A U2 holiday…
U2-- one of the greatest bands of all time! Friday was U2 day! No school, no work, it should have been an official U2 holiday! The two Mel’s, NL, and a couple Next Generation Punks set out for a day of Disney and U2 (see pictures here).

We walked around Downtown Disney through shops, played with Disney stuffed characters, I bought some Goofy Sweettarts, we played video games in the ESPN Zone arcade, and found a Jamba Juice where Orange Dream Machines flowed like creamsicle waterfalls.

We hung out in the Pond parking lot with other U2 groupies, hours too early for the best concert of all time-- blasting U2 music from the car radio. We stood in the wrong line, and then stood in the right line. We cleared security check and finally made it into the Pond. We sat and people-watched waiting for the show to begin.

“Oh I hate when girls wear those Victoria’s Secret pajama slip tops with jeans as clothes!” Mel said pointing out the many girls sporting this latest fashion trend.

“I know! I hate that too!” The other Mel said.

“They might as well just wear their underwear since they’re in their pajamas.” Mel said.

“They look like they just woke up from spending the night at some guys house, pulled on a pair of jeans with their pajama slip top and ran out the door before the guy woke up!” This Mel said.

“That’s exactly what they look like!” The other Mel said.

“I also hate those half tops that tie under the boobs!” This Mel said pointing out a girl wearing one of those half tops walking up the steps.

“I hate those too!” The other Mel agreed.

“That guys jeans are really cool though… with those pockets.” This Mel said pointing to a guy just a couple rows down from us.

“He’s cute too!” The other Mel said.

Finally the house lights went off. The crowd went wild. And a no-name band no one had ever heard of came onto stage. Kings of Leon they were called.

“Who are these guys?” This Mel asked.

“I don’t know.” NL said.

“You’d think that a more well known band would be opening for U2.” This Mel said and we all agreed.

We continued to people-watch and talk our excitement growing with the anticipation of U2 taking the stage. The house lights went off again… the crowd went wild screaming and yelling… it was finally U2 time!

“Look! There’s Bono walking on the elipse part of the stage!” This Mel said pointing.

A sold out Pond jumped to their feet as the music of Love and Peace or Else began. Through 21 amazing songs U2 gave a performance unparalleled by other bands. That is why they are one of the best bands of all time. Sunday Bloody Sunday, Mysterious Ways, Zoo Station and The Fly were some of the U2 oldies performed. Bono pulled a girl named 'Tiffany' from the crowd dressed in leather and nine-inch platforms to dance on the elipse part of the stage with him while he sung Mysterious Ways.

“Oh I want to be her!” Mel said.

“Me too! Bono just kissed her!” The other Mel said.

Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For and Where the Streets Have No Names are still absolutely amazing live! Three of this Mel’s favorites from the new album Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own, and Yahweh were all ballads Bono was born to sing. Yahweh Bono and Edge performed alone-- just a guitar and a voice. And One was used as a political message for the cause in Africa. Beautiful Day, City of Blinding Lights, Elevation and Vertigo brought the house down. And the elipse and stage lit up with the vertigo circle symbol during Vertigo.

We danced, we sang, we yelled, we clapped; we had the time of our lives! It was over too soon. We wanted them to play every U2 song ever recorded. We wanted more… and so did the crowd. We begged for yet one more encore song to no avail. Then sat disappointed after what was truly a great U2 performance because we couldn’t make them sing just one more song.

(Read a write up on the show at U2.com)
Set list:
Love And Peace
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
New Year’s Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
Beautiful Day
Pride In the Name of Love
Where the Streets Have No Name
One
Zoo Station
The Fly
Elevation
Mysterious Ways
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
All Because of you
Yahweh
’40’

With deflated adrenaline and euphoric anthem song memories spinning in our heads we fought the crowd to the t-shirt booth.

“Is that who I think it is?” This Mel said pointing to an older lady walking straight toward where the two Mels were standing.

“I think it is!” The other Mel said as the older lady continued walking towards us.

She walked straight to the spot by the t-shirt stand where the two Mels were standing and we had to move out of her and her security escort’s way.

“It’s definitely her! She looks just like she does on TV!” This Mel said.

“Wow! A celebrity sighting! How cool!” The other Mel said.

It was Everybody Loves Raymond’s Mom! She was there with her three granddaughters, who according to one of the Next Generation Punks with us-- were HOT. They received special treatment at the t-shirt booth, the granddaughters picked out their t-shirts and the four of them with their security escort were on their way.

“What a cool grandma!” Mel said.

“I wanna be her grandkid.” The Next Generation Punk said.

We all climbed into an SUV and made our way through the dark over a grapevine back to the Southern San Joaquin Valley. Our U2 holiday forever etched in our memories…  posted by Matildakay at 11:17 PM