With or without you...

With or Without You2

THERE was absolutely no way if you wanted to avoid U2 this weekend in Dublin to avoid U2, none at all. From having a pint with bar stereos playing the entire U2 back catalogue, to programmes on the telly, to the crazy traffic through town, to the phenomenal amount of pedestrians through town, to car stereos blasting U2, to the friends descending on the capital to crash on our floors cos they were lucky enough to be one of the quarter of a million people who managed to get a ticket considering the tickets for the first two concerts sold out in just 50 minutes.


Crazy traffic…


Crowds stretching right up O’Connell Street

There were impromptu car parks, packed hotels, special buses and travellers coming from as far afield as Australia.


All sorts of enterprising schemes hit Dublin during weekends such as this.

I heard of one Australian farmer who gets most of his work done when it rains which it is back home. So he flew over on Thursday night, caught Friday’s concert, and was back on the plane by Saturday for work, now that a crazy amount of money. And surely if you were paying that amount of money, you would make more of it and maybe pay someone to do the work for a couple of days… But that’s just me, I just cannot imagine spending that kind of money for two days away on the other side of the world for a concert.

Other people who had tickets weren’t able to get to Dublin due to a ridiculous mark up of plane tickets, a one-way ticket to Dublin from London was quoted to one person at €350 with no available flights back on Sunday or Monday.

One minor consolation for me without a ticket though concerns the rich feckers who managed to blag corporate tickets in that their view was obscured by the lip of the stadium, he he, don’t you just love the justice of it all?

Though in saying that I was really hoping that someone I have done a bit of work over the last year for had tickets for what would be among the best seats in the house and they weren’t sure on Friday afternoon if they would go.

I practically leapt on him (not really-ish) saying ‘well givvus a call if you decide not to go’. Despite the heavy misty rain (I suppose that wouldn’t affect the soft seats he would be sitting on – sigh) and the fact that he is 60 (ok ok I know I am being ageist but I was soo hoping), I didn’t get a phonecall and *sigh* I can only assume that he went after all.

Heavy misty rain just in time for Friday night’s concert


Wisely putting on a rain coat before heading off to the concert…

And from those I know who went to either Friday or Saturday, it was all well worth it. Here’s hoping a ticket comes my way sometime over the day for tonight’s final concert.