Jesus loves me and u2
monday. october 17th. it is finally the day.
ann and i leave bright and early at 7:00 a.m. to head for philly, with a quick stop at panera for breakfast to go. i'm going on about an hour of sleep but i'm pumped! we get to the wachovia center around 8:45ish. turns out that ann and i are the 84th and 85th people to get there. that's pretty dang cool.
so, we begin our wait. there are staff folk there to keep us in line. we are told to make friends with the people in front of and behind us. so, we meet anthony and cindy and sarah and jeff. all cool kids. later on we also met a hardcore fan named alan and some other cool folks named ed and gwen. we learn a lot from these people especially anthony.
it's kind of cold when we start our day. but we find ways to keep ourselves occupied. ann tries to nap and i spend quite some time reading. around 12:30, we decide that i should go with sarah (our neighbor in line) to get some food. so, we set off on a little adventure to downtown philadelphia. we met a really funny guy on the subway (after we figured out how to get on the subway!!!). we found a place with reasonably priced sandwiches, including philly cheesesteaks. yum! when we finally get back, ann, jeff, and alan were a little worried about us. but it's all jolly. and we wait some more.
at 4:45, we have to have all our extra stuff in our cars and get ready to line up. so, everyone is now standing and getting pretty excited about the concert. somehow, about 10 people get in line between where we are and our neighbor anthony. so, we call over the staff lady and she directs them to their proper place at the end of the line. she was right about making friends in line!
now, we're standing in line and there's a circle of us talking about all things u2. it's getting exciting. i'm getting all excited on the inside and feel like i'm going to burst and ann is practically bouncing! it's great!
at 6:00, they start admitting us to the arena. we are hoping against hope that we get into the ellipse. so, we go through the turnstiles, get patted down, get our tickets scanned, then we have to get our tickets scanned again to see if we're in the ellipse. our friend anthony ahead of us gets in! we don't. so, we run down the hall so that we can find good places just outside the ellipse. we get there and are just one person away from the ellipse. great places!
now, we have to wait until 7:30 when the opening act comes on. damian marley is the opening act and is kind of mediocre. you can definitely tell the crowd is just tolerating them until u2 comes on. they end around 8:20. and now they prep the stage for u2.
8:50. it's happening. u2 is here! the band makes their way onto the stage. bono emerges at the apex of the ellipse with confetti pouring down. it's glorious.
the concert is amazing. i can't even explain it. they played awesome songs (as if there was anything else they could do). the crowd was so into it. we were so close to bono and the edge. i must say that i agree with ann that the edge is hott!
they played two encores. oh and wouldn't you know ... bruce springsteen makes a guest appearance in the first encore! can you imagine?! bruce and u2!!!!! it was beyond awesome.
after the concert, surprisingly, we ran into almost all the people we met in line and asked them how they enjoyed the show. we saw everyone except anthony and his wife who were in the ellipse. it was great.
i don't even have the right words to tell you the experience. you know, it's a once in a lifetime thing (well, unless you're a hardcore fan that goes to several of the concerts on each tour!). we got to see one of the greatest bands of all time. wow. it was great to share this with ann because i knew this was one of her dreams coming true!
so, in a nutshell: u2 is amazing. the edge is hot. ann can die happy. and i feel blessed to have experienced it all.
ann and i leave bright and early at 7:00 a.m. to head for philly, with a quick stop at panera for breakfast to go. i'm going on about an hour of sleep but i'm pumped! we get to the wachovia center around 8:45ish. turns out that ann and i are the 84th and 85th people to get there. that's pretty dang cool.
so, we begin our wait. there are staff folk there to keep us in line. we are told to make friends with the people in front of and behind us. so, we meet anthony and cindy and sarah and jeff. all cool kids. later on we also met a hardcore fan named alan and some other cool folks named ed and gwen. we learn a lot from these people especially anthony.
it's kind of cold when we start our day. but we find ways to keep ourselves occupied. ann tries to nap and i spend quite some time reading. around 12:30, we decide that i should go with sarah (our neighbor in line) to get some food. so, we set off on a little adventure to downtown philadelphia. we met a really funny guy on the subway (after we figured out how to get on the subway!!!). we found a place with reasonably priced sandwiches, including philly cheesesteaks. yum! when we finally get back, ann, jeff, and alan were a little worried about us. but it's all jolly. and we wait some more.
at 4:45, we have to have all our extra stuff in our cars and get ready to line up. so, everyone is now standing and getting pretty excited about the concert. somehow, about 10 people get in line between where we are and our neighbor anthony. so, we call over the staff lady and she directs them to their proper place at the end of the line. she was right about making friends in line!
now, we're standing in line and there's a circle of us talking about all things u2. it's getting exciting. i'm getting all excited on the inside and feel like i'm going to burst and ann is practically bouncing! it's great!
at 6:00, they start admitting us to the arena. we are hoping against hope that we get into the ellipse. so, we go through the turnstiles, get patted down, get our tickets scanned, then we have to get our tickets scanned again to see if we're in the ellipse. our friend anthony ahead of us gets in! we don't. so, we run down the hall so that we can find good places just outside the ellipse. we get there and are just one person away from the ellipse. great places!
now, we have to wait until 7:30 when the opening act comes on. damian marley is the opening act and is kind of mediocre. you can definitely tell the crowd is just tolerating them until u2 comes on. they end around 8:20. and now they prep the stage for u2.
8:50. it's happening. u2 is here! the band makes their way onto the stage. bono emerges at the apex of the ellipse with confetti pouring down. it's glorious.
the concert is amazing. i can't even explain it. they played awesome songs (as if there was anything else they could do). the crowd was so into it. we were so close to bono and the edge. i must say that i agree with ann that the edge is hott!
they played two encores. oh and wouldn't you know ... bruce springsteen makes a guest appearance in the first encore! can you imagine?! bruce and u2!!!!! it was beyond awesome.
after the concert, surprisingly, we ran into almost all the people we met in line and asked them how they enjoyed the show. we saw everyone except anthony and his wife who were in the ellipse. it was great.
i don't even have the right words to tell you the experience. you know, it's a once in a lifetime thing (well, unless you're a hardcore fan that goes to several of the concerts on each tour!). we got to see one of the greatest bands of all time. wow. it was great to share this with ann because i knew this was one of her dreams coming true!
so, in a nutshell: u2 is amazing. the edge is hot. ann can die happy. and i feel blessed to have experienced it all.
posted by kyledawn @ 12:35 PM
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