In 2001, I made a promise to myself that I’d see U2 in New Zealand. Most of my reasoning, honestly, was to be able to hear "One Tree Hill" live. The band would dust it off in Auckland for the occasion, but not play it elsewhere. I couldn’t make it to the show there in 2006, perhaps because I opted to see them in Hawaii instead; I can’t recall. In 2010, I was unemployed, and it was out of the question. But in Chicago in 2011, the band pulled the song out for the 25th anniversary of Greg Carroll’s death, the first time it had been played in North America since 1987. I couldn’t believe our luck. It was such a special moment, and truly spontaneous. (Edge couldn't remember how to play it.)
Then, U2 toured Europe and the states playing the entirety of The Joshua Tree in 2017, which means by the end of the year, I’d heard “One Tree Hill” live eight times. When it was announced they’d be continuing the tour in New Zealand, Australia, and Asia in 2019, I realised that seeing them in Auckland was bigger than just hearing the song. My friend Claire, who's been staying with me every time she's in LA for the past 15 years, was always reassuring my friends and me that she would return the favour when we made it to her city. It's now or never, I thought. They don't make it there often. Who knows if they will again. So that's how three of my best friends and I found ourselves halfway around the world for the start of the latest U2 tour.
One of the first things we did was go visit One Tree Hill. It is currently No Tree Hill, as it's been for a few years, but it was still profoundly moving to be there after dreaming about it for so long.
One Tree Hill, Auckland
Where the Streets Have No Name
Night 1, amazingly, we wound up close to centre on the main stage rail. During "Streets," Bono pointed at me singing, "I go there with you," with a giant grin on his face. He flubbed some lyrics to "Trip Through Your Wires," and laughed at himself, and I laughed at him laughing at himself, and our eyes met. For a moment we laughed together, and then his gaze drifted to Amy and our new friend Elizabeth, who were also laughing. "Fuck off!" he declared, and I nearly fell over in hysterics. Unbelievably, Elizabeth captured this moment in an iPhone live photo, which you can enjoy here. (Thank you, Elizabeth!)
146 Likes, 25 Comments - Elizabeth (@daygloweyes) on Instagram: "When Bono flubs a line and three of you laugh at him he tells you to Fuck Off 🤣🤣🤣 This was last..."
During "One Tree Hill," the gibbous moon hung over the stage, peeking in and out behind fast-moving clouds. Finally, this song in this city. And there was Greg Carroll's face on the screen. I was so happy and so present, and the show was so good, I didn't think it could get much better.
Night 2 we wound up on Adam's side, and from the first moment of the first song, I was like, "Who spiked Bono's coffee?!" There was an additional fire in him, and I soon realised it was going to be one of those nights. I've been there for a few of them: San Jose 2 in 2001, Dublin 3 in 2005, Minneapolis 2011, and Dublin 3 in 2015 come to mind. U2 has become such a technically proficient band, so consistently solid and joyous, that you kind of forget that they can go any higher until those nights when shit GOES OFF. There is that extra magic in the air, some inexplicable alchemy, each moment charged with electricity. It's this that those of us who go to multiple shows always hope for, but can never predict. It's this that made me, I admit, legitimately squeal-shriek when Edge started pogoing in circles during "Even Better Than the Real Thing." I never said I was cool. (That was Bono, several times. Ha!)
Part of my favourite Crowded House song, "Fall at Your Feet," wound up in "Bad," and you should all go watch this gorgeousness here:
I'd been eyeing the glow of the moon arc across the sky, just below the top of the stage, willing it to pop into view just in time for "One Tree Hill." It did. Bono talked again about Greg Carroll, how in the '80s they thought they adopted him, but it turns out he adopted them. How he steered them through difficult things, and became a close friend. (For those who don't know, the band met him on their first trip to NZ in 1984, and he became part of their touring crew. Greg had taken Bono to One Tree Hill on that trip. He was killed in a motorbike accident in Dublin in 1986, whilst running an errand for Bono.) This night, his family was in the house. The best version of the song I'd heard previously was at the Rose Bowl, after Chris Cornell died. It was dedicated to Chris that night, and the intensity was overwhelming. Turns out that was still only a fraction of how much of himself Bono could offer for sacrifice. He got down on his knees, writhing, wailing. Edge's solo soared and Bono yelled as I've never heard him yell before. I don't know that anyone wasn't weeping, including him. I was at the show in London the night Bono's dad died in 2001, and I know I'll never hear another version of "Bad" that will touch the one I heard that night. Same goes for this "One Tree Hill." We entered the stratosphere.
Photo by Remy from U2start, who was, incredibly, standing right behind me. Check out the full set here.
Bono, Edge, Greg, and the moon
Thank you New Zealand for two unforgettable shows, thank you new friends and old, thank you to U2’s crew, and, of course, the band themselves, without whom. “Communal dependency,” Bono shouted, pinging some bell in my brain. That’s us. Communal dependency. “So many beautiful reasons to be glad to be alive.”