U2: Elevation

U2: Elevation Tour
Continental Airlines Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey
22 June 2001

I was number 98 in the badly sunburned GA line.

This was the show I got to see from close to the tip of the heart, on the outside. Nobody but the security guys in front of me. But even the security guys, or at least one in particular, were entertaining when either PJ Harvey or U2 weren't on stage.

From my vantage point, I could see Bono thanking those of us up front for helping him polish off the lyrics of With or Without You when his voice failed him on the higher notes. "Thank you" and his smile. Two very cool things!

Also, after The Fly, the lights go out - but that close, you can still see Bono grab the water bottle and quench his thirst while he lies on the stage - at the tip!

It's an awesome thing to be that close to the band while they perform and to watch Bono work the crowd into such a frenzy. It's straight out of 1950s Elvis Presley and 1960s Beatles watching the girls closest to the stage break into tears when Bono's close by! These aren't teeny-boppers fawning over some no-talent *NSync riff-raff, either. These are "mature" women!

"It's been an amazing tour," Bono said. He also mentioned they're still trying to work out plans to return to the States following the European leg.

With Daniel Lanois on stage, they played Wild Honey (LIVE for the FIRST time - Bono even had the lyric sheets lying on the stage in front of him!) and The Ground Beneath Her Feet. As Bono explained, "Only an Irish band can play two love songs in a row."

Random thought: I still don't know how Bono can stand to flash that spotlight in his own face during Bullet the Blue Sky! Watching him at the tip, there's a passion in his eyes. He's got a lot on his mind and he puts out there while he's performing!

In the audience: Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, Michael Stipe, the Beastie Boys, Bill from Arkansas, and Paul McGuinness. Inside the heart there was a man in a wheelchair with a nurse. Friends on that side of the heart said he was Bono's grandpa.*

Hmmm... some of my other notes are illegible. Must work on that!

*Late update, September 23, 2001: Bono's "grandpa" was a hoax - a stunt put on for VH1's Sledgehammer series! Of course, the nurse was a hottie. They even had a doctored black and white photo of this geezer "standing" next to Bono... At one point he was wondering where all the groupies were that Bono kept talking about. And, yeah... uh... he said he wanted to see his grandson, Bono, "sonny Bono." Phew... And this happened the same night a former U.S. President was in the house. Security? Hello?.

#8-)3

TC