U2 For Free!

A life long dream to see U2 in concert came true today...and it was FREE!

Joe came to work and said that on the radio they were talking about a rumor that U2 was giving a free concert in Washington Square Park. After some internet research we found out the concert was in fact going to be at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side. After our staff meeting we left and drove down to the Fulton Ferry State Park in hopes of getting in. For a while things looked pretty sketchy. MTV was doing a show there so people who had "tickets" were let in first. Then they were going to let in 500 additional people after that. So we waited for about an hour and half while the line grew to ridiculous porportions. All of a sudden the once nice very long line started to become compromised, so we ditched our places in the line and made our way up to the group of people at the front gate. After some nervous moments they opened the gate and we politely squeezed our way through (we were all New Yorkers so it was just like getting on the train at rush hour). After two groups were let in we were next, all of a sudden, boom we are in the venue running to get a place to see. We ended up in a sweet spot, as you can see:

For the next two hours Joe and I waited with some really cool people most of whom skipped work, stood up their Fresh Direct deliveries, and ditched their meetings, friends, and family to see U2. Finally at about 4:40 pm U2 took to the stage, and freakin' rocked the house. They opened with "Vertigo" of course and then played about seven of their songs off the new album. They were amazing, especially in their stripped down form. To be sure there will be many more layers of sound once the tour comes, but today it was four guys, four chords, and the truth. The new songs are amazing and I can't wait to get the album tomorrow!

In addition to the new songs they played "Beautiful Day", "I Will Follow", and something else that escapes my mind right now. They came back for an encore and played two more songs off their album and ended with a NYC rendition of "Vertigo".

As if this wasn't enough, this concert will be broadcast on MTV December 8, and the footage will become a video for the song "All Because of You". But you people don't have to wait for all that. That's right I had a video camera there and captured most of it on DV Tape! I am going to edit the concert and publish it through my .MAC account. I hope to have it done and up by tomorrow night, so check back to see all the footage. In the meantime, you can see stuff from MTV, and read their synopsis of the day here.

Remember check back tomorrow to see footage from the concert. Until then..."It's a Beautiful Day!"