XtineFiles

Monday night I saw U2 at Madison Square Garden. While I am certain that words cant do justice to what I experienced with my own eyes I have been asked to try...so here goes.

I felt like I was at a world summit, a movement, a gathering of progressive minds, in brief it was more that just a rock show. I don't know how many of you have seen U2 in concert, but I assure you nobody is better live than U2. I repeat, nobody is better live. And, when you can walk a way from a show feeling totally entertained and also feeling like you learned something, well, that is worth more than just the ticket price.

"Jesus, Jew, Mohammed, its true. Learn to Coexist," was what Bono begged the audience after a chilling anti war set that included Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky and a moment of Please. He sang Ms. Sarajevo, a song that was performed in 1995 for another world cause and somehow it rang so true last night in the garden.

I cried during Where the Streets Have No Name because the sound of this song live makes me think of happiness. And I wept during One as Bono talked of the massive poverty that inflicts a huge part of the world population, including the poverty in our own America.

I clapped when they sang Beautiful Day because it reminded me of when I last saw U2 in Madison Square Garden just months after 9/11. Bono got it then, just as he gets it now. I clapped even harder when Bono thanked Alicia Keys, Michael Stipe, and Jan Wenner for their work in the Make Poverty History campaign. And I let out a screeching yelp when they encored with Zoo Station. A song I have not heard live since the Zoo TV show I saw in Toronto.

The stage was innovative as it was artistic. They used the lighting and staging to compliment the energy of their music. They used screens resembling curtains that did more that just paint the arena with light; they showered us with messages we needed to read and national flags we need to see.

They ended as they always do with With or Without You, sending us home with full minds, open hearts and a revitalized perspective on the world.

That you U2 for caring about the world more than you have to.