their past two tours in bigger cities, as this was the first time they have ever played in my home state of Nebraska I believe. That being the case, I was really unsure of what to expect. Honestly I was really afraid the crowd would suck; being that for a majority of people here tonight, it was their first U2 concert. I'm glad to say that I was wrong. Once Bono started singing "Nebraska" the crowd ate out of his hand. The crowd was the loudest, by far, after Streets and I mean it was deafening. Bono had to motion to the crowd to settle down and stop cheering because he was unable to start his pre-One speech with all the noise. On the flip side, this crowd got quiet and "listened" to most everything Bono had to say. At other U2 shows I have been to, its often been hard to hear what he is saying because of the scattered talking throughout the arena. But tonight, once Bono started talking, everyone listened. This was especially true during Miss Sarajevo. Bono told told the entire story of "Miss Sarajevo" and then went into the song. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I mean the first two verses of the song were played in near silence. And it's not because everyone sat down or went out for drinks, they were mesmorized and we all just stood there and listened. Nobody said a word. That stood out to me because I have never experience a moment like that at any concert. Once Bono (who's voice was ON tonight) nailed the Italian, opera part of the song, the place erupted.

Other things that may have been unique...before "Sometimes" Bono actually apologized for his frequent use of foul language in the past, haha. He said something like..."I've been known to use colorful language in the past...and I'm really working on stopping it. I do not mean to offend anyone; it's just the way I grew up and the culture we're in...it's all around us."

The little girl brought up on stage during Sunday Bloody Sunday was great; not only yelling "no more" when Bono asked her to, but also pumping her fists during the last verse to help the crowd get into it. She was probably around 7 or 8 years old.

Speaking of girls, Bono got VERY close to the girl he danced with during With or Without You. In fact, I'm pretty sure he sang the last verse to her crotch, haha. I'm not sure that he really realized what it looked like, lol.

He thanked and talked up Kanye West constantly through the show. Also adding some "Gold Digger" lines at the beginning of Elevation.

The Edge was jumping around alot while playing his guitar. Also, I will never ever know how he was able to play the solo/end of "Until the End of the World" flawlessly while running around the elipse full speed twice. The guy did not miss a note!

Bono mentioned Warren Buffet and wife and other rich people who were at the show. Bono also said that U2 was staying in Omaha for a Christmas party tomorrow night. He also joked around about how he heard Nebraska doesn't have real Guiness beer. Later he said he was serious about the Christmas party tomorrow night...and the Guiness.

Bono sang "Happy X-Mas" after Sgt. Peppers snipet during Beautiful Day.

During "40" Bono also constantly sang..."I will sing...sing a new song...TO MY LORD (instead of "how long") before breaking into the chorus.

Overall, the atmosphere was fun and "warm." As the reviews have said for these last few shows, the band seems to be very laid back and having a good time as this leg of the tour comes to a close.

As for the opening act, Kanye West...he got a much better response than I thought he would. Bono did not introduce him tonight. I was looking forward to seeing him, and his performance was very heart felt and real. Half of the elipse was really into it, jumping, dancing, and waving their arms while the other half was not. To Kayne's credit, he worked both sides equally. He also C-walked around the entire elipse. Got a pretty large ovation as he left.

I just hope this first time is not the last time that U2 comes to Nebraska. As we found out tonight, there are real, knowledgable, die hard fans here. And I'm sure U2 won a bunch more over tonight.

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