by Caroline Shute

A beautiful day in London, a spectacular sound, a top show. Liam and I paid just £5 extra to have a guaranteed seat (to the left hand side of the stage as you look at it and in line with the walkway leading to the B Stage ). A complete view of the show and both stages, although being this close means a restricted view of the video screen. I'm not complaining though! Some people argue that the atmosphere is better standing on the pitch, however I find that the noise of the crowd singing around me sometimes drowns out the sound of the singer, and you can't beat being able to see all the band at the same time and just catch those little moments that might not be picked up on the screen. A guaranteed seat also meant that we didn't have to queue at the bar or toilets and that we could take our seat whenever we wanted to. Subsequently, we ended up sitting in the bar for a couple of hours and almost missed the start of the show!

However this made the impact of the crowd more impressive. I had just flushed the loo when I heard that incredible roar of the expectant crowd. Liam and I bolted up the stairs, tickets in hand. Entering the stadium was breathtaking, everyone was standing and the atmosphere and noise was like a drug. We found our seats and, within 30 seconds, up started the Pop music and the band emerged from backstage. We watched them make their way to the stage, boxing style, and the show began.

The choice of "I Will Follow" as the second track lifted the crowd and kept them there for the rest of the show. I have seen U2 at Wembley three times now and this crowd were far and away the most enthusiastic and vocal. Even though we are talking 80,000 people, U2 still managed to capture that interactive feeling with the crowd. From where I stood a majority of the stadium was visible and watching the crowd surge and clap in unison gave me as much pleasure as watching Bono as he danced and waved to our section of the crowd (I wonder if everyone else in our section could truly believe that he was looking at them! I am always convinced that he is staring right at ME when he does this, I think it has something to do with the fact that I used to kiss his poster goodnight when I was a very young fan of eight years old, I tend to forget that I am now 26 years when looking at this man!).

A highlight of the show were the crowd chanting at the end of "Pride". Bono stopped the music and the crowd took over, chanting together faster and faster and faster until everyone stopped at the same time, as we applauded ourselves Bono told us we were brilliant! He seemed impressed - I hope they were as moved as I was. Well done the crowd.

It was good to see the band smiling and enjoying the show, Bono giving Edge a peck on the cheek and smooching up behind Adam.

Of course the old stuff achieved the biggest crowd reaction, "New Years Day" is always a highlight for me, as was "All I Want is You" (performed acoustically by Edge and Bono on the B Stage). "Please" and "If You Wear That Velvet Dress" sounded incredible, and the start of "Discotheque" echoed superbly. "Miami" isn't a song I reach for at home, but I was impressed by Bono's stage theatrics and the blasting guitar and vocals of the live show. I was disappointed not to hear "If God Will Send His Angels".

Although it wasn't a surprise, the entrance in the Lemon was completely over the top, which made it funny and truly rock n' roll (if you can do it - why not do it?). I found the stage, screen and the lighting less impressive than the Zooropa tour, but it was a pleasure to see the band in "normalish" clothes (if you know what I mean) simply blasting out their tunes without feeling the need to act up and talk too much!

Bono told us he had heard that "Wembley was cool" but that he thought "we were hot"! So were they. These four musicians make a team which are going to be league champions for a very long time. One more thing, whenever I leave a concert I have ONE song going round and round my head - this time it was Daydream Believer!! Once again, well done the crowd!

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