It started with an idea that was a little bit crazy. Crazy? Maybe. But not outrageous. And certainly, not impossible.
It's March 2001. My friends and I are in our last semester of university, tired of our assignments, but plugging away nonetheless, pointed towards two attainable goals--one of which being graduation, of course. The other, and the one perhaps most prominent in our minds, is U2 Elevation 2001, touching down in our home town of Toronto on May 24th.
Yes. The Goal is Elevation.
Anyway, it's March 2001. We're kind of in limbo. There's not much going on this time of year, save school and midterms and tests assignments and essays and tests and assignments and essays and assignments and, oh yeah, tests. Terribly exciting, really. Thoughts of summer are comforting, and the of planning summer vacations is one much-needed distraction from the monotony of school work. Actually, one of my best friends will be moving to Scotland in the summer. I had been there myself before, while she was over for a visit last summer. The UK and Ireland. Simply fantastic. I've been wanting to go back ever since. There's just some magnetic draw between myself and The Continent, a draw which, even now, I can't get seem to shake. Ah, summer. It still seems too far away.
As I was saying, it's early March. I'm in the middle of working on yet another essay when the phone rings. It's my friend who's moving to Scotland.
"Sarah," she says, "U2 is giving a huge concert at Slane Castle in Ireland in August. I'm going to be over there anyway. Do you want to go?"
And that, my friends, is where it all started.
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6 months and several hundred dollars later, I find myself on a plane bound for Scotland. Having miraculously been able to score Slane tickets from the Internet public sale on March 11th, we were headed for one of the greatest adventures of our lives.
Not that this year hadn't already been exciting. After all, this was all happening after U2 Insanity Week. U2 Insanity Week, you ask? Well, between May 24th and May 31st, we had seen U2 four times. Toronto, May 24th. Toronto, May 25th. Montreal, May 27th. And then, after a spur of the moment bus ride to Buffalo, Buffalo on May 31st.
"Touring" with U2. That was something I had only been dreaming about since I was 14 years old. I couldn't believe how lucky we had been. We had actually been in the heart twice. I even had Bono look down at me and sing me an entire verse of Walk On in Montreal.
…..
Ooops… sorry. I just fainted again at the thought. Ah-hem. But anyway, it had been a crazy year.
Right now, it's August 13th, and the plane has just touched down in Glasgow. Gotta love those red-eye overnight flights. We arrive in Edinburgh about 2 hours later, crash in the hostel, and sleep.
We spend the next few weeks touring around Scotland and Ireland. Edinburgh, Inverness, Loch Ness, Isle of Skye, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin. We endure a crazy boat ride from Scotland to Belfast, where 50 mph gale-force winds create 10 foot swells and toss our ferry around like a paper cup in a hurricane. Talk about your relaxing vacation. That's the last time I'm taking a boat. From now on, I fly.
It was an amazing 2 weeks, and I should definitely write a book about it someday. But you're probably reading this because you want to hear about U2. So, here we go!
August 25th. 5:58 am Dublin local time. It's pouring rain outside, but we're up anyway, mulling around and collecting garbage bags to use as rain coats. Not caring about adhering to the latest fashion trends any more, we throw on our crapiest jeans and runners, fill our bags full of water and munchies, and slip quietly out the door of our rented vacation apartment in Molesworth Court, near Grafton St. We head to O'Connell St towards Parnell Square, where the public buses for Slane are departing. Drenched beneath overcast skies, we board the bus, our optimism undampened by the rain.
The bus ride itself is actually a little unsettling. Bono's father had tragically passed away only days before, and fans on the bus read newspapers filled with images of the funeral. It seems almost wrong to be heading to a U2 concert under these circumstances, and the reserved silence on the bus perhaps indicates that others are feeling the same. Still, the buses pushes on, through the streets and the suburbs, and onto the winding roads of the Irish countryside.
It's now about 9:45 am, and the rain is coming down harder than ever. The buses drop us off on the end of a long road. We're not sure where to go, so we instinctively follow the line of fans who are walking through the rain.
We come under a road sign.
Baile Shlaine
Slane.
And suddenly, a smile spreads across our faces. Our steps quicken, and we begin to jog up the hill, in the rain and the mud, all at once energized, not stopping.
The walk to the gates of Slane Castle turns out to be about 2-3 kilometres. With the overcast foggy sky, the steeply sloping hill, and the thousands of people making the pilgrimage, we can barely see the tiny village of Slane as we make our way up. We arrive, finally, by the stone gates, where we are instructed to wait until 11:00 am for the grounds to open. By now, there is a small crowd by the gate. Although everyone's pants are wet and muddy up to the knee, no one really seems to mind.
We're finally permitted to enter the grounds, and at once, hundreds of people begin running, jogging, walking up the muddy hedge-lined path. At once, we all spill out into an open field at the top of a steep hill, just as the sun is breaking from behind the clouds and the last drops of rain and making their way down.
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It's late-afternoon. By now, it's hot and sunny. We're now more worried about getting sunburned than getting drowned in the rain, quite a contrast from the morning. JJ72, Relish, and Kelis have been on already in support of U2, and Coldplay has just hit the stage. By now I'm ecstatic, because Colplay is one of my favourite bands. Coldplay is fantastic, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who soon follow, are equally as good.
The crowd is incredible. In my life, I've never seen so many people. There are thousands, of all ages, from all over the world. Ireland, UK, Canada, Germany, United States, Holland, Australia. The list goes on. It's a little scary, actually, knowing that you're sharing space with almost 100 000 others. A few people up front are a little rowdy, and we move back somewhat to get a better, and safer, view. Settled now just where the hill slopes, we're ready for U2 to hit the stage.
The light is dimming now, and people are clapping in anticipation. A rousing sound of the song, "The Boys are Back in Town" fills the field, and people cheer, knowing who is soon to be gracing us with their presense.
Then, finally, the trippy Elevation mix hits us from the stage, and in a flash of light and song, the four Dublin boys wave hello.
The concert is just incredible. The emotions are seering, the crowd cheering and jumping up and down as one. I can't really see the stage for all the people, but I remain fixated on the screens, singing every word. A Sort of Homecoming is a welcome surprise. The boys are a little rusty with the tune, but no one really seems to mind. Bono is great tonight. The concert is mainly a tribute to his father, and as such Bono is more intense than ever. During Sunday Bloody Sunday, he pleads for peace in Ireland. "We're a small island, but we're a big country," Bono shouts. "We're bigger than racism, we're bigger than our past!" The crowd is insane now, screaming along with him. "We're bigger than our past," Bono beckons us to repeat. He needn't ask a second time. During Bad, Bono inserts a snippet from Coldplay's Yellow, a little bit of payback for Coldplay borrowing U2's line, "this song is not a rebel song" earlier in the day. I'm sure Coldplay must be thrilled :-)
The minutes are flying by like seconds, and soon the band disappears for the encore. When the boys come out on stage again, Bono reprises his Drop the Debt campaign, and the crowd screams their support. Then, in a crowd-rousing speech, Bono thanks us on behalf of U2 for giving them a great year and a great life, and promises us that they're not about to go away. One follows, leading into When Will I See You Again and Walk On. We're thanked profusely again, and much to our dismay, the boys leave the stage. As they go, however, the crowd screams back to them, "THANK YOU!" for giving us something we'll never forget.
Just before we file out, we're captivated by a fantastic fireworks display, timed perfectly to a recorded version of The Unforgettable Fire. Indeed, this is a fire we will never forget.
The trek back to Dublin takes almost 4 hours, and we arrive on O'Connell St. just after 2:30 am, exhausted and filthy but thoroughly happy. Tomorrow will be my last full day in Dublin, and I want to be up early to enjoy it.
I still can't believe how many crazy things had to happen for 3 girls from Toronto to get to Slane. But we did. And it's something I'll never forget. Thank you U2, for everything you've given me.
Who's to say where the wind will take me?
Elevation, Beautiful Day, Until the End of the World, New Year's Day, Kite, A Sort of Homecoming, I Will Follow, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Wake Up Dead Man, Stuck in a Moment, In A Little While, Dancing in the Moonlight, Desire, Staring at the Sun, Bad / Yellow / 40, Where the Streets Have No Name, Mysterious Ways, Pride
Encore(s): Bullet the Blue Sky, With or Without You, One / When Will I See You Again, Walk On / Hallelujah
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