7:30pm
The Arena is not even half full at this point, but at 7:30pm on the nose, Kings of Leon take the stage. They play fast and loud and it takes the sound guy about three songs before he has the levels set. I am a fan of their music, and enjoy their punk like energy. The rest of the gang is not so impressed by them. Oh well. We aren't really here to see them anyway.

8:15pm
At exactly 8:15, Kings of Leon finish their set. 45 minutes of southern punk rock. Great set, and the majority of the crowd is appreciative. As soon as KOL are off the stage, their gear is stripped down and carried away to make room for all things U2. Four rope ladders drop from the lighting trusses, and people start to climb up into the ceiling, taking their seats in some very "Star Wars" looking lighting turrets. At this point, the rest of the lighting trusses lower to the stage floor, and a few more people hop into more turrets. Very cool.

The Edges guitar tech and Adam Claytons bass tech both come onto the stage to set up each members gear. Each one takes a turn walking around the "Ellipse" to make sure all the wireless gear is working.

8:55pm
The house lights go down. The Arcade Fire song "Wake Up" is playing at full volume, and the crowd is singing along to the "oooh oooooh's". 17,000 people just waiting for things to explode.

The song ends and we can hear that familiar guitar sound as The Edge takes the stage. Slow build up, and suddenly the rest of the band kicks into City of Blinding Lights, and the place goes wild. As Bono comes to the chorus, "Oh, You Look So Beautiful Tonight!", a huge bank of lights from the back of the stage shines out into the Fleet Center illuminating the entire arena. The WOW factor is kicking in.

Next up is Vertigo. I wasn't a huge fan of this song on the album, but to hear it live, you can see why it was the first single. The crowd loves it and scream every word. The light show on the stage is literally mind blowing. I cant even describe it.

Elevation seems like a completely different song when done live. Bono leaves the entire chorus of the song up to the crowd, and refers to us as "Sexy People". We all blush a little bit as the drums kick in and the song takes off. We are three songs in, and i already feel like I've gotten my moneys worth.

Moving straight from the new to the old, the band goes right into Gloria. This was definetly one of the stand out songs of the entire set. This was more than a song, it was an experience. I'm not sure if the 17,000 other people realized, but that song was pure worship. To see 17,000 people with their hands raised singing "Gloria In te domine; Gloria Exultate" which translated from the Latin means "Glory in you Lord; exalt Him". This is quickly becoming the best church service I've ever been to.

The Ocean is a bit of a change of pace as it slows things way down, with Bono speaking, rather than singing the lyrics. He adds a couple of verses, talking about their early years as a band.

Beautiful Day is another highlight from the set. I love this song. There is nothing else for me to say about it. It was pure joy.

Bono spent a few minutes giving props to the science people "around the corner working on a cure for cancer" at Harvard as he introduced Miracle Drug. The new songs sound really great live.

It almost seemed wrong to be in the room while Bono was singing Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, a song that he wrote for his dad just after he passed away. Very personal song, in front of a not so personal crowd.

Another huge change of pace brought us to Love and Peace or Else. I've always been a huge fan of the Edges guitar playing, but i have never really seen him "rock out". He most definitely rocked out on this song. His solo was crazy.

"No longer an Irish song, this is an American song", is how Bono introduced Sunday Bloody Sunday. The older tunes really stood out in the set. Even though they have probably sung this song thousands of times, when Bono sings "Tonight, we can be as one tonight", you can still hear the passion in his voice. If this song didn't give you goose bumps, you have no heart.

Bullet the Blue Sky brought things to another level. I consider this to be an angry song. An angry song about war. Live, it's even more angry. Great visuals during this song too. Very cool.

Running to Stand Still was dedicated to "The brave men and women of the United States Military". A very moving and sad song. Seemed appropriate. As the song was ending, a number of articles from the Declaration of Human Rights rolled across the screen. Another stand out from the set.

As the Declaration of Human Rights was fading from the screen, the band kicked into Pride In the Name of Love, their tribute to Marting Luther King Jr. Amazing song, and even more amazing when done live. The crowd was feeling it.

"This is our fight, this is our moment to do whats right. From Dr Kings America and Civil Rights, to Nelson Mandellas Africa, and Human Rights. The journey of equality... Moves... On." Was the intro for Where the Streets Have No Name. This is where the roof was totally blown off the Fleet Center. I read in a recent interview that Bono gave, he said of this song, "If a show is a little off, and there's a hole, that's the one song we can guarantee that God will walk through the room as soon as we play it." He is right, though I'm pretty sure God was already walking around the place. This song just might be the greatest rock song ever written. Unbelievable.

They closed their main set with the song One. Bono took the opportunity to talk to the crowd about the One Campaign that the band is a part of. Great set closer, but we all knew it wasnt over yet.

This is where things get a little blurry for me. The crowd was going nuts, it was loud, and hot, and i'd been standing up for over two hours at this point, and suddenly i started to feel my own bit of vertigo. As the band came out to start their encore set, i stumbled my way out into the hallway, and tried not to pass out. I ended up listening to the first two songs of the encore on my knees in the Fleet Center washrooms, puking my guts out. I also had a bit of a chat with one of the dudes selling
t-shirts as i was trying to recover. Nice guy.

The acoustics were still pretty good in the "Club Seat" washrooms though, The Fly and Until the End of the World sounded amazing from the stall, even if the visuals weren't that great.

I made it back to my seat just in time to hear another one of my all time favorite U2 songs, Out of Control. This was their very first single as a band, and it still sounds great after 25 years.

With or Without You was next. Beautiful song, and the band ended the night and said their goodbyes.

Or did they?

The crowd wouldn't give up. We knew how much the band loves the city of Boston. We were sure they had a little more to give.

And we were right.

Through thunderous applause the band returned to the stage for a full out version of All Because of You. It was loud, it was sloppy, and it was great.

From the look on the Edges face, and his less than stellar piano playing, it was obvious that The Original of the Species was not supposed to be on the set list. But with a little convincing from Bono, the band made it though. Even with the screw ups, it sounded pretty good, and made for a pretty funny exchange between Bono and the Edge.

If i had to choose any song for U2 to end with, it would be Bad. There is just something about that song that i cant get enough of. I would put it in the same category as Where the Streets Have No Name. It is a song that just makes you "feel". I guess allot of U2 songs are like that. The crowd, and the band were right on with this one, and completely together as Bad faded into 40, and back into Bad, and finally back into 40 as the band left the stage.

"How Long to Sing This Song...How Long to Sing This Song" echoed through the Fleet center til they turned the lights on and made us go home. Even then, some of the crowd was still singing it as we made our way down the stairs and out into the rainy Boston night.

This may have been the only time i will ever get to see U2 live, and i was worried that i might be disappointed by the show. Maybe i set my hopes to high, how could they possible live up to 17 years of wanting to see them live?

They did. And then some. Every song was great.

Now i just have to see them again.