Hey all–

Flew over here to London this morning with my best mate (friend) to see his pregnant wife and to feel like a rock star. I’ll be back in Dublin for the final show tomorrow.

Friday’s show was fantastic, not because any great new songs were done, but because those songs were being played in Dublin. Every time New Year’s Day or Pride came on, and I was about to lament yet another performance of a ‘greatest hit’, I’d tell myself to calm down, I was in my band’s hometown. I was standing on the sportsfield of a team that plays in Dublin. I had walked through Dublin streets to get there and would enjoy walking back through them after the show with what seemed to be 100,000 of my closest friends.

I’ve already spoken less than eloquently about the emotion of a stadium full of people singing along word for word to some of the best songs ever written. I can’t seem to shake that vibe. “If you walk away walk away, I will follow”, dancing, screaming–I watched grown men tear their shirts off, get on their pal’s shoulder and wave their shirt around and around like they were signaling a rescue plane on a deserted island. People spontaneously hugging. It was so cool. So cool in fact that I spent much of Friday and Saturday nights watching other people watch the band.

Let’s be honest, you can’t see much from the 50 yard line in a stadium. The screens are there, the lights do their best, but really you have to go for the experience, not the intimacy. During SYCMIOYOwn, I looked at SP and remarked that we were roughly 50 times further away than we had been at any of the four US dates we attended when Bono sings his note. We had been next to each other at the rail at the tip of the ellipse when he sang that note at three separate shows. Close enough to not need the microphone. Friday night, we were about 50 yards away, even though Bono had gone through the trouble of standing on one of the target ramps to get closer.

My point is that none of these stadium shows can give you the feeling that you’re watching a bar band play their hearts out. Every gesture is exaggerated, every kick of Bono’s high-heeled shoe is bigger than the indoor version. It’s a shame that both continents can’t enjoy both kinds of shows from U2. There is something to be said for variety. Which brings me to Saturday night.

But first, Saturday day. And I’m only telling you this because you’re probably as geeky as I am about U2. After all, you’re reading this instead of doing something worthwhile like balancing your checkbook or clipping your fingernails.

If I say that on Saturday, a cloudy Irish weekend day, I went to The Castle, you have your choice of two. And no concert has ever taken place there. That’s right music fans, I was in a tiny car for more than five hours in order to spend 30 minutes in a place the band had spent a total of one day. SP, GH, and I rented a car and GH, a Londoner who knows which side of the road to drive on, took us barreling through the Irish countryside, with directions at the ready (thank you u2 germany!) It took awhile, Irish radio is not the U2-centric place I thought it might be (Kelly Clarkston? Please). Finally, we neared the town, we took one wrong turn, and there it was. Moydrum Castle. Right. There. On. The. Cover. Of. Your. Unforgettable. Fire. Album. Cover.

There were already people there. A couple who may not have known the name of the place, but at least they knew it had something to do with the band. SP and I posed in Bono and Edge position. We took way too many photos than was necessary. Here’s the thing: it looks sort of fake in real life, sort of tiny and unremarkable. But when you see a photo of the place, it looks wondrous and imposing and perfectly covered in ivy. I’ll post a photo or two when we get home. But it was way cooler than I thought it would be.

I’m curious if any out of towners, here in Dublin for the shows, have been out to Bono’s house. And if so, how many people are hanging around there? The family must be living somewhere else this week, right?

SP and I discussed what other holy treks we needed to take to be considered the biggest U2 fans in the world. We’ve been to his house (individually, several years ago), we’ve been to the Castle, he’s been to Slane and Germany’s Zoo Station. We figure we’ll end up at the late, great Joshua Tree spot sometime in the next few years. Then we’ll have done it.

If you find yourself with an extra day, go see the Castle. But go with other freaks because civilians just won’t understand.

Now it’s Saturday night and we head to the show much later than the night before. We get there while U2’s crew is setting up. We place ourselves on the floor on Adam’s side. But I’m feeling strange. This happens to me sometimes.

There are just too many people. They’ve had all day to drink. They know what to expect and where to stand now. I begin to get antsy. Vertigo, OOControl, during which I look up and see the stands shake and dance. Electric Co., Elevation. I pogo, but the zeal isn’t in me. Am I tired from the drive? Is the show less energetic? NYDay, BDay, ISHFWILFor, all songs I don’t necessarily have to hear again live. Then they do it. They say, F-You AG, try and be nonchalant about this next one, big boy. All I Want Is You. Like a Pavlovian Dog, I get quiet and weepy and I leave my friends and walk to the very back of the stadium, singing the whole way. People seem to sense my need for a walk and they part as I move while singing. A girl is taken out of the crowd for a hug, the fans cheer wildly. By the end of the song, I’m in the very back–back by the special needs fans, watching the sheer size of the production while listening to a song that needs no production to talk to me.

I would stay at the back for the remainder of the show.

This gave me a vantage point for people in the far corners. Can they be happy with their seats? Can they see anything? Will they sit down the entire time? No, No, and No. City of Blinding Lights had all the dancers (who congregate on the rear floor) jumping crazily, myself included. The music still makes it to the back, I can assure you.

MDrug and SYCMIOYOwn don’t properly translate to the rear, but the screen visuals help. MDrug has a heartbeat and Sometimes has Bono huge, Bono medium, and Bono close-up on three separate screens as well as Father cartoon figure on another screen. During LAPOElse it becomes clear that Bono’s goofiness and lack of coordination during the drumming part unfortunately does make it to the back. But the crowd loves it. Remember, these shows aren’t for us. They are for a person who might say, as one did in the paper yesterday “I’m U2’s biggest fan and this is my first show.” Let them have their fun. Let them cheer when Bono beats a drum like a crazy Samurai.

SBSunday. There is no way to describe this. Everyone stands up. Even the corners. People who were all but passed out from drinking are suddenly revived. Couples kiss, pals hug in a non-threatening though homoerotic manner. The fans in the wheelchairs almost stand. Fans rush from the back of the pitch towards the front in an effort to get even more into the event of the show. Hands wave, flags come out. And everyone sings. Everyone. It is incredible. Tears in eyes, everyone sings.

And I’m taken back to 1984. SBSunday is my entry point into U2. I knew them. I knew some other songs. I despised New Year’s Day and its accompanying video. But that Red Rocks SBSunday changed my life. Literally. I’m sitting in Europe right now because that video was in heavy rotation on MTV in the Summer of 1984.

There was no red on Saturday, no fog, no white flag, and thankfully, no mullet on Bono’s head, but the song is still there. And it means a hell of a lot to a lot of Irish people. And they sang. Loudly. In unison. That will be the one thing I remember about this trip. The singing.

Bullet has new night-vision explosion imagery. RTSStill gives the casual fan (read: not us) a chance to talk with each other. There was a lot of talking at both shows. Way too much.

Pride, whatever. Streets is next. Can they do it? Will it work? Will I feel it from the back? Good luck fellas. I spend much of time looking up and around and backwards. When the roar of recognition starts (yes, minutes after you already knew what was coming) everyone goes crazy. Bono is saying something–nonsense in most people’s minds, probably–and those flags on the screen aren’t as cool as the red screen, but come on, it’s Streets for feck’s sake. I am going to dance. With abandon.

I find myself jumping up and down like a teenager in spite of myself. In spite of my soar back and tired feet. Everyone else is doing likewise. We are all jumping. We are all smiling. We all feel good. Isn’t that why we come to these things? I face the back for the white lights. They reach the back. They reach that poor lad in the back row of the corner. And at the end of the song, as a sort of wink, the screen is completely red.

The One cellphone thing still makes me feel too George Orwell. But everyone knows the words.

I’m looking forward to the ZooTV stuff from the back. That screen is big, I may as well take advantage of it.

Bush: booed. Blair: booed. Spaceman: cheered.

Zoo Station. Bono is in front of the screen. It’s 1992 again. Willie is a genius. That’s all there is to it.

The Fly words? Fantastic. My girlfriend ____________. Letters become words become sentences become lies. Nice.

MWays, I’m tired of. Sorry wannabe Bono dancing partners. I don’t miss this song when it’s not in the set. Bono sort of looks for a partner, but seems to give up. Or was he looking for…

Matt from Canada gets his big break. It pays to advertise. SP, no stranger to this dream come true scenario will critique when I meet up with him after the show. Plays Party Girl. A bit off-tempo, but the crowd can’t believe his luck. It’s as if they have never seen U2 bring a musician on stage to perform. These Shows Aren’t For Us. But we can still enjoy them. Though not as much as Matt did.

There are three left. ABOY is well-received. Yahweh has a new Keith Haringish animation to go along with its lyrics.

And Vertigo again. This pissed me off when I heard they were doing it twice. But now I think I like it. 1) It tells everyone the show is over; 2) it harkens back to gigs in the old days when they were forced to play a song or two twice; 3) Even the laziest fan can’t claim to have not heard it as it was played 2 hours previously; 4) It gets everyone dancing and energized for their long walk home. It proves that the fans still have something left in the tank. And the lights look cool.

“The End”. It must be true because the screen says so.

Which show was better, Friday or Saturday? I don’t know. Friday was new. Saturday was further back. Better songs on Saturday. More tired on Saturday.

I watched both of them. In Dublin. Surrounded by mostly Irish people.

I’ll watch the third one tomorrow.

See you there.

Answer Guy.

Notes since last time:

–>It doesn’t rain here, it sort of spits in a sideways manner. We walked through the rain, with the other billion people, through neighborhoods I didn’t recognize. The stadium is huge. You get on the field and look around and are amazed at its size. It rained on and off during the Radiators’ set. I realized that I had never been rained on at a concert before. This California Boy was not used to this. It was miserable. I was underdressed and wet by the time Snow Patrol came on. The crowd was happy and supportive and began some of their only-in-Europe behaviors early in their set. It was still raining when U2 took the stage.

–>The any-wall-type-area-is-fair-game-for-peeing rule was still in effect under the stands. Large, burly guards were put into place to stop it, but what could they do? Lines for toilets were way too long. I held it until this morning. Just kidding.

–>At about 8:35 the wave was in full effect. It was pretty cool. The crowd was antsy and ready for the show.

–>The lighting board began filling up with the usuals, Ali, Morleigh, Edge’s parents, kids about the bands’ kids’ ages, Jan and Mr. Wenner.

–>Arcade Fire. Fans taking group photos with their phones. People smiling. Everyone wet. Really wet.

–>You can look to U2tours or u2log to get a review. I never know if a show is musically better or worse than the one that came before. Here’s what I am absolutely sure of: I will never feel a chill (both figurative and literal) like I did when they played I WILL FOLLOW and every voice among the 80,000 sang as loudly as possible. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. It’s too light out for the light show, I’m quite a distance from the band, I’m freezing, I’m behind a group of men who were tall enough to play for the Knicks, and yet….I’m in Fecking Dublin singing along with actual Irish people (not American Irish people who own a flag or t-shirt) to a song I’ve only heard live 39 times previously. Magical. You know why it was special. The fans that live in Ireland, have followed them as they’ve conquered the world. The fans who live in other countries have literally followed them back to their hometown. That’s what I did. I followed.

–>During Electric Co., Bono added Bullet with Butterfly Wings snippet. During Sunday Bloody Sunday, I felt what the words meant more so than I ever had before. It’s not just a cool song here.

–>During the slower songs, even Running…, the crowd talked like they were at a house party. I guess you get that at any stadium show.

–>We were far enough back where we weren’t smushed. I wished I was in the front, but I’m glad I didn’t wait in the rain all day.

–>There were groups of drunk people jumping and screaming and hoisting each other up. It wasn’t too bad.

–>When the lights finally did work, it was something special. Especially the ZooTV stuff.

–>At the end of Streets, the huge screen was bright red, just like I remember.

–>We lament the setlist at every show, but I watched the stands, as I often do, and the Running to Pride segue, meant that all the semi-fans who sit immediately stood up for a song they recognized. The band is all but forced to play the hits and from what I saw it works. Every arm upraised, every seat empty, even in the back. It was a sight to see.

–>Cool Croke Park tourshirts are available. My first merchandise purchase since a PopMart hat.

–>We’re off to the Unforgettable Fire Castle now. Talk to you later.

AG.

We are six or seven hours away. The rain has started. The U2 t-shirts are out. The accents from every country are more pronounced. There have been people in line since yesterday morning. I’ll proudly enjoy the show from the back. I need room for my patented “AG Dance Fever” moves. I’ll be in the @U2 staff shirt tonight. Maybe it’ll get me into the VIP area. Just kidding. Enjoy the show everyone. Those of you listening via cell phone, let’s hope there’s something special, something new in the setlist.

The worst case scenario has me in the back of a stadium full of fans, all singing along, in my favorite band’s favorite city.

Not too shabby.

Let’s get a pint afterwards, okay?

Answer Guy

According to Billboard Radio Monitor, XM Satellite Radio will broadcast the Live 8 concerts on July 2 beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. XM will carry the concerts on two streams, XM Live I (London and Paris) and XM Live II (Berlin, Rome and Philadelphia). For further details on XM’s Live 8 coverage visit the XM radio website.

The best part of this whole trip is seeing the different shirts and meeting the different international fans. Last night, I’m with SP and Aaron Wanderer (AW) and we notice a guy with a u2vl.org t-shirt. AW begins talking with him and it turns out that we have much of the www.u2vl.org crew there. We share a pint, take photos, laugh about A Man And A Woman lyrics and communicate about our band. Serious Steve, antsy Bart (who was extra nice to Answer Guy), his girlfriend Anya, Green-haired Gert (the Irish love a guy who will color his hair), and low-key Peter. All cool guys. We’ll see them tonight at Palace Bar in Temple Bar. If you’re around, come by. Remember, I’m shy. I wish I had a map we could push pins into for every different country represented.

That is all until tonight. Off to the Guinness Factory.

Answer Guy

Thank you for asking. If you were follower of Islam, you would be required at some point in your life to travel to Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia, to worship where your religion started. For U2 fans, that means Dublin. It’s one of those things I felt I had to do before getting too old (which is any day now). I already feel as if I’ve made the right decision. Just don’t tell my bank.

AG.