U2 and Muse at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C.

I was lucky enough to attend six shows on U2's 2005 Vertigo Tour, seeing the band in five cities and three states. Four years later, I know I'm still paying MasterCard back for those memorable excursions, so I didn't have much of a choice but to dial it down for this year's 360 Tour, the Oct. 25 show at the Rose Bowl was going to be it.

Or so I thought. This past weekend the first-ever U2 Academic Conference was held at North Carolina Central University in Durham. I was invited to attend with the African Well Fund, manning our table and attending our two sessions. U2 was playing that weekend in nearby Raleigh. I was in.

After a great day at the conference Saturday where we told so many people about AWF, it was back to the hotel for a quick change and a hop on I-40 to head to the stadium. Traffic for us was a breeze, but others weren't so lucky (The News & Observer has this story about the ridiculous jam ups). We had time enough to scope out a great spot by the sound board and eat dinner.



I have to throw in how completely incredible the stage is. U2 fans have been calling it "The Claw" since we first saw the sketches, but the band is now calling it "The Spaceship." It is now and will forever be "The Claw" for me and it is fantastically amazing. I got all giddy when I caught my first glimpse of this mammoth structure as we walked up to the stadium. I stared up at it slack-jawed as we walked around it on the floor. Pictures don't do it justice. Words don't do it justice. You have to see it in person, in action to truly appreciate what the 360 crew put together for us.

Muse was the opening act and was fantastic. I'm not a huge fan of the band and the performance didn't inspire me to buy up its catalog, but I understood the excitement the world is feeling for Muse. The band members are so talented, songs so energetic. I was happy to hear "Starlight," my favorite Muse song, under Raleigh's full moon.

As Muse's set was being torn down and the U2 rig set up, it dawned on me that I was going to be seeing U2 that night. I was staring at the giant spaceship stage, watching people walk around in their U2 shirts, I had a 360 wristband on that gave me access to the floor's inner circle, but it still hadn't clicked through. Nearly four years since that amazing night at Madison Square Garden where Patti Smith opened and we sang "Instant Karma" out into the New York night, I was going to see my boys again. Yay!!



No spoilers for those of you who have yet to see the show, but it seems like word has spread about the lead-up to U2's grand entrance. On the Vertigo Tour, Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" introduced the band and we were all trained to get on our feet as soon as the song started. Same thing is happening this tour, the intro song started playing and, despite the house lights still being up, everyone started cheering, knowing we were just a few minutes away from show time.

The set opens with "Breathe," my favorite song off "No Line on the Horizon." I knew from checking out the set lists on U2.com that this would be the first song, but I could still hardly contain my excitement over finally getting to hear this song performed live by U2 (my favorite tribute band, The Joshua Tree, has been doing an amazing job with the song, but having Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry cranking it out a few feet away adds so much to the experience). My throat took quite a bit of punishment from that opener.

"Get on Your Boots" came next and then a super-cool, way-sexy version of "Mysterious Ways" that proved, yet again, that The Edge is a guitar genius. While Bono has continually said in interviews that the new album is Adam's moment to shine, the concert was all about The Edge. His guitar playing was intense, electric, funky, experimental and completely impressive. I was shouting his praises all night.



Better yet, his singing was finally properly showcased. The Edge has a beautiful singing voice, sweet and soulful, but in past concerts he couldn't always be heard. This time, his voice was perfectly audible, perfectly pitched, and on "Stuck in a Moment," he delivered his falsetto more wonderfully than I'd ever heard before.

"Elevation" was my chance to go crazy, with the band putting the same amount of energy and enthusiasm into the song as it did when the song first debuted nine years ago. Standards like "New Year's Day," "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Where the Streets Have No Name" have lost none of their shine.

This tour, though, is all about the new album and the songs U2 has chosen to represent "No Line on the Horizon" are amazing live, fitting, for the most part, perfectly with the band's impressive catalog. The new remixed version of "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" was a strange moment, though. It was fun to see the band members dancing around on stage, having a ball, but the remix does so little justice to a song I absolutely adore. I'd like the opportunity to really sing along with this song, but the remix performance doesn't give the audience the chance.

There were some great surprises for me during the course of the warm, moonlit night. One was "The Unforgettable Fire," a song I've never truly connected with but was stunned to hear live (as the chiming opening started up, I turned to my friend with my mouth wide, "Is this 'Unforgettable Fire?!?!?"). "In a Little While" was another treat, not only that it was a sweet acoustic moment between Bono and The Edge, but that so many people in the packed stadium knew all the words to this "All That You Can't Leave Behind" track that was never released as a single.

For the encore, we left the sound board behind and headed into the inner circle, pressed against the inner rail on The Edge's side. Of course I enjoyed being that close to my favorite guitarist, but the 360 stage is so immense, you miss so much being that close to it. During the time I was there, I saw Edge mostly from the waist up, only the top of Bono's head and none of Adam and Larry. Not until the foursome exited the stage down ramps on my side did I finally get an up-close look at all of them.



The encore did provide a moment I'd been waiting more than eight years for—hearing "Ultraviolet" live. When I really got into U2 after the Elevation Tour, I listened to "Achtung Baby" constantly and enthusiastically read through "U2 at the End of the World," Bill Flanagan's first-person account of the making of "Achtung Baby," "Zooropa" and accompanying tours. "Ultraviolet" stuck out to me, a bittersweet love song that keeps revealing new things to me on every listen (yeah, it was only a few months ago that I realized Edge is singing "ultraviolet love" in the background, I'm quick).

The live version was so great and I really got into singing along with the band so close (at least The Edge so close). Since this song wasn't a single, not a lot of people in the crowd seemed to know the words, so the security guard definitely noticed how excited I was, hopping around, throwing my arms up, pounding out the beats on the rail. Who knows how excited I'll get at the Rose Bowl when I can see Bono's light-up microphone, the video screens and Adam and Larry during this song?

It was an amazing night, a total treat. I pogoed and spun around and threw my arms up and screamed myself horse and sang at the top of my lungs and had the best time. Just 18 days until I get to do it all over again. At least at the Rose Bowl, I have a seat just in case I need a moment to rest.

Breathe
Get on Your Boots
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
No Line on the Horizon
Magnificent
Elevation
In a Little While
New Year's Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Stuck In A Moment
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy - Remix
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On
One
Where The Streets Have No Name
Ultraviolet
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender