On Wednesday, October 14, 2009, the U2 360 Tour played 1 of its 2 Texas shows at the Reliant Stadium. My best friend Rob was kind enough to drive us from San Antonio. The weather was beautiful, the road was open, and the livin' was easy. Great tunes on the iPod, great kolaches from Buc-EE's, and great anticipation to see U2 once again.
The Reliant Stadium is a stone's throw from the Astrodome, where we saw The Who in 1982. Twenty-seven years later, we were about to experience GREATNESS again. Arriving mid-afternoon, with General Admission/Floor tickets, we noticed that a sizeable line was already queued from the gates. Some stadium employee was moving down the line and writing on everyone's hands with a blue Sharpie. Me and Rob were numbers 753 and 755, respectively. When the gates open, we streamed in, some running, only to hear hopeless cries of "No Running!". Inside, we made our way to the giant "claw" stage and were lucky enough to be in the group of 2000 fans that would inhabit THE INNER CIRCLE. There, under one of the giant claw legs, we saw that there were ramps connecting the stage and the outer ring of the inner circle. Those ramps would later move, swinging over all our heads, as Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry (when he switched from his drum kit to portable congas) walked over, around and often very near us. Everyone's phonecams were working overtime.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Before U2 came out, a great band named MUSE played. Their set was a melange of heavy and light textures (Rob, please note that I worked in "melange" and "texture"). MUSE played "Knights of Cydonia" and "Supermassive Black Hole" that were familiar to me and very enjoyable, plus several other very satisfying rock gems. If you're unfamiliar with MUSE, you should definitely check them out. The other very satisfying item during this phase of the evening was the Guiness Draft. Yes, it was ridiculously overpriced but is was so smooth and cold and refreshing.
OK, now it was time for the headliner. The pre-show music was now playing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" to get us in the mood for the trip we were about to take into Outer Space. U2 claimed the stage and held command of it through the 23 songs of the show. There was a logical progression of song styles and a wonderful mix of old and new. Here is the set list:
Breathe
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day / Here Comes The Sun (excerpt)
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For /Stand By Me (excerpt)
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
No Line On The Horizon
Elevation
Your Blue Room (w/Intl Space Station Video)
Until The End Of The World
The Unforgettable Fire
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (Redanka’s “Kick the Darkness” Dance Remix)/ Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (excerpt)
Two Tribes (excerpt), Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On /You'll Never Walk Alone (excerpt)
Encores: (Desmond Tutu video) One /Amazing Grace (excerpt)
Where The Streets Have No Name
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender
Bono referred to their stage, with its massive 360-degree video screens, multitudes of speakers and lights, and futuristic "claw" shape, as their "SPACE STATION". The day before the concert, he and the Edge toured Johnson Space Center, near Houston, and went inside Mission Control. There they phoned the astronauts on the International Space Station. During the concert, Bono said, "We feel right at home here in this the home of space stations. Those men and women astronauts are 'heroes to us - to you they're just next door neighbours”. Later, when introducing his bandmates, he said, "Our Captain - The Edge, Chief Flight Engineer Larry Mullen, and Space Walker Adam Clayton". At the end of the night, Bono said "I don't want to leave". He said, "Texas to me is the center of the world right now". Me, Rob and our fellow Texans made enough noise to be heard in space that night.
For me, the best quote of the evening came when Bono said "Houston, we have no problem."
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