Hey everyone, here are my thoughts on the show last night (my first one for this tour).
I arrived at Continental Airlines Arena very early. As I head into the parking lot, the car in front of me has a license plate "One Tree Hill"......I thought, "I guess I'm in the right spot"
I'm blasting Hawkmoon 269 and I hear just about every other U2 tune from blasting from the cars of the tailgaters. The parking lot was in full on party mode. I shut off my tunes and listened to the random U2 songs blaring throughout the parking lot (Dodging people, frisbees, BBQs, and footballs). I realize I am in my own personal heaven....sun shining, people enjoying U2, my kind of tribe.
I watch Kings of Leon. I'm not quite sure if I liked them or not. They are a lot heavier than I thought they would be, and I liked that. The singer just kind of howled and shouted for 45 minutes. But musically, they were aggressive and fun.
U2 takes the stage and rip into COBL, complete w/ confettti raining down onto the stage. Very cool visual. Overall, the stage and lighting were excellent. It was just the right amount w/o being a distraction, yet still providing that dizzying feeling.
Vertigo - brought the house down. Lots of fan interaction, I can see this song played for many years to come. People just lost their minds to it. It was obvious, the band loves to play this song.
Elevation - I didn't think I would like the version w/o drums/bass for the first part of it. I was wrong. Once again, great fan participation. It was refreshing to see Larry sing along w/o a mic, just singing and enjoying himself....He can be too serious sometimes.
Gloria - Bono said "this song is off of out first album, no, wait, our second album".
. I've waited many years to hear this song and I was not disappointed. bass and guitar solos
The Ocean - yes people did get up and grab a beer or bathroom break. However, it was a very pretty version. Lyrics were changed to incorporate "The Jersey Shore" and "The Atlantic Ocean"
Beautiful Day - sounded fresh still and everyone loved it
Miracle Drug - dedicated to a friend of the bands' sick infant. Bono also praised doctors and nurses (especially nurses because they don't get paid enough). Edge's part ruled !
Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own - very touching, and Bono did a pretty good job of hitting the notes he wanted.
Love and Peace or Else - Tore the roof off the place, just like I knew it would. If Bono has back pain, he certainly didn't show it. He was a mad man.
Sunday Bloody Sunday - IMHO, has lost a bit of it's magic and should be retired. However, it got the biggest "pop" from the crowd. They ate it up.
Bullet the Blue Sky - Same story as SBS, but even the crowd wasn't as into it as it was say circa 1988 or 1992 for that matter.
Running to Stand Still - Was suprisingly georgous, complete w/ Edge on piano and Bono w/ harmonica. Sounded soooo good it hurt !!
Pride - big crowd reaction. Was fun to just look around the arena and take it all in.
Streets - nothing tops when the lights go up and see 20,000 people having the time of their lives.
One - still sounds great. Bono's speech at the beginning was a bit all over the place but the song itself was wonderful.
Zoo Station - Bono in police hat and doing his ZooTv military march around the cat walk. Mostly just the die hards went crazy and the casual fan wasn't quite as entertained.
The Fly - blew my mind. I'll never get tired of that song. Edge went fucking bananas in this song. He was dancing and just ripping the guitar to shreads. It sounded like an angry man letting out all of his frustrations through musical notes.
Mysterious Ways - great crowd reaction. Bono brought up a girl to dance, she seemed a bit nervous or whatever as she really didn't "get into it".
All Beacsue of You - AWESOME live. Edge is a madman. He has never sounded better. Killer version.
Yahweh - Accoustic w/ Larry on keyboards was fantastic. It blows the album version away. So heartfelt and stunningly beautiful. A real highlight for me.
ISHFWILF - Um, don't even know where to begin. Long story short, Bono brought up 3 YOUNG guys (maybe early 20s), to play a song w/ them. Turns out to be ISHFWILF. These guys were not bashful, singing into same mic w/ Bono, playing distorted guitar version, hamming it up w/ the crowd. They called themselves the Bank Robbers. Larry went to a much quicker pace to keep up w/ them and the song turned into a punk version
The Bank Robbers didn't want to leave the stage. It was quite a scene.
Bad - AMAZING version, I thought this song might be growing stale as well, however, it rawked !! People were dancing in the aisles, even new fans were grooving with it and the band gave it 110%. The 40 snippet at the end was great. Of course I'd prefer the full version, but I couldn't complain at all.
Random Thoughts:
Bono back pain.....What back pain??
Edge is in his prime. He is loving being out there, he's dancing, and is playing the guitar like a man possessed.
Adam's smile never left his face.
Larry was singing along, playing keboards etc. His drumming for Streets and Bad were outstanding. If his back or wrists are still bothering him, it did not show one iota. He was king last night.
I love this band and I loved this show. I'll see them again in October at MSG.
Thanks for reading.