http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2589359
Finally, New Orleans is ready for some football.
Performances by the Goo Goo Dolls, U2 and Green Day will help the city officially reopen the Louisiana Superdome before the Sept. 25 ESPN Monday Night football game between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.
The event -- the first from the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the building a year ago -- will be featured live on ESPN's "Monday Night Countdown," beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
The Goo Goo Dolls will perform "Better Days" to open the show.
A special Music Rising performance by U2 and Green Day will lead into the Monday Night Football telecast, scheduled to kick off at 8:30.
"One year later, people continue to be devastated by Katrina's effects," Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong said in a news release. "We hope that by collaborating with U2, we'll remind the public that people of the Gulf Coast are still suffering and still need help to rebuild their lives."
Also on "Monday Night Countdown," ESPN's Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Michael Irvin and Steve Young will preview the game and review Sunday's action. Bob Ley, host of ESPN's "Outside The Lines," and Robin Roberts of ABC's "Good Morning America" also are scheduled to appear.
Among the planned pregame features:
• After 13 tumultuous months, the Saints are going back home. The players talk about their lost season away from the Superdome.
• Reporter Mark Schwarz talks with Saints wide receiver Joe Horn during the player's first visit back to New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward.
• The Superdome has hosted six Super Bowls, four Final Fours and the pope. What did it take to get the stadium in playable condition?
• Former President Bush talks about the massive Katrina recovery effort -- and what lies ahead.
Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser and Joe Theismann will man the booth during the Saints-Falcons game. They will be joined by sideline reporters Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya.
Stuart Scott, Mike Ditka and Ron Jaworski will host "NFL Primetime" from a set outside the stadium at 6 p.m. ET.
Music Rising, formed in late 2005 by U2's The Edge, producer Bob Ezrin and Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, is administering the event. It is sponsored by RealNetworks' Rhapsody digital music service.
There will be a simultaneous broadcast offered to radio stations by Westwood One worldwide, plus an audio stream on the Web.