6:45am: Bill and I leave Longview/Kelso, headed for Seattle. We're both big-time U2 fans so we're making a day of it. He tells me he's booked us for a 9:30 reservation for breakfast at an exclusive place in Seattle - so I wear my nice shorts. I pack with me a change of clothes and my old U2 shirt from the 2005 Vertigo tour.
8:30: We arrive in downtown Seattle (yes, we made great time, but we were humming at a fever pitch from the get-go). The exclusive breakfast place Bill takes me to is his sister's house where we have some "old family secret recipe for waffles". They're delicious. I meet a number of Bill's family. They're delicious too.
11:00: We leave for downtown Seattle and wind up at Pike's Place Market. A classic stop when you're in Seattle. We get a fresh baked loaf of bread, a bottle of red wine, and a wedge of some "signature" white cheese and eat it on the north end of Pikes. Ideally, this would have been a nice date move, but still a good idea for two buddies. We then find a patch of grass under a tree and take 20 minute refresher (nap). I'm a little nervous to actually fall asleep because there's a lot of "street people" walking/living down there. . . but I do anyway. I wake up to the following coversation occuring 5 feet behind me, "...yeah, I was going to head over there to sleep last week but I had just smoked a bunch of crack and marijuana and they said they'd U.A. me, so I didn't. You know how it is!" (*cackling laughter*) Have you ever just heard somone laugh and know that the person was missing teeth? I have. Anyway, we wake up and walk down to the waterfront and up around downtown some more. Bill runs into a couple guys he knows. One of them knew my grampa Oscar. Small world. On our way back to the car we contemplate taking the ferry over and back just for fun - and we don't. then we contemplate hitching onto a sight-seeing group going to tour Seattle's underground, but that idea gets immediately snuffed when all of the group is wearing wristbands. Moving on. We grab a beer at Fado's. The gentleman serving us suggests a darker, red ale (i say no thanks, but Bill orders me one anyway - ended up pretty good). Then also suggests a shot Jameson. . . we look at each other and kind of give the "why not?" shrug. The concert pre-funk has officially started (fyi - the term "pre-funk" is the pre-party before the party). As we leave Fado's, I tell a pretty French lady sitting by us that she is beautiful. . . in my best French - because I'm trying to be charming. I'm not sure what I actually said, but she did smile back.
2:30: We head east down Madison all the way to Madison Park - which is lakefront. Bill tells me that years ago this was a pretty exclusive gay part of town. And sure enough, there they are! They had a section of the beach area cornered off. Bill and I walk the beach front all the way across and I'm giggling at how many pasty white people there are. Not that my farmer's tan is much better, but we definitely noticed that it was the first nice day in quite awhile. We then walk over to the Attic for lunch. I eat a "signature" meat loaf sandwhich, which is fantastic. Bill's sister and brother in law join us. This is the second signature food item i've eaten today and they both were worthy.
4:00: Back to Bill's sister's to freshen up. I put on my U2 shirt (that smells like it's been in a box since 05', because it has) and take another 20 minute nap. Why the second nap? Because Bill walks fast and we never stayed in one spot very long. All over the city we bumped into people going to the concert. Seattle was literally buzzing in anticipation. It was exciting. Fado's had a milk-board posted in front of the resturant stating, "Eat here Bono!" It was like that everywhere. Oh, and the weather was 80 degrees and sunny. This was setting up nicely.
5:45: Head to Qwest (site of concert). I buy some U2 gear. Bill gets us some beer and hot dogs - because we haven't quite eaten enough today.... On the way in we notice an insane amount of semi trucks filling the north lot. But I guess you need that to transport a 96-ton stage structure.
*Side story #1: U2 is my favorite band. It might not be yours, but it's mine. Lenny Kravitz also makes my top-10 so this is an ideal show for me. I've seen them in concert one other time and it was fantastic (2005 in Portland). I have every LP they've put out including a ton of bootlegged and concert LP's (78 total) and I've seen every dvd they've put out. I am a fan and have been for a long time. So I have some expectations, and they are high. By the way, there's a lot of local folks at the show - good to see you!
7:30: Ticket stub says show starts at 7:00 but nothing yet. No one cares though. Qwest is buzzing. It's still very light out. The picture I took for the blog is from my seat. Ok sea
ts, not really a bad seat in the entire place. I walk up and see my friends Tyler and Jerry. They're near the top of the stadium but can see right down on the stage. Even up there, it's a great spot.
ts, not really a bad seat in the entire place. I walk up and see my friends Tyler and Jerry. They're near the top of the stadium but can see right down on the stage. Even up there, it's a great spot. 7:48-ish: Lenny walks out. This guy is cool. He and his brass and back-up sistas rock the joint. It was rock-funk, very James Brown. I could have listened to him for a couple hours but sadly, he played less than an hour. That aside, I was in a full lather and lost my voice in that 45 minute period. Lenny was awesome.
*Side story #2: The section where our seats were was a pure joy to be with. It was a triangular section (116) in the 100-level seats and we sat about halfway up. As I walked up to our seats I announced to the entire group, "There better not be any squares sitting in here!" I think that set the tone. Everyone in 116 was singing and dancing for 4.5 hours. We were like a black-gospel choir. Thank you 116 for being so cool. But this is not the story. I started the WAVE at Qwest field! Me. Andy. There were about 15 people in the top left corner of my section that were trying to get the WAVE started but nobody beneath them could see them because they were behind us, and no one behind them could see them because they sat rught under the suites. So being a good Seahawk, I took matters into my own hands. I stood up on my chair, pointed to the 15 and shouted to my section to follow them. And they did. It took a few tries, but we got it going! The stadium was putty in my hands. After the 3rd trip around the stadium (which picked up momentum each "wave"), the David Bowie's "Ground control to Major Tom" started playing which meant U2 was about to "walk on". The place went wild. I'd like to think that I got the crowd in the mood to jam during the intermission. I was Qwest's coach and gave them a "win one for the gipper" pep-talk right before the big game. I was U2's fluffer. Whatever you want to call it, you're welcome Bono. I couldn't shake your hands, but I could start the WAVE for you guys. Isn't that better?
Time Unknown But It Was As The WAVE Was Happening: U2 walks out to a huge roar and starts with Even Better Than The Real Thing. Bono is a "rock-star's rockstar". I can't imagine a concert going any better. Song highlights for me were All I Want, End of the World and Zooropa (which I guess they've never done live). They played all the good stuff, to which I sang/yelled every lyric to. And danced. It was better than 2005. The only possible thing that could have made it better? Bono raising the 12th man flag, but I digress. This was my first trip to Qwest and I now fully understand the reason behind it's reputation NFL-wide as a "loud" stadium. The assault on my ears far out-weighed the assault from my vocal chords.
*Side story #3: There was a short blonde gal in the seat next to me who was so drunk she could barely keep her eyes open, but she sang and danced her little heart out. I applaud her effort. When the first few notes from the synthesizer played Where the Streets Have No Name, the whole place erupted - so did she. It's a fan-favorite song. There's a point near the beginning of the song where the band really kicks it in and they turn on every light possible, so you can see everyone and everything (and it's awesome), and I look at this gal and she has tears streaming down her face on both cheeks! I yell at her, "Are you ok!" With eyes closed she nods and yells back, "I'm just sooo happy!" I totally agree. I'm happy too. Maybe the happiest I've been in a couple years . . . and about 4 months, 22 days, give or take. Just sayin'. Honestly, the last time I remember being this excited and smiling and laughing this much was when Dash was born.
Follow up to the story: Back to the little blondy: during the chorus I yell at her again,"Do you know where the streets have no name?!" and I point straight up to the clear Seattle sky. She shakes her head no. "It's in Heaven, and I wanna go there with you!" (like the lyrics suggest) Just to make sure I don't get punched out, I tell her husband too. He's game. So were the rest of the people sitting around me. I wanted to go there with all of them and they were on board. :)
After the show ended, I felt like the day could not have gone any better. That concert can't be topped. I mean it had everything - even a transmission from an astronaut (Mark Kelly) in space to Seattle specifically for this show! So cool. Check it out on http://www.u2.com/ under "video". Actually watch all 5 videos on that page. They're short and cool. Like Bono. And talk about a cool 360 degree video monitor for the concert! It could stretch all the way down to the stage, you had to be there for that one.
Bill and I eventually crashed back at his sister's house for what was left of the night and were home Sunday morning, just in time for church. Such a great 24 hours. You should have come.
Thank you Lenny Kravitz and your band. Thank you Qwest Field. Thank you Seattle. Thank you Bede's. Thank you Bill. And thank you, U2.
