U2ITNOL
Acrobat
My ultimate concert fantasy came true... U2 with opening band Pearl Jam, the final night of the Vertigo Tour at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. My two favorite bands of all-time in one night and I was fortunate to see it in person. Pearl Jam played about an hour opening set then later joined U2 on-stage for "Rockin' in a Free World". Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day also showed up to perform "The Saints Are Coming" with U2. What a night! I only wish Pearl Jam had played longer. I haven't seen Pearl Jam in concert since that night as they've skipped Phoenix the past two tours.
The Honolulu concert was originally scheduled for April of '06 but was postponed until December due to Edge's daughter Sian being ill. Despite the postponement, I still made it out to Hawaii in April as I had already purchased non-refundable airfare and hotel reservations . I had a great time in April meeting up with other Zootopians who had also made the trip. We had a group outing at Germaine's Luau and I joined other Zootopians in the Honolulu MS Walk the morning the concert was originally scheduled. One of the local tv stations featured us in a story about the MS Walk. You can see it in this video YouTube - U2 Fans Unite as ONE in Hawaii
Exactly 4 years since that amazing night and by coincidence I just happen to be back here in Honolulu enjoying my last week of remaining vacation time for this year. I reason I came here, other than relax and get tanned on Waikiki Beach, was to see the Pipeline Masters pro surfing competition on the North Shore. The day after the U2 show in 2006, I went up to the North Shore to see the Pipeline Masters. I wasn't really a surfing fan but was curious to see the BIG North Shore waves I've always heard about and seen on tv. I was completely blown away by the size of the waves and how good those surfers are. Seeing the North Shore waves on tv doesn't do them justice. It's something you have to see in person. I knew I had to come back someday for this competition when I had better camera equipment to take proper photos. Back then I had a Canon 40D with a cheap zoom lens. In the past fours years I've upgraded to a Canon 7D DSLR and Canon L series lens , so it was the right time to come back. Wedneday was the first scheduled day of the Pipeline Masters. I flew in on Tuesday. Wednesday morning I checked a surf conditions website, saw the conditions were listed a VERY GOOD to EPIC, so rushed up to the North Shore and stayed several hours taking photos and shooting HD video. All I was hoping for was to see one day of competition during my stay. There was no guarantee I'd get to see any competition. The Pipeline Masters is scheduled from Dec 8th through December 20th. That's their holding period. However they'll only have competition on days when the surf conditions are right. Once they get in enough days of competition to complete all the heats and determine the winner, it's over. The winner could be determined the first week of competition, or on the last day if the big waves show up late. So I'm fortunate they got to compete on the first day. I did go up again to the North Shore this morning, but the competition had already been called off by the time I got there due to rain and bad surf conditions. However I did shoot photos of amateur surfers at Pipeline and Sunset Beach, so I'm glad I went anyways. Living in the desert, I don't get to see this very often! I shot nearly a couple thousand photos the past two days, so I can consider my trip a resounding success and can spend the next few days before I leave relaxing on the beach and seeing other sights. The Honolulu Marathon is happening Sunday morning, so I might try to shoot some photos of the runners if I can manage to get up early enough. I have a pub crawl the night before..
YouTube - U2 & Pearl Jam - Rockin' in the Free World (Live in Hawaii)
YouTube - U2 & Billie Joe Armstrong - The Saints Are Coming (Live in Hawaii 12/9/06)
YouTube - Pearl Jam "Hawaii 78" Aloha Stadium 12/9/06
The Honolulu concert was originally scheduled for April of '06 but was postponed until December due to Edge's daughter Sian being ill. Despite the postponement, I still made it out to Hawaii in April as I had already purchased non-refundable airfare and hotel reservations . I had a great time in April meeting up with other Zootopians who had also made the trip. We had a group outing at Germaine's Luau and I joined other Zootopians in the Honolulu MS Walk the morning the concert was originally scheduled. One of the local tv stations featured us in a story about the MS Walk. You can see it in this video YouTube - U2 Fans Unite as ONE in Hawaii
Exactly 4 years since that amazing night and by coincidence I just happen to be back here in Honolulu enjoying my last week of remaining vacation time for this year. I reason I came here, other than relax and get tanned on Waikiki Beach, was to see the Pipeline Masters pro surfing competition on the North Shore. The day after the U2 show in 2006, I went up to the North Shore to see the Pipeline Masters. I wasn't really a surfing fan but was curious to see the BIG North Shore waves I've always heard about and seen on tv. I was completely blown away by the size of the waves and how good those surfers are. Seeing the North Shore waves on tv doesn't do them justice. It's something you have to see in person. I knew I had to come back someday for this competition when I had better camera equipment to take proper photos. Back then I had a Canon 40D with a cheap zoom lens. In the past fours years I've upgraded to a Canon 7D DSLR and Canon L series lens , so it was the right time to come back. Wedneday was the first scheduled day of the Pipeline Masters. I flew in on Tuesday. Wednesday morning I checked a surf conditions website, saw the conditions were listed a VERY GOOD to EPIC, so rushed up to the North Shore and stayed several hours taking photos and shooting HD video. All I was hoping for was to see one day of competition during my stay. There was no guarantee I'd get to see any competition. The Pipeline Masters is scheduled from Dec 8th through December 20th. That's their holding period. However they'll only have competition on days when the surf conditions are right. Once they get in enough days of competition to complete all the heats and determine the winner, it's over. The winner could be determined the first week of competition, or on the last day if the big waves show up late. So I'm fortunate they got to compete on the first day. I did go up again to the North Shore this morning, but the competition had already been called off by the time I got there due to rain and bad surf conditions. However I did shoot photos of amateur surfers at Pipeline and Sunset Beach, so I'm glad I went anyways. Living in the desert, I don't get to see this very often! I shot nearly a couple thousand photos the past two days, so I can consider my trip a resounding success and can spend the next few days before I leave relaxing on the beach and seeing other sights. The Honolulu Marathon is happening Sunday morning, so I might try to shoot some photos of the runners if I can manage to get up early enough. I have a pub crawl the night before..
YouTube - U2 & Pearl Jam - Rockin' in the Free World (Live in Hawaii)
YouTube - U2 & Billie Joe Armstrong - The Saints Are Coming (Live in Hawaii 12/9/06)
YouTube - Pearl Jam "Hawaii 78" Aloha Stadium 12/9/06
But sadly, I had to sell the ticket. I had two puppies that I just spend a small fortune training. And that wiped out my budget. It would have cost me another small fortune (albeit, a smaller one) to fly to Honolulu, get a hotel, rent a car, etc. Plus, with Xmas so close (and I was planning a trip to see family), something had to give. This concert was it.
