by Emily

This was my first U2 show ever! It was amazing!!! I recognize that by being a U2 tour virgin up until last night, probably anything would have blown me away. My seats were up on the third level, but right next to the stage, so I basically looked down directly onto the stage. So, here is my best attempt at a realistic review, song by song...

City of Blinding Lights:
Awesome! The light curtains looked great. I missed Bono walking up the stairs, I was looking for him on the main stage, so it was cool to see him "appear." It's a great song, but I think Bono and Edge need to work on their harmonizing for the "oh you look so beautiful tonight" part. Other than that, it was stellar!

Vertigo:
Incredible!!!!!! This song rocks hardcore live. No complaints, I was rocking out the whole time. It's amusing how most of the audience doesn't get the Stories for Boys reference.

Elevation:
I've heard a lot of people want the band to drop this. I admit that musically speaking, Elevation is not a classic song. But the audience interaction with this version of Elevation earns it the right to stick around. Loved it.

The Electric Co:
I've always loved this song on bootlegs, so I was thrilled to see it for myself live. Bono added a snippet from "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" was suprising and very cool, as was his "acting." (Near the end of the song, he sat down on the floor and curled up like a ball, pretending to have been someone treated for mental illness.) This song sounds really great, but a lot of the audience doesn't know it, which hurts it. I maybe would have prefered Gloria, afterall.

An Cat Dubh - Into the Heart:
I have mixed feelings on these songs. The band does a great job of recreating the way the songs sound on Boy. However, the pace of the songs seems to confuse the audience, who has been rocking out up until this point. Also, only the really hardcore fans (who weren't sitting near me) would know these songs. I think this segment is long and boring and just confuses most of the audience. Also, in my mind Into the Heart should ALWAYS be followed by Out of Control. If they started doing that, it would be sweet. Points to Bono, though, for:
1. Acting like a cat during An Cat Dubh by crawling on the ground, hissing at the audience and licking himself like a kitty. Hilarious.
2. Pulling a kid up on stage during Into the Heart, it was cute.

Beautiful Day:
Beautiful Day will become a classic U2 song, maybe it already has. This was awesome live. The floor up on the third level was vibrating from Adam's bass, which was strange, as I only noticed it on Beautiful Day, of all songs. I actually called my one friend during it so she could hear it being played. I was kind of sad that Bono didn't sing "Blackbird" at the end, I heard him do it on the 3/28 bootleg and it thought it was beautiful.

New Year's Day:
New Year's Day is my second favorite U2 song ever and I was thrilled to hear it live. Great song.

Miracle Drug:
I love this song on the album, but it bored me live.

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own:
I expected this to be a knockout live song, but it didn't really get to me. Bono didn't even dedicate it to Bob before starting to sing. Might have done more for me if I'd been closer to Bono.

Love and Peace or Else:
This song rocks hardcore and Bono and his drum are awesome.

Sunday Bloody Sunday:
The highlight of the night!!! The entire audience was screaming this song along with Bono. It was wild and intense. You could feel the passion of the song, it was incredible.

Bullet the Blue Sky:
Again, amazing. The LAPOE/SBS/BTBS trio is powerful and exciting. Great job.

Running to Stand Still:
I was highly disappointed by this song. I LOVE Running to Stand Still, but the version they are doing on this tour is too sedated. Most of the audience isn't familiar with the song and Bono doesn't do much to teach it to them. I know this song can be amazing live, I've seen the Zoo TV video. The band needs to change something with this song, either up the staging or bring back the guitars, I don't know. I don't think it works very well as it is.

Pride:
My all time favorite U2 song. A lot of people have said it's tired and needs pulled from the set, but I disagree. Everyone knew the song the minute Edge began the chords and everyone was singing along. This is a great live song and a classic song for the band, especially here in America.

Where the Streets Have No Name:
For years I've been hearing that this is THE live U2 song, and I can't say I was let down. It was really awesome. During this song more than any other I'd wished I'd been on the floor, it looked crazy down there. Only downside of Streets was that Bono's vocals seemed washed out. Maybe a mic issue?

One:
How can you say something bad about One? It's possibly their most beautiful song ever. Very nice.

Zoo TV Intro:
The band has a video filler before the encore. It's a slot machine that eventually comes up with 4 Zooropa babies. I thought it was a great introduction into the Zoo Tv set.

Zoo Station:
Okay, Achtung Baby is my favorite U2 album ever and I love Zoo Station. But I have mixed feelings on this song in the set. While I was having a great time dancing and singing along, no one around me knew the song. The band might do better by changing their Zoo Tv set to The Fly/UTEOTW/Mysterious Ways. But hey, I have to give them props for bringing back a forgotten song. Highlight: Bono prancing around in his conductor hat. Yes, Bono, you do run Zoo Station.

The Fly:
My fifth favorite U2 song ever! It rocked.

Mysterious Ways:
Another favorite song, another great performance. The girl who got pulled up seemed a little intense with her dancing, at one point Bono almost tripped. Really funny.

Party Girl:
I freaked out when they played this. I now know that they'd played it the night before and that the girl who played guitar with them was apparently planted, which is lame. But I still liked it. Come on, how many of you can say that you've seen Party Girl live!!!???

All Because of You:
It's good, not as good as Vertigo. At one point Bono leaped off the catwalk and onto the rail and was just hanging out there. Those people must have been going crazy.

Original of the Species:
This song was beautiful, I think the band should play it more. Bono dedicated the song to Jordan, since it was her birthday. Lucky girl. He should have pulled her up on stage!

Vertigo:
When OOTS ended, I saw Bono run over to Edge and then back to Larry and Adam. Hmm, I thought, he's plotting something. The crowd was pretty wound up and I couldn't help thinking, wouldn't it be amazing if they closed with Vertigo instead of 40? The minute I heard those drums I thought I was going to die. The Vertigo reprise was awesome and a brilliant way to end a great show!

Negatives of the show as a whole:
While I had a great view of the lights, I wish I'd been on the floor. Sometimes it didn't feel like that was really the band down there. Bono's lack of conversation with the audience and his failure to really introduce the band didn't help. Edge and Bono didn't interact much and Edge stayed basically to his side of the stage. Also, I've often been told that a U2 show is a "religious experience" where Bono makes a "personal connection" with you. I didn't experience either of these things, but this might have again been because of my seats.

Positives of the show as a whole:
It was the best concert I've ever seen!!! Negative comments aside, this show rocked! I was on my feet and dancing the entire time. The lighting and the stage are incredible, everyone should see them from up high for one show. Adam was all over the catwalk, which was great. The show was louder and faster then I expected and I loved every minute of it. I'm seeing them again in Philly this Saturday and I can't wait!

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