Ok.
Here's my review.
I was there on thursday to get a glimpse of the stage... It hyped me, it was much more huge than I thought it would be... At that time already 15-20 fans had been lining up outside Croker. At that point I said to my father (who took me to Ireland and would also attend the concert) that we would probably need to get there a bit early to get a decent spot... We agreed to leave our B&B at 9am.... We'd be there 10. Of course, on the way home from Dublin the same day, the radioguy who held the U2marathon (another thing that hyped me) said that "100's of fans have joined the queue, so get there early..." I then convinced my father to leave at 6am... so we would be there from 7.
So we got there at 7:30 or something. About 150 people ahead of us. We stood there for 1 hour so, and the queue moved up... No real system, people ran, and I think I got to be 20 spaces further than I should be... some Irishmen behind me got even further up the line. We stood there until... well... 11:30 or something. Again, the queue moved, this time to the stadium grounds... A bit unorganized again, and some of the very early ones were put back in line... Too bad really. Anyway, about 2 they soundchecked. I heard bits of Mysterious Ways, Original Of The Species (of course they weren't played), City Of Blinding Lights, Love And Peace Or Else. Some time later Bono came and they did a full soundcheck of Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. Made the wait a bit shorter
About 4, maybe 3:30, we were let into the stadium gorunds... Again, people who were in front were surpassed by the people who didn't care about what the security guards said, and ran up to the bomb shelter. My father and I too ran, at this time we were amongst the first 100 people, and we got ourself an amazing spot by Adam's catwalk, in the bomb shelter, 3 metres from the stage. Incredible.
We met a nice guy from Pasadena there, and some Italian folks. My first time actually meeting other fans, which was very nice.
The Radiators came on about 6, and they were hilarious because it was these old guys, 50+ maybe, playing sucky rock music. Entertaining anyway, but too loud and noisy.
Snow Patrol however were great. I liked a couple of their songs very much, and he told us to "enjoy U2". I certianly would.
About 8:30 the whole stadium was filled. Everyone was just waiting for the band, and the crowd made waves that went around the stadium 8 or 9 times. The spirit of people was so high at this point.
Rain... we don't mind
And then they played that "Wake Up" song...
Everyone sang along at that point already, and my anticipation killed me. I waited for the song to end, but right in the middle, suddenly they just stood there, the music stopped, and Bono said: "Larry Mullen" and he started Vertigo's drum beat.
It had begun.
I screamed, cried and danced, jumped, clapped, I can't believe that I had so much energy in my body after 13 hours of wait.
I Will Follow was a great surprise. Everyone in the crowd was into it. I was the same as during Vertigo.
I jumped for joy, and the smile of my face was so broad I still feel an ache when I smile
However it was The Electric Co. that really started the show foor me. No The Cry opening, and I was a bit let down, but I didn't care as soon as the first chorus came on. This is top 20 U2 in my book. WOW.
When he sang the Smashing Punpkins snippet it'd already become a classic part of the song, and I sang along there also.
Right after this Elevation, I liked the tease-the-crowd thing he did.... But it wasn't that special. I still jumped, sang and clapped though.
New Year's Day was beautiful. "This is Adam Clayton's song" Bono said, and sure it was. He walked down the catwalk and looked at the crowd, and I think it was because of my huge smile he noticed me... We exchanged glances for several seconds, and he did the "frowny smile". New Year's Day. So beautiful. Tears in my eyes at that point.
Beautiful Day continued my melancholy. Might have been the single highlight of the first set. Wow. It was the first song to get me into U2. Hearing this, at my first ever concert... I had come full circle.
I still haven't found a liking for I Still Haven't Foudn What I'm Looking For, but the crowd's response was great. There was truly something special about the singalong. And the crowd just kept on going when the song was finished. It was great, and at that time I thought to myself that I didn't care what they played, just as long as they played something.
THEN CAME WILD HORSES. I mean, sure, Beautiful and New Year's Day were amazing, but I mean, that song... THAT SONG... Achtung Baby is my favourite album, and Wild Horses sure is amongst my favourite songs... And this version was better than anything I've ever heard. Oh my. I was crying when it ended, it was so beautiful.
On to the next highlight: City of Blinding Lights
It's now my favourite song from the album. I mean WOW. I couldn't singalong though, I had wretched my voice so much during the first couple of songs, Beautiful Day especially, so I skipped the "oh you look so beautiful part". Sort of a let down, as this was the only time Bono walked down to the lower part of the stage and really communicated with the bomb shelter.
But it was a highlight no matter what. And the screen blew me away. I was on cloud nine.
On to Miracle Drug. A song I had a certain skepticism about, but it worked out really great for me. The heartbeat thingy worked really well, and Bono talked about Rome after having the spotlight light up a banner some fans had. It was great.
Sometimes and Love and Peace were the "lowlights" for me, I mean, I sang along, having slightly recovered my voice, but no jumping or dancing.
It was good, but I mean, not the songs that really get me going. I was nice that I had a break though, because I went nuts during Sunday Bloody Sunday.
When Bono sang: "oooooh oh ooohh..." and we were to repeat it back to him, he was 2-3 metres away from me, and I was in total ecstasy (is that how you spell it?). The rock-highlight of the main set, together with Electric Co. My voice was ok for this, and I was just blown away. Never had I heard it with such power.
On to Bullet The Blue Sky. I have changed my mind about it leaving the setlist... STAY ON IT. Damnit. The song was amazing. Edge nailed the solo totally.
When Bono sang The Hands That Built America... I was mesmerized. The screen was awesome... Adam was really cool during this song also. Total succes.
Running To Stand Still: AMAZING. The stadium went totally silent, just singing along to the "halalaladeeday" parts. But it felt great.
When Bono sang Walk On everyone in the bomb shelter sang along. I think he noticed how much we miss it!
On to Pride. It was great, but as most of you others I think the song felt old. But you know, singing along to Pride for the first time is something special.
Streets. I knew it was coming. Of course, but nothing had prepared me for what I felt. I get shivers as I write this. It was THAT good. I never liked the studio version, but live, it binds the whole crowd together.
Everyone was into it. OH MY. I jumped higher than I ever had. I sang louder than I ever had. Wow. Wowowowow. Nothing can express what I felt there.
WOW.
Onto One. This was... I think the highlight of the show for me. I mean, when I hear one I relate it to a lot of things, and let's just say my eyes were filled with tears. The whole stadium was lit up by the phones, and it looked so great. Now it was Bono's turn to say "wow" (referring to the lights).
At the end of this song everyone was so emotional.
And at the end of the main set I was, well, I had had the greatest night of my life.
I had expected by 10 minutes for the encore break, but they were back in 2 minutes (or maybe it just felt like 2 minutes, I dunno!) Anyway, Zoo Station is one of my favourite songs of theirs. It is just great. I mean, nothing comes close to Edge's guitar during Zoo Station. Bono walked down on our side this time, he glanced down on us, I got eye contact very briefly, but Adam and Larry were much more fun.
Anyway, it didn't burst my bubble, it was Zoo Station and it was great. I'm unable to describe how rocking great it was. Especially when The Fly followed suit.
I mean, those two songs, I don't know what went on but the band just nailed it. Wow. It made up for Until The End Of The World not appearing. Edge's solo got great cheers from the bomb shelter (all I know of is the bomb shelter, I very seldomly looked other places than the stage!). At one point Adam brought on the drums too early, so that the band were forced to alter the ending a bit. But no matter. I was shocked by the greatness.
With Or Without You was a surprise. I had expected Mysterious Ways, it'd been soundchecked earlier.
But at that point I didn't care at all. With Or Without You was one of the first songs I heard. I mean, it was great, totally great, although the "shine like stars" verse would've been welcome!
All Because of You was also a big surprise. I had the theory that if Vertigo appeared twice All Because of You couldn't appear in the encores anylonger. Well, I was wrong and we got ourselves and extra song. That was just great. A lot of jumping and shouting, and I was amazed I still had energy enough to follow suit.
Yahweh was great, the visuals were very good, but I never cared for the song THAT much. However it was nice getting a little break again, so that I could go totally nuts when they played Vertigo again. Sure, I would've loved 40, but this was nearly as good. I mean, we jumped and sang and clapped more than we had done during the entire show I think.
I would've loved Stories For Boys, but instead he sang a song I didn't know
No matter though, he did the "hello hello" and made us answer back, it was great. When it ended I was... walking out on high, very melancholy-alike, this was my first U2 concert remember. It truly had been one of the very very greatest nights of my life, and it certainly felt like the band felt the same way.