deciBlog//2005.11.02//U2//DC.10/20

DC Day #2: After a brief rally at Crutch's pad, back to the city. We get to the GA line ~12:30 & get numbers 121-123 (Bob joins us on the floor tonight). Do the hang with the line neighbors thing, then head to Chintaown for lunch. Back in line similar scene as yesterday doing MCI Center bar/WC checks & then it's time to go in. We thought with 3 tickets to scan our odds might help us get in the ellipse tonight, but no. However, we are just outside (by one row of people) the outer rail of the ellipse at the front ramp. It quickly fills in behind us. You can forget leaving your spot & reclaiming it past 7:00 pm (last call of sorts). We note a flurry of activity over in the reserved seats & spot Condaleeza Rice with her entourage. Figured she drew the White House short straw as there's no way in hell Shrub would make an appearance (although for the 2001 Elevation Tour Jesse Helms came & said everyone's hands "was blowin' like a field of corn"). More importantly, we spot Tom & Ruth in the next section over.

Back to the floor. We see a crew member tape down some papers on the outer rail stage. It's not the set list, but the lyrics to "Walk On," which the band has just started doing acoustic performances on this leg. (The B-man forgot the lyrics at the Chicago debut of the song a few weeks earlier). Damian Marley again does a decent 40 minute set.

We are in nearly as good a spot as last night. When the band comes out on the ramp one has a better perspective of the whole band - plus the visuals/backdrop are better seen.

The sound is certainly much louder with the PA coming into play. This night's set is as energized as last night. A wonderful acoutic version of "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses." We get "Out Of Control," which I've never heard live before & they close with "Bad." These three tunes have only made a few appearances this tour. No disappoinments. Afterwards we connect with the Proctors for some late-night down-winding at their hotel - very nice. The interval between the 2 am crash & the 7 am wake-up to get to the airport reminds me of the "Lisa's Pony" episode of the Simpsons, where Homer gets 1 minute of sleep after his night shift at the Kwik-E-Mart before his alarm goes off to go to his day job. All worth it.


Thursday night's setlist (bold where changes occurred between Wednesday's & Thursday's shows):

Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, The Electric Co., Out of Control, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Beautiful Day - Many Rivers to Cross, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Happy Birthday (Pavarotti's 70th), Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One

Encore(s): Walk On (acoustic), Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (acoustic), With or Without You, All Because of You, Bad