Ok, so here is my Boston 4 story. Late, but here.
First off, to set the stage?I was in the recovery/rebuilding stage of a broken relationship and one of the difficult things had been that my ex and I had had U2 in common. Made it difficult for me to listen to them for some time but once I was over the worst, I got back into the music with a vengeance. No way I?m letting some bastard steal my favorite band from me! I went to the U2 gig in my city (Minneapolis) and it was great, but I was in another dimension. I think since it was the first time I had seen them, it was all just so surreal, that I almost couldn?t believe it was actually THEM! My second show was in Chicago, on Mother?s Day. I had bought GA tickets on a whim, thinking that it ?might be fun to TRY to get into the heart? but assuming that normal people like myself would never be able to. Well, wonder of wonders, we did get in and it was such a mind-blowing experience, I was left depressed that I was missing the rest of the shows as the tour went onward.
Fast forward to June. I had been ICQing with another member of this forum (who shall remain nameless unless he wants to identify himself
) and we were both drooling over the setlists we saw coming across the wire, wishing we were there, and joking that we ought to catch one more show. Then on Wednesday, I found some GA tix for Boston 4 online from a broker that were about $200. At this point, it seemed a small price to pay for nirvana, so I emailed my new buddy and asked him what he thought. We decided to go for broke, exchanged phone numbers, called each other and made plans. I bought the tickets, he booked a hotel near the arena. This was on Thursday. Friday afternoon I was on a plane to Boston where I met up with my new friend. We took a taxi to the hotel passing the arena where Boston 3 was occurring that very minute. I knew we were gonna get along when we both looked at each in this state of awe and said almost simultaneously??they?re playing right now?maybe we should go try to meet them?? lol. But common sense ruled and we went to the hotel to crash so we could get up super-early and get a good spot in the GA line. (actually we talked about maybe camping out even).
Saturday morning we got to the arena around 5ish in the morning and found ourselves numbers 50 and 51! Woohoo! The whole day in line was like one massive party. I met fans from all over, created my sign on a whim, jammed with other fans on guitars, and generally had a wonderful time. MTV was there near the end, filming people but I didn?t pay much attention to it (being rather camera-shy and not looking all that camera-ready after a day in the sun). Finally, they started letting us into the arena in small groups. Oh the excitement. While standing in the hall waiting to be let up the stairs, I saw someone with an interference tag. I yelled back to her and got her attention, mouthing ?what?s your username?? It was EP and America.
I dunno if she could decipher what I was saying when I yelled back that I was ?sula?.
But good times, nonetheless.
So into the heart we went, staking out positions close to the front. I found myself directly in front of Edge?s spot, behind only one person who was on the rail. This I could deal with! I kept looking at the amp and the ground in front of it thinking, ?not too long from now EDGE is going to be
right there!?omg!?
Then there was the whole MTV crew going up and down the row in front of the heart interviewing people and whatnot. I got asked what my sign meant ?You never lost the job!? and I blabbered something incoherent about it while under the glare of their camera light. They came back to film it again, so I had a small hope that it might end up somewhere in the footage (as indeed it did, I am told).
PJ Harvey rocked. That?s all I have to say about it. She seemed really really into it that night and was interacting with the crowd more than I?d ever seen her do. Some people from her fan club had brought paper fish and passed them around the heart so when she sang ?Big Fish, Little Fish? we all held them up and made them dance. She seemed to get a big kick out of that.
Then finally, it was time. Sergeant Pepper?s began and I thought I might just faint. Lol. The boys sauntered on stage and all hell broke loose. I remember holding up my sign very quickly and putting it down again very quickly because I was really concerned about not annoying the people behind me. (see, some of us are nice about it!
) and I caught Edge?s eye. He grinned at me. *die* As they got into Elevation, I managed to catch Bono?s attention for a brief second and get his smile/nod of approval at it too. Woohoo!
As the last bars of Elevation faded away and then Edge went into the opening licks of Pride?my god it was like someone set a match to a keg of powder. The place erupted! We all knew that this night was going to be different, was going to be special, and it certainly was. The setlist was such a surprise. EBTTRT???? 11 O?Clock Tick Tock???? OH yeah, it was special. When they started Out of Control, I thought the heart was going to pogo right outta control. Lol. And my personal favorite shocker moment was Party Girl. Wowowowow. Singing along at the top of my lungs, I remember looking out into the audience in the stands and seeing a lot of them look confused. ?I don?t remember this one on the Greatest Hits album? or something.
But for those of us who had been waiting for some b-side gems, it was superb. Seems to me that afterward, Bono said something like "Is the bside crowd happy now?? ?Can I play one for me? Just one??
Other hazy memories?I had a tiny sign for Edge which I made from the leftover cardboard of the first sign that said ?Edge, dance?? which I showed him during MW. That got another Edge-grin (I swear he ought to patent those things!) And my most fond memory of the entire evening. It was during WOWY. This was the song that I had heard on the radio randomly only a year before, the song that compelled me to find out more about ?this U2 band? and had basically started this crazy journey. After all that had happened over the past year, relationships, heartbreak, good times, bad times, when they played this song it really took me to pieces. Tears streaming down my face, I looked up and caught eyes with Edge and all I could do was mouth ?Thank you.? He smiled his quiet little smile and just nodded back in acknowledgement.
And I know it sounds crazy, but that moment will forever be branded on my consciousness. It all clicked into place. I was home, with my chosen family, celebrating life. It was indeed a beautiful day.
- you name it!
mondays. 
