by hibricc

Fourth of seven Boston Vertigo shows, #16 lifetime. Patty and I sat in Loge1 – amazing tickets I bought last week through a TicketMaster ticket drop. (Sold the club seats I bought back in January.) Loge1 is apparently the section where the Garden (renamed since the May shows) sells their VIP packages, which include a pre-show party and a small gift – many folks in our section carried leather bound notebooks, not sure what was inside. Unfortunately, many had also been drinking continuously since the party and were quite drunk. Of course, the worst of those didn’t have the stamina to last through the entire show and had to leave early. (Too bad for them.)

The band’s return to Boston didn’t really get much media hype, with the region so focused on the Red Sox run to the playoffs. Once the lights went down and Arcade Fire kicked in, though, the energy returned. After a week off, the band was refreshed and ready to rock. Bono’s voice was dead-on, except for one moment when he seemed to swallow some water the wrong way during Pride and had to let the crowd take it.

Lots of audience participation, with women onstage at two separate times, and someone tossing a Red Sox jersey to Bono during the encore. He wore it during Yahweh, before hanging it on his mic stand for 40.

Highlights were the opener City of Blinding Lights (still gives me chills); a vicious Electric Co with Edge rocking out on the ellipse; Bono and Edge singing a gorgeous acoustic The First Time; and the closer 40, with Larry putting down the sticks, quietly walking up to Bono’s mic stand and putting on the Red Sox jersey before walking off. Pandemonium.

Lowlight for me was Miss Sarajevo. I know it’s a vocal tour-de-force for Bono, but I think it just sucked the energy out of the building and didn’t replace it with any drama... it was the only time we sat down. I much prefer the beautiful melody of Running To Stand Still in that slot.

A great start to the fall shows… GA for Boston5 should be fun, hoping for a stroke of luck with the ellipse, otherwise we’ll be hanging by the soundboard.

A note about the opening act…. The melodic pop trio Keane was a refreshing change from the aggressive grunge of Kings of Leon (the Leg1 opener). Their lead singer knows how to play to a crowd, and the spastic keyboard player and drummer were fun to watch.

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