by Lev8u2001

What a treat to have my favorite band in my own backyard. I had tickets to PopMart - Raleigh, NC back in 1997 but that show was cancelled, my first U2 show came in 2001 in Charlotte and then I saw them again in Atlanta in 2005...I fully appreciated an arena setting but I absolutely couldn't wait for my first outdoor experience. To each his/her own on what they are looking for when they go to any concert. Some people wouldn't be happy in a pie factory, I just want to enjoy anything they play and the full experience. You just never know when they may hang it up. For people that haven't seen it yet but are going to an upcoming concert, get ready. Youtube, Twitter, Flickr, etc do no justice to what you are about to see. Here is my prospective on the show. I had GA's and was standing right next to the sound/engineering booth. What a spectacle. I wanted to stand in that area so I could take in the whole spectacle. During the whole show, everyone on the field, on the Hill, and in the 100 level stood for the whole concert. The upper deck was a different story, The ends were packed and the backside of the stage, upperdeck were packed but the middle section that is facing the sides of the stage (Adam's and Edge's sides) were a little sparce. I can only take this that these tickets were bought but there were no shows, or even those people bought cheaper tickets the day before or day of. There were a bunch of GA's released for $30 in the last two days.

Being my third tour but my wife, brother, and friend's first tour, I couldn't wait to see or hear their reaction. They were blown away. They hear about my fascination with U2 and last night, they now fully understand my madness and what U2 has meant to me all of my life (I'm 35).

What a night, weather was crisp and cool, probably in the mid-50's by 9PM. There was a full moon rising right over the stadium and there were a few clouds moving in as the night settled in.

A lot of highpoint so I won't bore you too much. I already knew that there wouldn't be any beer sales inside the stadium. For those of you who don't know, this is truly a college football stadium. No alcohol sales. I tailgated just outside the South Gate with some friends. We didn't see MUSE but we heard them loud and clear from outside. They sounded pretty good but I'm not all that familiar with them yet. Just remember, U2 was once at their stage in their career, I think people forget that when they say U2 sucks, MUSE Rocks...We all have to start somewhere.

The Hands that Built America snippet was a welcome surprise at the end of Beautiful Day. I'm so glad they from back No Line on the Horizon. That song live is just awesome. As for Your Blue Room, I made a point to look around the stadium to see if people were darting to the bathrooms, I knew where all of the exits and stairs were, for the most part, everyone was staying put. People say it's a boring song. I ask you, how in the hell are you supposed to interact with the song? Just sit/stand there and enjoy the song. It's only about 3-4 minutes and they got the crowd interacting again with New Years Day.

The only "buzz killer" during the whole show (although it didn't bother me) was the three song in a row of "I still haven't found....", "Stuck in a moment....", and "The Unforgettable Fire". I love all of these songs but all three back to back really took the steam out of crowd. Vertigo really kicked ass, the screen drops down into the honeycomb shape and it turns into a bright strobe light. My eyes were almost blinded when Edge went into his thing right after "uno, dos, tres, catorce." The crowd was in full gear by now and with I'll Go Crazy up next, it kept the mood going. I definitely agree with those who say there are people around them that don't know the new songs or words. Who cares. If my wife took me to a Michael Buble concert (which she has twice) I don't know most of the words and I'm sitting on my ass...I'm still having a good time though.

One of the coolest parts of the night was during Sunday Bloody Sunday...right towards the end when the bands quiets there instruments so the crowd can chant a couple of lines and then right as Larry Mullen was about to get the noise back up, Bono called an audible and wanted the crowd to keep going....excellent transition and I don't think Larry Mullen was ready for that, what was more impressive was that they had Larry's drum kit turned around and he was facing the backside of the stadium.

The rest of the set was amazing. The only bummer was that there were a lot of casual fans there and after each encore, the GA casuals started walking toward the stairs thinking that was it and then when the music started again, they went running back...Maybe that was their first ever concert. I saw a lot of different age brackets last night which is a testament to the greatness of U2. Ultraviolet was awesome and Bono was really getting pelted with the fog machine. The effects of the red beams from his jacket and the mirror ball right above him were visually stunning. I'm so glad that U2 played MOS on SNL. It gave me a different perspective on the song and it's beautiful lyrics. What youtube does not do is give you the background sounds of this song. SNL gave that to us and they replicated that last night.

Probably one of the most poignant moments was when they left arm in arm off the stage last night. During Vertigo, they left one-by-one but on this tour, they are leaving unified and this is how I would sum up the concert....You may like the angry songs about war. The songs during Vertigo were very time sensitive. Sunday Bloody Sunday fit this setlist with all of the tensions building up in Iran. Other than that, the setlist to me signified another stage in their life and our lives. We move on, not stick in the past. We are human and will always have differences but this tour to me shows a lot of unity in the songs. Let's have a good time and be thankful for what we have. It's our Moment of Surrender...A Vision over Possibility !!!! Thank you U2 for coming to a small college town and in my backyard. I'm forever grateful.

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