U2 were fantastic on Monday. We were sitting in the A Reserve section (aka the best seats in the place but not as good as the standing area near the stage) and the atmosphere was fantastic. The sound quality was not great, given that the Telstra Stadium is an open-air sporting arena, but nevertheless, the concert as a whole was great. But of course I would say that. U2 is my favourite band after all, so much so that I flew eight hours just to see them play.

I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of Miss Sarajevo and Where the Streets Have No Name, which hadn't been played in the last leg of the tour and was an absolute show-stopper. I screamed my lungs out at the usual points: Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, I Still Haven't Found (What I'm Looking For) and Pride (in the Name of Love) before realising my voice just might have been captured on my digital camera as I was filming the performance. Fortunately, that turned out not to have been the case, but it did make me a little less carelessly exuburent for the remainder of the concert.

Throughout the concert, I wasn't able to fully immerse myself in the whole experience, having to concentrate on taking photos and filming songs I enjoyed. But once I stopped doing all of that (after With or Without You, the song which I'd been waiting for the whole night), I found a big grin creeping onto my face. Kite, the song U2 ended off the night with, was given a native touch with didgeridoo accompaniment and sounded absolutely fantastic; the song moved me greatly, even though it's not in my top ten favourite songs, and almost brought tears to my eyes.

All in all, it was an awesome, awesome night. And if U2 came by whichever region I happened to be in, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. After all, I still want to hear Stay (Faraway, So Close!) and Bad live.


Setlist (thanks to this site):
1. City Of Blinding Lights
2. Vertigo / Pump It Up (snippet)
3. Elevation / Spinning Around (snippet) / I Should Be So Lucky (snippet)
4. I Will Follow
5. New Year's Day
6. Beautiful Day / Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (snippet) / Blackbird (snippet) / Michelle (snippet)
7. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
8. Angel Of Harlem
9. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / No Regrets (snippet)
10. Love And Peace Or Else
11. Sunday Bloody Sunday
12. Bullet The Blue Sky / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet) / The Hands That Built America (snippet)
13. Miss Sarajevo
14. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
15. Where The Streets Have No Name
16. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (snippet) / One

First Encore:
17. Until The End Of The World
18. Mysterious Ways
19. With Or Without You

Second Encore:
20. The Saints Are Coming
21. Party Girl / I Should Be So Lucky (snippet)
22. Kite

Link to another review.