Uno, Dos, Tres, Catorce!

As I alluded to previously, tonight was the night of U2's first of two shows in San Jose as part of their "Vertigo" tour.



Here's the stage set-up before the show began. If you saw the "Elevation" tour (or, like me, you saw the DVD), you'll notice the similar stage design that allows the band members to walk out into the crowd.

We missed the opening set by Kings of Leon, because we spent the entire time in line to buy merchandise. The shirts do look really cool though, as does the program.

The show lived up to all expectations, as lofty as they were. This might be the best concert I've ever been to, about the only complaint I have is they didn't play "Walk On". They did, however, play "Running to Stand Still", which I wasn't expecting and was extremely grateful to hear live. The band put a lot of emotion and energy into their performance, and the San Jose crowd was generally responsive (although the section we were in only got up for the oldest hits).

Bono held a stirring tribute to Pope John Paul II and told a story about meeting the Holy Father and giving him a pair of his wrap-around sunglasses. I liked how Bono said he is accused of having a "Pope complex", and that the Pope had a "rock star complex". He said, "I didn't always agree with what he stood for, but he stood for something," and it was obvious that he had great love and respect for the Pope from the affection in his story. I feel like he really summed up how I felt about the Pope and his legacy, and to me at least, it was really touching. I liked "Miracle Drug" anyway, but now I will always associate that song with the Pope now (the same way I associate "Walk On" with the aftermath of 9/11).

The cool text message campaign Bono talked about before singing "One" is something I knew about beforehand, since the technology behind it is powered by Sun. It was pretty neat too, how the names of some participants were flashed across the video screen after the song (although neither my name nor Rhonda's showed up).



Finally, here's a shot from the performance of "Where the Streets Have No Name", which was clearly the highlight of the show. People went nuts over this song. It was an electrifying, fiery display in a satisfying and memorable show. Highly recommended if they are coming to your town.