U2 concert

Just got back from the U2 show. Unfortunately we sat in the nose bleeds. But better than not seeing the concert. I got to admit, general admission tickets are the way to go. Most everyone around the stage got in with $50 tickets. Cheap and the best experience.

The last time I was at a big show like this was years ago, again with U2. The one difference this time around...no lighters. People used cell phones to light up the audience. At one point in the show, Bono had the audience SMS their name to a phone number that later got displayed on the big monitors over the stage. Pretty cool.

Also different this time around was Bono using the show as a bully-pulpit. He knows how to use music and imagery to send a message. The biggest cheers he got along these lines was displaying the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The first six articles scrolled by on the show's huge monitors with (of course) U2 playing in the background. It was actually a pretty powerful moment. Here's what was displayed:

• Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
• Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status....
• Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
• Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
• Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Article 6: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.