It was amazing! Bruce owns that stage from the minute he sets foot on it, and it’s like he’s just having a party with a few thousand of his closest friends. I took a lot of pictures – will upload them all to Facebook later, when I get a chance. He’s great to just watch move around, throwing his arms in the air and jumping up and down with the beat. You can tell that these guys have played together for a long time, but they have the same thing U2 have – they can keep playing songs that are 30 years old, as if they were written yesterday – same energy.
There was a bride & groom in the audience, who had evidently come straight from their wedding reception to attend the gig. Bruce saluted them a couple of times, and towards the end Little Steven was conducting a whole little ‘conversation’ with the bride from the stage. Very funny.
Patti was still babysitting at home, so Soozie was singing with Bruce on Magic - I definitely did not mind - Soozie rocks! That duet was really great. Gave me goosebumps. The audience was singing along to most of the new songs, as well as the Rising songs, and for Born To Run everyone was just belting it out at the top of their lungs. Awesome. For Santa Claus Is Coming... Bruce put on this Santa Stetson that someone threw onstage – red with a white furry trim. He looked very cool in that! Clarence put on a normal Santa hat for his Ho-Ho-Ho’s. What a way to finish a gig! The crowd was great as well, not like we had last year in Dublin for the Seeger Sessions gig, where no-one on the floor moved.
To go back to the start for a bit : The trip up to Belfast on the bus was fine – I was running to catch the 3pm in Busáras, because of course the bus from Blanchardstown ended up taking ages. Walked from the bus station behind Europa Hotesl to the Odyssey Arena through a beautifully Christmas-lit Belfast city centre to the Odyssey Arena (see Facebook for more pictures). It was only 20 minutes or so – a lovely walk.
Belfast City Hall Christmas Lights:
Found my seat, which was in a great spot, and started talking to 2 sisters from Manchester sitting next to me – one of them turned out to be a U2 fan, the other was mad about Bruce. They’d both been at the second Croke Park gig 2 years ago. (That's U2 we're talking about here, ed.) We walked back to the Europa Hotel after the concert, where they were staying and just had time for a quick pint before I got on the bus back to Dublin at midnight.
And then, I thought I’d be clever and get off at the airport and get a taxi from there instead of trying to get a taxi from town. Turned out there weren’t any taxis at all in the airport. Nor anyone else for that matter – I’ve never seen the place so empty!! The only noises were the pedestrian light beeping and the security announcements. Scary biscuits. Turned out any taxis dropping people off at Departures were heading straight back into town without swinging by Arrivals. I got talking to a guy also looking for a taxi, so we went up to Departures and got a taxi within 2 minutes. He was going in the opposite direction, but we shared it anyway – just wanted to get home! In bed at 10 past 3, so not bad at all in the end. Very sleepy on Sunday...still am....zzzzz.....
Set List:
Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason To Believe
Because The Night
She's The One
Livin' In The Future
The Promised Land
Waitin' On A Sunny Day
The River
I'll Work For Your Love
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
Encores:
Girls In Their Summer Clothes
Kitty's Back
Born To Run
Dancing In The Dark
American Land
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
