Yes, we went. Yes, we had a blast. And yes, it was FREAKING AWESOME! The Vertigo Tour. First of four shows at the United Center in Chicago. a Five-Star Hotel one block from Marshall Fields. And good friends to share it with.
We got up early on Saturday and dropped Grace off at Durochers to hang with the D kids and Jasmine. Then we took the Mini-Burb and rode in style. Of course most of the trip was U2 on Sam’s iPod. We got into the city, checked into the Hilton, and met back to do some shopping. I went back to get my cell phone for Strods in case we got seperated. Then snuck off to the consierge to book a limo ride! Surprise the ladies.
We headed out shopping downtown for a little while. Fields, Old Navy, etc. Then walked over to the Redfish for dinner. Fun meal. Good grub. Then walked back to the hotel to get ready for the concert. We had about an hour or so to chill and relax. Then met up on State street for the big reveal. A limo ride to the show!
The ride cost $100 and was 15 minutes long, but was worth it. Making a memory. Open bar, TV, music, and the cool factor of rolling up in a limo. We got to the United Center early, so were able to find our seats and buy some merch. Kings of Leon were first. Not bad. Good warm up band. Then we had a 30 minute break to reset the stage for U2.
The show was incredible. Our seats were horrible. We were literally at the ceiling of the United Center behind the stage. The last row of the last section. But it didn’t matter. They had jumbo-tron screens to see front views and being high up had its advantages to see the amazing light and stage show. It was incredible. But the music was the thing that ruled. We were on our feet the whole time as we rocked with Vertigo, Elevation, and Bono pulled out some older stuff too. Check out the Set List of our show at U2.com. Of course “Where the Streets Have No Name” was amazing. But the second encore was the best way I’ve ever seen a concert end.
The band came back, and began playing “All Because of You”. They then transitioned into “Yaweh”. Finally as that song was ending, The Edge grabbed a bass guitar and they finished the show with “40”. For those of you who aren’t U2 fans, “40” is a musical version of Psalm 40. These last three songs were a mini worship set. Everyone was singing. Songs about Jesus. And they didn’t know or care becaue it was U2. As we were singing with the band on “40”, Bono bowed and left the stage. The band kept playing. We kept singing. Then Adam bowed and left. Edge and Larry still playing. We’re still singing. 30-40 thousand of us. Singing Psalm 40. Then The Edge bowed and left. Only Larry left playing the drums. One light on him. Simple. Elegant. Larry’s still playing softly. We’re still singing. Then the intensity picks up in the drums. Louder and louder. Then…Nothing. Larry bows and leaves. The stage is empty. But we’re still singing. For at least five more minutes we all sang together. Without the band. Psalm 40. Awesome. Amazing. Fun.
After we got out of the arena, we took the bus to the hotel with every intention to stay out and party. But being that we were all pretty much wasted from being up early to losing an hour traveling, we were ready for bed. So we hung out at a bar in the hotel til 12:30 (really 1:30 our time), and then hit the hay.
Sunday we got up, checked out, and took a cab up to Magnificent Mile for some shopping. Stopped at Pizzaria Due for lunch. Then headed back home.
It was a great weekend. And fun to laugh, party, and share time with good friends. Really family to us. Two years ago when “All You Can’t Leave Behind” was released and the tour happened, we said if at all possible, we’d go to the next show. More than two years later, we fulfilled that dream. Fun to do stuff like that. To be at an event like this. And to be able to share it with people we care deeply about.
Check out the Photo Gallery of the entire weekend with captions.
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