We saw U2 last night. We both agree that it wasn't quite as good as the Elevation tour, but nonetheless it totally rocked. I noticed that they changed the arrangements of quite a few songs, and Bono was on a kick where he incorporated the words from other songs into the instrumental parts. He worked in "Send in the clowns", "Blackbird", and a few others we can't remember right now.

He also told a story about the pope- how he met the pope and gave the pope his sunglasses. Then Bono reached into his pocket and said "then he gave me this" and pulled out some Rosary Beads and put them on the mike stand. Then he pontificated about the pope for a while.

They have become the masters of crowd involvement. For instance, they used a quiet, slow, sparse arrangement of Elevation to draw the crowd into singing along. Once they had everyone going, the whole crowd- every fucking person- screamed out "ELEVATION" and the band exploded into the song. They ended with "40" with a chorus of "How long will I sing this song" and the entire arena sang the chorus over and over as they shone a spotlight on the crowd and then left stage one by one.

They have a new stage- with the huge black and white screens from the previous tour on the very top, up high, and this new curtain of lights that surrounds the stage. It's amazing- showing light shows and videos on a screen that's made of strings of large lights 40 feet hight.

Kings of Leon is a loud, fast band that basically suck.

-Rich

U2 April 09, 2005 / San Jose, CA

Venue: HP Pavilion

Opening Act(s): Kings of Leon

Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo - Stories for Boys, Elevation, Cry - The Electric Co., The Ocean, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky - Hands That Built America, Running to Stand Still, Zoo Station, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One

Encore(s): All Because of You, Yahweh, 40

Comments: Bono pulls a female fan named Alli on stage during 'Mysterious Ways.' It's Alli's first U2 concert since Sacramento, 2001 -- when she was also brought on stage by Bono.