by Jeff in PA

Went to Philly 2 on Sunday night, and man, Kings of Leon were great!

Harday-har-har.

Seriously, KOL was much better than last Saturday. I could actually understand the words this time. Man, that drummer is crazy.

Anyway ... U2 was awesome. Another terrific show in Philly.

In fact, if you're reading these reviews in order, and anybody from here on down has anything negative at all to say about the show, they are an idiot.

The show was nearly perfect.

We were worried because they played MSG in NYC the night before. And yes, Bono's voice did give out a couple of times. But you hardly noticed it.

The set was tight, the sound was great and they were right on the whole night. Incredible.

And it was nice to get With or Without You. It's only the 3rd time they played it this leg, and it fit perfectly after Mysterious Ways.

Some odds and ends for you ...

* Gloria was outstanding. Edge completely ripped and the crowd was insane. Haven't seen this one live since JFK in 1987, so it was a treat for me, a veteran U2 concert-goer.

* At the end of Beautiful Day, Bono pulls a guy out from the ellipse who was covered in U2 tattoos. He even changed the lyrics ... a guy with tattoos, right in front of you. It was pretty funny. The guy just stood there with his arms up in the air.

* Running to Stand Still ... Bono did not play his harmonica bit during the intro. But he did play a quick snip at the end of the song, before the halleluja bit.

* Pride was great, as usual. But at the end, the crowd basically stopped singing the whoa-oh-oh part, and Bono had to get everyone going again. That went on for a while before the Streets loop started. Longest pause I've heard yet this tour.

* I must say ... not having the flood lights come on at the start of Streets is a bummer. That's usually the highlight of any U2 show, and to have the full loop and the big build up, then not to get the lights is a downer. I hope Willie adds the lights in Europe -- and when they get back, of course. But Streets is tighter than ever. Larry is doing some great things and the African chants are awesome.

* Bono gave is Live Aid speech again before One, just like last Saturday.

* The Fly had some reverb at the start, but was as wild as ever. Edge is really nailing this song.

* Bono brought a girl up at the end of Mysterious Ways, and he let her run a lap around the ellipse by herself. She wasn't sure what to do when Bono let go of her hand -- she was looking to get back inside the ellipse. But Bono runs over and prompts her to take a lap.

* The girl stayed on stage for With or Without You, doing a nice slow dance with Bono. And when the song kicked, Bono walked her over toward Edge and had her sit in front of Edge's pedals. She must've been out of her mind.

* Yahweh was performed on the main stage -- not at the tip. I think they were all totally spent from a killer show -- coming off a killer show the night before.

* A local radio station reported that Bad was on the setlist as the closer, but it never happened. Dallas had Edge's guitar mounted for Adam before Yahweh even started, so we knew they'd close with 40 -- which is still totally awesome.

I'm sure I missed something along the way, but it was another memorable night in Philly. We were in 201, right on the overhang at the tip of the ellipse -- a great view of everthing.

Can't wait for October 16-17.

Enjoy Europe.

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