We got to Houlihan's Stadium, Tampa around 5:00pm hoping to catch a glimpse of the band before the show. Much to my dismay, the band did not come out of its backstage entrance to sign autographs. At about 8:45pm, I finally gave up and went in to see the concert. I did happen to see U2's stage manager, who I met at a previous show. I called out to him and he came over. I asked him if I could give U2 my drypoint (which is artwork that I made of U2) and he said no, but that he could give it to them. I saw him disappear into the backstage lounge with my drypoint and emerge without it, so I assumed that it made it back there.
Anyway, on to the concert. This was going to be my fifth show of the tour, so I knew what to expect. The set list was a little varied from previous shows with the addition of Sunday Bloody Sunday, sung by the Edge, instead of his normal kareoke number of Daydream Believer or Sweet Caroline. Bono said, "We haven't done this in a while. We kind of lost sight of what it was about, but we did it in Sarajevo." A Miami Herald reporter said that "In wake of recent tensions in Iraq, lines like 'How long must we sing this song,' gained poignancy." The set list is as follows:
intro: POP MUZIK
Mofo
I Will Follow
Even Better than the Real Thing
New Year's Day
Pride
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Last Night on Earth
Gone
Until the End of the World
Staring at the Sun (Bono and Edge acoustic)
Sunday Bloody Sunday (Edge solo)
Bullet the Blue Sky
Please
Where the Streets Have No Name
Lemon (as they exited the mirror Lemon)
Discotheque
If You Wear that Velvet Dress
With or Without You
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
Mysterious Ways
One
Wake Up Dead Man
On to the Miami show, which was especially spectacular. Once again, I failed to see them before the show, but that's okay, because my seats we right next to the b-stage. I ran into a bunch of people that I had met at previous shows, which was neat. One girl told me that the hotel that they were staying at was the Delano on South Beach. I had already decided that we were going there after the concert to wait for them. This concert was absolutely fabulous as always and U2 couldn't leave out the song Miami this time considering their venue. During this song, Bono walks down the b-stage and picks a girl at random to dance with. I wanted to be that girl. So as he started walking down, I jumped over the guard rail and sat on top of it until the guard told me to get down. I was so close. If only Bono had seen my fantastic feat before he picked a girl. Anyway the rest of the concert was awesome. U2's PopMart tour came equipped with a massive LED screen, which is 170 feet long and 56 feet high, reputedly the world's largest. It sits behind a 100 foot high yellow arch, which rises from center stage. Contrary to popular belief, this arch has nothing to do with McDonald's. It was designed to hoist the speakers up off the stage, so there would be more room to move around. Another feature was the 35 foot lemon, which carried U2 out to the b-stage to perform a few songs. The other element of the stage, was the giant olive on a stick, of which the meaning is yet to be determined.
But, the best part of my Miami trip definitely came after the concert. We drove down to South Beach in search of the Delano hotel. We could tell by the extraordinary high level of security that U2 was definitely staying there. Now it was just time to wait. Who knows how long they will stay at the stadium. Around 3:00am, just as I was about to give up, I see the Edge walking out of the hotel. We all scream to him as he walks towards us. I was the second person he signed an autograph for. I took many pictures of this historic moment. I even got one with me standing right next to him. He was very nice.
After that we decided to go back to our hotel and try again tomorrow. We came back to the Delano at around 12:00pm and we were all dressed up so we would fit in with its Hollywood atmosphere. We decided to have lunch there. After about a half hour, my friend says to me, "Don't freak out..." and then I knew that they were there. About ten feet away from us U2 had their own private table. I could see all of them. It was absolutely amazing. Then Bono got up and walked over towards us and sat down at the next table over and started chatting with some friends. As soon as he got up and passed by our table, I called out to him, "Bono." He turned around and walked over. "Yes," he said. I said, "I was wondering if I could ask you a question?" "Sure," he replied. I said, "I wanted to know if he got a drypoint at the Tampa show?" He said, "Yes, I think I remember seeing that and we sent it home already so it wouldn't get messed up along the tour." I told him, "I made that drypoint for you and I wanted you to have it as an appreciation for all that you have given me." He replied, "Thank you very much" as he shook my hand. Then he walked away and it was over. That was the most wonderful moment of my life. Oh, I also got his autograph and I managed to get pictures of the other band members, even though I didn't meet them. Anyway, so that was my story of the Tampa and Miami shows. If anyone has the chance I strongly encourage you all to go and see them, because it is a truly spectacular show.