by Ender

About 3 days ago, I came down with a sinus infection. Really Really sucks, and because I don't have a car, and no real way to get there, I haven't gone to see the doctor yet, and I can't just go and grab the stuff he used to give me (the samples) because apparently those don't work on me anymore. I have been, meanwhile, drinking tea and trying my best to stay healthy, even though I'm taking about 2 doses of day quil a day to stay conscious and not miserable.

So it goes without saying that, being sick, I was really afraid of not enjoying the concert. In addition, with my friend's DWAI here in the States, we were both worried we'd run into some problems getting into Canada. My friend said he'd done all the necessary research, and he thought we'd be fine, but we both understood that we shouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of snag which, at the very worst, would keep us held back for a while.

So we left at about 10 am from Potsdam, crossed the Border in Ogdensburg. Customs didn't even ask for I.D. They just asked where we lived and what our business was. We told them, and within 2 mins we were off to Ottawa.

We found our hotel and checked in at about 11:30 or noon or so, after navigating through downtown Ottawa. Lovely city, even with all the snow. I had forgotten how much I missed it.

My friend and I took a walk down to the Byward Market (sp?) and into the Irish Village. It was about a 25 min walk and I was freezing with the wind whipping at us like it was. We went into the Snug Pub, my friend had two Boddington's on draught and I had a Guinness. He had a really big meal and I had Putine that I couldn't finish. He was paying, (his father gave him 100 in Canadian before he left), so I asked if he'd have a problem with me not finishing my food. He said we're on vacation and I'm sick, it's not a problem. I eat what I can and if I can't eat more oh well.

So we left there, got back to the hotel room and relaxed for a little bit. About 3:00 or so we headed out to the Corel Center, which strangely enough is kinda out in the middle of nowhere. We went in with our tickets at 3:30 and we had them stamped, and we had a bracelet put on our wrists. My friend was 299, and I was 300. We had to line up in numerical order at 5, so we went to my friend's jeep and drank two Strongbows (i think) each - sort of a hard cider concoction... really disgusting, don't try it. We got pretty lit off that and went to stand in line at quarter to five. It was SO cold, and though the doors were supposed to open at 6, they didn't til 6:30. During that time I had to pee badly twice, so once I went into the nearby restaurant, and the next time they wouldn't let me in there, so I found my friend's jeep and peed on the tire... not really my style but I didn't have a choice. We also made some new friends and chatted about U2 and the tour and what-not.

Once we finally got in the doors, we had our first bracelet taken off and a new one put on, then both our tickets were scanned. Neither one of us won access into the Bomb Shelter, but that's okay. We were early enough that we were at the tip of the ellipse and just slightly to the left, about 3 people deep.

We seemed to stand there forever and my Day Quil was wearing off, but it was really cool to recognize roadies like Dallas and Stu (Edge and Adam's techs respectively). By the time the opening act came on at 7:30pm my legs were ACHING and I wasn't feeling good.

Arcade Fire was the opening act and honestly, they were really good. They're from Montreal, with some members from Ottawa so the crowd really dug em. They were on for about an hour, and I suggest you check out their music. You might like them. Very unique blend of instruments and talents. Every song the players would switch with each other. The only thing that never changed was the fiddler. But lead singers changed around, drummers even changed... they were pretty good. Check em out.

So we waited for half an hour after that and the lights went down and the intro to City of Blinding Lights came on. I saw Edge and Adam and Larry come onstage as the curtains came down, and the confetti, but I didn't see Bono anywhere, and the roof was just coming off the Corel Center. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Bono appears from underneath the ellipse, right at the tip, right in front of us, and it was FREAKING INCREDIBLE!!!!! Just like... the strange sweeping euphoric feeling you get when he appears in front of you, even my friend seemed to be blown away.

Nobody came out to the ellipse much of the first set, but around Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own, Bono took a walk around the ellipse and was not but five feet from me. Then he and Larry were out there for Love and Peace, Edge came out for a solo, Adam came out right where we were at the end of Where the Streets Have No Name... so by the end of the main set, each band member had been within five feet of me. INCREDIBLE seeing them in the flesh like that. So mesmerizing.

During the first set, when Bono was doing the soft "no more" speaking part during Sunday Bloody Sunday, he pulled this young boy that couldn't have been more than 5 or 6. And he asked him to say "No more" but Bono didn't sing it like he usually does, he just sort of said it. But the boy knew the song and was right on cue saying "NO MORE" like in the song. It was amazing.

After the first set they came out with Until the End of the World for the first encore and when Bono got to the part where he says "I reached out for the one I tried to destroy" he grabbed the hand of the person in front of me and stepped up onto the guard rail. There was this crush of fans as they all pushed to touch him, and I put my hand up and came two inches from touching Bono. TWO INCHES FROM TOUCHING BONO!!!!!! It was amazing! What a thrill.

For the second encore, Adam and Edge and Bono came to the tip of the ellipse for two songs and the crush happened again. Edge was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME for two whole songs. He looked like he was really enjoying himself. So did Adam. Larry was, as always, expressionless. Then they ended with 40 and the crowd singing "How long to sing this song" and Larry was the last to leave.

Such an incredible concert. I couldn't believe how close we were and how close each band member was to me. Freaking incredible.

Anyway, we got back to the hotel and were too tired to do anything else, so we had a pizza, and went to sleep. In the morning we got up and came back home. And that was pretty much that.

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