U2, Croke Park

Posted on August 21, 2005 by Contributor

Artist: U2
Author: Gary

A BLINDING NIGHT

The whole of Dublin city may be in gridlock and the dark clouds above have just started to open up for some teatime mist but yet there"s a carnival atmosphere building up on the capitals north side. Eighteen years after they brought The Joshua Tree tour to town" U2 are back at Croke Park with the Vertigo tour" the self proclaimed greatest rock show on earth.

Due to the fact it took ages to actually get into the stadium" we miss The Radiators but catch the latter half of Snow Patrol"s set. Gary Lightbody is soaked to the bone but the band sound ok" even though their playing to a sparsely populated stadium" most of whom don"t know their songs.

When the main act do take to the stage "to the mind blowing Wake Up from Arcade Fire"" the crowd is somewhat subdued to what might have been expected. Hello" U2"in Dublin" Isn"t this supposed to be the greatest show on earth" The band don"t care though" with Adam grinning from ear to ear and patrolling his side of the stage like a supermodel bass player and Bono doing his best" well" Bono impression in playing with the crowd during opener "Vertigo" and then "I Will Follow" and "Electric Co.". The crowd still seem a bit sober though and there"s a certain level of anxiety kicking in. Is this it" Is this what all the fuss is about"

The band then take it up a notch with a crowd participating "Elevation" and a stomping "New Year"s Day". Still though" something"s missing.
Oh wait a minute" here it is. The most spellbinding" mindblowing lighting arrangements in the history of rock n roll.

As the opening sequence of "City of Blinding Lights" is played" we see what all the fuss is about. To see these visual effects on t.v. is one thing. To see it with your own eyes in the company of 80"000 people is a different story. "Miracle Drug" gets a similar lighting treatment as The Edge sings one of the verses. "Sometimes You Can"t Make It On Your Own" sees the ringmaster take off his shades and gives the most impressive white boy soul performance not seen in North Dublin since Mr.Strong in The Commitments.

A personal highlight of the evening is "Love and Peace or Else". On record" a strange song that maybe doesn"t bond well with the other songs on the album. Live though" it"s a fucking bastarding monster of a tune that pisses on you from a height above heaven and hell. Scared the shit of me anyways. Then" the brutally bittersweet "Sunday Bloody Sunday" which demanded that the Cusack Stand be shaken to it"s foundations.

And just to make sure that the job gets done of dismantling one of the biggest sporting arenas in the world" they play a pumped up "Where The Streets Have No Name" and honestly" the earth moved. In front of a backdrop of the worlds flags" this song about New York suddenly take on a whole new meaning coming to us post Live 8.
The encore includes "Zoo Station"" "The Fly"" "With or Without You" and "Vertigo" which perfectly showed all sides all sides to the U2 coin from the electronic fusion paranoia of Achtung Baby to the simple hairs on the back of your neck standin up of The Joshua Tree.

Everything that U2 have to offer was thrown at us tonight.
At parts it was political" then it was Las Vegas caberet" then it was gospel like" with a touch of arrogance" we loved it" cringed at it" was amazed by it" stunned by it and left breathless by it.

We"ve just seen the greatest rock show in the world.

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