by David Drysdale

Giving a review is difficult for me in that I've only ever been to a handful of rock concerts in my life - and two of them were U2 in Sydney.

On the other hand, what I lack in experience, I can make up for in sincerity - being free from what Bono once wrote - "Never before have so many people gathered together to pretend they are having a good time" (end of 'U2 at the End of the World' by Bill Flanagan). I canb honestly say that I enjoyed being there.

Certainly this was better than my previous U2 experience in '89 when I whistled and screamed without ever really having anything to whistle and scream about. The band themselves seemed to be dead bored with proceedings.

As was said on Friday night - that seems to be what all the extra stuff is about. And at times it really worked (esp. the cartoon footage during 'Hold Me, Thrill Me...' and Bono's antics in front of the screen, and also during 'Please').

To me though, U2 were at their best when the spirit (of Pop) was at work amongst the audience. I was surprised and really enjoyed hearing Bad, MLK and other old songs with 'I Still Haven't found...' being the absolute highlight - it's just a shame the crowd (myself included) didn't really know know the words to the follow up song ('Stand By Me') otherwise it would have made a very marketable video moment.

The new songs 'Gone', 'Last Night on Earth', 'Please' and 'Discoteque' sounded great from where I was. "If You wear that Velvet Dress' simply didn't.

Overall, I was glad to be there. What a great bunch of people U2 fans seem to be!

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