The Invite:
On Thursday night I received an unexpected phone call from my friend Steve, one of many friends name Steve. He asked me if I was interested in going to the U2 concert Sunday evening at the Rose Bowl. I had never been to a U2 concert and I wanted to go, but I had to think about it due to the busy, but fun schedule leading up to the concert. I ended up saying "sure" and the following weekend turned out to be quite fun - and tiring.
The night before - Halloween Party:
Almost every year I go to my friend's Halloween party thats held the last Saturday before Halloween. This year's theme was Survivor, as in the TV show, but as many of the party goers don't watch the show, they wore costumes based on other survivors, such as of the Titanic. I just dressed as a generic Survivor with ragged clothing. We, meaning the couple I was going to the concert with, stayed until about midnight and then made the short trip a few blocks away to their house where I was spending the night. Asleep shortly after midnight.
The morning of the concert:
At five in the morning I got the wake-up call, a knock on the door. It was time to get ready for the concert. At five AM you ask? Yes. We had general admission tickets, and our goal was to get to the Rose bowl may 8 AM when they started allowing people to get in line for GA. The rummer was that the first 2000 people in were able to get into the 'inner circle', the closet to the stage.
At 6 AM we met up with another couple who was going to spend the day with us. So we drove up to Pasadena, where Steve and his wife had a hotel room. I might mention that at this point I had no place to stay, but I wasn't worried. From the hotel, the five of us got into the hotel shuttle. However, the shuttle could only take us to within about 1.5 miles of the Rose Bowl. There were restrictions on shuttle and taxies not being about to get anywhere near the stadium. So we grabbed our stuff, which included six chairs, two coolers and a beach umbrella and proceeded to walk the rest of the way.
Arrival at the Rose Bowl:
We got in the general admission line around 9 AM. We expected tons more people there, but we were about the only ones walking in at that time. It looked liked there were less than 1000 people in front of us. We set up our chairs and umbrella and proceeded to sit and talk for a few hours, eating some food and taking occasional bathroom breaks. Around 1 PM someone came by, writing a number on everybody's hand. They started at the front of the line, which we heard people lined up there at 5 AM. My number was 1122, so we know that we should get into the inner circle, but just because you had a number did not guaranty that.
More waiting:
They were going to open the gates at 5 PM, so Steve and I wandered around and found some people to challenge in a game of cornhole. They had a Texas Tech themed board, complete with LED lights on the inside of the hole. We ended up not winning but had fun anyways.
We walked back to our spot in line and noticed that the line was thinning out. So, since it was about 4:15, we stated to gather up our belongings.
The mad rush:
Then, almost instantly, everybody in front of us began running towards the gate. So we grabbed our cooler, since it still had beer in it, and ran too. We abandoned everything else as planned. There were so many people running that it looked like a stampede, complete with a dust cloud. We also saw many people rushing in from the outside, people who obviously had not been waiting in the line. And yes, there was no security to be found. Next thing I know we are standing in a big mob in front of the gate. People are complaining that they have numbers below 500 and ours are over 1000, but we point out that there are far more people around us without numbers, or wristband which we also were given earlier.
Entrance into the Stadium:
Once security finally arrived, they looked confused and were also outnumbered. Shortly after five, they finally started letting people in - slowly. They attempted to let people in by groups, but some yellow ribbon was not going to stop people from running to the gate.
When we got to the gate, we were given a very brief search. Once inside I lost track of my friends. So I just headed down to the field and eventually found my way into the inner circle, but could not find my friends. So a exited, getting a re-entry stamp and checked my voice mail. Seems they were on the left side and I had been on the right side. So after much effort, I rejoined my friends. Now we waited for two more hours before the concert started - standing in our "spot" about 10 feet from the stage. Also, there were many people without numbers on their hands, so these people had not waited in the long line all day, but showed up whenever and got in. So much for following the rules. I'd blame the poor security and planning by the security than the people who "cheated".
The Concert start with the Black Eyed Peas:
The was actually the second time I'd seen the BEP. They opened up for Gwen Stefani during her first solo turn. I do like many of the BEP songs, and I must say, they put on a great show. They really did "get the party started" and "pumped-up" the crowd with lots of "boom boom pow!". OK, enough with the quotes. If you have already seen my posted photos, you know that Fergie is my favorite. Anything she sings is top-notch. The surprise for the night was the guest performance by Slash, the guitarist from Guns and Roses. I didn't realized what happened before they played Sweet Child of Mine until later, but I guess will.i.am was supposed to sing, but he pointed at Fergie just as the song began, so Fergie sang the song. I guess she messed up on the second verse, however, her performance was unbelievable. If you watch the YouTube video of they song, it does not due her justice. Her singing was 10 times better than that Axel Rose guy.
The main act - U2:
I need to mention that this U2 concert was being recorded for a DVD release. There were cameras everywhere. Look for me in the crowd when watching the DVD. I'm standing about 20 feet away from Adam Clayton.
I have like U2 since the early 1980s, but this was my first U2 concert. I knew all their songs except most of the ones from their new album.
The stage itself was rather simple, with some equipment and the drums. Above the stage was some kind of rocket structure with all sorts of lights. Around that was a 360 degree video screen.
As their performance began, I was totally amazed and impressed by the moving catwalks. I saw them before the concert, but did not realize that they moved. These platforms allowed the musicians to walk from the stage to an outer platform. The catwalks moved right over us, and at one point, Bono was singing one foot above my head. Really cool!
During the concert I was taking lots of photos, and some videos. Many of the pictures did not turn out well, due to the lighting. Spotlights can ruin the exposure for a simple point-and-shoot camera, even one with 10X optical zoom.
I had expected the show to end by 11 PM due to noise restrictions, but U2 had either one encore that lasted five songs or two encores. I'm not sure. They played until about 11:20.
The concert, like a friend of mine said, was almost spiritual. Even now, three days later, I'm still walking around singing U2 songs.
The Trip back to the Hotel:
We were able to exit the floor by walking out the main ramp to the parking lot. As we headed back to the hotel in "Old Pasadena", there was a sign that indicated it was three miles away. I almost forgot to mention Rick. He took the other ticket on Thursday, but had to work and did not get to the Rose Bowl until 7:30. ALso, while waiting in line. Steve got a call from the Holiday Inn Express where he was on the waiting list for a room. That room was for me and Rick, so by this time I had a room in a hotel that I had not checked into yet, nor knew where it was.
Once we got to the place where we were dropped of my the shuttle that morning, we realized that we did not know were the hotel was. By asking people and using someone's cell phone with a map, we walked for another 30 minutes before calling the hotel to get directions. Overall, I think we walked five miles to get to the hotel.
Somewhere along this walk, Rick called me, and he ended up meeting us at the hotel. From there, I got in his truck and we proceeded to find our hotel, which was about three miles down the road. Both of us were hungry, but every fast-food place that was open had a long drive-though line. We finally found a Del-Taco with a short line and bought a few burritos.
We then got to our hotel, checked in an ate a late night dinner at 2 AM. I'd say I fell asleep at 3 AM. So yes, I was awake for 22 hours! Having fun if very tiring.
I regret not bringing ear plugs. Not for the concert, which had great acoustics and was not too loud, but because of my roommate's snoring! He was in the bed next to me, and even with the AC on, I'd say I got about four hours of solid sleep.
The next (or later that) morning:
I set my watch alarm for 8:30, but was away since 7:30. When I got out of bed I showered, called in sick to work. Then I got a text from Anne inviting me to join them for breakfast at a quaint but popular restaurant with yet another couple who was at the concert.
So they picked me up at my hotel, where Rick stayed behind because he had work to do later that morning. We split the cost of the hotel room, which they jacked-up the price due to the concert. $210 is a LOT for a small room with two beds, so having a friend to split that cost with was nice.
The breakfast was really fun. I was still on an emotional high form the concert, despite my physical and mental exhaustion. During the meal, I actually laughed harding that I have in a long time. Laughter IS the best medicine.
The Rest of the Day:
We hit the road around 11:30. Late enough that the road were clear from the morning rush hour. I was home by 1:30. After spending a few minutes on the computer, checking my e-mail and posting a few photos on facebook, I took a two hour nap. That felt so good. Once I woke up, I felt more relaxed than I have felt in a long time.
Even with the nap, I was asleep by 10 PM and woke up at 5:45 for my work day. I made it though most of the day without feeling too tired, and yes, I was still on an emotional high, singing BEP and U2 songs aloud and in my head.
Will I go to another U2 concert? Yes. But by Bono's comments near the end of the show, it sounded like they might be done. We assumed that he was referring to the poor sales of their new album. Well, just put out another album with better songs and you can have another sold-out world-wide stadium tour.
Done.
