Unforgettable Fire

I had the pleasure of attending the U2 concert last night at the Shark Tank in San Jose. I'm not a fanatic about live concerts (I prefer my songs with a studio polish) but U2 has been on my List of Bands I Must See for several years. I love all of their classics, I know their two most recent albums well and then there's the fact that they're the biggest rock band in the world.

Going into the concert I had a wishlist of five songs that I would most like to hear: "With Or Without You," "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "One," "Beautiful Day" and "Miracle Drug" (the best song off of the new album). They played all but one of them and needless to say, I was a very happy customer. Understandably, the setlist last night was heavily weighted towards songs from Atomic Bomb. This actually wasn't as big of a problem as I anticipated, since they stuck with the best songs off of the record. I was a little surprised with how many fairly obscure songs they played from the mid-80s (and yet they couldn't squeeze in "With Or Without You"?!). And I agree with the Sports Guy, who attended their LA show a few days ago: "City of Blinding Lights" was the wrong choice to start the show. Why not go with a well-known anthem like "Beautiful Day," or "Pride (In the Name of Love)"?

The highlight of the show was "Sunday Bloody Sunday," a song that the band has been perfecting for over 20 years. The crowd went nuts as soon we heard the opening drum solo, and the band just got down to business. The Edge was most animated during this song, stomping his foot, bobbing his torso up and down and playing an angry, snarling guitar riff. When you contrast him with the heavy-handed, overly-theatrical Bono, The Edge looked like the coolest rock star on the planet.

The stage was terrific, with concentric-circle lighing on the floor, and background curtains made of thousands of flashing light bulbs. The lights were perfectly synced up with the dramatic changes in each song, and it created a dazzling spectacle throughout the concert. Given the magnitude of the band, my familiarity with the songs and the fantastic set, I can say that it was easily one of the best concerts I've ever attended. If you missed it, I highly recommend that you check them out on their second North American go-around this fall.