This is a day-after review, so it might not be as thorough or as coherent as it could be.
I got in line at 8:30 A.M. and was number 152. I got a spot almost against the rail (only one person in front of me) in Edge's half of the inner circle. It was really cramped in there at first and finally evened out once the show started, but people kept leaving and coming back over and over and over again (even during Streets!) and threading through the crowd, which was really annoying. The Fray made my ears ring, but that was about it; at least they tried.
I was so glad to get to see All I Want Is You and Stay! I actually cried a little during Stay because that has always been one of my favorite moments on the Boston Elevation DVD that I've had since I was 14 and I was actually seeing it performed live right in front of me after all this time. EBTTRT sounded fantastic and Zooropa and HMTMKMKM were highlights that I never would have dreamed that I'd ever get to see live. When WOWY was done I was thinking that it's too bad the show is almost over… and then it
was over! With no MOS! That was a shock and I don't think anyone was really prepared for it to end yet because people stood around awkwardly for a little bit and it took a while for the lights to come on. I wasn't too devastated about it because it wasn't my all-time favorite song in the show, but it was a little disorienting and didn't have the same emotional sense of "closure."
One thing that stands out in my mind was how Larry seemed really cheerful and was smiling and waving to people in the crowd when he came out and sat at his drums at the beginning. He even waved in my general direction, so I waved back.
During Crazy, he went to the top of the circle, held his arms out, and looked like he was saying something to the people on the outer rail. There were a couple of guys in front of him who looked surprised and a little scared and had expressions on their faces like
Why is Larry yelling at me? He must have felt like messing with them.
I have to mention all the really nice and wonderful people I met in the GA line and stood in the inner circle with. You are all amazing! I came and lined up all alone and ended up in small posse of new friends. And I have to give a special shout out to Greg who offered to take care of my chair so I wouldn't have to throw it away at 3:00 and then brought it to my hotel today. How nice is that! U2 fans are the best. You will not find a nicer, more polite, or more organized bunch of people at a rock concert than all those people I met yesterday and stood around with for 16 hours.
Actually, people in general are really nice in Winnipeg. A random guy at the bus stop helped us to figure out where we should get off the bus after the show and another guy today saw us looking at a pay-parking box and pulled over to give us his ticket that still had some time left on it. That worked out really well, because the place we were trying to get to was closed anyway, so we would have wasted money on a parking space for nothing. It really helps when you're in a new place and feel really dumb because you don't know where things are or how things work and total strangers out of nowhere do really nice things to help you out.
Pictures coming soon, but I need to sort through them and get them all spiffy first.
Wine-Peg!