Saturday, October 24, 2009

Worshipping at the church of U2

Going to a U2 concert is a spiritual experience.

Bono is your preacher, with his deacons The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullins. Together they take you on a roller coaster ride through anticipation, excitement and absolute bliss.

On Oct. 23 at Las Vegas's Sam Boyd Stadium I attended the church of U2 and all I can say is : Best. Concert. Ever.

The show was opened by The Black Eyed Peas who literally started the party with "Let's Get it Started" and had 50,000 people jumping up and down during "Pump It" and their show closer and latest chart-topper "I Gotta A Feeling."

Fergie took a couple minutes and had the crowd help her sing her hit "Big Girls Don't Cry" I have to say not only are The Black Eyed Peas an awesome live band but Fergie can really sing and now I have a bit of a girl crush.

After the Peas got the crowd ready and primed it was time for the main event and it was totally worth the wait.

Only U2 could put on a show that featured appearances by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and a Russian astronaut on the international space station.

One of the nicest moments of the show came when the band dedicated their song "Walk On" to wrongly arrested Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi. As Bono sang Amnesty International volunteers appeared on stage holding masks of Kyi's face. As they surrounded the outside of the elaborate stage Bono said, "Let her face be our face."

My favorite moment of the night came when the band played my two favorite songs back to back. After they played "One," Bono sang "Amazing Grace" and segued into "Where the Streets Have No Name," a moment that can only be described as breathtaking.

U2 have been together for more than 30 years so at this point their sound is close to perfect. This was never more prevalent than when the band played "Until the End of the World." The tightness of their sound and their talent as musicians was on full display during the last few minutes of this classic.

I really can't say enough about how talented and somehow underrated The Edge is. Not only is he an awesome guitarist, but, his unique guitar playing has become the sound people associate with U2.

From the spectacular stage design to the awesome Black Eyed Peas to the awe-inspiring U2 this was without a doubt the best show I've ever been to and something I will remember and talk about for years.

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