Week 95 · November 3, 2015 · London, England
U2 in
This trip was planned awhile back — both luck and planning were needed. I was looking for tickets to see U2 as my birthday present to myself when they announced their tour and when I found they were in London near my birthday I decided to go.
The shows were already sold out and the prices on Stubhub were outrageous, but as I was rationalising the purchase — I received an email from Ticketmaster that another show was added and I joined the fan club to get a pre-sale code. About 12 hours later I had two floor seats for less than 10% of the price that I had seen on Stubhub and frequent flyer tickets booked for both of us.
The Innocence + Experience Tour ran from May to December 2015 and was U2’s first tour since 2011. It featured an innovative stage design with a walkway that extended through the arena floor in a T-shape, with a transparent high-definition video screen suspended above it — allowing the band to perform on both ends. The London O2 shows in October and November 2015 were among the final dates of the European leg. The tour grossed over $152 million and was named Tour of the Year by Rolling Stone. The T-stage configuration described here — where floor audiences at the bottom end of the T found themselves extremely close to the band — was a deliberate design choice to put fans directly in the performance rather than watching from a distance.
Here was the luck — the stage was shaped like a “T” and they spent about half the show at the bottom end of the “T” where we were standing. We were literally 10 feet away for many songs. And the 50-year-old mosh pit is very friendly — plenty of space and no crowding.
“We were literally 10 feet away for many songs. The 50-year-old mosh pit is very friendly — plenty of space and no crowding.”
Not all luck is good — shortly after Sharon and I synced up on timezones and naps, I came down with a stomach bug. We had a nice afternoon and dinner in Richmond during the Rugby World Cup final with a great atmosphere, sunny, and the warmest Halloween in UK recorded history. Then I was down with fever and other symptoms for 48 hours. I imagine that the only thing worse than being sick in a one-bedroom B&B is being stuck with someone who is sick. So poor Sharon waited for me to decide if I was too sick to leave or we would go somewhere and leave early.
When it came time to leave for the concert, I just couldn’t mobilise and Sharon said it was OK but did give me the “man up” look. So off we went and I am glad that I did. In hindsight, being so close and with a fever, it seems a little surreal now.
Was sick the trip home and a couple more days in Seoul — got on Cipro and everything getting alright again. But I will be at my lowest weight in about 10 years on my actual birthday. Went to Barnes before we each headed out so Sharon could revisit a special place in our lives. Even though the U2 concert in London seems like a great present, Sharon topped it as she went old-school and made me a scrapbook of all our family memories through the years. It was very nice.
