Adventures in Syberspace: Travel

As U2 get set to kick off their North American tour at Soldier Field Saturday night, I present you thoughts about my experience with the tour. Four weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to take a trip of a lifetime. My childhood best friend moved overseas a year ago. When U2's tour was announced in March, we talked and decided that seeing them somewhere in Europe together would be amazing. We decided on London, Wembley Stadium, August 14 and 15. And our amazing wives agreed to let us go! Below is my journal of our day at Wembley (August 14), recorded immediately after the concert ended, at my hotel in London.

Some background: Many of you know that Britt and I have been lifelong U2 fans. I first remember hearing the album “October” when I was in seventh grade, a tape that he had gotten from his brother. The tape impressed me mostly because it had the entire album on both sides of the tape. So you could listen to the whole thing all the way through without having to turn it over (this was the 80s, people). I didn’t care much for the music, but when the Joshua Tree came out in 1986, I loved it. In the spring of 1987, Britt heard from a trusted source that the tickets for their fall date in Austin were going on sale that day. He called me to tell me that he was going to the HEB grocery store (where the radio stations would announce when these wristbands called "visa bands" were being distributed. Visa bands guaranteed your place in line when tickets actually went on sale-- again, the 80s. No internet). I met him there later and we took turns waiting in the little deli section until we finally gave up about 8pm. I got there the next morning at about 8am and we took turns waiting until they finally announced it about 4pm that day. I can still almost smell the fried chicken and potato salad of the deli section, and the walkman earphones on my ears. True fans had been birthed. We got tickets for the 11th row of that tour, and were in awe. I traveled down to Austin in ’01 to see them with Britt there, then he came up to Chicago in ’05, where I had secured floor seats by trading someone on Craig’s List for Cubs-Red Sox tickets. That is of course another story, but suffice it to say that that day was one of the best of our lives, culminating with our ending up with Bono’s and The Edge’s guitar picks. (Some day, you should hear the story about how each of us ended up with which pick).

We got to Wembley around 10:30am and quickly found what we thought was our line. We even got a number written on our hands by some organized fans, and sat down. I was 171 and Britt was 170. It seemed a little strange that only that many people would be there that late in the morning. I decided to just take a little stroll to look around and discovered that the group we were supposed to be in was on the other side of the building, and we were about 700th in line. A little discouraging, but we also heard that the first 2000 people got inside the "Claw," so we were hopeful. Now the waiting. (That's me in front of the stadium. It's a beautiful stadium).

The weather was just perfect, about 75 degrees, and mostly cloudy with what the BBC quite accurately calls “sunny intervals.” We waited a good while and then I began to make friends with the people around me. I met a couple of women from Austria, one of whom had seen U2 17 times. I then spotted a foursome sitting nearby, three of them decked out in some impressively vintage U2 shirts. There’s definitely a hierarchy of shirts at these concerts. I was of course wearing my 1987 Joshua Tree t-shirt, with a giant hole in the back. So I trump virtually everyone around me. Elevation Tour of ’01? Please. Vertigo Tour of ’05? Don’t waste my time. But ’85 Unforgettable Fire? Well played. And an ’82 shirt from some place called Gateshead? I’m not worthy.

So I went over to this group and we began to talk about t-shirts. Turns out the guy collects them, and his fiancée was wearing his newest addition, the aforementioned ’82 classic (turns out U2 was the opening act for the Police that night!) We hit it off, and soon began plotting how we would make it into the middle. They ended up moving up in line but Simon (the t-shirt guy) looked back and saw me while we were queuing up as if to say: you OK back there? I appreciated it.

It was finally time to move. As we got closer, it got more and more tense. But people were quite orderly. We got in and then received our blue and white wristbands signifying our entrance onto the floor. As we maneuvered our way into the Claw, we looked up to find none other than Simon and the other 3, who welcomed us warmly to the middle of the pit, not 10 feet from the edge of the stage. We were in perfect position.

We stood for the opening bands (The Hours and Elbow: I really like Elbow) and when they started to play David Bowie’s Major Tom, that was the cue that it was time for U2 to take the stage.

Larry walked out first, and began the beat for Breathe, one of the singles off their newest album. It was a fine start, and Britt and I were in awe that we were here. Wembley Stadium, London, England. In the pit. 88,000 people all around us (largest crowd ever to see a concert at Wembley), providing an unbelievable backdrop for what felt like a private concert for the lucky ones of us so close to the stage. Here's some video to give you a little glimpse of what it was like.

The show was absolutely remarkable, from the technical elements which were jaw-droppingly sensational, to the musical excellence. They have absolutely designed it so that it can be enjoyed from the back row or from the pit of the floor. You’ve seen the stage in the commercials, but you haven’t seen what the stage does. It’s phenomenal, and you simply have to experience it to fully understand what I'm talking about. Some pics from the show:

What I was struck by more than anything tonight was the commitment. Bono in particular is 100% committed to the music. He gets inside of every song he sings. “Let me in the sound” is a real thing for him. He is the consummate showman, and he invites you in and takes you somewhere with every song he sings. You simply don’t see that in every performer. During Where the Streets Have No Name, I got a good look around the stadium. 88,000 people, some of whom were several hundred yards away, were absolutely swept up into the song. There’s just something very powerful about being in one place with that mass of humanity, all fully bought in to the beauty of the moment of The Song. The same thing is quite beautiful when it happens in worship, incidentally. When a group of people fully connects and commits to being in that moment, unified in the worship of God.

It’s of course normal to compare this tour to previous tours. But comparing it to Elevation and Vertigo is almost not fair because those were in indoor arenas, while this is in outdoor stadiums. So the best comparison is to the Popmart tour. It’s no comparison at all. Popmart was about the spectacle: the giant video screen, and the band’s bizarre characters, outfits, and sets, including emerging from a giant lemon. It was like a big inside joke that you weren’t ever let in on. This time, they invite you in. After Popmart, I wasn’t sure that they could ever pull off a stadium tour again. But they have most certainly pulled it off. This time, the visuals are dazzling, but they exist to augment, support, and help interpret the music. Bono and Co. are done being esoteric entertainers. They are content to simply being the best rock band in the world, and they continue to put on the best rock and roll show one could imagine.

Highlights from the concert: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (Bono let us sing the first verse...LOUDLY), The Unforgettable Fire (I've never heard that one live before), Stuck in a Moment (acoustic), Elevation (such a party song), Unknown Caller (karaoke style so you can sing along), Ultraviolet (wait till you see what Bono is wearing for this one!!!), and Beautiful Day (he took the shades off, and ended with Blackbird). More photos can be accessed on my Facebook page.

Going to see the show? Please come back here and leave your comments about what you thought!

So I got to zero degrees of separation between myself and Kevin Bacon on Friday night. Let me explain. Heidi and I traveled to Houston, Texas last weekend for a benefit gala. My dad's best friend is an actor, G.W. Bailey, who is currently on a TNT show that plays in the summer, called The Closer. G.W. is also the Executive Director of an organization called Sunshine Kids which provides trips for kids with cancer. This year is the 25th anniversary of the organization and my dad is on the board, so he invited Heidi and me (and my sister Amy and her husband Paul) to join him for the event. G.W. invited the entire cast of The Closer, the star of which is Kyra Sedgwick, who happens to be married to Kevin Bacon. So Friday evening at the pre-party picnic, when I met Kevin, I noticed that he had picked up the nametag provided for him and everyone. So I commented that I really appreciated that he was wearing his...like people would be unclear who he is. And he said he didn't want to assume. And he then said that people sometimes come up to him and say: You're Kevin...Costner. Or you're Kevin...Spacey. So when I got my picture taken, I told him to make sure the nametag was in the shot, so he made sure.

My next brush with greatness came with future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio. Craig played 20 seasons in MLB, all with the Houston Astros. And he's been assisting the Sunshine Kids for much of that time, raising roughly $2.5 million over the years. He came to the Friday event, and planned on attending Saturday's gala, but instead had to be in Denver to receive the Roberto Clemente award from Commissioner Bud Selig. This was a disappointment, but it also meant that the Sunshine Kids would be getting $30,000 from Chevrolet, plus a new Suburban! As G.W. said Saturday night: We miss you, Craig and Patty, but we're glad you're in Denver! In terms of the picture at left, I was standing still while G.W. was about to introduce Craig, when none other than Craig himself sidles up next to me. So here we are (along with Sunshine Kids founder Rhoda Tomasco). Just a couple old friends hanging out. You know.

But to be honest, the real privilege of the weekend was meeting a guy named Ray Ragsdale. He and his wife (pictured next to me at left) were sitting at our table Saturday night. Ray had cancer in his leg as a child and had his right leg amputated when he was 8. He went on a Sunshine Kids trip when he was 10, and said it was very life-changing for him. He says he does some motivational speaking, and I can see why. He talked about how having a positive attitude was the best thing for him. He ended up playing football and baseball in high school (he played nose tackle in football, no prosthesis) and was on the 1996 Paralympic Volleyball team in Atlanta. If there was one thing in life that could make you bitter, it would be getting cancer as a kid. Ray has chosen to look at the positives and to enjoy his life. He now has two kids, and he told us that his five year old son told him the other day: Dad, when I grow up, I'm gonna have one leg, just like you. Thanks, Ray, for being an incredible example.