U2 in Denver

After graduation Friday night, I packed up my car and left at the crack of dawn on Saturday for the drive to Denver to see U2's Innocence and Experience Tour.  I have driven to Denver with my friend Tony and with my Dad countless times but this was the first time going solo.  Several years ago when Tony and I were driving to a Broncos game, I missed the junction to I-25 and we were in Pine Bluffs, Nebraska before Tony realized what I had done!  He was so mad at me because it was over an hour out of our way but I maintain that it was really his fault because he was the navigator!  Now everybody teases me about it whenever I go to Denver.  Happily, I did not miss it this time (it is really well marked!) and I even got to my hotel in Denver with enough time to take a nap before the concert!  It was an amazing show, one that I will never forget!  I love U2.  I have been a huge fan since the album War came out when I was in eighth grade.  I suppose that the Beatles will always be my sentimental favorite but they broke up before I was born and I never got a chance to see them live.  U2 is a contemporary band with a lead singer who sings about peace and social justice and they definitely fueled both my earnestness and my idealism when I was young.  I practically worshiped Bono when I was in high school and college and, apparently, not much has changed since then because I was incredibly close to him for much of the concert (he even made eye contact with me several times) and I was beside myself, almost like a thirteen year old girl!  The stage was configured with a rectangle at one end of the Pepsi Center and a circle at the other end with a long runway connecting them.  Above the runway were huge screens with a catwalk between them.  My seat was on the second row near the circular stage and I would say that Bono (and occasionally the whole band) spent about half of the concert there.  During the first half, the majority of the songs came from their latest album, Songs of Innocence, which I absolutely love, interspersed with really early songs, such as "The Electric Co." and "I Will Follow," and "Sunday Bloody Sunday."  The concert began with "The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)" which is about when Bono first realized that he wanted to be in a rock and roll band.  During "Iris," a beautiful song about Bono's mother, his old home videos were shown on the giant screens.  During "Cedarwood Road," an image of the actual street was projected on the screens while Bono walked across the catwalk in between them.  It looked like he was walking up and down the street where he grew up and it was so cool.  I especially loved the effect of the blowing cherry blossoms.  During "Song for Someone," my favorite song from the album, Bono stood on the circular stage with a single spotlight.  He gave an incredibly passionate performance and it was one of my favorite moments of the concert.  The whole band performed "Raised by Wolves" suspended on the catwalk and then Bono sang "Every Breaking Wave" on the circular stage with just the Edge accompanying him on a piano that came up from the floor.  Bono can still belt out those high notes and it was another favorite moment for me.  After the intermission, they played the old favorites (Songs of Experience?) including "Until the End of the World," "Invisible," "Even Better than the Real Thing," "Mysterious Ways," "Desire," "Angel of Harlem," a powerful version of "Bullet the Blue Sky," "Pride (In the Name of Love)," and "Beautiful Day."  They finished the set with Bono singing "With or Without You" on the circular stage with a spotlight.  Sigh!  For the encore, they sang "City of Blinding Lights," "Where the Streets Have No Name," and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."  I have now seen U2 perform five times (I'm hoping that the tour eventually makes it to SLC so I can see them again) and every show has been an unbelievable experience!  This concert was definitely worth the eight hour drive!

Note:  This is not the first time I've gone to Denver just to see a concert.  I flew there to see Bruce Springsteen at the Pepsi Center and Tony and I drove to Red Rocks Amphitheatre twice to see Journey and Sting!