monday the 9th of august, waking up with excitement as today was the day that I was finally gonna go away again with my bus. Off to frankfurt as U2 was gonna play their second concert of this summer, after having seen the first one in turin, I was filled with joy, cause they were rocking like never before ... It took me some time to arrange my stuff, but then it was departure time .. speakers were blasting out old bootlegs from the 80's to get in the mood, as if that was necessary ...
It took quite a while to get to frankfurt as my bus is quite old, from 1975, quite heavy and big and therefore prefers a cruising speed of around 80 - 85 km. As soon as I entered the area around the stadium, I started looking for a place to park, but offcourse the goal was to get as close as possible, looking for a spot, I soon had entered the ring around the stadium for the 2nd time, but this time it was leading me back to the airport, another 12 km extra to go ... hmmmm so the next time I was close to the stadium, I parked in an area with houses I had spotted, about 2km from the venue, I got my bmx bike out, it was 00.30am and wnet off to the stadium to check things out. When I arrived I found the first nutters who were gonna sleep outside, all close together at one of the four entrances that were gonna be used the next day, each with its advantages and shortcomings. E5 was the only one "equipped" with a dixie and together with E3 the closest to the field entrance, so the least running was involved the next day, but rumours were flying that not all entrances were gonna be opened at the same time etc .. ha ha .. here we go ....
I decided to check out all different possibilities, but found out that there was no one at the other entrances so decided that the next day I was gonna go for E5 also ... but, as it was allready getting late I thought it would be wise to get a proper sleep first, after all I did not bring my bus for nothing ! Said hello to some familiar faces, and asked how to get to the big parking right next to the stadium, then headed back to my bus and quickly made my way to the parking to set up basecamp so to say ... Decided to hit the bed without my alarm clock set, reassured by stories that the germans are not as mad as the italians, where at 06.30am there were allready 700 people in line ... stressing out like mad ... (well, the first 200 were not, as they had been there the longest and gotten pretty at home around the venue, but from nr 400 up they were standing from 09.00am onwards, nuts, totally nuts .... as they did not get in untill 16.15pm)
ok, slept like a baby, woke up at 10 made some breakfast and coffee and got my camping chairs and umbrella along with some spare mats for those around me sitting on the ground, lets share the luxury .... Got nr 231 and felt pretty relaxed ... met Cathal again, who wrote the Me & U2 book and who is travelling around europe also this summer, got acquainted with an english man with his daughter and chatted time away .... Around 13pm I made some pasta in my bus, wich was ideal, and enjoyed lunch along with Leo, a spanish guy I met in torino who was gonna stay in my bus in Hannover after Frankfurt. Then it was waiting time again, around 15pm I moved all of my stuff back to the bus, as shortly everyone was gonna go and stand up and the Q was gonna get a bit more compressed, but it was very relaxed all teh time .. the germans are chilled !
Around 16.15 it wa stime to get in ... had all of my drinks and food prepared in see trough bags, so security could see easily, and it went very fast and smooth, no stress ... then it was running time ... untill we hit security again, who told us to take it easy, they were still shocked from the terrible thing that had happened at the love parade some weeks earlier (20 people died as they were all pushed together in one big tunnel, really terrible, so I can see why they were so "tense" it was ok ... we went with the flow ..) When I entered the stadium from the back (strange as normally we run towards the claw (stage)) I was aiming for my favouriste spot, in the centre at the rail outside the catwalk ... but saw some people there allready ... fuck me .. they had let the other entrance go in first ... ah well .... so now what to do ... either go to either side where there was still space, about 6 meters from the centre, or take a risk and go for the centre and hope I could fit in ... it was the last ... fast and furious I went .... and succeeded as there were two separate "parties" trying to block too much space with too little bodies .. also they did not need all the space, so I jumped in between, not without communicating at the same time, beacuse after all, I was gonna have to spend the entire concert with them as neighbours, I hate the wars that sometimes start at these tense moments ... but hey .. all was ok, apart from my left neighbours, who were really two big ladies, each weighing about 130kilo and they were not happy with me and Leo (he was following shortly after me) grasping the rail next to them .... but hey .. tough luck .... luckily I was not next to them, Leo was ... and he has had a tough evening with loads of elbowing and silent fights for space without any communication ... thats what can happen ... my neighbours on the right were dutch, three in total ... and very pleasant company ... The area was set up with an extra barrier, so that not too many people could get in one area, dividing teh field in 2 which was ideal, as they let only soo many people in, wristbanded them and then it was our space ... really cool ... cause we could easily go and eat and use the toilets, and come back ... it was gonna be a great night !!!
And so it was .... too many beautifull things to mention from the concert ,.. the crowd was amazing .. probably also loads of dutchies, as U2 does not hit holland this year, and frankfurt is close by ... they were doing teh wave and clapping like mad before showtime ... it felt better than Italy ... amazing ... never expected this .... but it took off like a rocket ....
U2 had decided to play new years day after opening with beautifull day ... yes yes yes , one of my favourite songs ... man ... the crowd went nuts, and so did I .... jumping like mad, happy as a baby ! The setlist rocked bigtime, with the guys ending up right in front of me many times .... mysterious ways with edge and bono ... and most amazingly, the crazy remix with bono doing the discotheque snippet improvisation 50 centimeters away from me .... if I was a girl, I would have fainted there and then ..... then he sat down on his knees and started Sunday Bloody Sunday ... ok, you could wipe me away then ... I needed some time to take it all in .... this was amazing ....
The rest of the concert went by like a dream and it was great, really one of the best shows I have seen out of the 17 -U2360 shows I have seen so far .... yup .... for real .. in germany ... ha ha ..... When it was over I said goodbye to my neighbours and friends, off to my bus, but not before I had scored a nice souvenir, one of the big posterboards outside ... its now in my bus, but way too big to hang on the wall .... ah well ... wil find a good destination for it ...
I slept on the parking again, which was nice ... no more travelling, or waiting for the cars to leave before you can get out ... the next day I walked into the stadium without any problems, so I could use the toilets, then made some breakfast and coffee ... while looking at the stadium .... nice ... waited for my passenger Hille, who was gonna drive along to Hannover, and around 14pm, left frankfurt behind ... what a gig !!!
