A pub like Dooley's

Mega rock band U2 announced around Thanksgiving 2009 that they would be touring and performing at Michigan State's Spartan Stadium in June of 2010, and as a previous MSU ticket purchaser, I was given advance access. Thus, during a mandatory high school wrestling parent meeting on some November 2009 evening in the library, I stole over to my laptop to purchase 4 tickets, opting for Section 126, northwest of the stage. Fast forward to spring 2010, and during rehearsals for the shows, Bono goes and injures his back, which forces a year's postponement of the tour.

As ticket possessors, Tiffani and I propose to our western New York friends Drew and Mary Beiter that they join us for the show to complete our 4 tickets, and they agree to a weekend visit and concert. Subsequently, and coincidentally to Bono, a back injury keeps Mary from traveling, so it was then suggested that the boys attend instead: Drew's Mitch, and our Nick.

The plan was to organize all the folks that we knew were attending, and save on parking fees by using our motorhome to travel to the show and do a bit of tailgating. Included were colleague Steve Delp and wife Gina, former wrestling coaching colleague Jim York and wife Wendy, Buffalonians Drew and Mitch, and Nick and myself.; later, we met up with colleague David Jones as well.

The show was spectacular, of course, if not a little canned. The band entered the stadium through a regular pedestrian tunnel in the stands and walked onstage accompanied by David Bowie's Space Oddity, which made for a rather dramatic entrance; Nick turned to me, speechless: it was a pretty hair-raising moment. They then transitioned seamlessly into Even Better Than The Real Thing, which is the nature of my only very slight complaint: for all of Bono's professed enthusiasms for touring and performing, there were only slight moments of spontaneity and insight; I'm the type of concert fan that can overlook sound quality differences between albums and live performances, but I enjoy some interaction with the assemblage, and some newness.

Some practical observations:

• U2 has all the money in the world to conjure, design, and erect magnificent stages, and they didn't disappoint.
• There was a great crowd, but for this being U2's only Michigan appearance, it seemed like there could have been a few thousand more folks down on the field, there were large gaps of emptiness  Economy?
• The weather was extraordinary, neither too hot nor rainy. Much luck in that regard.
• The inclusion of Bishop Desmond Tutu and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi really raised our awareness to issues other than the concert, and astronaut Mark Kelly (whose wife, US Representative Gabby Giffords was shot earlier this year) singing Beautiful Day from the Space Shuttle en route to the International Space Station was pretty innovative.

I will add to the narrative and observations as they come back to me. Otherwise, click for a slideshow, even with limited captions.