When I attended U2's show in Edmonton, I continued my tradition of not taking any pictures at concerts. Why start now? Let me paint a picture of my position in the stadium instead. I was on Edge's side, with a good view of every part of the spacecrab. The only problem: Edge was almost perpetually obscured by one of its legs. Oh well. In front of me was a guy who, with every one of his dozen beers, seemed to huddle over his phone more. Beside me was a gargantuan guy who turned to me before the show and asked, "Where's this band from again?" To my right was my mom and beside her, a man who played on his cellphone for half the show and then left. The sun beat down, but the heat was offset by a considerable breeze. Although the show was scheduled for seven, The Fray came on at quarter to eight. They ran through a series of songs, some of which I knew from working at a grocery store. The sun, which was setting opposite our side of the stadium, began to disappear and U2 finally hit the stage at quarter after nine. I can only assume that U2 didn't know how long it takes for dark to fall in Alberta, or that starting two hours past the ticket's time is a normal practice.
I hadn't been to a rock show in a few years. I forgot how loud they were. To be frank, if I hadn't known what the first song was, and known it very well ('Even Better Than'), I might not have been able to place it as a song. What distortion! Everyone stood for U2's entrance and stayed standing for a good while. I myself was so excited that my legs got all wobbly, and I felt like a moron. Needless to say, I couldn't believe that after waiting almost two years, I was finally seeing U2. I am writing this review more for a sense of closure than anything, I think.
'I Will Follow' I was not expecting (I hadn't been reading setlists for a while), and it was a pleasant surprise that definitely sustained the energy. The show really picked up, however, when Bono started making weird bird noises and 'Mysterious Ways' kicked in. The image of the woman flashing on the video-screen with each of Edge's opening guitar licks was cool. I sang along the whole time and bobbed more than usual. Bono jokingly threatened to not sing during 'Elevation'... so the timid Canadian audience, myself included, gave it their all on the 'WOO-OO's and the 'EL-A-VA-SHUN's. I would not let Bono down. 'Until the End' had me grinning - that riff soared through the stadium. Bono brought things back down to earth by telling a nifty & personal story about being picked up by a hockey player while hitchhiking in Vancouver. The quieter part of the set began with another surprise, 'All I Want is You', followed by yet another - 'Stay'. I sang along with both, and the latter shined in acoustic form. Singing maybe wasn't a good idea, should've just listened? All I know is I hardly got lost in the music. I was conscious of the spectacle the whole time, but it was just too tempting to not sing along with Bono.
Everyone went crazy for 'Beautiful Day'. Didn't exactly tally with the overcast sky... The song began with Bono pulling a girl up on stage, who read the words to 'Heart of Gold' off a sheet, not without some difficulty. Cute enough intro. The song proper is one of my all-time favourite U2 tunes, and its dynamics translated perfectly to a stadium setting. I loved the rainbow lighting. Everyone also loved 'Pride', but the whole sing-a-long at the end wasn't really juiced. Darn, was looking forward to that.
'Miss Sarajevo' was the stadium's collective bathroom song, but I was riveted. (I'm convinced that the show's more intimate moments were more enjoyable for me.) Just a beautiful song - especially the chorus - and the ending was perfect: Bono hit the big note in a very bright & clean tone, the video-screen shifted downwards (almost like it was melting), and then we were bombarded with questions like 'what do you want?' The answer to that one... ZOOROPA!
Was this my night or what? With this song and the inevitable inclusion of 'Streets', they'd managed to play what are probably my top five U2 tunes. Bravo. To hell with it, I told myself, I'll stand for this song even if no-one else does. I tried to scream at the end, but my voice was shot. Round about 'City of Blinding Lights' it began to rain lightly, but it didn't last long. Added to the atmosphere, though. The colour choices for 'Vertigo' were great, all those silvers and bronzes. The song itself was wonderfully heavy-sounding. Bono brought out an umbrella, even though the rain didn't really warrant it. Very rock and roll. The 'Crazy Tonight' remix was next, and boy did it get the crowd going. Sounded way different in person than when it's recorded. Best visuals of the night were here, too, with my favourite bit being the light pulsing up the spiderstation's rod.
Oh and the 'Discotheque' snippetry
'Sunday Bloody Sunday' hardly got me riled up like it should have. Just wasn't feelin' it, dog. But I gladly yelled the title whenever appropriate. There was one guy who was quiet all show, but suddenly decided to get his groove on during SBS. Weird. I enjoyed the brief 'Scarlet' immensely and decided to say a prayer after it. Another great visual was the Amnesty International lights being brought out at the end of 'Walk On'. I have to say, I have quite deep personal connections with both 'Walk On' and 'One', and it was strange hearing them in such a specific context. Singing 'One', Bono sang none of the second verse apart from its last line ('If you don't care for it'), letting the audience handle the lines previous. Following this, I lol'd at the line 'Did I disappoint you?'
The sound quality hurt 'Streets' IMO. Edge's opening notes didn't wash over me so much as they attacked me. But I bounced the whole way through, and I'm no bouncer. The two talking aliens in a pod then showed up on the video-screen, but the subtitles were obscured by the claw's leg.
'Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me' rocked the hell out, with insane visuals and Edge's best riff of the night. The LED jacket's light didn't exactly carry like I thought it would, but no big deal. Bono went on to mess up the second line of 'With or Without You', but the band seemed to be enjoying themselves and played it out long enough for the audience to do a second round of that big OHHHHH OHHH-OHHH-OHHH thing. The last song, 'Moment of Surrender', was dedicated to the victims of a fire that tore through the town of Slave Lake, which was a thoughtful gesture on Bono's part. Where I live, our media has been saturated with coverage of the disaster, and I've met many people who had to evacuate. So this meant something to me. All the cellphones & lighters in the darkness made a touching and stunning image, vision over visibility indeed. Edge's slide solo here was his best all night, too - very expressive and mournful. After going home, it seemed that this song had bored itself into my head and it was lovely to fall asleep to.
I was so self-conscious the whole show, it was over before I knew it. So much anticipation & so much foreknowledge of the show's contents - not a good mix. I'm not sure it ever dawned on me that I was finally seeing U2 live. LOL. Not to be a downer. My mom's favourite was 'Mysterious Ways', so that was cool. It was definitely exciting and the band was great, so really what more can I ask?
makes me tear up thinking about it.
