Originally posted by MattG:Night Two, broken down into thoughts...
-Much, much better than night one. And not even just due to the setlist. The band was absolutely incredible - the most energy I've ever seen them with. Probably the best performance I've ever seen them give, honestly. I had more "fun" at 360 2011, but there was a very apparent electricity last night. I actually gasped twice during the show: once during the very jolty guitar chords after the first verse of "Raised By Wolves," because Bono and Edge choreographed a powerful lunge at each other on the catwalk that was incredibly powerful. The other time was when "Bad" started - I just was caught off guard, expecting WOWY, even though the former had been soundchecked and all.
-I much prefer "Electric Co" as a song, but "Out of Control" is simply better performed. I felt like I was in a tiny club in 1981 when they played it, youthful, energetic, alive...the song was sublime and perfect last night.
-With that being said, I'm convinced Larry is playing a joke on us. Did you hear him start the drums to "Vertigo" instead of "Out of Control" in the second slot?! Larry! The tour has been going on for some time now! You don't change that much in the set! And it's printed right in front of your face! C'mon man. The Vertigo drums seemed to go on for so long that I actually pulled out my phone to check U2Start and say "Dallas was right - they are actually going to shake this up tonight!!!" but by the time I had the internet open, he had reverted to Out of Control. Am I crazy? Did anyone else hear this?
-Bono letting the crowd sing "One" was absolutely impromptu. The band had no idea it was about to happen. Bono walked up to Edge and whispered in his ear before the song started, to which Edge nodded and clearly said "alright"...we all thought we were getting a total audible. Dallas asked Edge which guitar he needed, even. Edge reached out for the Les Paul anyway, and then Larry yelled to Adam something to which he nodded in agreement. Bono was cueing the band the whole time, letting them know when he wanted them to come in. It was a very cool experience from the pit.
The crowd went bananas for Invisible and Real Thing. Particularly, I noticed a girl and boy each about 16-17 years old, singing every word to the entire concert. Every word, of every song, with their parents. And it made me so happy to know that people are still growing up loving every nook and cranny of this band. I didn't know any girls when I was 16 that could have sang the words to those U2 songs; If I did, I probably would have married her by now
Hope you all had a great time here!! I'll probably lay a little low until Sunday evening when I'm back at the United Center...have a few things to do this weekend otherwise, and figure some distance from U2 will help me appreciate the show again for night three.
Take care, ya'll
Thanks for sharing that review, Matt. I remember feeling the same way when they played Out Of Control on Elevation and pointed out "some in the crowd weren't even born" when they released it. I looked around and it dawned on me. Wow! Watching the kids put an even bigger smile on my face after that realization...
