by neighborLEE

U2
Bobcat Arena – Charlotte, NC
Monday, December 12, 2005

On the way to the cab I stepped out of my cheap and sleazy hotel room, (I stay there thinking that I’ll meet “cheap and sleazy” women), and much to my confused astonishment it’s raining; that was not in the plan.

Once at Bobcat Arena I’m running for a dry spot past the 300 people standing in the open with the high gusty winds, cold, and now freezing rain testing their determination to be U2 fans.

I arrive just in time to see security and three police cruisers sweep the streets of a dozen ticket scalpers but as soon as the actual sweeping stopped the scalpers blew back in faster than the leaves driven by the storm.

The hundreds waiting in the rain were in the General Admission line for the arena floor and I asked the two people in the front what time they got there: “3:30”, she said.

I responded, “But I came by at 1:00 and there were already 60 people in line?”

“3:30 ‘am’”, she corrected me.
These people are the “Fan” in “Fanatical”.

As this line of cold and wet partiers made it inside to have their tickets punched they would literally scream, jump around celebrating and this went on for the duration like a passed-down learning from those in the front to the back. But if they thought that entering the building would move them from the cold world into the warm world it was soon learned that the ticket price did not include heat.

I hit my seat for the opening band “Institute” featuring ex-Bush lead-singer
Gavin Rossdale and while they played their song, “Bullet Proof Skin” and some Bush covers, “Machinehead” people were milling around and socializing as much as paying attention.

Gavin Rossdale thanked U2 “for letting us play.” “If you’re going to live in a bubble this is the one to be in” and it was like bubble viewing with the arena dark and the luxury suites lit-up so that you could look inside them like a voyeur’s view into a hotel window.


All of the big bands currently touring seem to be in a “Stage Runway” war. The Rolling Stones with their mechanically driven “moving runway”; Aerosmith with their “double runway”; and U2 with their “racetrack” 360 degrees loop stage that completely envelopes a group of fans.

After waiting for months, days, hours, now it’s down to just minutes and suddenly all the waiting was over when the coliseum goes dark and a curtain of see-thru lights are lowered behind the stage and lit-up in a movement of images and Bono suddenly appears on the outer edge of the stage’s circle runway being showered by confetti as U2 explodes with “City Of Blinding Lights”. ESPN was filming this song for their 2006 World Cup broadcast so it was played wide-open at maximum for the cameras.

The main stage and the circle runway had embedded lights that raced around in different colors, directions and speeds with the music as they played: Vertigo, Elevation, Gloria and there were so many killer songs that it got crazy to try to write them all down.

When they did “Sunday Bloody Sunday” you couldn’t help but flashback to the 1983 video with Bono holding the flag up at the end of the stage with a hard wind blowing against him. Everything was cranked-up now; it was the first time all night that the arena got warm and the temperature went from there to hot.

You know when the Rock Star’s fame is real: they don’t have to remember the words to the songs because the crowd is singing it all verbatim. While this was going on Bono searched through those down front and picked a girl to pull on stage and she was all over him like the wrapping paper on a Christmas present. After Bono peeled her off he said, “I want to thank you for giving us a great life and we’ll live it as large as we can.”

During “Until the End of the World” The Edge worked his way down the left side of the runway while cranking out the night’s best guitar work and Bono started from the right side running at full speed around the 360 circle track racing the embedded lights in the stage all the way around forcing The Edge to make way and Bono hit the waiting microphone right on queue to belt out the song.

So many bands playing live bulk-up their show with additional singers and musicians but for the 24 songs and 2 encores tonight it was all U2 plus 17,000 Fanatical Fans.

…neighborLEE
www.96rockonline.com/listings14233.asp
2005 Concert Count: 33 Events

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