by Ahmadsquad

I started to get a pretty bad sinus infection the day before, but that wasn't going to stop me from going to the show. I called in sick, packed some Kleenex and cough drops, and got into the GA line around 3pm. I jockeyed into position with my friends and the missus, and we ended up on the first row of the catwalk around the band's 1 o'clock position. A few people from the venue invited us to go into the inner circle, but we declined. I didn't want to spend my whole time craning my neck to look up at the band.

Muse was good, and a lot of people seemed really into their set. In fact, several people I knew told me that they came to the concert just to see Muse. Crazy, isn't it?

The show was good, but it seemed like the band were just going through the motions a few times. I don't know--maybe my sinus infection affected me more than I thought. It was really great to hear "Your Blue Room," especially mixed with NASA footage and audio. And it was fun to see the Zooropa baby dressed up in a NASA spacesuit right before "Ultraviolet."

By the encore, I feel like the the band hit its stride. I loved how the longing and pain of "One" segued into the hope and--well, grace--of "Amazing Grace" and then shifted to the restless abandon of "Where the Streets Have No Name." Those moments really carried me past the illness and grumpiness of the past few days.

One of my close friends has an encyclopedic knowledge of tons of music, but he had never been to a U2 concert before. He had always wondered why I'm so obsessive about them, and after the concert, I think he understood. I'm pretty sure I could get him to go see them again.

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