by Andrew A!

Ok, show #2 (see my other reviews for the other Chicago dates)

Since it was Mother's Day, I went to see my mom for a bit first, but did make it to the UC at 11:30 (though a friend of mine held my spot since 10.) The GA situation was basically the same as yesterday. Except much warmer! I met some fans from the previous days and we talked about seeing each other the next two days.

This time waiting for the band, Larry and Adam came and drove in without stopping... but Larry came back out and signed for everyone! I got him to sign that awesome $5 poster of all the album covers that they were selling outside after last night's show. My wife, a drummer, was holding my spot in the GA line at the time. I called her up as soon as he showed up. As Larry signed my poster, I asked him to speak to my wife on the cell phone who was a drummer and a huge fan of his. I held the phone up to him and he said "Hi, How's it going..." etc.... My wife was freaking out. So was everyone in the line around her!

As Larry was finishing signing, Bono and The Edge showed up. The Edge said "sorry, they couldn't sign anything" and got back in the car. Bono came out and shook a few hands. I asked him if there would be any surprises for us fans who were going to all 4 shows. He said "4 Shows?!? Whoa...!" I said "That's nothing, I've met people from Ireland who have been to 15 shows!" He then said that "It was not about changing the songs but about reaching a certain end. If they were to change something they may not achieve that end..." I then said (knowing about them not playing Sweetest Thing for a while now) "well, maybe if you got on the piano?..." He laughed, went back in the car and they drove in.

Sure enough, they changed the setlist around (basically replacing certain songs as I'm sure most of you have read already...) Near the end of the night, Bono also mentioned about them having such a great time in Chicago that they'd "advise against the later shows". Everyone laughed. But since I haven't seen them play that setlist, it was all new and awesome to me. I was so happy to hear different songs from the night before and hoped that the next two days would bring more surprises. Hearing "Ground Beneath Her Feet" (prefaced by Bono saying "here's a song most of you probably don't know") was great. It did seem that they were moving faster and the show ended earlier the night before (I think due to less songs). The band intros were brief and near the end of the night. I throughly enjoyed this show probably more than yesterday's because I was physically feeling better (waiting outside I knew what the GA line would be like, plus it wasn't freezing out... btw, I don't know how the belly dancer girl could dance in the cold all day yesterday in that outfit!) Wearing ear plugs this time, which helped immensely (though my ears were still ringing for two days after the first show.) Sunday, I was able to hear the details of the songs more.

This time I had two friends with me in the heart (in addition to my wife.) They said it was the best show of their lives. They also said it was a totally different show being up close on the floor than up on the third level (which they had the night before).

Other notes: Early on in the night (after Beautiful Day I think) Bono said "we had a great show last night and were going to have another great show tonight!" Bono stayed more on the main stage and played more guitar which was awesome. They did not have the extended ending to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" maybe because the night before it seemed that Larry kinda messed up when he first came back in and he and Adam laughed to each other. Also, during All I Want Is You, Bono sang the end "All I want is...Yoooouuuu!" part at the same time as The Edge's solo which was interesting.

As mentioned by others, Bono sang quite a few lines about The Edge's guitar problems during Walk On. It was so funny and he rhymed them quite well "...push the switch..it'll do the trick". The Edge looked so intense because he couldn't figure out why no sound was coming out of his guitar no matter what he did. It was priceless.

A great day, feeling much better, looking forward to 2 more shows, wondering how they can top 2 awesome ones...

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