by Ernie

Between the two San Jose shows, Bono's voice was a bit rougher for this one - he hit some incredible notes on the 19th - but it was also far more memorable. What happened tonight was the stuff of legendary rock 'n roll shows.

Bono promised from the getgo to make the night special, and U2 delivered beyond the crowd's expectations. First, the debut of "Kite" live, which was not only outstanding music but also a milestone in the tour itself. Imagine 20,000 people crooning "I'm a man..." at the top of their lungs all at once. Pure rock nirvana. Then he got some fans to throw down an Irish flag during "Sunday Bloody Sunday," and found an English flag on the other side of the stage. He drapped both over his shoulder for the remainder of the song. After "Angel of Harlem," a confused audience sees Bono whisper something to the Edge, then the stage manager. Edge starts strumming chords that sound vaguely like "Satellite of Love," but turn out to be the intro to "Stay," the first live performance of a Zooropa song in North America (and, as Bono comments afterwards, "a pretty good tune, eh?"). Then he dances with a random girl during "Mysterious Ways," who goes off into some quasi-belly dancing frenzy (quite well, I might add). Bono and Adam just stand back and laugh as Bono asks, "Do all of you dance like that in the Bay Area?"

If a concert is to be judged by the number of songs, this one actually came up a little shorter than other recent dates, including the first San Jose show. No matter: the memories were as numerous as the fans tonight, and that was what made this the best Elevation show to date.

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