Part One
The morning of the show was hectic.
I’d been up most of the night watching U2 documentaries on local television stations, so I was low on energy and had a light breakfast of only toast and coffee. I was simply too excited to eat. Plus, I knew I’d be standing in a field for hours with only Honey Buckets for bathrooms and didn’t really want to use them unless I had to.
We boarded the shuttle at what seemed like the crack of dawn and arrived in County Meath to rain showers. The castle didn’t look quite so majestic with a muddy field and dark skies, but I was still in awe of its history.
We lined up outside the fence and got sufficiently rained on until they opened the gates and we all began sprinting down the field. It was horribly dangerous, especially because it was so wet, so the security team quickly slowed us down. Trouble was, my group wasn’t anywhere near the heart (that was the shape of the U2 stage on that tour, and the most coveted spot to watch the show from) and the wristbands were going fast.
Becky (the girl I’d met on the first day) and I tried to hold hands so we wouldn’t be separated, but the crowd got the best of us and we were pulled apart. That was the last I saw of her, and anyone else from my group, for the duration of our time in Slane.
Because the food I’d packed (a granola bar, a banana, bottled water) had been confiscated at the gate, I didn’t have a whole lot to carry (a blessing in disguise), but I also didn’t have a whole lot to do. I took one “break” from standing in the clump awaiting wristbands and went and bought a commemorative Slane T-shirt. After that purchase, I had about 2 pounds (they hadn’t yet switched to the Euro back then) on me. But what would I need money for, right?
The good news was that the sun was beginning to shine, so I was able to put my windbreaker around my waist and dry off in my sparkly black tank top that simply read “Sagittarius” in big, blue Bedazzled letters.
If nothing else, I’d get a good tan waiting for the music to start.