I'm so glad Christine took the effort to join the U2 fan club and get concert tickets-I never would have, and I would have missed the Beatles of our generation. In fact, they are arguably bigger than the Beatles, particularly when you consider the diplomatic work they do and the political clout they carry. (Of course, that statement is my-generation-biased.)
Before the show, we start to get pumped by cruising their website and watching a clip of their acceptance into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. We take our time to get going to the show, not even leaving home until after it officially started. But frankly, I'd rather watch clips of U2 on the internet than see Kings of Leon, the warmup band. We have trouble finding our prepaid parking lot (and realize it would have been not only much cheaper, but also faster to have just shown up and paid for a spot), but we get in with plenty of time to buy shirts before the show.The performance was touching, rocking, moving, exciting, splashy, and deep. The songs got new meaning by the contexts they were put in and the images that were shown. Most striking was the display of several of the UN articles concerning torture during In The Name of Love. Bono introduced it, "This next song is dedicated to the brave men and women of the U.S. military." Also a highlight were the images of flags of the world scrolling past during Where The Streets Have No Name. It made me think of Mexico--one of the reasons I got lost there during our mission trip in '02 was because the streets had no names. But clearly Africa is the focus for help, as some of the concert shirts even had an outline of Africa with a target over it. Bono discussed The One Campaign, which we looked up when we got home. I think it can be huge, a way to not only help Africa, but a way of bringing the world together in the process. U2 is not just the biggest band in the world. They are not content to simply rock the world, they want to change the world.