Shot from section 201's (front view) by Pearl, or 223L's (rear view) by Annie and myself.

The show was AMAZING. Jer has been a U2 fan since forever and this was the best one he's seen.

MGM Grand Arena is actually quite large, seating 19,000, but it is setup for boxing, which means it is a very compact arena for 19,000: a tight square with minimal space and a relatively small floor compared to basketball arenas such as Oakland Arena or Staples Center. The result was that even in the "upper" 200 sections, we still felt like we were very close to the stage. Seated in the rear 223L's we were just a bit off-center from the rear view, which meant we still had an excellent view of all of the graphics that U2 was using, just in reverse. =)

Freakin' crazy. Left for Vegas at 6am on Saturday morning, stopped in the little town of Baker for a quick hike on the way up, checked in to Bally's, showered, gambled for 45 minutes until my friend Pearl and her husband Jerimy showed up and checked in, then gambled some more til we wandered over to Rio for their seafood buffet. Mostly dorked around with video poker, 'cause we were teaching my friend Annie some more details on the basics of poker...

As we wandered over to Rio Seafood Buffet, we saw the score for the ugly nasty disgusting diaster that was UCLA vs. Arizona that was still in progress. :( Got into the buffet. My goodness. Raw oysters, lobster tails, crab legs, shrimp, sushi and sashimi (toro, ahi, whitefish, saba), plus the other usual buffet trappings such as prime rib, fried udon, and a large dessert selection. Jerimy's a skinny guy about my height who somehow eats like a monster-- he had 7 plates of food. We were amazed.

Off to MGM Grand for the show. Pearl and Jerimy are up in front, hence the amazing pictures. The four of us are in the back, but MGM Grand is such a small place, we're less than 200' from the stage, maybe even closer. It's freakin' amazing. The arena actually holds 19,000+ as it's configured for U2, but it felt much smaller than Staples Center which is similar in capacity.

U2 opens with City of Blinding Lights and the whole crowd cranks it up a notch beyond anything we've had for our previous shows in Los Angeles. Sophia, Pearl, Jerimy, and I have U2 bleeding from our thoughts at times like this, while Annie's sort of a casual fan. Well, was. This show pushed her over the edge. Nice. :D We get Until The End Of The World, which hasn't been played in a while, then Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, which is so incredibly beautiful live this time... *sigh* Bono dedicates Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own to his father, who always asked him to take his "fscking sunglasses" off. I think I've heard that line before at a previous concert, but it's a nice touch. All four of us have arms linked and are swaying as one-- we're completely absorbed by the show. Sunday Bloody Sunday goes through the usual political speech, but the audience is really, really into it for SBS.

I'm not the biggest fan of Bullet The Blue Sky as it's recorded, but live, just like everything else U2 (except maybe Vertigo-- bleh!) it's pretty damned good. Bono singing Miss Sarajevo without Pavoratti just isn't the same deep operatic rumble, but my friends loved it. We get the stick figure man walking on the light display, but sadly, no belly dancer or pumping heart this time around. The flags of the world for Where The Streets Have No Name are as pretty as ever, and the "COEXIST" lightwork is new-- it's spelled with the star of david replacing the X, a crescent replacing the C, a cross for the T, etc. Nice touch. (Annie's camera batteries die shortly thereafter. That's the one problem with the Canon SD-series cameras... battery life blows...)

Mary J. Blige for One is a huge surprise to us... then U2 goes off the stage and the stage lights stay on, so the crowd starts stomping our feet, clapping, and cheering for an encore. STOMP STOMP STOMP!! We're sitting on stands in the back rather than a structural part of the building, so we can FEEL the whole set of stands trembling and shaking. Sophia's got a sore throat and all this screaming can't possibly be helping, but we don't care! Zoo Station is superb, much better than it was at Oakland a few days later, while the graphics for The Fly seem to have been updated since 1st leg in April. I don't know what it is about The Fly, but that song always has us dancing and flying around. It's great!! They end the encore with With Or Without You, which is beautiful in that smooth harmony that U2 can so smoothly shift gears into. *sniff*

Wait... the overhead blue circular lights have descended from the ceiling now... the band's off the stage... they've designed 3rd leg for a two-encore setup but we don't know it yet... ohhhhhhhh myyyyyyyy goooddddnnnnneeeessss we're getting a 2nd encore. They celebrate the birthday of their tour manager on stage and he blows out a cake, which lends a very unique touch to this show. We're convinced this is one of the most awesome U2 shows ever at this point. So much personality...

All Because Of You is like most of the stuff on their new album-- the album itself is okay, but the style of the songs lends itself very well to live performances where the energy seems to translate a little better to the audience. Bono starts mentioning something about having lost a little bit of the falsetto at last night's performance in Vegas, so he brings on Brandon Flowers from The Killers to help with In A Little While. We've been bitching that all the US shows have been getting shafted with second-rate opening acts like Kings of Leon, Damian Marley, Institute, etc, while the European shows have been getting Snow Patrol, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Doves, the Bravery, etc. Well crap, we're here on the deprived West Coast, and we're getting Brandon Flowers from The Killers! SWEET!!!!! :D Can this get any better?!?

Instead of calming us down with How Long/'40' as U2 often ends with, we get a much better ending... Bad. I've heard '40' too many times at the end of a U2 concert and it winds the energy waaaay down, which may be a good thing, but it's pretty blah given how hyped up everyone is during the concert. Ending with Bad... just... kicked... *ss...!!!!!!!!!

Sophia, Annie, Bill, and I were in the back... four seats next to each other meant we could dance around and sway to the music like the lunatics we are. =D Pearl and Jer had the pair of seats in front, and they had an absolutely amazing view. If only floor tickets had been in reach... sigh...

All videos are 320x240@30fps unless noted.

Videos: (not comprehensive. AVI, right click to save as)

• Intro -- short overview of arena before show.
• Arcade Fire - Wake Up (intro) -- short clip of Wake Up intro.
• Lights are dimming! -- Wake Up intro continued, lights dim right at end. They're coming on stage... feel the excitement!
• Everyone! intro fadeout -- "everyone" end of intro, very short.
• U2 on stage! -- fades into City of Blinding Lights and U2 comes on stage, 1:16.
• City of Blinding Lights, continued -- COBL continued, shakey video (Pearl screaming too much?), 0:23.
• City of Blinding Lights, end -- COBL continued, ends, zoomed in more-- stage fills frame nicely, 0:50.
• City of Blinding Lights -- from Annie's camera. The higher resolution emphasizes the details of U2's light setup and the falling glitter... oh man... the energy is amazing and so visible! Rear view, 91MB, 0:50.
• Vertigo, part 1 -- Vertigo start, nicely zoomed but a bit shakey, 0:31.
• Vertigo, part 2 -- Vertigo continued, zoomed out so you can see the whole arena, 0:54.
• Vertigo, part 3 -- Vertigo continued, nicely zoomed, short clip, 0:16.
• Elevation -- Elevation, 0:30. ends with "EL E V ATION" early in the song.
• Mysterious Ways, part 1 -- Mysterious Ways, short clip out of focus, 0:10.
• Mysterious Ways, part 2 -- Mysterious Ways continued, nice looking, 0:57.
• Mysterious Ways, part 3 -- Mysterious Ways continued to end, female audience member on stage and clearly visible, 1:00.
• Unknown -- really short. what is it?
• Until The End of The World, part 1 -- Until The End Of the World, very brief. 0:06.
• Until The End of The World, part 2 -- Until The End Of The World continued, 0:34.
• Until The End of The World, part 3 -- Until The End Of The World end, end with lots of bright flashing lights, 0:50.
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, part 1 -- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For start, 1:18.
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, part 2 -- ISHFWILF end, zoomed all the way out, crowd claping audible, 0:38.
• Beautiful Day, part 1 -- Beautiful Day start, 0:32.
• Beautiful Day, part 2 -- Beautiful Day end, zoomed all the way out, 0:26.
• Beautiful Day -- from Annie's camera. Sooo beautiful, and the extra detail from the high-resolution emphasizes how close we felt we were to the stage! Rear view, 640x480, 1:35, 170MB.
• Miracle Drug, part 1 -- Miracle Drug start, 0:35.
• Miracle Drug, part 2 -- Miracle Drug continued, zoomed in nicely, 0:57.
• Miracle Drug, part 3 -- Miracle Drug continued, 0:54.
• Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, part 1 -- Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, with walking man animation, 0:40.
• Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, part 2 -- SYCMIOYO end, no walking man at start, but returns in middle, 1:55.
• Love and Peace or Else -- Love and Peace, very short, 0:17.
• Sunday Bloody Sunday, part 1 -- Sunday Bloody Sunday start, 0:41.
• Sunday Bloody Sunday, part 2 -- SBS continued, zoomed in tight, 0:13.
• Sunday Bloody Sunday -- from Annie's camera, short clip. Rear view, 640x480, 20MB, 0:11.
• Bullet The Blue Sky, part 1 -- Bullet The Blue Sky, out of focus, someone's (Jer's?) head in way, 0:13.
• Bullet The Blue Sky, part 2 -- Bullet The Blue Sky continued, instrumental bridge, airplane graphic clearly visible, 0:52.
• Miss Sarajevo -- Miss Sarajevo and Human Rights declaration, full song! Bono singing in Italian surprisingly isn't bad. Nowhere near the same feel as Pavoritti, but beautiful in its own (somewhat less magnificient) way. Modestly zoomed out, Pearl's voice in the background, 5:16.
• Pride (In The Name Of Love), part 1 -- Pride (In The Name Of Love), 0:17.
• Pride (In The Name Of Love), part 2 -- Pride continued, very short. 0:09.
• Pride (In The Name Of Love), part 3 -- Pride end, "woah! ohh ohh ohhh!" from audience, can hear Pearl's voice (?), 1:06.
• Where The Streets Have No Name, part 1 -- Where The Streets Have No Name, 0:46.
• Where The Streets Have No Name, part 2 -- Where The Streets Have No Name end, lots of crowd noise at end, 1:33.
• ...darkness... -- As Bono asks for cell phones to light up, panning around arena, 0:14.
• One -- One, whole song, announced Mary J. Blige coming on, 4:12.
• First encore -- transition to first encore, the funky graphics on the video screen that sound like a slot machine, 0:54.
• Zoo Station, part 1 -- Zoo Station, blurry, hasn't really started yet, 0:06.
• Zoo Station, part 2 -- Zoo Station starts, 1:09.
• The Fly, part 1 -- The Fly is always a fun song live, zoomed out, 1:19.
• The Fly, part 2 -- The Fly, continued, zoomed in a hair more, 0:19.
• The Fly, part 3 -- The Fly, end, 0:46.
• With Or Without You, part 1 -- With Or Without You, 0:56.
• With Or Without You, part 2 -- With Or Without You end, "thankyou to mary j blige", loud crowd cheering in 2nd half, 1:27.
• All Because Of You, part 1 -- All Because Of You (start of 2nd encore), 0:22.
• All Because Of You, part 2 -- All Because Of You continued, shakey, 0:28.
• All Because Of You, part 3 -- All Because Of You end, 0:42.
• In A Little While -- In A Little While with Brandon Flowers, whole song, shakey, 3:02.
• Bad, part 1 -- Bad, zoomed in a bit, very shakey, 2:42.
• Bad, part 2 -- Bad, ending, zoomed all the way out, "people have the power" added by Bono and chanted by the crowd at the end, band goes offstage. 2:23.

All images (c) 2005 Brian J. Won (homepage). vq30de.net and brian1.net are property of Brian J. Won. VQ30DE is Nissan's engine designation for their all-aluminum 3.0L gasoline DOHC engine. No infringement or misuse of the VQ30DE designation is intended.