Fresh from the fantastic shows in Boston, the U2 Elevation shows in Philadelphia on June 11 and 12 of 2001 did not disappoint. I got up at 5:30 Monday morning, June 11, in Baltimore, drove up to Philadelphia, and was in the GA line at First Union Center by 8:10am. It was a long, hot day in the sun. Once we finally made it inside, I got a spot on the front rail just to the right of Adam. We brought cut out paper fish for opening act PJ Harvey’s “Down By the Water.” She was very excited and said she didn’t know the fish traveled from Boston. U2 played a bit of “Night and Day” after “Beautiful Day.” Other than that, it was the standard set list with the addition of “In a Little While.”

A “Larry Mullen Band” tee shirt was thrown on stage. Larry placed it on his drum kit, where it stayed for the rest of the show. I, of course, took pictures of “The Larry Mullen Band” shirt hanging off Larry’s drums and posted it on some U2 website. Jenny saw these pictures and commented that her friend Paola was the one who threw the shirt on stage. That show was Paola’s birthday and being a huge Larry fan, she made the shirt for him. We became fast friends, along with my friend Tasha whom I had met a month before at the Pittsburgh show. Paola made us each a “Larry Mullen Band” shirt, which we all wore to the Providence2 show on Larry’s 40th birthday. Four years later on Larry’s birthday during the Vertigo tour, each member of U2 wore a “Larry Mullen Band” shirt – but we had them first. On the 360 Tour, I made a few “Larry Mullen Band” shirts and wore them to every show. In St. Louis, Bono said, “Larry is still upset about the fact that we changed our name to U2 from the Larry Mullen Band. And there are some people here who agree with him.”

The set list for the first Elevation show in Philly on 6.11.01 was as follows: Elevation, Beautiful Day/Night and Day, Until the End of the World, Mysterious Ways/Sexual Healing, In My Life/Stuck In a Moment, Kite, Gone, New York, I Will Follow, Sunday Bloody Sunday/Get Up Stand Up, In a Little While, Desire/Gloria, Stay, Bad/40, Where the Streets Have No Name, Pride, Bullet the Blue Sky, With or Without You, The Fly, One, Walk On.

After sleeping at my friend Tasha’s house in the suburbs of Philly, I was back in the GA line at 7:30am. Around 3:00 pm, I went over to where U2 drove in with hopes of meeting them. There were only about ten of us waiting. Around 3:40, a car drove in and stopped right in front of us. Edge got out of the car! We asked if he would sign, and he said “Yes.” We then asked if he would take pictures, and he said he wouldn’t pose, but we could “snap away.” I was the second person he came to. I asked Edge to sign my scrapbook, and he signed the upper left hand corner. Edge was great. He stayed until he had signed everyone’s stuff. He didn’t say much though, but he was very nice. Later Paul McGuinness and PJ Harvey drove in, then Larry and Adam. Bono drove in just about 4:45. By then, there were at least 30 people who started screaming and swarming around Bono, who signed a few autographs and took a few pictures before leaving after about two minutes. Bono said he wasn’t feeling well, and he looked really out of it.

The second show in Philly on June 12 was absolutely amazing, actually better than the first one! At the time, it was my favorite of the tour. I stood at the front rail between Bono and Adam. Before the show started, I was trying to get Sammy’s attention to get drum sticks, but my voice was shot, so Tasha yelled. Sammy looked at us, and we motioned drum sticks and he sort of nodded. U2 played “Mysterious Ways” earlier than usual and “Stuck in a Moment” later than usual. Bono sang a verse of “Stuck in a Moment” right to me. “In a Little While” was played on the main stage right in front of us – the best version I’ve ever heard! An amazing version of “Ground Beneath Her Feet,” “All I Want is You,” and “New Year’s Day” were also played, as well as covers of “In My Life” and “Gloria.” But “Gone,” “Bad” and “Pride” were not played. About five of us held a Jubilee 2000 banner before “One.” Bono saw it, was excited and wanted it, so we handed it to him. I touched his hand. After the show, Tasha yelled to Sammy again. He walked right over to me telling the security guard to make sure I got the drum stick, but I leaned over far enough to take it from him. Again, long arms. Then he gave the other drumstick to Tasha. Ten days later, Larry himself would hand me his drum stick from the stage in Jersey. Stay tuned. 

The set list for the second Elevation show in Philly on 6.12.01 was as follows: Elevation, Beautiful Day, Until the End of the World, New Year’s Day, Kite, New York, I Will Follow, Sunday Bloody Sunday / Get Up Stand Up, Stuck in a Moment, In a Little While, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Desire / Gloria, All I Want Is You, Where The Streets Have No Name, Mysterious Ways, The Fly, Bullet the Blue Sky, With or Without You, One, Walk On.