Our U2 Boston MeetUp was supposed to be a pre Tour and pre Jimmy Fallon celebration, but Bono had the poor judgement to go cycling (and falling off) the day before U2’s residency of the Tonight Show was to begin (now it’s cancelled due to Bono’s arm surgery). So our U2 Boston MeetUp was still a pre Tour celebration, and it was a magnificent event! It was so great to hang out with equally obsessed U2 fans who are also in their 40s, discussing the music and the men, dancing and singing to the music of U2 tribute band Joshua Tree, and eating and drinking at Waxy O’Connor’s in Woburn, Massachusetts until the wee hours – well until midnight anyway.

One of my new U2 best friends and fellow blogger at U2Radio.com, Joe Pitella, invited me up to Boston (actually Woburn) to hear Joshua Tree. He said a few people will be there and they’re a great band. I asked Joe if he would mind if I organized and promoted the event to see if we could get a bunch of people to go. So here I was a girl from Maryland organizing and promoting a U2 fan event in Massachusetts. Just over two weeks later, 15 strangers became fast friends because of our love for U2.

You may ask why would I want to go ALL the way up to Boston just for the night just to hear a band who isn’t U2 play U2 music? It was a perfect storm of circumstances that allowed me to go. My dad was home from Florida to watch my dogs, I used my points on Southwest for a free flight to Boston, and there was a hotel connected to the bar where the event would be (and it was less than $100). So the means was there. And the motivation was that I needed a night of U2, yes needed. I won’t go into why, but I did. Unless you’re a U2 fan, you wouldn’t understand the comfort and joy we experience when we get together to discuss the music – something truly special happens. I didn’t fly up to Boston just to hear a U2 tribute band. I went for the U2 fellowship.

I landed at Logan Airport in Boston just after 11am, and after a bus and hotel shuttle, I was in my room at the Best Western in Woburn 1:30pm. I relaxed a bit then met Joe and Leeny in the lobby just after 4pm. We started the party early at Waxy O’Connor’s. We had two tables near the stage reserved for us. Kristal (whom I met briefly at the U2 show in Anaheim on the 360 tour) and Lellie, Joel and Karen, Anne and her husband, Nancy, and Jodi (my fellow only child kindred spirit) joined us for dinner around 6pm – the food was great. Suzen, Lauren and my friend Michelle (we’ve been friends since the Elevation tour) and her fiancee joined us shortly before the band started.

Joshua Tree came on at 9:15, about 15 minutes after they were supposed to start, and played until midnight when the bar closed. (Apparently, bars close early in Woburn. In Maryland, they close at 2am.) Joshua Tree didn’t look anything like U2, but they sounded great and put on a really good show. The bar was packed and everyone (not just our group) seemed to know most of the songs. Larry (Bob Pimental) and Adam (Joe Wilson) were especially great. Adam/Joe actually sang backup instead of Edge (Ivo Matos), so that was a switch. I thought Bono (Mike Golarz) could have given a more passionate performance on some of the songs, but he did play the harmonica on “Desire,” so that made me happy – and he has a great voice. The set list was fun, nothing off Songs of Innocence or No Line on the Horizon (even as much as I shouted out for “BOOTS”), but some great rarities like “Party Girl,” “In God’s Country,” “One Tree Hill” and “Helter Skelter.” Also played were my favorites “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” “In a Little While” and “Pride.”

After the show ended and everyone left, I retreated back to my hotel room finding it hard to sleep after all the U2 excitement. I was up at 7am the next morning, and did everything in reverse from the day before. Hotel shuttle to bus station, bus to Logan, flight back to BWI. I was home before 1pm. I only spent 24 hours in Boston/Woburn (pronounced Woooooburn by the way), but had a fantastic time. It’s quality, not quantity!

Joshua Tree set list 11.15.14 at Waxy O’Connor’s:

Vertigo
In God’s Country
New Year’s Day
Desire
Miracle Drug
Bullet the Blue Sky
Sweetest Thing
One Tree Hill
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Unforgettable Fire
Helter Skelter
Gloria
In a Little While
Walk On

City of Blinding Lights
Until the End World
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Even Better Than the Real Thing
Angel of Harlem
One
Party Girl
Mysterious Ways
Sunday Bloody Sunday
I Will Follow
With or Without You
Bad
Pride
All I Want is You
Where the Streets Have No Name

To see all our pictures from our U2 MeetUp, please click here.