Even Better than the Real Thing
Usually when I tell people that something awesome is going to happen, it turns out to be not as awesome in reality. Fortunately, that was not the case with the U2 concert. It was awesome. Seriously awesome. Possibly the best experience of my life. Being on the grounds crew at Fenway was awesome. But it was more awesome in theory than in reality. In reality, the tarp bubbled up and tossed tiny pebbles in my face and knocked me down. And holding on to the edge of the tarp hurt my fingers. And let's not even talk about scrubbing the bases with bleach in a boiler room that had rats.
So, all in all, I think the U2 concert wins. Organizationally, it was a nightmare. I had at least three e-mails a day for a the week leading up to the concert trying to plan things. Someone screwed up and failed to ship all the materials from Chicago to Boston, so we didn't have much to use. I printed out the petitions myself and brought my own clipboards (not enough) and pens (most of which ran out), and we were supposed to bring our own tables and chairs, but I refused to lug my heavy folding table down to Foxboro. So I spent a good part of the pre-show wandering around asking various stadium employees for tables and chairs. Eventually, I found some round tables to use, but they looked pretty ghetto.
Around 8:00, during the opening act, we started packing everything up and heading to our appointed meeting spot where we met up with the One Campaign and USA for Burma. Charlie, my mom, Ruth, Ruth's friend Linda and Linda's friend Tom, Kate, Ian from my Amnesty group, two Irish guys I know, and a few random other people eagerly awaited instruction about how we would get on stage. We got to go watch the concert from the "inner circle," right around the round stage and then, at the end of "Vertigo," go line up behind the stage and get our Aung San Suu Kyi masks and then walk on during the song "Walk On."
We were led around backstage through the bowels of the stadium and go to enter the inner circle from the back. I have seen U2 four times now, and this was by far the closest I'd ever been to the stage. The sound was amazing, and the view was amazing, and the feeling was amazing! I screamed almost the entire time. One highlight was a gorgeous acoustic version of "Stay (Faraway, So Close)." But the biggest highlight was when Bono ran to the back of the circular stage, and my mom, Charlie, and I ran back there and looked right up and him, and he looked right down at us! It was crazy! I was nearly dying from the excitement.
And then they played "Vertigo." We ran back to our spot and watched "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" and another song from back there until they started the intro for "Walk On." Bono talked to the crowd about Aung San Suu Kyi, and we were given masks of her face. I started getting a little bit nervous. We weren't going to speak or anything, but what if I tripped and fell? My mother said, "I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack!" It's easy to understand why rockstars use drugs. Well, it's a double-edged sword because going up on stage feels like a drug. And then you need something to recreate that off stage. And you also need something to take the edge off (no pun intended) of stage fright. About a quarter of the way through the song, the woman in charge started us in motion. It was crazy. My heart was pounding.
Here's what it looked like from the crowd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6P3jh8MQb8
You can see Ruth, Kate, and Ian pretty clearly on the JumboTron, and you can see the rest of us as little specks on stage. We were supposed to be solemn, but I couldn't help turning around to see the band. We were at the same level as them! And of course, I couldn't help looking down at the people in the audience who were looking up at me!
After that, we walked off the stage and watched the rest of the show from the inner circle. I couldn't believe it when people were leaving during the encore. Yeah, traffic is terrible in Foxboro, but Jesus Christ, people! It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be that close to the stage at a U2 show. Near the end, Bono said that he was "in the presence of God and Tom Brady." I don't believe in the former, but that night was as close as I'll get to Him.
So, all in all, I think the U2 concert wins. Organizationally, it was a nightmare. I had at least three e-mails a day for a the week leading up to the concert trying to plan things. Someone screwed up and failed to ship all the materials from Chicago to Boston, so we didn't have much to use. I printed out the petitions myself and brought my own clipboards (not enough) and pens (most of which ran out), and we were supposed to bring our own tables and chairs, but I refused to lug my heavy folding table down to Foxboro. So I spent a good part of the pre-show wandering around asking various stadium employees for tables and chairs. Eventually, I found some round tables to use, but they looked pretty ghetto.
Around 8:00, during the opening act, we started packing everything up and heading to our appointed meeting spot where we met up with the One Campaign and USA for Burma. Charlie, my mom, Ruth, Ruth's friend Linda and Linda's friend Tom, Kate, Ian from my Amnesty group, two Irish guys I know, and a few random other people eagerly awaited instruction about how we would get on stage. We got to go watch the concert from the "inner circle," right around the round stage and then, at the end of "Vertigo," go line up behind the stage and get our Aung San Suu Kyi masks and then walk on during the song "Walk On."
We were led around backstage through the bowels of the stadium and go to enter the inner circle from the back. I have seen U2 four times now, and this was by far the closest I'd ever been to the stage. The sound was amazing, and the view was amazing, and the feeling was amazing! I screamed almost the entire time. One highlight was a gorgeous acoustic version of "Stay (Faraway, So Close)." But the biggest highlight was when Bono ran to the back of the circular stage, and my mom, Charlie, and I ran back there and looked right up and him, and he looked right down at us! It was crazy! I was nearly dying from the excitement.
And then they played "Vertigo." We ran back to our spot and watched "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" and another song from back there until they started the intro for "Walk On." Bono talked to the crowd about Aung San Suu Kyi, and we were given masks of her face. I started getting a little bit nervous. We weren't going to speak or anything, but what if I tripped and fell? My mother said, "I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack!" It's easy to understand why rockstars use drugs. Well, it's a double-edged sword because going up on stage feels like a drug. And then you need something to recreate that off stage. And you also need something to take the edge off (no pun intended) of stage fright. About a quarter of the way through the song, the woman in charge started us in motion. It was crazy. My heart was pounding.
Here's what it looked like from the crowd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6P3jh8MQb8
You can see Ruth, Kate, and Ian pretty clearly on the JumboTron, and you can see the rest of us as little specks on stage. We were supposed to be solemn, but I couldn't help turning around to see the band. We were at the same level as them! And of course, I couldn't help looking down at the people in the audience who were looking up at me!
After that, we walked off the stage and watched the rest of the show from the inner circle. I couldn't believe it when people were leaving during the encore. Yeah, traffic is terrible in Foxboro, but Jesus Christ, people! It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be that close to the stage at a U2 show. Near the end, Bono said that he was "in the presence of God and Tom Brady." I don't believe in the former, but that night was as close as I'll get to Him.