by James Tiorano

My wife and I made the trip from Boston to Los Angeles to see this once in a lifetime television taping. (We won the trip from a local radio station.) It isn't often that one gets to see U2 in this type of setting. Only about 300-400 people were let into the studio for the taping. Mostly contest winners like ourselves but there were some people disguised as beautiful television props, i.e scantily clothed females who were strategically placed up front by producers.(Heavy security measures to get through the front door. Metal detectors were in use.)
Once inside we went right to the front of the tiny stage on Edge's side. U2 came out playing a fiery version "Elevation". The crowd was jumping up and down at this point. Once the song was completed, they played it again. Apparently the band wasn't satisfied with the first version. No one in the crowd complained. Next came "New York". At this point the crowd was already in the palm of their hands. (This song reminds me a lot like "Dirty Day" from Zooropa.)"Stuck In A Moment..." followed as the crowd began to sway in unison. At this point people in the crowd were commenting about this being their favorite new song. Granted the album wasn't being released until the following Tuesday in the US. Everyone knew the next tune, "Beautiful Day" and the lyrics. It truly was becoming a beautiful day in Los Angeles. The show climax with an old favorite, "Bad". The old passionate version was alive and well.
The band then taped an interview session for the Farmclub.com show. The interview lasted approximately 10-15 minutes, however it never made the television show on the following Monday night. Too bad for everyone who missed it. They were pretty funny. U2 exited stage right and that was it.
Everyone in the crowd was obviously there to see U2 but we did have to sign an agreement stating we would stay for the whole taping of Farmclub. I can say I survived the following bands after U2, At The Drive-In and Outkast.
My 3,000 mile weekend getaway was a time of a lifetime.

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