Not to toot my own horn, but I think I(and Zory, apparently), may just have been at what will end up being the best show of the entire first leg. ;D It was a great, great show.
We got there at about 8:30, in time to see KOL. They were ok, lots of energy, but I still envy the European crowds since they're getting the Killers and Keane. So KOL got done probably around 9, the whole show was running a little late, and then began the wait. After nearly 30 minutes, the production of the band entering the stage began.
You don't truely understand the brilliance of COBL as an opener until you've experienced it in the flesh. It's dark as the 'Everyone, Everyone' chant booms over the loudspeaker as the sillouhettes of the band emerge and the place, finally being appeased after waiting for 30 minutes for the band to appear, goes crazy. Slowly but surely COBL starts and you could visibly see Edge with his foot in position to fall on the guitar pedal and the rest of him in position to strike the first guitar notes when the time came. The crowd collectively holds their breath, all eyes on Edge. Finally, he begins playing that melody and the whole place just goes nuts as the light show begins.
Other highlights:
The crowd involvement at this show was just unbelievable. The first chorus of the first performance of Vertigo, 20,000 people screaming 'Hello, Hello, I'm at a place called Vertigo' , was simply the loudest sound I've ever heard, closely followed by the same moment in the reprise of Vertigo, closely followed by 20,000 people screaming 'It's a beautiful daaaaay' in unison.
Elevation is better this tour than last. The band doesn't really kick in until the third verse, and it works really well that way.
Bono said 'I love this place' early in the show, referring to MSG and NYC, and had various references to NYC again throughout the show. You could tell the band loves playing there.
Speaking of which, Edge was doing some funky stuff with his guitar during BD right before the 'see the world' bridge. Really fucking great-sounding techy computer-ish sounds. Edge is fucking on fire this tour. He owns it. He just tore it up on LAPOE, The Fly, The Electric Co., BD, ABOY, and of course Bullet The Blue Sky - just to name a few. The whole trilogy of LAPOE-SBS-Bullet was just something to behold.
LAPOE just fucking rocks live. My brother(who was with me) said it was a song he was never crazy about and I couldn't believe it(it's my favorite song from HTDAAB). Between the building-shaking bassline, Bono and Larry singing the chorus together, and Edge ripping everything to shreds, it was one hell of a rocker.
SBS was the best performance of that song I've heard from the band, not counting the Edge Karoke versions from Popmart, since the Lovetown tour. This really is one of the most iconic songs in the entire U2 catalog.
I found Bullet to be quite captivating...I think the snippets of Hands and When Johnny Comes Marching are perfect choices for the song, as are Bono's theatrics where the handband is concerned, and I applaud the dropping of the monologue, not because I dislike it(I love it) but because it shows that band is still not afraid to try new things with their live performances.
Red screens or not, Where The Streets Have No Name is U2's Stairway. It is the best song they have ever written. When you hear it live(this was the second time I've done so), you know that. There is no such thing as a bad performance of Streets, but nontheless, this was an AMAZING performance of it.
The holding of up of the phones is a thing of beauty. The 21st-Century lighter....although a lot of people had actual lighters too.
The Achtung trilogy of songs(ZS, The Fly, and MW) was just tremendous. Achtung = Perfect. The Fly might be my favorite U2 song ever. Edge owned this song. It is definitely better this tour than the slowed down versions last tour.
Original Of The Species is a gorgeous, gorgeous song, and when heard live, it because painfully obvious how much Lillywhite butchered it in the studio. Thankfully, Bono said in a recent interview that if OOTS is released a single, which it likely will, it will be remixed to have just keyboards, vocals, drums, and bass, like the live version. I had been hoping and hoping and hoping that they would play this song at MSG and I am SO happy that they did. It was one of the most beautiful melodies they have ever written and they improved 1000000X live....also, I think the live performances of it have a Radiohead-esque-ness to them as far as the keyboard sound goes.
I'm not sure, but I THINK Bono may have attempted 'the scream' during ABOY.
Yahweh also improved 1000000X live. The acoustic version kills the studio version - it is much more similar to the Alternate Version found in the ITunes Complete U2 than the album version. The part where all four of them were standing lined up next to each other at the front of the elipse at the end of Yahweh and Edge singing the climactic melody was one of the greatest moments of the show. You could REALLY feel the connection between band and crowd in that moment.
Until you've experienced the reprise of Vertigo in person, don't diss it. Just massive, massive amounts of energy. I was sweating profusely when we walked out of the garden into the rain.
As for non-performance stuff....
The light shows during the songs were beyond amazing. Just incredible, and adding a whole new dimension to the show.
Everyone knows that NYC and Boston are where U2 are the most in their element in this country. This was no exception. The band and the crowd were one(no pun intended) this night.
So, to sum up...the best rock band in the world in the greatest sporting/concert arena in the world + Edge owning the tour = great great great show. Like I said, possibly the best show of the entire first leg. ;D The only complaint I have is about the band ignoring Zooropa and Pop this tour(so far anyway), but hey, they can only play so many songs in one show.
