"I'm ready for the laughing gas ..."
Bono and Co. returned to London after four long years away and rocked Twickenham Stadium on Saturday and Sunday night.
January seems like a long way gone, but it was then that I must've redialled a thousand times and refreshed the browser a thousand more in the mad scramble to get a hold of those precious tickets! And even with the so-called $40 privileged u2.com membership, I failed to get London tickets and instead ended up with 8 for Cardiff. So after a round of horse trading, and selling spares, I finally had two General Admission tickets locked away in my top drawer.
Some of you will know that in 2001 Sanjay S and I awoke at the ungodly time of 5am and spent the following 13 hours in line for the position inside the "Heart". Some things never change. Now it's 2005 and back we go, this time with my very understanding and supportive wife by my side. We're up at 6:15am and in the GA line by 7:30. Being the now super-experienced GA queue-master, we planned ahead and came well prepared. I did some reconnisance the day before, scoping out the scene. The Stadium officials had a well organised series of barriers in place which was comforting, however the 'ground beneath our feet' was to prove to be less than comfy. All gravel and dirt. Great if you're a steam roller, but not so good if you're an obsessive fan parked on your ass for 12 hours. So we brought chairs. Not some crappy throw-away plastic job, but two sexy, fully reclining deck chairs. And when we laid them out and parked our behinds on them, you could just feel the envy seeping out with the sweat from the pores of everyone else.
Look at these poor guys! 32 degrees C, your ass on gravel, 8 hours - NOT FUN.
After a couple of false starts, security finally hands out those beautiful neon-green wrist bands, allowing us access to the holy grail of U2 gigs - the Inner Circle, and the chance to get to the front - touching distance from four middle-aged, sweaty Irish guys ...
At 4:30pm, it's a mad scramble through the gates, past security and onto the floor where we do a crazy combination of 'not running', slow jogging and power walking down the length of the pitch and into the entrance of the Inner Circle. And in spite of starting up around 100 back, I end up having a choice of anywhere on the floor - front row centre, B-Stage inner, outer, wherever. Of course I had to make that split second decision as hoards of sweaty, thirsty and bug-eyed fans followed me into the inner sanctum. We chose the inside rail at the B Stage on Adams side .. and settled down for another 4 hour wait ...
The boys indeed play rock & roll .. this must have easily been the hardest hitting, ROCK show U2 have put on in a long time - probably s
ince ZooTV in 1992. Edge's guitar was on fire and it really looked like he was having the time of his life up there. Normally cool and restrained, Edge was often pogo-ing around like a teenaged pretender. Bono's voice was a good as I've heard it in a long while, clear and punchy. The boys in the rhythm section, as usual, held everything together, Larry never missed a beat and nearly smiled for once - nearly!
Adam was in the best form I've seen. I think it's got something to do with the eye-surgery. Since he lost the glasses, he's been looking a lot cooler. Of course the main thing about his funky look has got to be the grey hair. Totally stylin'. And let me tell you from first-hand experience, premature grey hair kicks ass! Adam and I both agree on that. Anyway ... I digress - it was great to see the bass man taking a few trips out onto the B-Stage to let us know who was really in charge. Bono and Edge will always take the headlines, but I really think the band lean on Adam to keep the beat. The bass lines really came out strong on Bullet the Blue Sky and Love & Peace or Else. Adam was definitely having a good time - he had a permanent grin which broadened each time he wandered down the ramp and into our waving arms ...
Given the very late sun we have in the UK, and that we were almost at the summer solstice - the longest day of the year, it was a strange sensation for a rock concert to begin in broad, sunny daylight. Not that it detracted from the show - in fact it was actually great to rock in natural light for a change.
The setlist was strong and for me full of surprises. For the first time in 15 years of watching U2 live, I mad
e a point of NOT knowing the setlist in advance. Everything sounded very fresh. Vertigo, Electric Co, Elevation, Beautiful Day was an incredible start. They really whipped up the crowd into a frenzy, which led perfectly into New Year's Day.
U2 have nearly 400 songs in their repertiore and a 2 hour gig means no more than 25 songs - barely 5%. But it's amazing how nearly everyone played can touch you in some way. Highlights for me were All I Want Is You, Running to Stand Still, and of course, Streets. Running was exceptional -- I don't think it was played during the Elevation Tour. And Streets will always be Streets. I think we would have all loved the long-sequence intro, but I guess they have to mix it up a little.
So after a 4 years, a crazy scramble for tickets and 14 hours under the blazing sun, we were again Elevated to another level, leaving us dizzy with Vertigo ...
//Anand
Whisper it softly, but India may just have the makings of a future world class sporting hero(ine) ... Sania Mirza took US Open Champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova all the way at the second round at Wimbledon. Until today, I had never seen this 18 year old from Hyderabad play. Man, can she hit hard. She was desperately unlucky not to win, although with an aggressive, no nonsense baseline game, it looks like she has a great future. Look out for this young lady -- India's women may have their answer to Sachin Tendulkar. Or is that India's answer to Maria Sharapova?
