We'll carry each other, carry each other.

I went to a Rock Show on Sunday night. Probably the biggest Rock Show that I have ever been to. So much so, that I keep capitalizing Rock Show. I went to see U2. Now before I proceed, you need to understand that U2 is not my favorite band. They're probably top five, but they're not numero uno.

As you may guess, U2 is a tough ticket to get. I've always been interested in seeing them live, but the opportunity never presented itself. Last year, U2 dismantled it's existing fan club "Propaganda" and decided to create a new fan club via the U2.com website. One of the benefits of the new fan club would be the opportunity for the chance to purchase tickets before the general public (there was no guarantee of tickets). So I decided to join because I thought this would be my best chance of finally seeing U2 in concert. And it worked. I scored two GA floor tickets for the 10/16 show in Philadelphia. And what made it more sweet, was the fact that we were selected to be in the "bomb shelter," which is the ring inside the ellipse. There were probably only a couple hundred people in the shelter, compared with the several thousand others on the rest of the floor.

So we get in to the shelter around 7:00pm, knowing that we would have to sit through the opener, Damian Marley, before U2 came on at 9:00. And for a portion of his set, we literally sat, despite the absence of chairs. After the set-change, U2's intro music came on and lights dimmed. The crowd started getting loud and as each member hit the stage, the crowd roared. They opened the show with "City of Blinding Lights" and spent the next two hours or so running through their rather deep catalog of songs.

The crowd seemed to be in it for most of the show. Notable exceptions were some of the older songs, and "Fast Cars," which wasn't included on US version of HTDAAB. At one point in the show, Bono gestured to a young boy in the crowd to come up on stage with him. He and the boy walked hand-in-hand around the ellipse as Bono sang. Later on in the show, Bono gave the boy his sunglasses and I am fairly certain he got a tambourine at the end of the night as well. You don't see too many rock stars walking around with small children during their shows. But then again, most rock stars don't hobnob with world leaders either.

Here is the setlist in it's entirety:

City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Elevation
Electric Co.
The Ocean
Still Haven’t Found
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes you Can’t Make it On Your Own
Love and Peace or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Miss Sarajevo
Pride in the Name of Love
Where the Streets have no Name
One

First Time
Stuck in a Moment
Fast Cars
With or Without You

All Because of You
Yahweh
40

I enjoyed the show. The people seemed to be into it (when they weren't leaving for beers or the loo) and it was enjoyable to watch the people react to the music. Being on the floor, I was able to look up at the fans in the reserved seats and watch them clap, dance and sway to the music. I also enjoyed watching the members of the band as they played. I also really liked the way they used their lighted backdrops. Up and Down. Up and Down.

So it was a good show. As I mentioned to a friend, it was, to some extent, closure for me. I had heard the music and seen the videos. But I had never seen them in person. And it's quite exciting to hear a song like "Where the Streets Have No Name" that you hear quite often, performed live. So now I can say that I've seen U2 live. I think I might like to see them again sometime, perhaps outside. Perhaps some other year..

For pictures, look here.