Fanatacism

I just returned from Salt Lake City and Portland, where I caught my last two U2 shows. Typically, U2’s songs get better when the tour and play them night after night. The songs can develop and become stronger than they were on the album. This was the case again for the Vertigo tour. City of Blinding Lights, Love and Peace, and Yahweh all became personal favorites.

Here is a small synopsis of the shows for those of you who might be interested. For the penultimate show at the Delta Center in Salt Lake, I had actual seats for the first time. The arena had the smallest floor of any of the shows that I have seen, and was very loud, due to its small, tight configuration. It was cool to see the lights on the stage and get a different perspective of the show. The setlist wasn’t very different from the other shows that I went to on this tour, however, I did get to hear Miss Sarajevo for the first time. For those of you who know the song, Luciano Pavarotti sang the middle of the song on the Passengers’ album Original Soundtracks. Bono did an amazing job singing the part (in Italian) and truly showed the power of his voice. It was unbelievable. They also played Until the End of the World (still amazing live) and I Will Follow, both of which I had yet to hear on this tour. Kanye West opened for both shows, and in SLC, some little neocon held up a protest sign that said, “Kanye West doesn’t care about white people. Go Bush.” Kanye danced a little longer in front of this person.

Portland was the tour finale for the US (unless they play Hawaii in the Spring), and there were loads of diehard U2 fans there. The opening and closing shows always draw out the fanatics, myself included. We were on the floor for this show and ended up about 7 feet off the catwalk on The Edge’s side of the stage. The setlist was fairly similar to SLC, with the exception of a cover of John Lennon’s Instant Karma. The crew for the band also came out on stage during the second encore, each wearing a shirt with a letter to spell out, “THE U2 CREW WOULD LIKE TO THANK EDGE BONO LARRY AND ADAM FOR A GREAT 2005.” It was a nice touch, and the band really appreciated it and all of the “Thank You” signs held up in the crowd. Although the show was great, it was a bittersweet end, as I don’t know when I will get to see them again. Still, it was an excellent tour that almost reached the heights of the Elevation and Zoo TV tours. I am grateful for the experience.