Saw my sixth U2 concert last Tuesday night.  Went with my friends Liz, Jarriel, and Jessica.  Spoilerrific account follows, so if you’re planning on going and, like me, tried to media blackout beforehand, read only after you go…

So the first challenge was getting to FedExField (yeah, they really run all the words together like that – apparently the stadium is a Web startup in 2007).  Jarriel had a very clever shortcut all worked out.  Unfortunately,  it led to an entrance reserved for emergency vehicles.  We could not convince security that we were an ambulance.  In retrospect, I probably should have tried the Potato Man bit from The Simpsons.

So we waited in traffic like everyone else, turning the car off frequently because we were running out of gas.  We finally got to the parking lot only to realize that it was hell and gone from the actual stadium.  We could see a whole Blair Witch forest’s worth of trees between us and the bright lights of the venue.

Three movies and countless Academy Award nominations later, we arrived at Mordor, I mean FedExField only to find out that our  seats were on the other side of the stadium.  By now we had done missed the opening act, Muse, who I was very curious to see since I’d fallen in love with the two of their songs I knew (both from trailers, as it happens – “Shrinking Universe” from 28 Weeks Later and “Take a Bow” from Watchmen).

We had damn good seats.  We were toward the back of the stage, but very close, and since the band spends most of their time roaming the 360 degree platform, the angle didn’t hurt.  The first thing we saw when we walked in was a massive spiderlike structure that looked like it was going to come to life and kill us all.

Photo by javYliz

Underneath all of that is the stage, which looks like a series of catwalks and platforms from a James Bond villain’s layer.  Very cool.  We had a clear view of what appeared to be the VIP section, or at least where they all came in.  At one point a group came in to a cacophony of cheers and boos (and a couple of thrown drinks) and I asked the person next to me who it was.  “Nancy Pelosi.”  The audience was clearly conflicted about her presence, judging by the equally mixed reaction when Bono mentioned her during the show.  Also in the crowd that night: Patrick Leahy, Josh Bolton, Tom Daschle, Eric Cantor, Cardinal McCarrick, and the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.

Finally, Space Oddity came over the speakers and smoke began to billow from the spider.  This is it, I thought, it’s going to eat us like one of those creatures from The Mist.  I regret nothing.

Then the lights went down and everyone lost their shit.  A song came on over the speakers that I did not recognize, and I cursed myself for not paying more attention to the b-sides on this album.  Larry took the stage and started drumming out the complicated 6/8 of “Breathe.”  I was spoiled for this being the opening song, but I didn’t care cos’ it’s my favorite tune on the new album.  Second tour in a row they opened with my favorite tune from the new album (last time out it was “City of Blinding Lights”).

After a couple more tunes from the album (“Magnificent,” which I theorized would be first, and “Get on Your Boots,” which really works live) they abandonned No Line for most of the rest of the show, which was a little disappointing on the one hand since I think it’s one of their strongest albums, but a little understandable since it’s also one of the most unplayable.

As a result, the show had more of an Elevation tour vibe, which had a greatest hits feel, more than a Vertigo tour vibe, which seemed more focused and cohesive.  Some points of interest:

- “Your Blue Room” Out of nowhere.  All cut to some cool astronaut footage ending with an actual astronaut reciting the closing monologue from space!  Wins the totally freaking obscure track award of the night.

- My friend Jamil and I theorized that they might play some Unforgettable Fire on this tour because musically the albums are so similar.  That paid off, but in unexpected ways.  They actually played “Unforgettable Fire” itself, which I’d never seen, ditto “MLK,” which they played in honor of Aung San Suu Kyi, before playing “Walk On,” which they wrote for her.

- It seems there’s always a cause for “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”  On the last tour it was the Mideast.  On this tour it was Iran.  The stage was bathed in green, which is weird because when this song came out the green would have symbolized Ireland.

- Third encore.  Best surprise of  the night.  Bono comes out in the 21st Century versinon of the Mirrorball Man outfit from Zoo TV.  Basically a jacket lined in fiber-optic lasers.  Very cool, weird effect.  Sang  into this steering wheel shaped microphone that hung from the ceiling (that he occasionally hung from).  Went into “(Ultraviolet) Light My Way,” my favorite song off Achtung Baby, which I’d NEVER heard them perform (they had ditched it from the set list by the time I saw Zoo TV).  Fan-fucking-tastic, although I don’t think anyone else went as nuts as I did.

- Speaking of going crazy, I’d heard there was a remix version of “I Know I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” that was somehow related to the show and that night I saw it.  I admired it more in concept than execution.  First off, the original version is great, and I would love to have seen what they would have done with that version live.  There’s just a lot of interesting musical shit that would have been nice to see in a performance.  The remix version doesn’t have any of that.  And while I like the idea of doing a completely different version of a song live, I just didn’t llke this particular version.

- Also disappointed they didn’t play “No Line on the Horizon.”  Feel like that would have rocked live.

- When they played “Mysterious Ways,” I was suddenly struck by the thought that the song is almost 20 years old.  Getting old.

- The closer.  This was an interesting, bold choice.  After “Ultraviolet” they played an as-usual heart-rending, crowd-pleasing ‘With or Without You.”  That would seem the logical choice to stop.  But then they went one step further and pulled out “Moment of Surrender,” a six-minute Eno-fest off the new album that I love, but wouldn’t expect them to close with.  I didn’t think it worked, at least on a crowd-rallying level, until after the show, walking back, when we heard more than one pack of drunken revellers singing the “whoah-hoh-ho-oh-oh-oh” refrains.  Damn.

The set design is the best they’ve had since Zoo TV, what with moving catwalks and a rotating drum set.  They really take advantage of the 360 concept, with all sorts of misdirection making you lose track of the players, but in a good way.  Hey, when did Larry’s drum kit turn around?  Where the hell did Bono go?  How did Adam get over there?   Holy crap, The Edge is sitting right next to me!  It’s like ninja U2.

But what really ties it all together, the Lebowski rug, if you will, is the honeycomb screen.  It’s this massive collection of hexagonal (I think) screens knitted together in a crown shape above the stage.  It’s massive and has the ability to slide up and down above and, here’s the really cool part, expand, with the indivudual hexagons breaking away from each other like a mesh netting of smaller screens.

Photo by javYliz

The fact that it’s this hard to describe should tell you how unique it is.  They use it to great effect, and it’s probably one of the coolest design elements I’ve seen anywhere, much less at a concert.

Cringed a bit when Bono actually thanked the sponsors at the end of the show.  Tried to remember that all the shit I was seeing was mad expensive, but still.

While I wouldn’t rank this as one of the best U2 shows I’ve ever seen (I’ve had some admittedly good fortune in that arena) I still had a great time.