2005 October - Vertigo Tour Boston 2

Another beautiful warm and sunny day in Boston, apparently the weather was much warmer than usual for the time of year. We went to Banknorth Gardens and waited by the back entrance, there were about 40 fans in all I would say. We saw Larry arrive, he waved. Then Adam whose car went up the ramp and then came back down again backwards! LOL! He got out of the car and signed for fans, he was charming.

Then before we knew here was Edge sauntering down the ramp and he too was so friendly and signed lots of articles for fans, who were by this time quite excited.


Finally Bono arrived. His car stopped at the bottom of the ramp and his minder asked everyone to stand back on the kerb which they did. Bono methodically worked his way along the line of fans on the other side of the road first, chatting, signing, posing for photos - one with a fans young son (ages about 4 or 5) who couldn't wait to get out of Bono's arms back to his father's! As he got to the end of that side a Duck Tour came past , it was funny to see the recognition dawning on people's faces when they realised it was Bono there in the street, he gave them a wave.

He then came across to our side of the road, he glanced up at us as he was signing our stuff, recognised us and kind of doubled back giving a wink, he asked Julie. "How is everyone?" Then to me he smiled and said. "You've picked the good weather!" I replied. "Yes it's lovely." And that was my interaction with Bono, you meet a world famous rock star and you talk about the weather! But then in Ireland and the UK we talk about the weather a lot as it's so changeable! Dianne asked whether they would be playing Bad and Bono replied that he didn't know, they hadn't decided yet.

We went to a nearby bar called The Ruby Room and had cocktails and something to eat before returning to the arena for the gig. Our seats were very good, in the first block on Edge's side.

The set was very similar to last night's, except that they did Crumbs and an acoustic Stuck. We were close enough to see that Bono was reading the lyrics to Stuck from a sheet of paper on the floor! It was a good show and we couldn't have asked for better seats.


So that was it, our last Vertigo Tour show, it had been a great tour once more, I loved all the travelling, places, people, shows we saw. Roll on the next tour!


We only had one more full day in lovely Boston. We went to Boston Common which was lovely and then onto the Cheers bar (really called the Bull and Finch). The entrance was just like on the TV but inside it was different, still it was nice to see as I loved that TV series. We had the obligatory photo taken outside of course!


We went to the Prudential Tour and took the lift up to the 50th floor to see the amazing views over the city. It was still warm and sunny and visibility was fabulous. The river meandering to the sea, the city spread out before us, it was noticeable there was lots of green in the city and that the downtown area was compact.

That evening we went back to the Prudential to have a meal at the Top of the Hub restaurant on the 52nd floor and had a fabulous meal with that gorgeous view. It was our farewell to Boston treat to ourselves and was worth every penny. I love Boston, and hope I will be able to come back one day.



(Edge and Adam photos by Dianne Beeaff)

2005 October - Vertigo Tour Boston 1

At the end of September Julie and I flew over to Boston for a week's holiday combined with two U2 shows. This was to be my first visit to Boston and I didn't really know what to expect, most of my visits to the US so far had been to the West. We had a relatively short flight (compared to the longer haul ones to the west of the country). The approach to Boston was lovely very green and lots of little islands in a blue sea.

New and old in Boston

We stepped out of the plane into warm sunshine and luckily that's how it stayed for us for the entire week! Our hotel was lovely though the room was very small. I quickly decided I really liked Boston. It had a leisurely pace and for the first time on a visit to America I felt it had a history in the city. Most American cities are so new (to a European anyway!) that for me they don't have a sense of a past, but Boston did have that and I liked that.

We spent the first few days sightseeing and went on the famous "Duck" tour, our duck was called Molly Molasses and our guides proper job was a doctor and she called herself Dr Quack! LOL! The city was lovely, old and new mixed together, lots of green areas and parks and of course the ocean. The ducks are amphibious vehicles and Molly slipped into the Charles River and from there we got fabulous views of the city. The duck trip was very informative (did you know there are 81 Dunkin Donut outlets in Boston?!) and also fun.

We visited Quincy Market, Fanieul Hall, lots of shops, Boston Common and lots more, there is so much to see in the city that we did not get anywhere near to seeing it all.

On 2nd October Dianne joined us, it was good to see her again. Next day was our first U2 gig. It was at Banknorth Garden just a short walk from our hotel. I had to pick up the tickets, no problem there and we were also given wristbands and told to come back at 5pm and get into line according to our numbers. Very organised, and it meant we were free to go off and do our own thing. We decided to have a meal at a nearby restaurant before going back to the arena to wait for the band arriving. They arrived very late and did not stop - later we found out that they were late because their plane had been delayed.

Once in the arena we couldn't find any space on the barrier, and as we are both quite short we decided to stand at the sound desk where there was a little platform. It turned out to be a great place. Keane were the support band and I really enjoyed their set and they went down very well with the crowd.

U2 came on just before 9pm, the stage looked small compared with the European stadium gigs but I much prefer arenas. They started with City of Blinding Lights with the "curtain" of glistening lights around them, it looked very beautiful. The set was much like the shows we'd seen already. Miss Sarajevo was stunning when Bono sang the operatic Pavarotti part, his voice just filled the place, I could hardly believe it was him! The audience clapped and cheered. It's kind of like Bono is still trying to prove himself to his now deceased father by singing the opera he loved so much. There was a really lovely acoustic encore of The First Time and Wild Horses. They finished with 40 which was a much better ending than the high energy repeated Vertigo they did in the European shows we saw, U2 should always finish gigs low-key, that's their way and it works.

We hung around at the back for a while afterwards, the only band member we met was Larry who was very pleasant, he shook hands with people, signed autographs and even posed for photos!

I really enjoyed the show, though I always find American shows are not as exciting as European ones, or maybe it's just me. We walked the short way to our hotel and drank wine, ate nibbles and discussed the show before going to bed.

2005 June - Dublin 2 Vertigo, Smiles and Exhilaration

Another day another gig. This one started well, our seats were a lot better, lower tier about halfway down the pitch. As soon as U2 came on we realised the sound was great too, after the previous gig that was a relief.

Bono talked a lot at this concert, he said they were the worst wedding band in the world but the best rock 'n' roll band. He said it was going to be a "party night" and that's certainly what this night turned out to be. Then he said about the Irish stealing Edge from Wales and delivering him to the GAA (Gaelic Athletics Association). More seriously he talked about the "fragility of life" and how it had affected them personally recently, then he dedicated Miracle Drug to "all the doctors and nurses that keep us alive."

The set was pretty much the standard one, the only surprise in the set was the inclusion of Party Girl. Bono got a lad called Brad from Canada up on stage to play the guitar. He's held up a sign saying "I can play guitar", Bono said, "It pays to advertise!" During the song he changed some of the lyrics singing, "I don't give a shite", a reference to the 11pm curfew which they passed by around ten minutes.

The energy of the gig was brilliant, exhilarating. I felt proud of U2 and along with the rest of the crowd sang along and enjoyed every moment. The feeling of being part of something special was very strong and the love of the Irish was so apparent for their band. I felt part of that too, because I'd just discovered I had Irish ancestors, so was one of them as well, a great feeling!

Getting back to our hotel afterwards was a bit of a nightmare. We waited in a chaotic taxi queue for ages. In the end we gave up on that and got the night bus back, arriving at 4am, ahh the touring life!

This gig was a wonderful way to end our European leg of the Vertigo tour. We were going to see two shows later in the year in Boston so the Vertigo Tour wasn't quite finished for us yet.

2005 June - Dublin Vertigo, Up In The Gods and Disappointment

The day after the Glasgow show saw Debbi, Julie and I suffering from varying degrees of sunburn. It had been cloudy when we set off for Hampden so we didn't think we needed any sunscreen, but it got out really hot and sunny and there was no shade and now our pale English complexions were bright red! We went to a pharmacy and got some great aloe vera lotion that calmed our redness down a little.

We flew to Dublin for our last two Vertigo tour shows in the British Isles. We were staying at Bewley's Hotel in Ballsbridge, always a good place to make your base in Dublin.

Before the U2 part of the trip we visited our friends in Dun Laoghaire and also had a meal with my German friend Chris who was also in Dublin for U2 gigs. It was good to catch up with them all. That's one of the lovely things about going to U2 gigs, you get to see so many old friends again.

On the day of the gig we all had to kind of split up a bit as we had tickets in different areas of the stadium and were also meeting various friends. So Julie and I headed into town to meet Rosie, our friend from Northern Ireland. We had a meal with her before heading towards Croke Park. Once there we said bye to Rosie too as she was sitting elsewhere.

Our seats were abysmal! And yes, they were fan club seats, shame on you U2! We were at the far end of teh pitch, top tier, four rows from the back. Dreadful seats. I must say I got vertigo at Vertigo we were so high up. Plus there was a hell of a wind blowing up there as well.

I was really looking forward to seeing Snow Patrol, but was really disappointed because the sound was so bad, very muddy.

U2 took to the stage to a raptuous reception, but as soon as they started to play we realised the sound was just as bad for them. When Bono spoke it was impossible to understand what he was saying. The set was a pretty standard one, and for me the show was completely spoiled by the sound. Friends who were in other areas of the stadium said the sound was fine where they were, so we had the bad luck to be stuck almost as far away as you can get from the stage and to have the worst sound I've ever heard at a U2 concert. Shame and very disappointing.

We met up with our other friends once more and hung around after the show, only Larry stopped to speak with fans. He was very friendly and charming, obviously happy to be back on home ground.

We headed off back to our hotel feeling a bit deflated and hoped that tomorrows show would turn out to be a lot better for us.

2005 June - Hot Days, Hot Gig, London Vertigo Tour

A few days after returning home from Manchester I was travelling again, this time on a train to London. When I stepped off the train in London I thought I'd come abroad it was so hot! Got to our hotel in Kingston where my old schoolfriend Marian joined and Julie and Debbi. Our hotel was basic but fine. That evening we went to a lovely Italian restaurant close by. The "sculpture below was just by our hotel, I like an artist with a sense of humour!

We got a taxi to the stadium at Twickenham, it was three miles away, further than I thought, everywhere is further than you think in London!

The stadium was huge and we were right at the back in the middle tier, wonderful. But at least from that position you could really appreciate the huge screen across the back of the stage. I liked it especially during Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own and Miracle Drug. In the latter it started with an ECG trace in green, very effective. Bono dedicated the song to. "Doctors, nurses and scientists who keep us alive.... especially the nurses!"

The set was very similar to Manchester with the addition of All I Want Is You and Running To Stand Still both songs I love. Bono was in much better form with a lot of smiles and interaction with the crowd.

Bono got a girl up on stage at one point and filmed her, but he was holding the camera on its side. He gave the girl the camera and she continued to film sideways. When the girl gave Bono the camera back Edge walked up to him, took the camera, turned it the right way up and gave it back to him. All the while Edge had a kind of "he's hopeless" look on his face. Bono laughed and shrugged his shoulders. A funny moment.

I really enjoyed the show, despite being a million miles away from the stage. It had a lovely atmosphere and the balmy evening was pleasant too.

Afterwards we went round to the backstage entrance to see if we could catch the band leaving. After a long wait Adam came out and was his usual gentlemanly, polite self. Then Larry came out, he looked very thin, but he was pleasant and signed lots of autographs for people. A car with tinted windows came out and people thought Bono was in it, which was probably right as we did not see him that evening. Edge was the last to leave and he spent a while with the fans.

It took us ages to get back to Kingston. It was late and we didn't know the area and no taxis passed by. We eventually saw a bus stop for all night buses that stopped close to our hotel and we didn't have to wait long for a bus. The next night we realised we could have got a bus from right outside the backstage entrance of the stadium!

That night it was difficult to sleep as it was so hot, there was no air conditioning (not usually needed in the UK!), our window was open but no cool air came in, it was like being in the Mediterranean!

Next day it was 33 degrees centigrade and the highest humidity for 30 years in London! We had planned to go to Hampton Court Palace today as it was not that far from where we were staying. But the heat was draining and instead we found an air conditioned bar, cooled off and had cocktails - mine an appropriately named Alligator Cooler which was delicious!

We didn't have tickets for the second show, but, as it was a lovely day, we decided to go to the stadium and sit outside and listen to the show. When we arrived we could hear Beautiful Day drifting through the sunshine from the stadium up the road, very apt.

Quite a few people had decided to do what we did and it was really pleasant sitting in the sunshine at the backstage entrance with other fans listening to the music. No one told us to move on though there were plenty of police around. At one point a nearby blackbird on a roof sang its own beautiful song competing again Bono!

The show finished and people streamed out of the stadium. A couple of girls with an Irish flag asked a policeman to pose for a photo with them which he did. There was a really lovely laidback fun atmosphere.

The band left early, not long after the end of the show, Edge first, he didn't stop. Bono came out not long after him and stopped. The crowd was bigger than last night and a bit rowdy (as they often seem to be in London). I caught a glimpse of him, he was shaking hands with fans. But the crowd gathered round him and he disappeared from sight and I got pushed back, I didn't want to be part of that melee anyway, it's so disrespectful and potentially dangerous. I was told later that a woman had asked Bono to kiss her young daughter who was asleep by the gate, he did this and ended up pushed against the gate by the crowd. He left after that and I don't blame him.

So that was our London leg of The Vertigo Tour, which I'll always remember for its hot days and balmy nights.

2005 June - Another U2 Tour, Manchester Vertigo

After the usual four years it was U2 tour time once more, and this time it was the Vertigo Tour which started for me in Manchester. The usual crew, Debbi, Dianne, Julie and I met up at our hotel, the Ancoats Travelodge. I always love the first time we all get together again. We do meet up regularly inbetween tours but as we all live in different cities, and in Dianne's case as different country, we don't see as much of each other as we'd like to. When we do get together for a U2 tour it is always exciting!

That evening we walked the short distance into the centre of Manchester and Canal Street, which is the city's gay area, always very vibrant and lively. We'd gone there not because we're gay , but because a restaurant called Velvet was recommended by a friend. It was really good and well worth the visit and we had a good evening catching up on each others lives over a couple of bottles of wine.

Next day was a dull wet day (unusual for a U2 tour in the UK which generally means a good summer! Bono must decree good weather for us LOL) as we took the half hour walk to Manchester stadium. There were quite a few people already there in queues, and as we had general admission tickets we joined one. We saw our other friends Karen, Serena, Julia and Linda already there and had a chat with them.

Then, a very odd thing happened, the security people built a 8 foot "wall" around our group of about 300 fans and gave us wristbands. We thought it meant something like we'd get into the ellipse and got quite excited.

I later left to go to the toilet and bumped into my friend Dawn and her daughter, it always amazes me how you can meet up with someone you know amongst thousands of people! Unfortunately though I could get back into the fenced off area with my wristband Dawn could not.

At 4pm the doors were opened only to be immediately closed again! People were getting annoyed as we could hear people were being let inside elsewhere. Three quarters of an hour later one door was opened which caused an awful chaos of pushing and shoving, i couldn't believe the stupidity of the security staff.

We eventually got in and saw the ellipse was full so went for the catwalk and got a good place right on the rail near the b-stage on Adam's side. It was going to be a long wait. but at least we had two really good support bands to listen to, The Bravery and the wonderful Snow Patrol. Both were excellent. By now the sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm, but despite all this positive stuff I found it hard to stand for those hours until U2 came on.

U2 spared me a little extra wait time as they started at the very early time of 8.15pm (apparently this stadium has an early finish rule) with a rocking Vertigo followed by a trio of old songs, Will Follow, The Cry, The Electric Co. I noticed Bono seemed to be moving quite stiffly and didn't have the usual "spark" he normally has. I heard the next day that his back was playing up again and he'd had numerous injections in it the day before the Manchester gig. Many would have cancelled the show, but Bono and U2 only do that as a very last resort.

Initially the lighting and screens were ineffective due to the sunlight and early start. But as it darkened the lighting showed it's beauty, and I loved the images on the screen, very effective and often thought provoking. I especially loved it during City of Blinding Lights and the chorus of that song stayed with me throughout the tour (as my friends will testify! ).

We had some wonderful close ups of the band as they walked along the catwalk near us, loved their version of Love And Peace Or Else on the b-stage close to where we were.

It was really good, and a big surprise, to hear Zoo Station once more at the beginning of the first encore. The show finished with Vertigo again, which didn't feel right to me, U2 always finish a show gently, drifting away from us into the darkness. This ending, an assault on the senses, which is great for the start of the show, was not for the end of a U2 show. Later in the tour they did change this and finished with one of their slower songs once more.

Manchester was a good show, and it was wonderful to see U2 play live again, good to see mypals again, good to be on the road again - where to next?