U2 Concert Review: 05/22/2005 at Philadelphia by Tom Humphries

by Tom Humphries

OK, here�s my first review. This was my first of 4 shows on the Vertigo tour. I drove up from DC and had a great time. I get them in Dublin in a month and then DC in October.

Well, there isn�t all that much to add that hasn�t been said already. I think one of the biggest surprises was at the beginning of Elevation when it seemed the crowd started the �whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo-hoo� WITHOUT prompting by Bono. Maybe I�m wrong but it seemed we started singing it in response to the opening guitar note and not at Bono�s urging. At one point Bono just stopped and looked out at the crowd belting out the whoo-hoos and said something like, �Well, that�s Philadelphia�. It was a very cool moment.

I went absolutely nuts when I heard the drum beat as an intro for Gloria. I was bouncing around like on a pogo stick (before the people around me reacted to the song). That was great. I never thought I would hear that song in my life.

I must mention the embarrassment that was some of the people around me. I was in the nosebleeds in 204A so I wasn�t expecting a dancing-fool section but I wanted people to be involved. Next to me was a mother/daughter tandem who were great. They knew 75% of the songs and danced to the ones that they didn�t know either.

However, there were two sets of people who were awful. On the other side of mother/daughter was a string of 5 neckless mental midgets who feel the need to reload on the beer input every 3 songs, REGARDLESS of song. (They are probably Eagles fans) It was pathetic. I sorta understand if you wanna grab a beer during The Ocean (but that still p*ssed me off) but doing it during Pride is embarrassing. One bozo kept flicking off Bono, screaming at him, �you f�ing suck, Bono.� And whenever Bono would say ANYTHING other than singing something, this yob would shout, �Shut the f up and sing.� It was sad.

But that may not have been the worst. Directly in front of us was a family of mother, father, daughter, and son. The son was probably 11-13 years old. He walks in to sit in his $50 seat, wearing his $35 tshirt and eating lots of expensive food. Before U2 took the stage, he put in his ear plugs, laid back and fell asleep. He didn�t wake until they left. It was insane. The 4 of them never stood up (I never sat), occasionally sitting on the arm rest during Streets or something big. They were gone 2 songs into the 1st encore. I wanted to dump my coke on their heads. What a waste of space.

But despite these people, the rest of the crowd was great and for the most part really into it. I can�t wait for Dublin.

So, like I said, I got them 4 times this year. 1 down, 3 to go. I am gonna hear them play BAD, right? Please tell me I will.

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