Let Me In The Sound

Last night, I was quite lucky enough to attend a U2 concert at the Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Simply put, it was the most amazing visual and musical production I've ever seen. Now I've been listening to U2 since I was born, I can owe my unwavering dedication to them to my mother (who is a bigger fan than even I am). And I know that U2 can sometimes arouse strong feelings in a lot of people—they seem to be a love-them-or-hate-them band, and I know that Bono just plain irks some folks. So before I launch into a lengthy multimedia recounting of last night, I'll include a

Disclaimer! What follows are the mad ramblings of dedicated fan who participated in a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience whose awesomeness you may or may not appreciate. I will in all likelihood geek out at least a little bit in the following paragraphs. So read at your own discretion. Also U2 rules all.

So I get to Giants Stadium only three hours before Muse opens the show. I was able to get my hands on a General Admission/Field ticket—and by "get my hands on" I mean "empty my bank account for"—so it was very important that I secure a good spot on the field.

Here we are in "line" waiting to take to the field.

After a lengthy wait (which I passed with some light reading) we were admitted to the field. One of the most indescribably giddy moments I've had was stepping onto the field and seeing this:


This is the Spaceship (also called The Claw).

Okay, a little background. When U2 was wrapping up their last tour a few years ago, their longtime production manager pitched an altogether silly idea to the band. Something along the lines of "lets do an open-air concert tour in the round, where the band is visible from every side." How could this be done? The Spaceship was the answer.

It's hard to tell in the crummy picture from my phone, but this thing is huge. Four enormous legs support the central structure, from which is suspended the cylindrical screen and sound system (I counted over 650 speakers hanging from the thing). The circular stage is underneath, creating a clear line of sight to each of the tens of thousands of attendees. This is, after all, the aptly named 360 Tour.

Looking out at one of the legs from my spot by the stage. People are just arriving.

Looking up through the screen, out of the top of the Spaceship the sun is still out. A couple of hours of waiting still...


This is a picture from the band website. Here is the U2 stage crew setting up the set in Chicago. It takes four days to assemble, and two to take apart. The stage structure weighs 250 tons.

And of course, when you're the "biggest band in the world," why have one Claw when you can have three. Yep, the band had three identical $30 million stages fabricated, which will each travel around the world "leapfrogging" each other so that one stage can be set up while the band plays on another while a third is disassembled simultaneously.

Okay, now about the show.

As I said before, Muse opened the evening. They played a really great, really loud set. I'm not that familiar with their music, other than that one song I remember James playing on Guitar Hero. I did recognize a couple of singles from the radio that they played (Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole, and the aforementioned Knights of Cydonia). It was a good introduction to their music, I would enjoy seeing them again. I would also enjoy wearing frontman Matthew Bellamy's silver Keds.

And then U2.

I have seen them live once before, on their last tour. And as incredible as that concert was, it just doesn't compare to last night. The sheer scale and spectacle wasn't anything I can describe. Also, when I saw them on the Vertigo Tour in Dallas, at the American Airlines Center, I was seated in the stands behind the General Admission crowd. Having now experienced U2 from the field, I can say with certainty that this is the only way to see this band.

I was actually inside of U2's traditional ellipse or pit—the inner crowd, next to the stage, inside of the catwalk that separated us from the rest of the audience. I was probably 4o or 50 feet from the band onstage. Only seven-ish layers of people between me and the front. And this is the only place to be.

Disclaimer! As much as I enjoyed myself, I must admit that I was not nearly as hardcore as the middle aged woman in front of me. This lady knew how to rock. Like whoa.

Here's the set list. A lot of stuff off of the newest CD, No Line on the Horizon, which I'm less familiar with. It was all really good.

Breathe
Get on Your Boots
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
No Line on the Horizon
Magnificent
Elevation
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Unknown Caller
Until The End Of The World
Stay
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy - Remix
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On
One
Where The Streets Have No Name
Ultraviolet
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

At the end of the night, Bono informed us that the crowd had broken all attendance records at Giants Stadium, with 84,472 fans. The previous record-holder for the venue was Pope John Paul II, when he visited the Tri-State Area in 1995. The record will in all probability remain indefinitely, as this is the last season before the Giants move to their new venue.

Here are a few cell phone pictures, unfortunately they're pretty lame—my phone camera didn't handle the darkness very well.

Looking behind me at the crowd, waiting for the show to start.

Bono, Larry Mullen, Jr., and Adam Clayton

The one. The only. The Edge.

When the moving walkway between the inner stage and outer catwalk swung around and stopped practically above me, I got very very close to Bono.


During Unforgettable Fire, without any warning, the massive cylindrical 360 screen began to unfold. Crazy. I think at this point just about every flashbulb in the stadium was going off.


Here's the screen again, fully extended. Speechless.


This is the luckiest kid in the world. During City of Blinding Lights (one of my personal favorites), Bono pulled this kid up out of the crowd onto the moving walkway. They ran a lap around the outer catwalk together to the cheers of 80,000 people. Then the kid got to wear Bono's sunglasses.


Bono and Larry Mullen, Jr. under the expanded screen for Vertigo.


For Sunday Bloody Sunday, the recollapsed screen showed images of the recent violence in the Iran Election protests, and the Claw went green in support of the Reform Movement.


The Edge, and the huge suspended spire hanging from the Spaceship.


All four guys.


Here they are again, taking their final bows before leaving the stage.

This video was taken by someone in the audience during Where the Streets Have No Name (they played into the song from Amazing Grace). For me, this was the peak of the entire night. I just can't describe what it was like, as the music built into the first verse, when everybody in the pit just started jumping up and down like crazy, 80,000 people singing along. Whew.

Here are some more videos I found on YouTube, uploaded from last night:

Video - Breathe (this was the opening song, watch as all the lights go out and the band enters the arena)

Video - Beautiful Day

Video - Unforgettable Fire (you can watch as the screen descends)

Also, check out this video from the U2 website, which shows the production crew talking about designing, constructing, and assembling the stage.

Overall, I can't ask more from a band and from a concert. I'm so glad to have grown up with this music (thanks, Mom!). What a great night, and who knows, maybe I'll catch them again in another five years?

I love U2 because they make optimistic music—not about the world as it is but about a world that should be.

P.S. There's plenty more cool videos and photos from the tour (much better quality than mine) over at u2.com. If you like this then you should check it out!