...that’s a big stage...but I suppose with a band with an ego the size of U2, they need it. U2 are not known for doing things by halves and if you’re going to expect people to part with $100+ for tickets $50 for a T-Shirt and their recently saved home deposit to but a bottle of water, you have to entertain them and entertain us they did.

About half-way through the night that I began to wonder that given their absence from Adelaide for over 13 years they were out to make up for lost time. Starting off with their two most obvious hits Vertigo and Elevation they primed the crowd for the night ahead, and gave wanna-be fans the chance to get home in time to see themselves leaving the concert on the late news. (see the reviews on the Advertiser website)

Over the next 2 (and something hours) the set list flowed effortlessly from recent hits such as Beautiful Day and Stuck in A Moment, to old stalwarts like Angel of Harlem. The latter unfortunately missing the Memphis Horns but allowing The Edge to display is guitar prowess. Not to be out-done, the now healthy-looking Adam Clayton broke with tradition and was rumored to be seen walking around the stage even going as far to join Bono and The Edge down on the thrust stages... The only other explanation is that Larry is a “wanker.”...or collects Spoons!

For a band with such a diverse and lengthy back-catalogue there were always going to be songs that missed the cut, but ending the show with Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name and One would have left me leaving a happy concert patron... But they had other ideas.

No sooner had the adrenaline began to drain, then the familiar TV edits, and guitar stabs of Track 1, Side 1 of Achtung Baby filled the arena. Not content with just doing the song they, and by "they" I mean Bono, DID the song, with Bono recreating the same theatrics of the ZOO TV Tour, what is more they followed this up by charging straight in to The Fly.

After a brief interlude, in which Bono again relived the Zoo TV tour by serenading a young lass. They gave Adelaide one last treat. Desire!

You would’ve thought that on a night like this it would be hard to pick a favorite, but I personally couldn’t think of any other song I would’ve wanted to hear.

The only disappointment of the entire night was the ill-proportioned kite..in Kite. It certainly wasn’t any giant pig and for that matter it wasn’t even close to being threatened by a dwarf.

Rating: Definitely “knocking on the door” of my top five gigs ever.

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