U2 - Vertigo - Milwaukee, WI

I knew it was going to be an great show when Bono came out sounding good. After a couple of songs, he was still sounding awesome. The whole band was just tight.

Opening song was City of Blinding Lights and the stage set and lighting lived up to that. It's a good opening song. I would still like to hear Vertigo as the opener, but that's the breaks.

No big surprises, just a good show. It's not destined to go down as a classic, but it was definitely an A Team effort. Bono and the boys were practically giddy with the mix of it being the 29th anniversary of the day they met, the Provisional IRA announcing they will destroy all their weapons, and the World Bank agreeing to forgive a bunch of Third World debts.

Not much in the way of politics from Bono. Like I said, he was just downright giddy. So, it was all rainbows and unicorns on that front.

We, did learn that The Edge is from the future...so perhaps the whole outer space thing wasn't right after all. Unless, of course, he's from both space and the future. That would explain a lot. It also rules out the possibility of ever being as cool as The Edge.

Bought a handful of ONE wristbands and passed them around to our group o' people. Bought a tee-shirt and a poster. What can I say? I'm a dork that way. Besides my ticket was free, so I could afford to fill the band's coffers a bit.

Highlights definitely included the two hotties right in front of me. The cuter of the two soared in my estimation when she finally cut loose during Bullet the Blue Sky. They were both dancing pretty hard before that (Sunday Bloody Sunday had brought them jumping to their feet), but she really got into Bullet while her friend left to get another beer. C'mon, you just don't get beer during Bullet - go during Jahweh or something...

So, she got into it and the cropped cardigan sweater slid off. The white spaghetti-strap tank was a much nicer sight for sure.

Her friend later climbed over her seat to get out of my row - which Eric and I had the end of to ourselves - and grabbed my leg in the process, thus redeeming her stock somewhat. I have to say, she was one of those bounce up and down dancers, which combined with leaving during Bullet, left her with a lot of redeeming to do.

As is often the case, the two cuties made my night. and made an already excellent concert that much better.

Anyway, back to the music. Bono was singing great. He was actually really, really good when he did the Pavarotti solo in Miss Sarajevo. I was impressed. He also tossed off a pretty good off-the-cuff rendition of Old Man River.

The Edge was on, of course. He seemed really crisp. The other boys certainly followed suit and all told it was a good night for the band and an incredible night for me.

Now, I'm finally winding down...maybe more later.

Here's what they played:

City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Elevation
Cry / 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
Wild Horses
With or Without You

All Because of You
Crumbs From Your Table
Yahweh
40