Special thanks to our special Vertigo Tour correspondent Pat Hurley for his reports and photos. Pat - sounds like you picked the right locations to be at! You can see his photos here.
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Sorry for taking so long to file this report, got back from Hawaii yesterday, has taken me some time to gather my thoughts from all the events of the extended weekend. And what an amazing experience it was surrounding this tour-ending concert! A chronological summary:

FRIDAY: Touch down in Honolulu around 8PM local time, our driver asks us right off the bat if we’re in town for the big U2 concert, he’s been picking people up all day who are going to the show, also ferrying people to Bono’s rental house as well as our hotel which some of the band members are staying at (are you kidding me!).

SATURDAY A.M.: Before heading downstairs for breakfast, took a look at an article in the local paper describing how some fans started camping out in the GA line on Thursday night, and how accommodating the venue was in opening up some concession stands and providing portable toilets. Sit down at our table, look up and guess who is sitting two tables away……. Billie Joe from Green Day! I’m thinking he must be here to play “The Saints are Coming” with the boys tonight, right ? Also spotted him later in the day doing some of the normal things a family does while on vacation, kind of cool to see him as a regular father as opposed to the famous lead singer we see on stage or on TV.

SATURDAY P.M.: Just from hanging out around the hotel all day, and noticing all the people with U2 shirts or “ONE” wristbands, it seems many of us have traveled a long way to see this show. Waiting out front to catch a cab to the stadium, wearing the “INSPI(RED)” T-shirts my wife picked up from the Gap before we left the mainland, another couple comes up to us and comments on the shirts. After chatting for a few minutes, the valet brings their car around, at which point they offer us a ride to the concert. Now I’m originally from NYC, so I’m not in the habit of accepting rides from perfect strangers, but given they’re U2 fans and sympathetic enough to our situation to offer, we hop in and enjoy the ride with the radio tuned to a station that is just playing blocks of U2 and PJ (Deb and Mark – thanks again).

THE CONCERT (Pre-U2): Arriving at about 6pm, there were still plenty of people in the parking lots tailgating, but you couldn’t tell that from the size of the crowds surrounding the 4 merchandise tents. Sorry Rocko, I missed most of your opening act while waiting to buy a few T-shirts and a poster, but you sounded like you were having fun. Finally we reached our seats, 3rd row - stage right - killer view (thanks to @U2 reader Becky M. – your package will be in the mail soon) and waited for the arrival of Pearl Jam. Knowing they only had about an hour for their set, Eddie & Co. were on fire from the start, playing many of their songs (Corduroy, Elderly Woman…, Evenflow, Betterman) that would be recognizable even to the audience members who were there just to see U2. The native islanders in the crowd got a treat as PJ also played a song “Hawaii 78” written by a Hawaiian member of the band. Pearl Jam closed their set in impressive fashion with “Alive” and a cover of “Baba O’Riley” that brought down the house.

THE MAIN EVENT: As the crew clears PJ’s equipment and gets the stage ready for U2, it gives us a break to catch our breath and prepare for take-off. The anticipation builds until finally “Wake Up” bursts from the speakers while a ticker-tape of every show on the Vertigo tour crawls across the video screen behind the band. Bono emerges on the catwalk waving an American flag at the start of “CoBL”. The lower deck of the stadium is literally bouncing up and down as the band rips through “Vertigo”, “Elevation” and “I Will Follow”. The atmosphere is more like a celebration than anything else as the crowd expresses its joy and the band is completely at ease and having fun, most notably when Bono pulls a fan from the crowd who is “very specific” about playing keyboard on “Wild Horses” and Bono checks that Edge remembers “the chords”. As the fan returns to the cheering crowd, running back down the catwalk arms overhead in triumph, we are treated to “The First Time” before the band completes the main set and first encore with familiar numbers which have been staples on this tour. Bono apologized a couple of times for the concert’s postponement, thanking the crowd for a “second chance” and for “hanging around” as well as thanking Edge for “staying strong”. I have to admit, this being the final show of the tour, I was looking forward to the band doing something a little different and they delivered in the second encore. After “Window in the Skies”, Billie Joe joins the band on stage (like I thought earlier) for “The Saints are Coming”, then Eddie and Mike from PJ appeared for a cover of “Rockin’ in the Free World”. The scene of Bono and Eddie dancing and exchanging lyrics and Edge and Mike trading solos was incredible, their extended version of the song ended with everyone singing “We love the Edge”. The night came to a close with “All I Want Is You”, the band members leaving one by one with Larry the last to go, playing the drums slower and slower, almost like he didn’t want to finish and the show to come to an end, until he came out from behind his kit to deliver the last words, “See you soon”. Just an amazing night.

SUNDAY: Back at our hotel, poolside, early afternoon, there suddenly appears a man dressed all in black, shades, slicked back hair. Everybody perks up, “Is that him?”, “That’s not him, his hair is too long” and indeed it wasn’t Bono, it was just his decoy. But we’re thinking, if his decoy is here, maybe he is too? Sure enough, about a half hour later, I spot Bono up on a veranda overlooking the pool, sitting at a table, just hanging out with friends. We move to an adjacent room, seeking a chance maybe for a quick hello or photo op, but as he leaves the room he stops just long enough to say hi to a couple of kids and their mom before his bodyguard escorts him over to the elevators.

All in all, a great trip, an incredible show and a few glimpses (some not mentioned) of the people behind the rock stars which I’m glad to say only enhanced my opinion of them.

(photos (c) S. Lawrence/@U2)

The US Leg of the Popmart tour came to an end in Seattle, Washington. As the story goes, Bono had been inspired by the “spirit” (tequila if memory serves me correctly) while in Vancouver a few nights before to do a reverse mohawk, which didn’t look too good. (Let’s face it - even the mullet probably looked better on Bono than a reverse mohawk.)

So, to make peace with his hairstyle, the rest of it came off. Fans in Seattle were shocked to see a bald Bono. For those of us who were there, we couldn’t believe it when fans who saw the show in Vancouver warned us about the new look Bono had. Nice to see that 9 years later, his good friend Gavin Friday has now taken up the shaved head look too.

If you were one of the early risers this morning, you might have noticed that U2.com had been hacked into by “BaGoL” as he gave props to the “all hackerz indonesia” folks. A few hours later, it appears that the site has returned to normal. The fix came quite quickly, so kudos to the team at U2.com for fixing the issue.

According to netmusiccountdown.com, Bono was in Hollywood this past week taking in two of Ivan Kane’s Royal Jelly burlesque show. The site says, “The veteran singer sat with proprietor Kane and drank Guiness as he enjoyed watching the ladies perform. Bono said, ‘It was the nicest feeling he’s had in a club … it’s f***in’ brilliant.’”

Meanwhile, Edge has been working hard to go into Phase 2 of Music Rising. JAM! Music is reporting that Music Rising is now going to focus on restoring music programs in churches and schools. The site states that “Music Rising Phase II will be administered by The Gibson Foundation with assistance from Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and All Congregations Together. As with Phase I, donations can be made via the web site, www.MusicRising.org, where there are links to pay online or one can mail a cheque or money order to Gibson Foundation, 309 Plus Park Blvd., Nashville, TN 37217.” The article also reminds readers that they can order Music Rising tshirts through fanfire.com and can purchase a “‘very’ limited edition Music Rising Epiphone guitar” through the Music Rising website.

Amnesty International, an organization U2 has supported for years, is conducting its annual Greeting Card Campaign to bring light to those unjustly imprisoned or in danger this holiday season.

If you’d like to participate, please visit Amnesty International’s UK Web site. And don’t forget to read the important guidelines about how to send your greetings (thx Lucy for the tip).

Once again, special thanks to special Vertigo Tour correspondent Simon Vigrow for his report!
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Setlist: City Of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, I Will Follow, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For-In A Little While, Beautiful Day-Sgt. Pepper’s/Blackbird, Window In The Skies, Walk On (Bono & Edge), Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own, Bad-40, Sunday Bloody Sunday-Rock The Casbah, Bullet The Blue Sky-Johnny Came Marching Home/The Hands That Built America, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where The Streets Have No Name, One
Encore 1: The Fly, Mysterious Ways, With Or Without You
Encore 2: The Saints Are Coming, Angel Of Harlem, One Tree Hill

As I hopped on the bullet train to Tokyo I wondered how U2 would be received. It had been about 8 years since they last played Japan and though they are famous, the band aren’t the household name here that they are in other countries.

Believe it or not, getting tickets wasn’t that hard. Tickets were distributed by a company called Ticket Pia. Ticket Pia members got first crack at tickets, becoming a member is free and takes about five minutes. At midnight on the day tickets went on sale, I went to the Ticket Pia website and entered the number of tickets I wanted and for which shows. A few days later, I received a postcard telling me to go back to the website one week from then. A week later, I followed the instructions and entered a code printed on the postcard to find out whether I had gotten what I had requested. Sure enough, I got arena (floor) seats for the show. I went to a convenience store the next day where the friendly staff printed out my tickets. From that point on, non-Ticket Pia members could buy tickets. It was also just as easy to get tickets for the April show that ended up being cancelled.

The Saitama Super Arena is not in Tokyo. Saitama is a suburb, it took about forty minutes to get there from central Tokyo. I got there about five o’clock, doors opened at six and the show started at seven-thirty. The arena is probably the smallest venue on this leg of the tour. The Super Arena website claims it can accomodate 30 000 people for a concert but I don’t think there were that many people there. (Editor’s note: it’s like saying Foxboro Stadium - or Gillette Stadium - is in Boston, MA…it’s about 40 minutes outside of Boston when there’s good traffic. And, that U2’s Elevation Tour started in Miami when it was Sunrise, Fl. Thanks for the clarification, Simon!)

Outside there were many people milling around and I noticed two large lines. I was surprised to discover one of the queues was for tour merchandise. It was being sold outside at some stalls and a lot of people were waiting. Fortunately, it wasn’t too chilly and it wasn’t raining. I thought having only one point of purchase for twenty thousand people or so was not such a good idea. One or two more sales areas would have shortened the line. There were seven different shirts for sale, most costing 4000 yen but the lone long sleeved shirt cost 5000 yen. One shirt had just the Japan dates listed on the back, another all of the 2006 shows. There was a Vertigo baseball cap going for 3500 yen and a key ring for 1500 yen was the cheapest souvenir. Tour programs were 2500 yen. At the bottom of the third page it reads ‘Vertigo Japan Tour 2006′ and the interviews inside are in Japanese. I didn’t see any in English available. The box office was next to the merchandise stalls, tickets were still available a few hours before the show.

I joined the long line for arena ticket holders. Once the doors opened, the line moved very slowly as ticket holders were allowed in according to the number on their tickets. Numbers one to one hundred were let in first and so on. I was number 2737 so it took a while. I got inside and checked if merchandise was being sold but there was none to be found. The floor section was divided into A and B blocks, the former being closer to the stage while the latter made up the rear half of the floors. There was no oval ramp from the stage, just two catwalks extending from both Edge’s and Adam’s side of the stage. I managed to stake a place near the end of Edge’s catwalk.

Seven-thirty came and went and I could feel the excitement mounting in the building. I looked up and around and couldn’t spot any empty seats. Finally, the stage techs didn’t seem to be doing anything and there was no more on stage activity. The Arcade Fire’s Wake Up came through the speakers and half way through the song the lights went out. The audience erupted and we were on our way.

The lights and visuals were really powerful standing so close to the stage, I did feel a little dizzy during the first two numbers. Bono referred to Tokyo as the city of blinding lights and during the intro to Vertigo he counted to three in Japanese before switching back to Spanish. The band stormed through the first four songs and was matched by the energy coming back from the crowd. The pace dropped for I Still Havent Found… and Bono thanked the crowd for waiting for the band and for giving them a great life. There was a bit of a language gap at times and some of Bono’s comments met with a muted response over the course of the night.

After Beautiful Day, Bono thanked the crowd in Japanese and said he had a real first. He switched back to English and said for the first time anywhere they were going to play a new song and they rolled out Window In The Skies. There was no piano, Edge played the piano parts on guitar. I noticed Adam had a music stand next to the drums with some notes on it and didn’t take his eyes off it during the song. During a vocal break, Bono shouted ‘Middle eight’ just to keep everyone on track. It sounded flawless and blended smoothly into the set. I was impressed that with only a few tour dates remaining, they would slide a new song into the show.

For the acoustic Walk On, Edge and Bono made good use of the catwalk in front of me. It was unbelievable to be so close. Naturally, it was mayhem around me. Everyone was screaming and jostling to snap photos on cameras and cell phones. Bono also came back during Sometimes You Can’t Make It… He was just in front of me as he sang soaring ‘Can you hear me when I siiiing’ line. It was dreamlike.

The visuals on the backdrop were tailored for the Japanese audience. During Sunday Bloody Sunday, ‘Co-Exist’ came on the screens in both English and Japanese. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was in Japanese along with the Make Poverty History text message information.

Some highlights: Edge’s angry solo during Bullet The Blue Sky, Bono’s powerful take on Pavarotti’s part of Miss Sarajevo from the end of Adam’s catwalk, Bono strolling through the crowd at the front of the stage during Bad.

The band seemed energized by the crowd’s enthusiasm and the intensity level notched upwards as the show progressed. Where The Streets Have No Name worked its usual magic and Bono shouted ‘This is crazy’ when it came to an end. The main set finished with One and Bono asking everyone to take out their cellphones. He thanked the Japanese Prime Minister for meeting with him earlier in the day and spoke about ending extreme poverty.

The first encore kicked off with a ferocious version of The Fly. They finished the song clustered around Larry’s kit and it struck me all visuals and lighting tricks aside, how powerful the band were. Bono pulled a lucky lady onto Adam’s catwalk to serenade during With Or Without You. He gave her his policeman’s hat and got down on one knee to sing to her. You could feel the jealousy, some of it was mine.

The band reappeared for the final encore and seemed relaxed and playful. There were plenty of onstage smiles during the sing-along that was Angel Of Harlem. Edge was at the end of his catwalk and Bono at the end of the other when someone in the crowd offered Bono a harmonica. He took it and honked away into it. Across the crowd, Bono and Edge shared a laugh. Adam made his sole appearance on Edge’s catwalk around this time and they too exchanged broad smiles. ‘That’s like a jukebox, that one’ was how Bono described it when it was done. The crowd seemed a bit wrongfooted by One Tree Hill as a set closer, perhaps as it was one of the lesser known songs of the night.

It was a great show but I was surprised at how few songs they played off of How To Dismantle…and a few more surprises such as One Tree Hill would have been nice. U2 appeared on Japanese TV on December 1st and Bono said they had had the best shows of their lives this week in Japan. More Bono hyperbole? At least he didn’t say Edge was on fire.