On November 17, 2009 I went on Ticketmaster.com and purchased my 4 allotted presale tickets due me as a paid member of U2.com. At the time, the closest U2 was going to come to Taneytown was Philadelphia, PA - a 2.5 hour drive. The planned wonderful night was July 12, 2010. I immediately purchased a night at a hotel and alerted my best friend Jamie that we were going to have another chance to enjoy the U2 360 Tour - our first time was September 30, 2009 down in Charlottesville, VA.
We got the second best seats in the stadium. U2 sells many levels of tickets. The three levels of tickets remotely in my realm of affording are Premium at about $200, Good at about $100 and nose bleed or general admission (standing on the field) at about $60. Jamie and I had the good tickets for our 2009 concert. We were surprised and saddened by the concert attendees in our section who didn't seem to enjoy the concert the way we were. We were thinking that we were in the "old people" section. We were the only people yelling, singing, jumping up and down, dancing, and generally losing ourselves in U2 and throwing ourselves into the music with abandon. At one point we saw the crowd in front of the stage just enthralled by U2 and enjoying them the way we were off in the stand in our seats. We promised that we would never miss the opportunity to be in that crowd should another opportunity present itself.
So, the opportunity presents itself and I buy 4 general admission tickets and wait for the 8 months to go by to my next chance to enjoy U2. Less than a month before the concert Bono got hurt pretty bad preparing for the Salt Lake City concert. The news was sad, Bono had severe pain with partial paralysis from a severe compression of the sciatic nerve caused by a serious tear in a ligament and a herniated disk. He had to have emergency surgery in Germany. The entire North American tour was postponed to 2011.
The postponed date was July 14, 2011. I immediately purchased new hotel reservations and dealt with the disappointment. The friends coming from out of town to enjoy the concert still came for their 2010 visit as many of our other tickets and reservations were not refundable like the hotel, the tickets to see an exhibit on Cleopatra, tour bus tickets etc...
I have been counting down the days since January 1, 2011 for the concert. I actually had a hard time finding people to attend the concert with me. Luckily some co-workers were happy to attend with me about 3 months before the concert.
We drove up to Philadelphia and enjoyed an authentic cheese steak sandwich at Jim's (an hour wait), then checked into the new hotel chain called Aloft. Very modern decor and we loved it. We relaxed for about two hours before heading off to the concert at 4:45 PM. I was seriously excited. After waiting in the long line we got into the stadium and were like 5 people/rows from the front of the outer stage. This is where the happiness of my experience fell apart.
I thought I was young enough for this situation. I thought I was a U2 super fan. I was TOTALLY WRONG. Standing from 5 PM to 12 Midnight was very painful. Being pinned in that throng of people was challenging in a feeling crushed, claustrophobic kinda of way. People were drinking beer like it was the last night that beer was available on Earth. People were smoking both legal things and illegal things (this was not a Grateful Dead Concert). People were arguing, pushing and eking their way into fights right in front of me. One guy was talking to hear himself talk about how many of the U2 360 tour concerts he's seen and it sounded kinda impossible unless he was wealthy and this was his whole life. The group to my right kept having friends come and join them as they showed up much later than the rest of us. I survived being there through the opening act - Interpol - who we could not understand and every song sounded the same. The count down to U2 started and I couldn't see the stage because the guy in front of me was over six feet tall and the guy in front of him was over six foot four.
I lost it. I turned around and started pushing my way out of there. I almost knocked one person down. I was completely freaked out and the more people I had to push my way through the more panicked I got. It was bad. I kept thinking about something going wrong and having no way to escape. I also thought about what if I have to go to bathroom?!!!? When U2 came on stage this crowd of people was going to press on each other and go crazy. I am very glad we got out of there. From the back of the crowd I could see better, dance, sing, yell, clap and just generally have room to breathe. So, I really belong in the old people section, but I act like I am on the field.
So, once in the back of the field all was well. U2 came on and I was in nirvana. They played songs that I never thought to hear in concert. I felt the music. I moved with the music. I sang the words and yelled my happiness to the world.
Here is the link to my concert...www.u2.com/tour/index/date/44/97
Of course I am looking forward to the next album and the next concert tour so that I can buy those expensive Premium tickets and enjoy the concert from beginning to end.
