by Tim

My fifth show of the Vertigo Tour and I would rank it in the middle of the pack - I was also at 3 of the chicago shows and anaheim 2. I thought that the band had a lot of energy and while the setlist was "standard", that is to be expected on the opening night in the city. A high percentage of the people in the arena were seeing their first vertigo show (and maybe first U2 show), so it is hard to balance what those people want to see (hits) with those who have been to multiple shows (more rare tunes). I was really hoping for Bad since Chicago 1 had it, but it was not to be.

Some highlights:
-COBL is my favorite opener and I thought last night's was the best I have heard.
-Electric Co. was amazing; loved the return of "Send in the Clowns" and "I Can See for Miles."
-The ZOO TV encore is always amazing, The Fly is my favorite song of the tour so far and I loved the new video images during it.
-40 was great as always and I actually thought that Streets was the best I have seen this tour - but that probably just demonstrates how that song has fallen this tour because it was still nowhere near the quality of any previous tours.
-Running to Stand Still is always amazing.

The weak parts:
-Vertigo. This has been awesome throughout the tour, but last night was pretty weak. No Stories for Boys snippet and it seemed like Bono's mic went out near the end of the song.
-I'm personally just a little bit tired of An Cat Dubh and Into the Heart because I have seen them so many times recently, but I think it is great to hear those more obscure old tracks.
-Bullet - please don't play this song anymore; personally,I was sick of it by Popmart.

Overall it was a high quality show in my home city. Bono's voice was strong throughout and the band seemed especially tight. I'm looking forward to next sunday, although I may venture up to NYC this week as well.

Tim

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