by Vincent Simonetti

It was one of the hottest days of the summer in Sydney, with temperatures reaching up to 38ºC during the day. A cool change hit in the early evening and light rain started falling, which threatened the enjoyment of 40,000 fans who had waited 4+ years to see them,since U2 last played in Sydney. I had seen them 3 times on that ZooTV tour (in Melbourne, Brisbane and finally Sydney) and though I was looking forward to seeing them again on this PopMart tour, I did not think that they could possibly top their last effort ... and top it they did !

The rain fell quite heavily during part of Sidewinder's opening set. Unfortunately it was not quite heavy enough to drown out the sounds that were coming from their direction. Never mind, some of the younger audience members near me were actually miming along to some songs and appeared to be enjoying it, which made me kind of glad that I wasn't 17 again (apologies to The Radiators - no, you're too young to remember !).

Adam and Larry's Mission Impossible Theme, the Pop Muzik remix, the rain has stopped, 8.45 pm and the moment has arrived ... MOFO ... Bono dances onto the catwalk looking more like a boxer than pop star ... I WILL FOLLOW ... the whole crowd is alive, even though most Sidewinder fans weren't even conceived when this was originally released ... GONE ... the PopMart screen is now well and truly tuned in ... EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING ... Edge's guitar work during this was one of the night's many highlights ... LAST NIGHT ON EARTH ... one of Pop's weaker songs in my opinion ... UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD ... interesting that this was a survivor from ZooTV and nothing from Zooropa was ... NEW YEAR'S DAY ... all shirts are off in the row in front of me and all hands are in the air whenever Bono wants them to be ... PRIDE ... as on all previous occasions, this is probably the crowd favourite and a choir of 40,000 sings along loudly with images of MLK tuned in on the PopMart screen ... I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR / STAND BY ME ... Bono apologises for the cost of the tickets ($160 to be up the front), he asks us if we like the show's effects ... "You should, you paid for it !". He tells us that he is still looking ... "If it 's still interesting for us, then it won't be bullshit for you" ... the Ben E. King chorus leaves us singing along long after Bono has long finished, until most did not know what came next, much to the band's amusement ... BAD / RUBY TUESDAY ... Wide Awake In Australia indeed ... the highlight for me ... and my fave Stones song as an exert was good homage too ... DESIRE ... Bono and Edge are on the catwalk in acoustic mode ... this song wasn't performed at any of the 3 previous Australian shows ... but this was Sydney and the following night was the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras night for 750,000 people on the city's streets ... Bono reminded us of this and asked if the Reverend Fred Nile was out there (for o.s. readers the Rev Fred is a morals crusader and member of Australia's parliament, who is generally disliked by most Australians and always campaigns and protests heavily against the Mardi Gras) ... Bono dedicated Desire to Fred Nile and to Pauline Hanson (a racist bimbo who is also a member of parliament) ... "Are you ready to mardi gras Sydney ?" ... STARING AT THE SUN ... still in acoustic mode, Edge and Bono traded guitar licks ... SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY ... Edge solo gave a new perspective to a great familiar sound ... BULLET THE BLUE SKY ... Bono is back looking a lot like Castro ... "Bill Clinton sings into his saxophone" ... PLEASE ... the Irish flag is raised ... the voice is as good as it has ever sounded ... WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME ... an Eno inspired highlight ... a guy managed to climb the 100 foot plus scaffold tower in the middle of the stadium ... he waved his shirt in the air, much to everyone's amusement, except for the 4 security apes that squeamishly climbed up to convince him to come down ... DISCOTHEQUE ... the first encore ... the lemon brakes down so n o one gets to pop out of it tonight, instead the band appears at the foot of the catwalk ... flashy lights all around and the stadium becomes the night's hottest nightclub since Travolta last stepped out ... IF YOU WEAR THAT VELVET DRESS ... Bono slow waltzes with a blonde nubile hand picked out of the audience ... WITH OR WITHOUT YOU ... Bono rests his head on the now seated young lady's lap as he sings most of the song ... afterwards he presents her with his boxer's jacket to keep warm in, as it is now pelting down with heavy rain ... a night one fan will never forget ... the band leaves the stage again ... THRILL ME KISS ME KILL ME ... bats on the screen ... Bono rejuvenates the devil again ... "remember me ?" ... MYSTERIOUS WAYS ... great extended ending ... no Egyptian dancer, but that was last time ... Bono intros the band members ... Larry gets the best applause from the Sidewinder girls ... MLK ... "sleep tonight" ... Michael Hutchence's image was sprayed across in Warhol like pop art all along the PopMart screen ... "thunder", "let it rain, rain on me" all took on a new meaning ... ONE ... was dedicated to his good friend Michael, as Sydney was his home town and also the place where he tragically died last November ... "I just wanted to say goodbye to Michael, in front of his family and friends and his band" ... Rhet Hutchence, INXS, Midnight Oil, the singing budgie Kylie Minogue, Denmark's greatest export Helena Christianson, etc. were all guests of the band in the audience tonight, as well as Hollywood celebs Keanu Reeves and Samuel L. Jackson ... during the song it rained heavily and Bono asked that the PopMart screen and all the stadium lights be turned off, in a spontaneous act of magic ... total darkness, thunder and then lightning from above, which illuminated the stadium as the band played on ... "one life" ... an eerie and incredible experience ... it 's all over and there's not a dry eye in the stadium as INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart" was played over the sound system to close the night ...

Wow ! 2+ hours later ... Yes, they did top it !

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