U2 at Cowboys Stadium, Part 2

After more than sixteen hours of getting up early and waiting in a long line, one that promised and delivered a coveted spot in a hard-to-get-to circle, U2 was still not on stage. But another band was, and I listened through earplugs—all of us did, hoping to preserve our ears for the main event. What, after all, was the point of coming to a U2 concert and having my eardrums blown by the opening act?

Muse was not bad, even through sound barriers, but the venue was stunning. Throughout the show I could not get over this place and this stage. Before this I had only seen Cowboys Stadium from the outside, a Noah's ark designed for outer space. Inside, however, the sheer amount of space contained within its walls made me seem a microscopic speck. And the stage brought a mass to match its host. A giant spider over multitudes of people, the concert stage for the 360 Tour covered more than half of the stadium floor. We found out from stagehands that transporting it requires 99 eighteen-wheelers and setting it up takes four days. It was certainly the guest of honor, a platform to fit the stature of its creators.

But this event was about a band, not a building, and U2 soon took the stage. As long as the wait had been—nearly 17 hours from the time I woke up—seeing them still felt surreal. This band that I had listened to for so long and seen on TV so often was only yards away. At one point, Bono was right above me on a bridge, at another he was five feet away. Clearly, everyone else felt the same way. The band's appearance turned the pit into a photo shoot. Whenever a band-member came near the outer part of the stage, hundreds of camera-phones sprang up like weeds. If the inner circle was a garden, Bono was definitely its rain.

The music began, and the earplugs came out. Now, deafness was worth the risk. At least my eardrums would die happily. The band opened with three songs off the new album, No Line on the Horizon. They would go on to play three more No Line songs, and almost all of them sounded underwhelming to me: they lacked the focus needed to command such a vast sound-space

But they did not linger there for long. "Mysterious Ways" came fourth and brought a bonus with it. To end the song, Bono sang the chorus of the Beatles' "Blackbird." This adding-on occurred multiple times throughout the night, and produced my favorite moments of the concert. Not only was "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" the clearest song of the night, and my favorite, but also Bono ended it with "Stand By Me" by the Righteous Brothers. As he sang the chorus, he held out his microphone to the crowd, and over 70,000 voices sang in unison. Later in the night, another surprise would top this one. Bono sang "Amazing Grace" as an intro to "Where the Streets Have No Name." For a moment, a football stadium felt like a cathedral.

Two hours and two encores later, our evening would come to a close. To be fair, there were some things I disliked about the show. The two videos that played while we waited for encores were irritating. Then there was the steering wheel microphone that Bono used as a rope swing. As impressive as his physical abilities were, the concert had reached its climax, and this device was a distraction. In addition, songs that I love were passed up. I greatly missed not hearing "Bad" and "Pride," and would love to have heard their thundering rendition of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter," but that one will probably never happen. When set lists come from three decades of music, some disappointment is inevitable.

Regardless of this nitpicking, I will never forget this concert. By the time I made it to bed, I had been awake for 21 and a half hours, had spent most of the day in a long line, and had to struggle in order to stay where I had spent all day trying to get. Though I can't say I would turn around and do it all over again, I know that I sensed something larger than myself. Calling it sacred would not be the right word, but I can still hear tens of thousands singing in unison. I can still hear the sound of "Amazing Grace." Grace has a way of speaking through common things, like music.




Set List: Cowboys Stadium (10/12)

Breathe

Get on Your Boots

Magnificent 

Mysterious Ways

Beautiful Day

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Stuck In A Moment

No Line on the Horizon

Elevation

Until The End of the World

Unforgettable Fire

City of Blinding Lights

Vertigo

I'll Go Crazy - Remix

Sunday Bloody Sunday

MLK

Walk On


One

Where The Streets Have No Name



Ultraviolet

With or Without You

Moment of Surrender