Kjel.org naively thought last night that it could walk into Kells and enjoy a pint or two of the black before heading to the show. Several concert goers apparently had the same idea and Kells, to their great credit, took full advantage: $20 cover at the Kells door at 6:00 pm last night. The place was packed. We went down the street to McFaddens for our Guinness and Strongbow. Not quite the same though.

U2 never disappoints, even after all these years. I thought the band really shined on a couple of songs where they toned down the spectacle and then cranked it up to eleven. I agree that I Will Follow was a highlight, and Sunday Bloody Sunday another. The sound was not perfect and actually pretty muddy in parts, which really surprised me in this day and age of computerized mixing. The Rose Garden is what it is I guess. The last show I saw there was Bon Jovi, but I think maybe I assumed then that the bad sound was not unintentional.

After the show there were three thousand people trying to take the Max back to the good side of the river. Of course Tri-Met in their wisdom sent along one train along every 15 minutes. Without Tokyo-style professional subway packers, Portlanders are unable to make this sort of thing work: trains were leaving with plenty of nooks and crannies still unfilled.

Taking the advice of the CFO Kjel.org walked across the Steel Bridge instead of waiting for a train we could squeeze onto. Not a bad walk, except that of course we took the sidewalk on the wrong side of the bridge and added four dark and glamorous Old Town blocks to the journey. I almost had to wrestle a homeless woman in order to pass the corner of 4th and Flanders. Luckily she was distracted by a yelling junkie just long enough that we were able to slip past. I’m pretty sure I could have taken her.

We made it to the car and then on to the HQ without further incident. A good night all around.