Sydney: City of Blinding Lights, Party Girl and ONE

There would be three shows in Sydney in all. I was to attend the third show on 13^th Nov at the Telstra Stadium in the Olympic Park. Although I arrived in Sydney on the morning of 12^th itself, I was not really in the mood to visit many places on 12^th and the morning of 13^th – my mind was set on the evening of 13^th. I still went to Darling Harbour on 12^th night – sat by the bay and watched mates, street comics and lovers enjoy themselves. Sitting at the Head of the Bay (near the Convention Centre, you get to see a beautiful sight – Blinding Lights). Dinner was good – and I got my first lesson of Sydney... if your pizza comes in 3 sizes – Small, medium and large – and you are from India or Singapore, DO NOT ask for Large. I am a voracious eater – and I could not even finish half of a medium pizza. Food is not very expensive – and the can Aussies eat. Big time. Net Net – you get your money’s worth everytime you go out to eat – just be careful to order wisely because the proportions of food are in Aussie terms – no wonder they are so big.

The next day, I went to the Darling Harbour again – but this time to check out the Sydney Aquarium and The Wildlife Park. More on that later.In the afternoon, I took a cab to our hotel – showered – and got ready to get to the Telstra Stadium. I put on my Bruce Springsteen Signature Series T Shirt for the big night and got to the stadium more than an hour before the gates opened – and the crowd was already there – 60,000 thousand and counting!!

We could here the band rehearse ‘Saints’ from where we were standing… and knew that it would be a long wait before we got in. And then, the line started moving. Within 20 minutes, we found ourselves taking instructions from a big stadium attendant with a small megaphone. And in minutes, we were making our way into the stadium. My first impression was…'this can’t be it'. The stands were 90% empty and the standing area (where I was) was just about filling up. But in a matter of minutes you could see the change.

After about an hour of waiting inside – action began with Mr. Kanye West making his appearance. He performed 8 tracks, including 'Jesus Walks' and 'Gold-digger'. He thanked U2 a bit too often and pitched his 2 albums to us. He was good though – you could see his damn veins popping in his neck!! After he said his goodbye – it was nearly an hour of waiting. The crowd, by then, had filled up the stadium. Yes – between 60 and 65000. We (the crowd) amused ourselves with Mexican waves and chanting U2!! U2!!... and seeing tunes.

Then, the lights started to go out. One by one, the stadium lights went out and the familiar tune (if you watched the Vertigo Chicago DVD) began. It was a great feeling – pitch dark – and a nice tune… ‘Everyone, Everyone….’

And the first notes of ‘City of Blinding Lights’ began. You could see The Edge at the left, Adam at right and the majestic Larry on the drums in centre. And suddenly the crowd went fucking wild – Bono arrived on stage draped in the Aussie Flag!!! I was going wild too – I kept jumping and screaming – and could not believe that I was actually experiencing this. Bono is clearly larger than life – and truly enigmatic. His hair was crew cut – very crew cut. ‘The more you see the less you know, The less you find out as you go…’. We were singing along like our lives depended on it. And when Bono sang ‘I'm getting ready to leave the ground’… the stage lights went up and the whole crowd was doing the ‘whoo oooo whooo’!!! I’m doing no justice the way I’m writing this – anyway, we all sang along, ‘Oh you look so beautiful tonight...’!!! There was not a second break between ‘City’ and the next song – which, if you are a fan – only the first beat was enough to recognize. Larry was pounding on the drums… and Bono screamed ‘YEAH?’ and we replied ‘YYYEEEAAHHH!!!!’… ‘YYEEAAHH??’ ‘YYYYEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!!!.... ‘UNO!! DOS!! TRES!! CATORCE!!! And the background lights almost killed me with its timing. This track ended with some serious sing-along as well.

And right after this began the now anthemic riffs of Elevation. Wooo hooo ooo Wooo hooo oooo. ‘Sexy People,Sydney – Sexy City’. ‘Tonight we are all yours’.

‘High, higher than the sun…’ And when it came to the big word – the whole audience screamed ‘EL-EV-AESH-UN!!!!!’…Follwed by the thunder of Larry’s drum. What a trip that was… and what timing!!

This was followed by ‘I Will Follow’ which had the old timers like me going crazy. Adam took a nice walk towards us and I swear he gave us a wink! The guy is probably the most stylish bass player in the world, and is the one true star of the band… because he is the only one who looks comfortable being a rock star!!

Then followed ‘New Years Day’… good work from The Edge on guitar and piano. ‘Beautiful Day’ followed… which the girl I was carrying enjoyed immensely. And after this – the first icing on the cake – ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’. I could taste the salt of my tears as I sang along… and flash of memories also helped to make this a great moment in my life. At the end of this song, with no break, The Edge began the chords of ‘Angel of Harlem’. Icing on the cake No.2. The song was dedicated to the Angel of Sydney – Kylie.

‘Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own’, Bono’s song for his dad hit me hard. Its been over a year now that I have had a decent conversation with my own father – so I relate to this song. And Bono impressed everyone in the crowd when he performed the high parts superbly… a sign that he is in the top of his game now.

‘Love and Peace’ and ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ were exactly similar to the ones seen on the Chicago DVD. ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’ was Edge’s moment for the night. His unique style of guitaring (the style and sounds) was in full flow. Then came ‘Miss Sarajevo’. It began with Bono accompanied by the Edge – and later joined by Larry and Adam. Icing No.3: Bono performed the part actually done by Pavarotti in the original version. His tone, depth and range would have woken a dead man alive. And surely his father must have been happy. This song ended with the articles of Human Rights. When the last one was spoken by the Asian woman on screen – the familiar chords of ‘Pride’ took off!!

I was expecting ‘One’ to follow, but had to wait for one more song for that – ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’. Icing No.4. What can you say about this track? Just experiencing it LIVE was a pat on the back from God. When the lights went on after the initial guitar licks of TheEdge – I’m sure the band could see the face of every one of us in that crowd.

‘One’ followed. After the song – the band came up front to say the first of their goodnights. The first encore kicked off with ‘Until the End of the World’. I was expecting ‘Zoo Station’. But it did not happen. This was my only disappointment of the night. Then came ‘Mysterious Ways’, and Bono pulled up a chubby Indian girl on stage. She was so shy that she made me sick. She had her hand on her mouth, and just stood there. But Bono continued with her – and began the next song with her – ‘With or Without You’.

Second round of Goodbyes.

The final encore began with the new hit ‘The Saints Are Coming’. After watching it, I wonder what Green Day contributed in it anyway…

Then came icing No.5 - Party Girl. Bono pretended her forgot the lyrics and called Adam and The Edge to help him out – after conferring in the middle of the stage – he began with the sweet sounding ‘hu hu hu hu hu’, and The Edge performed the song. It was amazing!!

The concert ended with ‘Kite’. I was hoping it would be ‘40’. But ‘Kite’was fine. Bono walked up closer to us and released a kite (a kite shaped like a kite) that was pulled up by a dozen helium balloons. And he was smart enough to navigate the balloons out of the dome of the stadium before releasing in. I looked around and saw a few women (must have been in their late 30’s) sobbing after the song while the band was saying their final goodbye.

And then I remembered, I was standing for 7 hours, and I had a bladder that was gonna explode. I made for the exit – humming 'Elevation'. Made a few purchases for a few near-n-dear ones and went back to my hotel room - totally fucking elevated.