deciBlog//2005.11.25//U2//Atlanta

Friday - 11/18/05:
The pilgrimage continues. Bob, Dennis & I fly together to Atlanta & connect with Mr. Peabody at Houlihans at the airport just after noon. We grab some lunch & MARTA to the Renaissance Hotel. Our rooms aren't quite ready so we pay a visit to the Rathskeller to wet our whistles. We end up on the 9th floor with connecting balconied rooms & a nice view of the downtown skyline. Then back to the MARTA (all weekend pass $9 bargain) 3 stops down & one over (knight to QB3) to the Philips Arena around 3pm (Wait a minute we took a cab that one time). Bob & I are in the GA line today & get numbers 360/361 with the line going around the corner (in the sunny side). We meet our line neighbors & then head off to Jock's & Jill's Sports Bar conveniently located in the CNN building adjacent to Philips. Snacks & libations. Then by 5pm it's time to maintain line position as the queue tightens up.

The doors open at 6pm. Bob & I get scanned & get the dreaded "proceed to floor." We end up about 4 rows of people back from the outer tip of the center of the ellipse - nice spot. I have my ellipse band from DC & tell Bob I'm going to give it a go. We are both doubtful. BINGO!! I get in!!! The hidden blacklight symbol on the wristband tonight (small hearts) is the same as the 1st night in DC! This trick did not work for me the 2nd night in DC because different symbols were used. Fortunately, there's some repetition. The real bummer was that Crutch had given me his DC ellipse band so that I would have two to use for this very reason, but somehow I had lost it :(
[feeling real bad about Bob right now].

The front of the egg is already about 5 rows deep, but the back is still open. I go to the back rail of the ellipse right smack in the middle. I have heard this is a killer spot. This is where Bono makes his entrance & when the band is out on the ramps they are right in front of you. It also offers a great perspective of the band on stage without losing out on the light show.

I meet a couple from Spartan- burg, SC, who are awfully nice. This one guy was more than willing to go out & take Bob my armband (since I could not do it) to get him in the bomb shelter & he did with success! The trick is to have it taped so it slips on & off easily. (When you get banded, they purposely wrap them tight so that this should not happen). Hard to believe, but we have worked the system to our advantage.

The opening act, Institute, featuring gavin Rossdale (former Bush front man a.k.a. Mr. Gwen Stefani), comes out at 7:25 playing a 45 minute set. The highlights were the Bush songs ("Machine Head" & "Everything Zen"). Unfortunaely, this outfit will be a flash in tha pan. Still, a decent set.

Just before 9:00 pm the show starts & sure enough Bono is escorted in the barrier between the rail & the stage ramp right in front of me. Once again another killer show. This really was a fantastic spot to be in. The sound was fabulous & the band was really on. This crowd was pumped!!! Eye contact with Adam Clayton at some point.

The cell phone has become the Bic lighter of the 21st century concert experience turning the venue, as Bono puts it, into the Milky Way.This show was just as excellent as DC night 1. This one personally falls into a 3 way tie for 1st place with DC & UNC 4/23/83.

Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, Beautiful Day, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - In a Little While, Mysterious Ways, Original of the Species, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love an Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday - Rock the Casbah, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One - Ol' Man River
Encore(s): Until the End of the World, The Fly, With or Without You, Happy Birthday, Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of, Yahweh, All Because Of You, 40 (Bold indicates variation between 11/8 & 11/19).

I brought along my sign (U2 + me = Desire) implying "pick me to play guitar with you on stage," which the band does about once every 5-10 shows (past songs: "Party Girl" & "Angel Of Harlem"). Bono & Edge were out on the ramp in front of me performing "Stuck In A Moment" & Bono had a pause while Edge was singing his falsetto bridge. Bono looked over at my sign, then me, then my sign, then me again. I winked. Sorry, no guitar for you, O, but at least I had a connect. What a great show. Back to the hotel for a night cap & down time.


Rise, shine & rally Saturday morning & head down to the arena around 11:00 am for GA numbers. Today for the floor it's Dennis & me plus Clayton & Marie who join us later in the day. We get numbers 208-211 (Bob & Mr. P. act as stand-ins for The Watkins). Today we are on the shady side of the building & it's a bit brisk. Closer to door time we connect with Lupus & his new Panamanian friend. The doors open 10-15 minutes later today & there are some delays getting to the floor as not one of the 4 of us got a positive bomb shelter scan. We end up about 5 rows of people back from the tip of the ellipse. Institute does a similar a repeat performance.



Dennis had to duck out for fresh air mid-way as the conditions got the best of him - the evaporation of youth, I guess. But U2's show tonight is just as fired up as Friday's. "I Will Follow" was incredibly energized. They have now substituted "Miracle Drug" (a staple throughout the tour) with "Original of the Species," which has evolved into a fantastic live number - now much more electrified than the studio version. Edge's solo on "Bullet" was by far the most inspired of the tour so far (& I've heard 80% of the bootlegs). Bono nailed the Pavarotti "Miss Sarajevo" solo like never before. I never liked "Stuck In A Moment" (from ATYCLB) but the acoustic version they've been doing the last few weeks is really really nice. Bono was running laps around the ring tonight, which he did a lot on the last tour but no much this year. Closing with "Bad" another satisfying concert comes to a close. I kid you not (& funny we were joking about this prior to the show) a guy next to me shouted out, "Play 'New Year's Eve'!"
Thanks to Bob for taking my camera in Saturday night & providing the majority of the photos you see here.



Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, I Will Follow, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Beautiful Day, Happy Birthday, Original of the Species, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday - Rock the Casbah, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One, MLK
Encore(s): Until the End of the World, Mysterious Ways, With or Without You, The First Time (acoustic), Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of, Bad