October 24, 2001 New York City 1 at Madison Square Garden

Tasha and I arrived in New York City at Madison Square Garden at 5:15am. We were 39 & 40 in the GA line. For whatever reason, I was VERY excited to see Macy’s a block away and then I noticed the Empire State Building. Around 9am, we saw Sammy and Dallas come in. We saw a lot of familiar faces. We made a new friend in Babette. After a stressful GA line procedure, we managed to get great spots at the rail between Bono and Adam. Garbage opened. NY1 rivaled the Baltimore show, but not quite as good. Same set list, except U2 played Bad instead of Please. I had a great Larry moment! During Kite, the spotlight wasn’t on Larry yet. When it finally came on, I screamed, clapped, jumped and down. He looked at me, nodded and smiled. Our friend Dan got pulled up on stage during Stuck in a Moment. Our friend Ruth got pulled up on stage and played guitar and sang Knockin on Heaven’s Door with U2. All the policemen and firemen who died on 9/11 were listed on the screens during One. We hung out a bit with everyone after the show, then Tasha and I took the train back to Princeton, then drove back to Tasha’s place in Philadelphia.

Elevation NYC1 10.24.01 Set List: Elevation, Beautiful Day, Until the End of the World, New Year’s Day, Out of Control, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Stuck In a Moment, Kite, Angel of Harlem (full band – electric), Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (full band), Staring at the Sun (B&E – acoustic), Bad / 40, Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Pride, Bullet the Blue Sky, What’s Going On, New York, One, Peace On Earth / Walk On. 

October 25, 2001 New York City 2 at Madison Square Garden

Tasha and I had seats for NY2, which was quite relaxing but we realized that being in the GA line was half of the fun. We got to MSG early to buy tee shirts, programs and eat dinner. Our seats were behind/side stage between Adam and Larry. No Doubt opened. The set list was actually a little different. U2 played I Will Follow instead of Out of Control, Stay instead of Staring at the Sun, and Unchained Melody instead of Peace on Earth. We again took the train back to Princeton and then drove back to Tasha’s in Philadelphia.

Elevation NYC2 10.25.01 Set List: Elevation, Beautiful Day, Until the End of the World – Two Tribes, New Year’s Day, I Will Follow, Sunday Bloody Sunday, When Will I See You Again – Stuck In a Moment, Kite, Angel of Harlem, Stay, Bad – 40, Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Pride, Bullet the Blue Sky, What’s Going On, New York, One – Unchained Melody, Walk On. 

October 27, 2001 New York City 3 at Madison Square Garden

Tasha and I drove up to Jersey Friday night. We went to our hotel while Jenny, Kate, Jennifer and Valerie got in the GA line. Tasha and I slept then took the bus into New York City in the morning arriving at MSG around 7am. This GA line was even more stressful then Wednesday’s, but somehow we ended up at the rail in front of Adam. Stereophonics opened. The set list was pretty much the same, except U2 played Please acoustic as well as Bad. The highlight of the night was when Bono pulled Jenny up at the tip of the heart during New York and kissed her on the lips. It was great because she’s been a U2 fan since 1981 and nothing like that has ever happened to her. But the truly inspiring part of the night was during Walk On when Bono had the FDNY come on stage. They shook hands, the firefighters spoke, Bono sang with his firefighter hat and FDNY shirt on. After Walk On, the firefighters spoke and kept speaking after U2 left the stage. Then U2 came back out and played Out of Control with the firefighters on stage. It was an absolutely amazing experience. Absolutely moving!

Elevation NYC3 10.27.01 Set List: Elevation, Beautiful Day, Until the End of the World, New Year’s Day, I Will Follow, Sunday Bloody Sunday, When Will I See You Again / Stuck In a Moment, Kite, Angel of Harlem (full band – electric), Please (Bono, Edge, Bruce Brody), Bad / 40, Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Pride, Bullet the Blue Sky, What’s Going On (Bono, Edge, Larry), New York, One, Peace On Earth / Walk On, Out of Control.