HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
By Carrie Alison, Chief Editor
2005.10
I've said this before but a U2 show is as much as about the fans as it is about the band. With that said, this account will be about two sisters, both long-time fans, one who, at 31, is finally seeing U2 (and New York City) for the first time in her life.
This is about the emotion a lifetime of U2 fandom can mean, where every album becomes the soundtrack to a season of your life.
This is about finding the General Admission line and then hearing, "You just missed Bono!" This is about waiting in the rain for three hours. This is about talking with fellow U2 fans to find out where to go and finding the guy with the clipboard so that you can get the number on your hand in black Sharpie ink. Once settled, there's nothing else to do but hurry up and wait; to swap stories; war stories and personal glories, all completely personal yet entirely universal in their feeling.
It's about the lady with the bullhorn who you can't hear because she won't stand still when making her announcements. It's about being unsure what the "Vertigo, Vertigo, Vertigo" she keeps repeating means. It's about more waiting in line in the rain, only to be ushered into the venue only to do more waiting in a hallway, lined up with the stench of fellow fans who are just as tired and smelly as you are.
It's about not getting into the ellipse but grabbing your sister's hand and running as fast as you can up those steps and across the GA floor to find a piece of railing you can call yours for the next three hours.
It's about that first glimmer of light, precious red light, as the Arcade Fire's majestic "Wake Up" is fading and the entire arena is singing along to the "whoa oh oh oh." It's one of the great Goosebumps moments of your life, the beauty of the music swirling in the air all around you, and the anticipation of what's next.
You always hear that seeing U2 in the "City of Blinding Lights" is a momentous occasion and on Friday night, in the midst of an unfortunate downpour and terrorist threat, it really was. For me, to be sure, as a new New Yorker but also for my sister, as I gazed at her watching U2 take flight for the first time.
The show began with the one-two-three punch of "City," "Vertigo" and "Elevation," the capacity audience on its feet and pogo-ing with abandon. The light strings that make up the entirety of the show's backdrop truly are a marvel to behold. I didn't think that anything could replace the standard mammoth video screens but somehow the lights became a thing of beauty and innovation, just like U2's storied career.
After the old school fans were thrilled with the now regular performances of "Cry," "The Electric Co." and "The Ocean," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" found the audience carrying Bono with a unanimous chorus of verse. "Beautiful Day" was jubilant as it has always been, however "Miracle Drug," though told with a comedic and silly "Edge is from the future" preface, is especially poignant in these times of death and destruction taking center stage on the evening news each time we change the channel.
Particularly striking was the absence of a trademark Bono rant in the bridge of "Bullet the Blue Sky" that marked previous tours, and became one of the most talked about moments of any given show. Maybe it was just that I was anticipating a classic Bono statement about anything—the looming subway terrorist threat that had taken up much of the day's news downstairs in Penn Station, the Katrina disaster, Africa or the Iraq War. Anything would have been nice. Alas, we were not to receive this on Friday night.
An unexpected high point came next, however. The surprising inclusion of "Miss Sarajevo" from The Passengers side project on the Vertigo Tour becomes the rant that I desire in the form of the reading of the Declaration of Human Rights. It's a striking reminder of all of the sadness and myriad wars in the world without naming them, I guess perhaps because they don't need to be. We know what U2's saying, that it's attacking tragedies like Abu Ghraib and the rights of people who don't have a voice as loud as Bono's impressive vocal theatrics during this gem of a tune.
What was a welcome surprise, however, was the continued play of "The First Time" from 1993's "Zooropa," a beautiful and sorely missed "Stuck in a Moment" that brought forth an anecdote about supermodels Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell, and a rousing and sexy "Fast Cars." I've told as many as I can about this but if U2 released "Fast Cars" as a single now, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" would rocket back up the charts in time for the Thanksgiving rush.
The encore brought the standard fare of "All Because of You," the relatively new inclusion of "Crumbs from Your Table" and a stirring "Yahweh" that takes on a greater force in concert than on record, and a surprising closing choice of "With or Without You" that found Bono picking up a lucky lass to dance with.
Back to my sister who, along with me, managed to grab a hold of the railing outside the Ellipse and never let go, had the time of her life. She had her first New York City celebrity sightings—British singer David Gray and Australian actor Heath Ledger—and was able to see each member of U2 up close and personal as they spent lots of time on our side of the catwalk.
She took pictures she never thought possible with a disposable camera venue security told her was not allowed by order of the band. She danced, she sang, she cried and she finally saw U2 sing songs she has loved her whole life in the arms of fellow fans who were right there with her, just like me.
2005.10
I've said this before but a U2 show is as much as about the fans as it is about the band. With that said, this account will be about two sisters, both long-time fans, one who, at 31, is finally seeing U2 (and New York City) for the first time in her life.
This is about the emotion a lifetime of U2 fandom can mean, where every album becomes the soundtrack to a season of your life.
This is about finding the General Admission line and then hearing, "You just missed Bono!" This is about waiting in the rain for three hours. This is about talking with fellow U2 fans to find out where to go and finding the guy with the clipboard so that you can get the number on your hand in black Sharpie ink. Once settled, there's nothing else to do but hurry up and wait; to swap stories; war stories and personal glories, all completely personal yet entirely universal in their feeling.
It's about the lady with the bullhorn who you can't hear because she won't stand still when making her announcements. It's about being unsure what the "Vertigo, Vertigo, Vertigo" she keeps repeating means. It's about more waiting in line in the rain, only to be ushered into the venue only to do more waiting in a hallway, lined up with the stench of fellow fans who are just as tired and smelly as you are.
It's about not getting into the ellipse but grabbing your sister's hand and running as fast as you can up those steps and across the GA floor to find a piece of railing you can call yours for the next three hours.
It's about that first glimmer of light, precious red light, as the Arcade Fire's majestic "Wake Up" is fading and the entire arena is singing along to the "whoa oh oh oh." It's one of the great Goosebumps moments of your life, the beauty of the music swirling in the air all around you, and the anticipation of what's next.
You always hear that seeing U2 in the "City of Blinding Lights" is a momentous occasion and on Friday night, in the midst of an unfortunate downpour and terrorist threat, it really was. For me, to be sure, as a new New Yorker but also for my sister, as I gazed at her watching U2 take flight for the first time.
The show began with the one-two-three punch of "City," "Vertigo" and "Elevation," the capacity audience on its feet and pogo-ing with abandon. The light strings that make up the entirety of the show's backdrop truly are a marvel to behold. I didn't think that anything could replace the standard mammoth video screens but somehow the lights became a thing of beauty and innovation, just like U2's storied career.
After the old school fans were thrilled with the now regular performances of "Cry," "The Electric Co." and "The Ocean," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" found the audience carrying Bono with a unanimous chorus of verse. "Beautiful Day" was jubilant as it has always been, however "Miracle Drug," though told with a comedic and silly "Edge is from the future" preface, is especially poignant in these times of death and destruction taking center stage on the evening news each time we change the channel.
Particularly striking was the absence of a trademark Bono rant in the bridge of "Bullet the Blue Sky" that marked previous tours, and became one of the most talked about moments of any given show. Maybe it was just that I was anticipating a classic Bono statement about anything—the looming subway terrorist threat that had taken up much of the day's news downstairs in Penn Station, the Katrina disaster, Africa or the Iraq War. Anything would have been nice. Alas, we were not to receive this on Friday night.
An unexpected high point came next, however. The surprising inclusion of "Miss Sarajevo" from The Passengers side project on the Vertigo Tour becomes the rant that I desire in the form of the reading of the Declaration of Human Rights. It's a striking reminder of all of the sadness and myriad wars in the world without naming them, I guess perhaps because they don't need to be. We know what U2's saying, that it's attacking tragedies like Abu Ghraib and the rights of people who don't have a voice as loud as Bono's impressive vocal theatrics during this gem of a tune.
What was a welcome surprise, however, was the continued play of "The First Time" from 1993's "Zooropa," a beautiful and sorely missed "Stuck in a Moment" that brought forth an anecdote about supermodels Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell, and a rousing and sexy "Fast Cars." I've told as many as I can about this but if U2 released "Fast Cars" as a single now, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" would rocket back up the charts in time for the Thanksgiving rush.
The encore brought the standard fare of "All Because of You," the relatively new inclusion of "Crumbs from Your Table" and a stirring "Yahweh" that takes on a greater force in concert than on record, and a surprising closing choice of "With or Without You" that found Bono picking up a lucky lass to dance with.
Back to my sister who, along with me, managed to grab a hold of the railing outside the Ellipse and never let go, had the time of her life. She had her first New York City celebrity sightings—British singer David Gray and Australian actor Heath Ledger—and was able to see each member of U2 up close and personal as they spent lots of time on our side of the catwalk.
She took pictures she never thought possible with a disposable camera venue security told her was not allowed by order of the band. She danced, she sang, she cried and she finally saw U2 sing songs she has loved her whole life in the arms of fellow fans who were right there with her, just like me.
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This is what it is like to be a U2 fan! We are a special breed aren't we! I am so honored to be a part of one big incredible family! 
....sorry for the mushiness! this review/story just brought out.. I am very moved by it!
