by Linda Waste

Wednesday, May 16th. U2's final show in Chicago and what a show it was. After sitting in the 300 level behind the stage on Saturday night and in a Suite on Sunday, I finally saw the show from inside the heart. I arrived at the GA line at 8:30am to find I was about 50th, so we ended up right up in front of Bono about 2 people back from the front rail. After the band rocked the arena with their opener "Elevation" they went into "The Fly". Everyone around me had been to multiple shows and they were all looking around with amazed expressions wondering what was going on. They did juggle the set list around for the first part of the show which made it a real treat "One" was particularly heartfelt and spiritual.

During "New York" we moved to the back of the heart. To be honest, from that close up it's difficult to get perspective on the rest of the band. From the back of the heart the show was even better. We could see all four of them when they were all up on the stage and we had room to dance and jump around like freaks. We also got a special treat when the Edge and Bono did their beautiful yet simple rendition of "Still haven't found what I'm Looking For" almost right in front of us. The back rail had a lot of openings because the well-dressed VIPs couldn't have cared less if they were any closer so we had an incredible view from "I Will Follow" through "Pride". Bono had this great moment during "Pride". A fan handed him an Irish flag and he proceeded to pretend to be wiping tears away on it. Very dramatic and again, right in front of us.

Of course, the encore was explosive. The anticipation to hear "Beautiful Day" and wondering when they would play it resulted in a heightened audience participation unlike I'd see at the other two shows and as always, they turned in an incredible version of "Walk On" to end a spectacular night. Bono praised Chicago throughout all 4 shows here and I can see why. I can't imagine an arena being louder than the one we were in last night. Chicago loves this band.

Having first seen U2 in 1983 during the second leg of the War tour (Aragon Ballroom for $12), I was thrilled to see a show that felt so intimate and yet powerfully energetic. I highly recommend the all-day wait to get in the heart. When you are in there, the show is happening all around you. It felt like we were at a private concert with about 300 others until you looked up at the entire stadium and realized there are 20,000 people going absolutely crazy. It was all I could to to contain my composure.

It was certainly a grueling day and I'll be wearing this massive sunburn around for quite some time but was it ever worth it.

Return to previous page | Post a Review of this show!