60k ppl and a band

Months ago I was lucky enough to get a ticket for one of the hottest summer shows in Brussels. To give you an idea of how hot these tickets were, suffice it to say that a mere 3 hours after ticket sales started all 60.000 of them were gone. People went absolutely mad over this. The web server which was responsible for dishing out these oh-so-valuable items was besieged for hours. Most of the time the only response it gave was “server too busy”. Nevertheless, me, my brother in law and countless others dutifully clicked away - hoping that by luck the request would be served with the much anticipated message “your tickets have been ordered”.This was definitely going to be a big, very big show.

Arriving on location at around 4PM we are still among the early birds. The gates open 30 minutes later to let us in. A steady stream of people, youngsters and others, start filling the “Roi Baudouin” stadium - that same stadium which only weeks earlier held a commemorative event of the tragic events which took place 20 there years earlier.

After two opening acts, the latter of which, Snow Patrol, was quite good it was finally time for the big boys to take the stage. The crowd was ready, you could feel the excitement in the air. A few more minutes and U2 would enter the stage.

It was a night to remember. Since I didn’t know much of the new album I feared much of the concert would be wasted on me. Fortunately most of the set list was made up of older, more known stuff which allowed me to enjoy the music that much more.

Being politically very engaged, Bono did not pass on the occasion. He spread the good word once more, pleading for mankind to coexist and for us to eradicate poverty wherever it is found, particularly in Africa. Needless to say I applaud the effort although I somehow feel a rock concert is not the ideal place for this. Nevertheless, he’s Bono, it’s U2 and we’re happy to put up with that small eccentricity.