U2’s 360 tour is the reason this trip happened.  It’s the reason why we went to Frankfurt – and going to Frankfurt is what started the “let’s go everywhere else” idea (why not when Berlin/Vienna/anywhere in Europe is so close?).

Going to a concert in a foreign land can sound a little unnerving, but it wasn’t bad.  We Google-Mapped the stadium, checked out the local transit (there was a train that went there), and made sure to leave early (just in case there were delays).  Germany is an awesomely efficient country and Frankfurt station was running extra trains that day, so it was easy to get to the stadium.

Plus, it was a really big concert.  Whenever we started to wonder which way to go, we just followed the crowd of people.  We got to the stadium with plenty of time to settle into our seats before the opening act began.

The opening act was Kasabian.  I’d never heard of them before booking my tickets, but I did the nerdy-est thing ever by researching their hit songs, youtubing the videos, and renting their cds from the local library.  By the time I made it to the concert I was a fan. 

Besides, how can you not like a band who lets Richard Ayoade direct Noel Fielding in one of their videos?

In between Kasabian and U2, the crowd decided to amuse themselves by doing the Wave all the way around the stadium:

It was a great effort by most, but the wave only made it around the stadium 3 times before people tired of it.

But soon U2 took to the stage.

The stage was crazy, with this big spider-legged thing (apparently it’s a spaceship or something) that changed colours.  They also had a big screen so you could see closeups on what was happening on stage.  As you can see, I’m not *that* close, but at least I’m sitting comfortably and not stuck in a crazy mosh-pit of people speaking languages I don’t understand.

There were bridges (bottom left) that moved around the stage.  Everyone moved around the stage during the show, even Larry who used bongos for “I Know I’ll Go Crazy/Discoteque”.

There was a large crowd of people directly underneath the bridges, between the stage and the walkway.  I can only imagine what that view looked like.

Especially at this moment.

The screen kept changing during the songs.  This was great, with all the german and english (although I’m not quite sure what it all means).

The screen actually opened up and went down into some kind of cross-hatched crazy thing.  The lighting designer must have had fun with this show.

And then the encore! 

Light up microphones!  And I may or may not have squealed a bit when they launched into “Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me“.

There’s always room for love.