U2360° TOUR Leg 3: 2011

Tuesday 6th October 2009. Atlanta. Show day.

For reasons too long and complicated to go into right at this moment, I have a god-daughter in the wilds of rural Georgia. I came to Georgia quite regularly through the 80's, then worked on the Olympics here in the 90's, so we have a bit of a history. My god-daughter's all grown up now and at college, but we'd arranged that she, her brother and another friend would come to Atlanta, hang out for the day and see the show. Having got so much done last night, I was relatively free of work tasks for much of the day so we had some time, which was welcome.

It was a good show too with a very lively crowd - the building even sounded good given that it has a roof, which creates an acoustic nightmare. Some of the R.E.M. folks came along which was wonderful. These included Bill Berry, former drummer, now retired, and someone I've not seen in many years.

The band did a runner back to New York after the show, but I stayed so I could see my teenage guests for a little longer. There are also video-shoot people visiting so there was much to be discussed later in the evening. I'll head back to NY in the morning. Best overheard one-liner of the day, from somebody's walkie-talkie which happened to be in earshot: 'Does anyone have a 20 on Brooke Shields...?'