Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, Gloria, The Ocean, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - In a Little While, Beautiful Day - Sgt. Peppers - Happy Christmas (War is Over), Original of the Species, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday - Rock the Casbah, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One - Help

Encores: Until the End of the World, Mysterious Ways, With or Without You, Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of, Instant Karma, Yahweh, 40

Wow. Just holy fucking crap.

I think this was the best Vertigo show I've seen so far. It was absolutely amazing! I was told I was nuts making a run down to Buffalo only hours after a major snowstorm hit the area, but we all have to make sacrifices for U2 :-)

Anyway, as always, this review is rather disjointed and rambly. If I have time, I'll fix it later.

Ok... This show was so amazing, I really don't know where to start. I guess, then, I'll start with the negatives... minor as always, of course! :-)

U2's flight got held up by the snowstorm, so they apparently didn't arrive in Buffalo until 7:30; we waited for about 45 minutes by the docking bay in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the band on their way in. But by 4:30, it was already dark, windy and bitterly cold, not to mention more than apparent that U2 was not going to make an appearance this day, so we headed to a nearby pub to warm up and grab a quick bite before the show.

As HSBC security was screening for cameras, we were forced to run ours back to the car to avoid it being confiscated. It's really too bad. We had fantastic seats in section 119, close to the tip of the ellipse, and we could have taken some great shots from our vantage point. Oh well.

While our seats offered a fantastic view, once again I have to bitch about the ridiculous number of people who were constantly getting up and climbing over us during the show on their way to the beer stands. I'm all for having a pint at a concert, but it always baffles me that people will buy tickets to a show and then spend over half the performance in the beer line. It's never made sense to me. Why go to a concert if you're not actually going to watch it?

Anyway, enough about that... on to the show!

First thing's first... GLORIA!! EEEE!!! After 8 years and 13 shows, I finally got to hear this song live. When the drum entry began, I started screaming fiendishly and jumping up and down. It was an absolutely thrilling moment, and really got me choked up. Even 24 hours later, I'm still ecstatic that I got to hear it.

I finally got to hear Original of the Species too, which I've been eagerly anticipating live since I fell in love with it on HTDAAB. There is so much emotion in the song, and Bono just pours his heart into it. It's every bit as wonderful live as I hoped it would be.

UTEOTW also showed up in the set... long overdue for me, since they had not played it on the previous 5 shows I've seen this tour. UTEOTW easily remains one of U2's best live songs. As usual, Edge really got into the performance, running a lap around the ellipse as he slashed his guitar solo. This is a song I think needs to be a set staple. It's a high point at every show in which it makes an appearance. Glad to see it making a comeback.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For was brilliant. Bono started off the song, but by the time he began the second line, the crowd was drowning him out. He took two steps back from the microphone and threw up his arms, a gesture for us to continue the song while he listened. The chorus in the arena was beautiful. It still amazes me that 20,000 people can sing together in tune. Bono rejoined us on the second verse, but we continued to sing just as loud.

Most of the show was a tribute to John Lennon, 25 years since his death, and 25 years since U2 first played Buffalo--on the night he was shot. Bono told the crowd where he was when he heard; he was in a Buffalo video arcade playing a game, and a boy came up to him and said, "did you know John Lennon was shot?" Bono remarked what an impact that had on him, but also said that Lennon's music and voice have lived on to change the world even after his death. Snippets of Lennon and Beatles songs appeared throughout the set, from Help, Sgt. Peppers and Happy Christmas. After One, Bono started to sing Help. The crowd once again overpowered him, and he let us finish up the verse before closing out the tune. The real treat, however, was the amazing cover of Instant Karma during the 2nd encore. Larry sounded brilliant on the drums, and the band first allowed him to carry on a bit of a drum solo before they joined him in tune. "Let's hear that beat, Larry," Bono shouted. Sometimes I forget how talented Larry is on the drums; he's truly amazing.

Despite the airport holdups and the fact that the band probably didn't have time to soundcheck, Bono was in great voice and spirit and the band was just about as tight as I've ever seen them. They seemed to have boundless energy; Edge and Bono even lapped the ellipse during UTEOTW, crossing each other at the "tip" and grinning at each other all the while.

Bono brought another bellydancer up on stage for the last part of Mysterious Ways; she remained and danced with him during WOWY. A young boy was also taken up during SBS. He sat calmly on a speaker while Bono sang. When he was sent back down, Bono remarked that the boy was "cool as a cucumber."

Bono was joking around quite a bit last night, too. Early in the show, he borrowed a fan's camera phone and snapped a picture of himself. He then folded the phone, put it in his back pocket and began to walk away. Then laughing, he turned around and handed the phone back to the fan.

Before Miss Sarajevo, Bono also told the crowd that while Pavorotti could not be there to help with the song, everything was ok because he had taken Italian lessons. Bono also hit every note in the song beautifully tonight; his voice was simply fantastic.

Anyway, this was just a fantastic show. I think probably the best one I've seen on the Vertigo Tour. U2 always seems to save the best for Buffalo :) I'm a major U2 high today, though a little sad because I think this will probably be the last time I see the boys for a while. But, you never know. Who's to say where the wind will take me?

Thanks again, U2, for a phenomenal experience.