by hosive tsang

No boos tonight.
Bono was loose and interactive…and having a great time with the audience. Looking very comfortable with a rocking and steady flowing set in place, Bono played to and with the crowd and produced something missing from the other night in Anaheim: Joy.

Some highlights:

Bono bought a little boy on stage, walked around with him and asked him his name. “Jack”. Bono paused and replied “Jack…this is the beanstalk! Look up!” and the glitter for the start of city of blinding lights came down. He had Jack sit on the stage while u2 performed. Afterwards, Bono led Jack to his family but the little boy whispered something into Bono’s ear. My wife thinks he wanted to go to the rest room. Either way, Jack was escorted off by a security guard.

Bono loses his glasses in the middle of the show. He motions to his tech guy wondering where they wound up. My wife offers him her glasses. Bono smiles at us. Okay, her. Then people in the ellipse start showering sunglasses onto the stage. He picks up a few and tries each of them on before going with his own once lost but now found glasses.

Bono asks for a top hat and receives a hat from the ellipse. He puts it on his head during Mysterious ways. Then he turns it over begging for money. He is showered with coins and flinches. Coins are pelting him. A few dollar bills too. The tech person is bracing himself for more coins. They come. It gets dicey but Bono picks up two quarters and puts them in his eyes and keeps singing. When Bono turns around, Larry is laughing heartily at his mate.

Bono starts One in the dark. He asks for the lights to be turned off so people can see the cell phones used in lieu of lighters. It’s the 21st century!

Bono announces to the crowd that Larry is singing tonight. He is singing during Vertigo and Miracle drug. Bono asks Adam if he wants to sing as well. Adam mouths “Sure” and smiles. Adam is smiling and having a great time tonight.

Bono is so into An Cat Dubh that he makes these cat poses. When he turns in our direction, he looks cartoonish but having a grand time.

Bono announces he is making a call to LA. He’s from the same band as the Edge!

Bono explains why they love LA. It’s the city where they live off their imagination…more than any other city in the world. He asks us to utilize that imagination for a better world and the possibilities for the future and Africa.

Brad Pitt is presumably in the house as Bono thanks him for making that movie. He dedicates a song to Brad but I forget which.

On a more serious note, Bullet the Blue Sky is dedicated to Daniel Pearl, the slain journalist.

The set list flowed very well tonight. The guys were into it and lingered and played music rather than just churning out songs. The Edge and Bono are pushing each other. At one point, Bono takes a bottle of water and sprays the crowd as the Edge is riffing away. Bono’s tech guy wipes down the front of the stage before wiping the bald head of the security guy, Lorne…who wonders what happened!

The GA line was very laid back ala So Cal. Only about 70 people in the two lines at 9am…many of them did not have tickets??? They let fan club members into the fan club line with either fan tickets, the big metal fan club card or a fan club profile printout. Both lines went in the same line however, a lot of the people in the ellipse seem to be from the fan line. My wife got chosen to be in the ellipse. Theresa picked me to join her and we asked if we could bring our buddy Jon Wu since our party was three. They graciously allowed us to do this! When we tried to also get our new friend Brian in as well, they said its either 3 people total or 2. no 4. Sorry to Brian. But he got a great spot on the outer rail. When we got into the ellipse, the spot in between the edge and bono was open and we wound up in the front row.

Kings of Leon were raging with the help of medicinals and alcohol. The drummer’s eyes were totally shot. They announced that they were having a great time…better than they expected. They have to work on their angry exit though. The lead singer b-slapped the mike and stormed off the stage. The drummer also left in a huff. But the bass and guitar player gently put their instruments down before leaving.

A thrilling and live night.

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