by Popmartijn

This year has been a great U2 year for me, with me seeing them both in the USA and all over Europe. The first Amsterdam show was an amazing experience, with my sister being pulled up on stage by Bono for a dance (a review for that show is here: http://www.u2tours.com/displayfan.src?ID=20050713&XID=6997). But in no way could I image what a mind-blowing experience the sixth Boston show would be on 4 December. It's one thing to see your sister up on stage, dancing with Bono, but being up there yourself with a big group of friends, that's a whole different thing. Anyway, more of that later, as I think that the history of how we got up there is just as nice. At the end of September some of us started mailing each other, entertaining the idea of having a kind of end-of-tour/year party in Boston. It is a big U2 city after all. Well, the party became bigger and bigger until in the end we were with about 13 or 14 people. Being such a big group and the fact that we were of many different nationalities, there was this suggestion that everyone should bring with him/her a flag of his/her country. This way we could show each other (and maybe the band) that U2 really unites. Boston had a different system for the GA lines than the other cities I went to. Instead of waiting in line until the doors opened around 5 or 6, they handed out numbered wristbands early in the morning. You were then free to leave for the day, only to return around 5 and line up according to your number. While it means you don't have to wait during the day, it does bring forward the line-up for those crazy nutters who like to be at the front. And our group matched that description. :) So after a cold night camping out, we got our low-numbered wristband and got to go back to the hotel for some sleep and a nice hot shower. A bit after 5 PM we lined up again. Already in the morning we'd split up in 2 groups (fanclub and non-fanclub members) to increase our chances of maybe some of us getting in the ellipse. We figured that if half could make it the first night and half the second night, then it would be alright. However, when the doors opened there was some initial chaos with the scanning for the ellipse. Some of us got scanned in and naturally took others of our group in with them. Being almost at the front of the line, this meant that we ended up on the front rail in the ellipse. However, it wasn't until the first rush of excitement of just being there went away that we took a good look around and couldn't really believe it. Everyone of our group had ended up in the ellipse. This was unheard of. The concert was already amazing before it had even started! From the moment Arcade Fire's Wake Up started it seemed like the whole crowd was completely into it. Then the first notes of City Of Blinding Lights were played, confetti came falling down, I raised my hands, the lights came on and I had one of the happiest moments of my life. I hadn't experienced the Vertigo Tour like this (as I had seats for the MSG show in May and while I was at the front for several shows in Europe, they never started their concerts there with City Of Blinding Lights and the confetti). Vertigo remains a full-on fun rocker, as is Elevation. And I never get tired of hearing my favourite U2 song: I Will Follow. Seeing the concert from this viewpoint (front rail, right in front of Adam) made it all worth for me. Wow, what a spot! During Beautiful Day Bono spotted a banner some of us had made. It referred to all of us coming from afar to see the show in Boston, saying something like "We travelled 39,760 kilometers to see U2 in Boston!" Bono tried to incorporate the distance in the lyrics to Beautiful Day, but being Bono he of course failed to read it properly (making it three thousand nine hundred before giving up ;)). Still, it didn't matter to us. He acknowledged the banner and it made us realise again that we were there with friends from all over the world. What a concert to be at! This truly was one of the best nights of my life. During Sunday Bloody Sunday, after Bono said that the song belonged to the USA now, one of the US people in our group held up her American flag. Bono spotted it, asked for it and when he got it he draped it over the amp in front of Larry's drumkit. It was a nice gesture. It was also stunning to see and hear Miss Sarajevo. I'd witnessed the Vertigo Tour premiere of this song in Amsterdam (and was in total shock when I heard those first notes as I'd never expected them to resurrect this gem). Over the months, the song has only gained in strength and beauty. Bono's opera part was out of this world. Where The Streets Have No Name also got the crowd going. And then came One... During the show, we hadn't shown our flags. We wanted to bring them out during One. The song can be interpreted in so many ways and we went for the line "We're one (i.e. U2 fans) but not the same (i.e. from all over the world)". So we brought them out, tied them together (this way it was a bit easier for us to hold them) and held them in front of us. With all of us being on the front rail, there was no need to hold them up high, they were visible anyway. After the first verse Bono takes a few steps in our direction, looks at all those flags and mouths "Wow!" We were all both stunned and going completely out of our head. I mean, after all that had already happened during the concert and now here we are amazing the band that is amazing us? The show could've stopped there and then and we would've gotten our magical moment. But One went on... At the end of the song, Bono came to our side and pointed to the girls next to me (Antoinette and Roe who were also part of our group). He wanted to have them onstage! Then he started pointing at me. Whereas my sister got confused at the first Amsterdam gig when Bono pointed at her (thinking he was pointing to someone behind her or so) I was the same this time. Did he want to have a flag or so? Nope, Bono was like "You, you, you, ALL OF YOU! Get on the stage!" When I realised this, I didn't know how fast I had to climb over the barrier. Someone gave me a hand to lift me up the stage and suddenly there I was. I got hold of my (Dutch) flag and tried to look around. My friends were getting up on stage and though I couldn't really see the audience, I did feel the energy. That all of this was happening, wow! It took considerable effort to keep my knees from shaking and most of the time onstage is a blur to me. It was a great feeling to be there with my friends and seeing all our flags made me realise how much we have in common through U2's music. After the song ended we were escorted down some very steep and narrow stairs and back into the arena. Most of the first encore went past me, as I was still trying to get my senses together after what happened just a few minutes earlier. From what I did notice, Until The End Of The World had again some cool interplay between Bono and Edge, with them chasing (running after!) each other, ending with the whole band being almost on top of Larry's drumkit. Mysterious Ways was groovy as always, another favourite of mine. One girl also got the time of her life when Bono picked her out of the audience to dance with him (and being his muse for With Or Without You). With an excellent second encore (including a superb Bad) I thought we had it all. But the lights stayed down and the crew was being busy onstage preparing some things. They wouldn't...? Well, they did. Out they came once more (totally unplanned, as I saw later on an official setlist) and started All Because Of You, one of my favourites from the new album. It rocked the house, as usual. Then came yet another highlight for me, they ended with Fast Cars. It was a song I hadn't heard live before (together with The Ocean, The First Time and Crumbs From Your Table part of my 'wishlist' for these two Boston shows). It totally blew me away. I didn't mind that Bono butchered the lyrics. The song has a great groove and sent me away on a very happy note. Not that that wouldn't have happened without it. To repeat the start of this review, this has been a great U2 year for me. Everytime when I thought they couldn't top it (Dublin 2, Amsterdam 1) they did it again. But what happened in Boston was just out of this world. It was a magical night, that will stay in my memories forever and ever. Live is where the band lives, where they take us to that other place. And we are more than happy to follow, because we know. Wow!

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