I’m happy to report that the GA rules from May and October will be the same for the final two shows in Boston. In regards as to when lining up wristbands will be distributed, I was told by a representative for the TD BankNorth Garden, “In order to preserve the integrity of the system, you will be required to present your concert ticket in order to receive a wristband. All wristbands will be issued the morning of the show, again, following the plan that we have been implementing for the past concerts.”

So, there you have it! Here are the rules as we posted them back in September for the October shows.

With only 10 shows left on leg 3 of the Vertigo Tour, we’re getting down to the wire. Approximately, 3500 more fans will be “scanned” into the ellipse - most of whom will be in the ellipse after following the rules outlined by TNA’s production coordinator, responsible for telling all in the GA line what the rules are to get into “that big-ass hole.” (When she said this in Miami, I couldn’t help but giggle.) She continues by saying to make a line buddy - decide who will buy each other beers depending on who’s ticket is a winner - and most importantly - if you don’t get scanned in, proceed directly to the floor.

For whatever reason, fans aren’t happy when they’re not winning ellipse access. So, they are *still* taking it upon themselves to figure out what the wristband color combination is so they can reach into a pocket to reuse their wristbands from previous shows. Despite what local capacity rules are as dictated by local law enforcement, and the fact that the band has tried to make ellipse access as fair as it could be for this tour, the whole wristband access process is a complete joke.

Why force fans who have waited in line for hours on end - those are your diehards - into a lottery system that continues to be flawed? In Tampa, those who were the first 10 in line did not get into the ellipse, and yet 45-minutes after the doors opened, people who had no clue what the ellipse was were getting wristbands. If the band feeds off the energy of the audience, then why isn’t the band spending more time at the tip of the ellipse when the majority of the die-hard fans will not be scanned in?

I understand the frustration of having the same people in the same locations night-after-night, as witnessed with the Elevation tour. I guess there’s no happy medium between the systems - and human nature continues to prove that if there’s a flaw in a system, people will take advantage of it to their own benefit.

I’m wondering how many other fans out there are just as frustrated with the current system of the scanning lottery - and I’m also wondering how many fans have gone to multiple shows and have yet to have their ticket be a winning ticket? Myself - I’m currently 0-14 with 4 more shows to go. (The times I did get into the ellipse it was thanks to my line-buddies).

The deadline is December 1st, the email address to write to is U2christmas (at) gmail.com. We’ve heard from every inhabited continent already; would love especially to hear from more fans from South America, Asia, and Africa (got a good contingent of North Americans, Europeans and Aussies!). The full announcement is still on @U2’s front page. Here’s what Jeff E. from Iowa had to say on the subject:

Just hear those sleigh bells jing-aling, ring-ting-ting-aling too
Come on it’s lovely weather for card swap with fans of U2

The ellipse is rocking and the crowd is singing woo hoo
Come on it’s lovely weather for card swap with fans of U2

Write ‘em up, write ‘em up, write ‘em up, let’s go
Let’s sing Vertigo
We’re writin’ cards to people we don’t even know

Write ‘em up, write ‘em up, write ‘em up it’s grand
Chattin’ ’bout the band
We’re braggin’ bout all those times the DVD showed our hand

Our families are all so sick of the shows we tivo’d on TV
We had to promise mom Christmas dinner would be U2-free

Let’s celebrate our band and share a story or two
Come on it’s lovely weather for a card swap with fans of U2

There’s GA line and it’s friggin’ cold but we’re ok
The show’ll be the perfect ending of the perfect day

We’ll be singing the songs we love to sing without a single stop
But first Kanye West grabs ahold of the mic and raps hip hop
What?! Hip-Hop?!

There’s a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy
When the crowd roars and you catch the boys with your own two eyes

The band’ll play 2 hours but sadly how the time will fly
These wonderful things are the things we remember all through our lives

The “Original of The Species” video, directed by Catherine Owens, has premiered on VH1. The video is a montage of computer animation and studio footage. The studio footage features tight close ups of the band’s faces. Best time to catch the video is in the morning during Jump Start and/or Fresh. A handful of screen shots have been uploaded to the @U2 flickr pool.

Here’s a shot of Edge filming the public service announcement for Music Rising in New York. Wow, what a poignant image…

Mommy? Bono’s being scary.

He he is, walking around in costume on the set of Across the Universe.
This kind of–kind of but not really–explains why Bono looks like Lemmy from Motorhead, sans moles.

Let’s all take a deep, cleansing breath.

Better late than never!

Finally got around to posting a set of photos shot for @U2 by our friend Scott Huck. Haven’t had a chance to post any to Flickr, just here on @U2 for now.

You can view the full set in our Vertigo Tour pix section, which includes this one of yer man with a classic “Who? Me?” look on his face at the start of the show.

Well, I survived it. And so did they. My kids, I mean, who saw their first U2 concert last night in Atlanta.
From my perspective, the show was awesome. High points: Bono doing Pavarotti’s part in Miss Sarajevo, MLK, The First Time, and Bad. Very few obnoxious fans. A great spot in the ellipse. Sharing it with the three people I love best.
They loved the confetti, Vertigo, Elevation, Stuck in a Moment, Mysterious Ways, Bono drumming on Love and Peace, Adam’s smile, lights chasing lights.
I don’t know if it’s U2 policy or the policy of Phillips Arena, but I have to say that I felt great about my kids being at this show. No less than four people checked to make sure we had earplugs, staff went out of their way to be kind and friendly, and I felt like my kids were safe. It was a great feeling.
If you were one of the people who stopped me and the girls to tell them how cool their mom is, thanks! Luckily, they are still young enough to believe it. The time is coming too fast when dancing with mom at a rock concert will be anything but cool, but last night, it was all good.
A great first time for them, and a new U2 first for me.

Every so often, I enjoy going through the @U2 group pool on flickr to see what our readers like to surprise us with. When I saw this uploaded by FishLips (along with the description to the left of the photo), I couldn’t help but think, “Hmmm….he did a film called Vertigo…surely he couldn’t have reincarnated himself into Paul McGuinness?” The similarities do not end just with that…before managing U2, Paul did dabble in film. Currently he sits on the board of School of Film and Drama at University College Dublin. It’s too spooky! Thank you FishLips for sharing this in the @U2 photo pool on flickr! Which reminds me - anyone can upload to the photo pool, so if you’re going to a show (or just came back from one), we encourage you to share your band photos with us!

Tomorrow morning on community radio station KDHX in St. Louis, I’ll be airing an interview with a member of the legendary a cappella group The Persuasions about their “The Persuasions Sing U2″ CD. You can tune in (if you’re in St. Louis) to 88.1 FM or you can listen online at kdhx.org; the interview will be on sometime between 8 and 10 am CST, and I’ll play a few cuts from the CD as well.