When I stepped out into the bright stadium light (yes, I am borrowing from S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders), my knees got weak. There I was, standing on the very stage where the brilliant Irish rock band U2 would perform in a little more than two hours. There I was, looking out into the largest crowd ever at Pasadena's Rose Bowl. There I was, because the special tickets we purchased, whose proceeds went entirely to charity while securing us a stage-front position, included a pre-show backstage experience that ended with me standing on the largest stage that has ever toured the planet with any rock band. There I was, witnessing history.

It’s not often that Gary and I get to see the most popular band on Earth with 97,012 of our closest friends, but that’s exactly what we did on this particular Sunday (bloody Sunday). Although not my largest show ever (I have a slightly hazy memory of being one of 300,000 fans in attendance at day two of US Festival ’83), U2’s Rose Bowl appearance on this night did break the record as the best-attended single concert performance ever in the U.S. by one headlining band.

And the historical nature of the show didn’t stop there: U2’s entire Rose Bowl performance was simulcast live via YouTube.com (dubbed U2ube for the evening), the first time such a broadcast has ever been done. And while making history, why not capture history, as this performance was recorded for an anticipated DVD release early next year.

Even the stage itself has made history (seriously, they could have sold tickets to see the stage alone), featuring a multi-million-dollar, 164-foot-tall, 250-ton, spaceship-like design. To allow for proper assembly time, three identical versions of this impressive stage had to be constructed and carefully choreographed to crisscross the country so that one would arrive well ahead of the band at each destination, where its own separate road crew would then re-assemble the monstrous stage (affectionately deemed “The Claw”).

This historic tour, known as the “360° Tour” (although the stage itself surprisingly did not rotate, as the name seemed to imply), is in support of U2’s newest release, No Line on the Horizon. They are booking only stadiums, which makes sense since the stage and U2 are both simply larger than life, or at least, larger than most arenas can hold. In fact, on our approach to the Rose Bowl, we could see the spire of the seven-story-tall “Claw” peeking out above the walls of the esteemed facility, like that of an old Gothic cathedral, guiding the way for the weary pilgrims.

Not to sound overly dramatic, it’s fair to mention that this tour is not the first stadium tour for U2, but it is by far the largest, making it hard to believe that the band, which formed in 1976, was once simply a college radio band. I was lucky to catch them in that era when they began their 1987 tour for a little album they called The Joshua Tree (the band’s break-through third album). We had no idea at that time, casually bumping into the band at our local pub during the weeks they were rehearsing on our campus at ASU to open the tour, what U2 would later become.

So, back at the Rose Bowl, after having been pleasantly surprised by a fun set from opening band Black Eyed Peas (with an unexpected walk-on by rock guitarist Slash), the lights went down, David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” (one of my favorite songs ever) descended upon our ears through the house speakers, and, finally, U2 appeared on their now-famous stage. Goosebumps were definitely in abundance. 

Singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, bass player Adam Clayton, and steadfast drummer and band founder Larry Mullen, Jr. gave the crowd everything on this historic night …feeding off the overwhelming energy. We were thrilled with a nearly two-hour set that included both new and old. We watched as the band commanded their historic stage, crossing over movable bridges onto the surrounding catwalk, which thrust them out into their adoring fans. We watched as history was being made.

All the hype set aside, though, it was easy, even in the midst of such a spectacle, to remember why the multitudes still flock to see U2 perform. They represent their devoted audience...their songs capture our struggle to become what we all desire to be, and their uncompromising support of humanitarian causes reminds us of what we should all aspire to be. 

And although I yearned for the intimacy of the smaller, indoor arena shows, this massive stadium show still made me feel as one with U2.

If you missed the show the first time around on this tour (or you caught it, but just can’t wait to do it again), don’t worry…they’re bringing the show to our neck of the woods next June, when the band returns for two nights at Anaheim Stadium. Get on your boots!