Last night I went down to Foxboro for the U2 concert at Gillete Stadium. If you missed the show, here is how you can recreate my experience. Go to your driveway and sit in a car for over 3 hours. Climb a ladder and get up on the top of your roof. Have someone place 4 action figures on the ground below you. Put a stool on top of them. On the stool place an old 19 inch TV (extra points if you put it on a rotating turntable). Lift up the antenna. Put a rubber chicken on top of it (it is easier to find than a rubber octupus). Light the whole thing up with Christmas lights. Next tell your neighbors with the large stereo system to turn it on in their basement, crank a U2 cd up all the way, and open their windows. At some point have a flashlight shine skyward from the top of the TV. Look down and enjoy the show.
Well sitting up in the nosebleed seats of Gillette Stadium was an experience! Looking down at the band they looked like people on the ground do as an airplane settles in to a landing at the airport. If the little man held a guitar, I figured out it wasn't Bono down on the stage. The gigantic video screen as part of the set at least let me know what was going on so far below. The sound was muddled up so high, but the familiar pulsating beats of the songs from the U2 catalog were still fun to listen to. Besides the 3 hours of traffic getting into the stadium, the concert was a fun experience that I got to share with my son, Andrew. The comments in the Boston.com article here, tell you about people's positive and negative experiences.
Here is the set list:
1. Breathe
2. No Line On The Horizon
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
6. Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet)
7. Elevation
8. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Stand By Me (snippet)
9. Unknown Caller
10. New Years Day
11. Stuck In A Moment
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. City of Blinding Lights
14. Vertigo / She Loves You (snippet)
15. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (Remix)
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet)
17. MLK
18. Walk On
19. One / Amazing Grace (snippet)
20. Where The Streets Have No Name
21. UltraViolet (Light My Way)
22. With Or Without You
23. Moment Of Surrender
We missed the first two songs and left before the final song, sprinting to our car and beating traffic. After dropping off Andy at Gordon College, I didn't get home until 1:45 am. Highlights were Amazing Grace transitioning to "Where the Streets Have No Name" (although the singing was muddy) and "Stuck in a Moment" as it reminded me of times back when it first came out.Video of Amazing Grace/Streets and Stuck in a Moment from the concert here:
It was my second U2 concert, I saw them on the Pop tour in Foxboro also. I don't know if I would want to go through the parking and driving hassle again and I certainly would like better seats! But it was a memorable time spent with Andy.
