My Review/Experience of the Show:
Well, I had been waiting for U2 to return to Utah since the day I got my tickets. So it had almost been a year and a half! But the day finally arrived and I couldn't have been more excited! We arrived at the stadium just as the Fray exited and so we had to sit and wait for about 55 minutes before U2 made their famous walk to the stage. The minute I heard the opening chords of Space Oddity come over the speakers, I jumped up and started screaming and clapping. I was the only one
. Everyone looked at me like, "What are you doing?" Then, I turned to my girlfriend and shouted, "THIS IS WHAT THEY PLAY BEFORE THEY COME WALK TO THE STAGE!!!!" That got everyone else attention and the whole crowd jumped up and started clapping, screaming, and getting pumped. The band made their walk and it was clear this was going to be an amazing show. Everyone in the stands began to do a "Mexican Wave" that lasted for a while. That was very cool to see.
Soon, we were into Even Better Than The Real Thing, which was a great video to see on YouTube, but seeing it live in person makes one thing clear: THIS IS THE OPENER U2 360 HAS BEEN WAITING FOR! It's really quite incredible. It got the whole stadium jumping up and down. Which is amazing, because I doubt every person in attendance even knew what that song is. But it's just so high energy and exciting that everyone had to get in on the action! The jumping and excitement continued when the roaring chords of I Will Follow blasted throughout the stadium. I thought we were going to cause Rice-Eccles Stadium to crumble down from the weight of 50,000+ people jumping around.
After that was the usual Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, Mysterious Ways bunch. Let me just say a few things about those: First of all, Boots was actually exceptional tonight. Edge's guitar was blistering and it was easily one of the loudest songs of the night. I bet when they began Boots, that was when all the noise complaints started. Second, the new remix of Magnificent is FANTASTIC. They have truly breathed new life into the song. It's more lively, a little faster, and it's easier for the audience to get into the groove with. Lastly, Mysterious Ways has always been one of my favorite U2 songs. And I just love the way they're playing it live now. Sure, it's missing the slide solo, but I think that that is okay! Ever since it debuted live on ZooTV, that slide solo has been in the song and they have played the song in the exact same way. I'm glad they gave that arrangement a break, because it was getting boring. During Edge's solo, Bono had
everyone, and I mean everyone in the audience throw their hands in the air and move them back and forth (just like in the Rose Bowl DVD). That was in my top 10 moments of the night for sure!
Following that was Elevation and Until The End of the World, which both got the crowd moving. The lighting effects on UTEOTW still amaze me. I think it's one of the best lighting shows of the whole concert. After those two came Bono's speech where he made Larry almost fall off his seat laughing by saying that he's going to star in the new Billy Idol biopic and that he looks like Billy Idol "after he cleaned up a bit". Bono thanked us all for our patience and said that it was good that we waited because "[The band is] better this year". Then, Bono looked at Edge and said, "What do you want to play next?" Edge replied, "All I Want Is You". He said it softly though, because not a lot of people heard him. There wasn't much cheering. Then, the opening riff began and the stadium erupted. We carried the ending chorus of "All I want is you" into the next song, Stay! That was a beautiful medley by Bono and Edge. Great, great song.
Next we had Beautiful Day. Before BD, Bono had three sisters come on stage to read a truly beautiful poem about Utah. The song was wonderful and really got the crowd pumped for the next one: Pride. Every member of the band was at the top of their game tonight. Edge's solo in Pride was exceptional. The whole crowd started screaming when it began, because, when the video screen focused on Edge for it, he was jumping up and down and totally rocking out. I love that this band will have a good time with their music and they get totally invested in the songs they are performing.
Let me just say that: ZOOROPA IS MAGICAL. That whole song is just an ambient explosion of lights, sound, and magic. I loved it. And I'm guessing people around me did too because we were all singing along to the "She's gonna dream of a world she wants to live in; she's gonna dream out loud" part. Yeah, I think this song is here to stay. City of Blinding Lights is a wonderful lights show and everyone in the crowd was singing along to it, same with Vertigo. Crazy Tonight began and people, even those who didn't know what it was, just started dancing and literally going crazy on this night (which Bono actually acknowledged at the end of the song). The Discotheque mash-up towards the end is pretty cool to see. I was screaming along with it and so were many others.
Sunday Bloody Sunday is awesome because of the green Claw. Right as Edge started the solo, he had some guitar problems (maybe one of his strings broke, I think). Dallas came running up the stairs to switch his guitars out but Edge just shook his head "NO!" and kept on playing. He improvised a sweet new ending to the solo for SBS, that I can't wait to hear again on the bootleg. Scarlet and Walk On were great crowd pleasers.
Then we were into the encores. When One began everyone was freaking out. Bono added some more guitar parts to the intro than he usually does. During the parts of the chorus, Bono would back off and stop singing and the whole stadium would drown out the music with everyone singing "One love, one life, etc." That was beautiful. Then, the lights went off and Bono was in the spotlight to give us a chillingly beautiful rendition of Bob Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind and The Times They Are A-Changin'. Then Edge began the intro to Where The Streets Have No Name. Being my favorite song, I just couldn't help but to close my eyes and take it all in. Being at a U2 concert, seeing my favorite band, hearing my favorite song live. It was overwhelming. I was just so happy. The night couldn't get any better. (oh, but it did).
Streets had the whole stadium singing along to it louder than any other song before it. I guess that's what it is designed to do. It's the ultimate live song. Then the band left and returned for the second encore. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me is JUST. FREAKING. AWESOME. Sure, before the show I wanted to see Ultraviolet, cause it's one of my favorites, but after seeing Hold Me, Thrill Me. No way. HMTMKMKM is THE song to open the encore. It's incredible. After that we had With or Without You. At the end when everyone sings the "oh oh oh oh" part, we sang it so loud and with so much emotion that Bono removed his in ear mics to listen to us and we actually brought him to tears. After the song, he thanked us and said, "That was so, so special".
Then he gave his nightly thanks to the crew and such and we were onto the closing song of the night, Moment of Surrender. Before it, Bono said something I really loved: "Everyone has someone they want to remember in a moment". I wanted to remember this concert for the rest of my life. It truly was an amazing experience, and one that I will never forget. Thank you Bono! Thank you Edge! Thank you Adam! And Thank you Larry! You are all amazing and I cannot express how grateful I am that you returned to Utah for one night to give me, and thousands of other, an unforgettable show.
Now, Onto "The Proposal"
(aka, SHE SAID YES!!!!!! 
)
Some of you probably read in other threads that I would be proposing to my girlfriend of three years at this show. Well, I did, and she said yes
Here's how it went down:
When we arrived at the stadium, I was nervously checking my pocket every minute to make sure the ring was still there. I had been planning to propose during All I Want Is You, but I wasn't sure if they would play it, so With or Without You was my back-up song. Both of those hold very special meaning to my girlfriend and me. When I heard Edge begin the opening of All I Want Is You, I just wrapped myself around my girlfriend and we just swayed there for the whole song. I was singing it to her. I decided at that moment to wait till WOWY to actually propose, because I thought that way, we could have these two separate and special moments together in the show. After AIWIY, I whispered "I love you" into her ear and then we kissed. It was great
When WOWY began, I got the ring in my hand and once again, held onto my love as we sang along to our song. It was truly beautiful. I'm so happy that Bono is back. His voice is better than ever and he was belting out "WITH OR WITHOUT YOU" with so much emotion. Soon, I felt like it was time and I kind of pulled away from my girlfriend and backed up. She turned to look at me like, "What are you doing?" and that's when I got down on my knee and said, "Caitlyn, I love you so much. Will you marry me?" She screamed YES! and I put the ring on her finger and we embraced. Everyone around us cheered. I'm hoping someone got video of it, haha.
One of the coolest parts, though, was somehow I was magically able to time the proposal just right. So when I slipped the ring on her finger and we kissed, Edge began that iconic solo from With or Without You. It was so amazing, it was so perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better night.
Thanks for reading, those who did. And once again, thanks to U2 for providing such a wonderful, extraordinary, and perfect way for me to ask my girlfriend to marry me.
