U2 in DC, 10/20/05

I caught U2 in concert once more, and this time I brought my camera:

I wasn't lucky enough to get inside "the ellipse," the walkway leading out from the stage, but I did get a spot right up against the rail outside the ellipse at its tip -- right in front of where the tom is set up on the walkway for "Love and Peace or Else," which was really something.

I think Bono had a cold. He dropped or raised things an octive or modified the melodies of songs a lot to avoid having to sing too high or too low, and notes he normally holds quite long (e.g., in "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own") trailed off early, and he took a number of breaks through the evening to drink water -- the latter of which I didn't mind a bit, as it led to some extended guitar solos and improvisation.

I was glad it was DC2 rather than DC1 the night before that I went to. DC1's set list was very close to what they played opening night at Madison Square Garden, which I was also lucky enough to catch, but DC2 featured "Out of Control," acoustic arrangements of "Walk On" and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses," and a fabulous closer of "Bad," with liberal doses of Patti Smith's "People Have the Power" thrown in as a crowd singalong.

If you want to see more of what I saw that night, drop by the photo album. I admit that I'm salivating over Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago, the DVD (due to be released November 15) from two earlier nights on the tour.