The crowd was average in terms of noise and participation. Let's just say there were a fair number of people who were "older" and spent their concert comfortably seated, which took away from the crowd noise just a bit. Bono was his usual bundle of energy. The trademark opening of this tour, City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, has to be one of the most exciting ten minutes in concert history. The snippets thrown in keep you on your toes. Gloria was a great surprise, harkening back to the glory days of October.

The heart of the set was done with real intensity. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For got the crowd really going. Sunday Bloody Sunday lasted about ten minutes with Bono using the song to make a statement as always. The main set finished up with One, and here the crowd sort of let things down. One can be absolutely electric, but this night it did not completely connect.

Now for the encore; Santa Claus, Elvis, and Bono, no this is not the punch line to a great Rock & Roll joke, but the highlight of the evening. During Mysterious
Ways, Bono was making his way around the ellipse and somehow he pulled a guy in a Santa Suit up onto stage with him. This guy was a spot on copy of Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa, complete with open Santa coat and gray t-shirt underneath. Bono and Bad Santa took off around the ellipse. Now another guy was near the stage in full Elvis attire. Not to be outdone, Elvis managed to make his way onto stage also. So now Bono is finishing up Mysterious Ways, doing his Bono Skip around the ellipse. Bad Santa is following behind doing the drunk guy/Homer Simpson dance, and Elvis is bringing up the rear of this surreal conga line strumming his air guitar and shaking his hips as only Elvis can. Even after Bono returned to the main stage, Elvis and Bad Santa took another victory lap around the ellipse. The crowd responded with a roar, and how Edge, Larry, and Adam kept playing without cracking up during this is a testament to their professionalism. The rest of the encore was just as exciting with Instant Karma! and another Boston performance of Crumbs From Your Table. All in all, a show for the ages.

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