by Vanessa

This was my 4th tour and 11th U2 concert and the boys did not disappoint. I had incredible seats for the 4/5 show and GA seats for 4/6. My first pleasant surprise was when the show started with COBL instead of Love & Peace. I had to note hear that the first time I heard Atomic Bomb, I just knew that Love & Peace had to be the show opener and of the two openings, my personal favorite (way more dramatic and exciting).

My GA experience started with paying $500 to an eBay scalper followed by a set by KOL (I have tried to keep an open mind about them and I have been respectful of their sets but couldn't we have gotten the Killers?) and by the end of the concert, logged in over 8 hours of standing up on heels...but at the end of the day, it's all about being #140 in the GA line and finding yourself right behind #1 and #6 at the center and front of the ellipse to witness Bono beating on the drums and seeing every flinch, smile and the blue in his eyes to know that it was all worth it.

'One' is still performed with the sincerity and urgency that brings me to tears--it's the kind of pained cry the comes from the soul, when everything you thought was buried from childhood, resurfaces; the kind of uncontrollable crying that you didn't think would happen, happened yet again and it was cathartic.

When I heard the first few notes of 'The Ocean,' I nearly went into shock. It is on my top 3 list of favorite U2 songs and I was elated--strike that, heaven. Bono's reaction to the hoochie in the fur bikini top was brilliant--a definite highlight of the show. City of Blinding Lights is such a beautiful song--I'm starting to think of it as a love letter to U2 fans who pay dearly and wished that if they had to pay so much, that at least the money could go to the band. I really love how the sing-a-longs transforms the atmosphere in the arena into giant lovefest.

Finally, Larry was right, we scream and sing because we are screaming for and reclaiming what we were each going through when we first heard those songs. There is nothing else in the world like a U2 concert. Thank you boys for taking me through my teens and now through my 20s.

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