U2 Times Two

It's been a U2 kind of a week. And for me, those are the best kind of weeks ever. We got into Denver last Friday just in time to hear the last half of a full band, full show rehearsal. Sure, we were outside the stadium and could only get little peeks inside. That didn't stop me from getting teary-eyed at the beginning of "Streets." Ah, just a warmup to the main event. For the actual show, we got in line at about noon and ended up about three people back from the outer circle. Mom was very excited to be so close (almost as excited as I was).

It was a great spot to experience the show from—we could see the whole stage, including the screen, we got serenaded by Bono a few times, all the band members came out on the walkway at least once, and the crowd was fantastic. Fair warning here: I don't take great pictures at concerts. For one thing, I'm way too caught up in the moment to try and figure out the settings on my camera, and for another thing, I'm usually jumping up and down and singing at the top of my lungs during all the best bits (like the whole show). I did luck into a few good shots; you can see more on my Facebook page if you're so inclined.

Great show, absolutely fantastic show that left me feeling completely exhilarated. So what do you do the next day? Well, you're a U2 fan in Denver, so of course you go visit Red Rocks.

Very, very cool venue. I'd love to see a show there sometime. I got on the stage, hummed a bit of "Sunday Bloody Sunday," and resisted the urge to pretend I was square dancing with Bono. (And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you need to come watch Under a Blood Red Sky with me.) Then we came home. Usually it's quite depressing to come home from a vacation, but not this time, because U2 was following us home. Woohoo! Show number 2!

I have a little crush on The Edge. Bono's cool and all, and Larry and Adam are rather awesome, but Edge is my man, so I was beyond thrilled to get this close to Edge's spot on the stage:

Seriously, words can't describe it. If I thought Denver was fantastic, Salt Lake was going to be even better.

See, even better! You want to know what the best part of being that close to the stage is (other than the fact that you can jump up and down and dance and sing and scream to your heart's delight, and nobody around you cares because they're all just as into it as you are)? I love seeing the expressions on the band's faces and watching them interact with each other and with the crowd. I love seeing Edge get lost in the music and Bono share a joke with Larry. I love seeing the proof that they love what they're doing, they love who they're doing it with, and they wouldn't want to be anywhere else. And I love that through the music, they include me and the other 50,000 people in the stadium in that love.

There's really nothing like U2 live, except maybe heaven. Maybe.