by Jennifer Hawker

Great show last night! I don't think it ranks as my #1, but of the five times I've seen U2 (1 Popmart, 3 Elevation, and this), it ranks #2 [#1 being Hamilton 10/13/01, which was a highly emotional post-9/11 show, lots of passion to it, and I was at the tip of the heart with lots of up-close Bono & Edge action. ;-) ]

High points last night for me: Fantastic, impressive lighting design and graphics (reminds me of what I loved about Popmart), the great rockin' party vibe during Instant Karma, the great singalong of Help (overall all the Lennon tributes were really great), Bono's voice for SYCMIOYO and most especially Miss Sarajevo (!!!!!), and the wonderful thank yous from the band to the crew, and from the crew back to the band. Also everyone holding up the THANK YOU signs at the end of One, and singing along with everyone during "40"... great bonding moments.

Also... Bullet the Blue Sky always impresses me (it's been fascinating to watch the evolution of this song's performance over the years), and I especially liked it following Sunday Bloody Sunday. Still Haven't Found... man that one's like going to church, in the best way. Bono wasn't even really preachin yet! Or should I say, he was preaching in the best way, via the music.

But speaking of preaching...some people have criticized how "preachy" Bono can get at times, all the "same ol, same ol" stuff he talks about, especially when hyping the ONE campaign. I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to it much, thinking it'd ruin the flow of the show. However... U2 have really changed the way they fit it into the show, and it's a lot better now than how it seemed from the bootlegs I heard of the first few shows of the first leg. And it was cool texting my name to ONE... and getting a text back from Bono during the concert. ;-)

Low points: Not too many, but definitely a few. I was really looking forward to hearing some older tunes I've never gotten to see/hear in person (Gloria especially) and was quite surprised they stuck more to hits and the new album, without really digging out many special ones. So Miss Sarajevo and Instant Karma were probably the most special ones to me last night, plus some others were just outstanding, either as always (Still Haven't Found, Bullet the Blue Sky), or as I imagined (City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Love and Peace or Else, SYCMIOYO).

Other lows, as some others have mentioned: they didn't use the ramp much; Streets seemed a bit tired; With or Without You seemed to be lacking something (maybe the sisters still being up there with Bono was just too much of a distraction); and in "40" the singalong didn't keep going, but just ended as Larry stopped drumming -- too bad, I thought we might get the band back out for a longer singalong.

But all in all, I really loved the show. Best seat I've ever spent nearly $200 on without sitting in it! Made a nice coat holder. ;-)

Return to previous page | Post a Review of this show!