I’m an MSU alumnus and a card-carrying member of the U2 Fan Club. When I heard about U2’s show at Spartan Stadium, I was thrilled. The last time U2 played in East Lansing they played at what is now Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub. It was Dec. 7, 1981. Bono still had a mullet, and it’s safe to say no one ever thought the little band from Ireland would ever be big enough to play Ingham County’s biggest room: Spartan Stadium. I have a pretty strong feeling that after U2 fans from around the state come to East Lansing for U2’s 360° show June 26, it’ll be another 30 years before any band this big wants to play here.
The restrictions the university has placed on the show range from severe to downright bizarre. First: no tailgating. Although the university gives its “open container” policy a break during a handful of Saturdays each year, it doesn’t see fit to do it for a non-sports event. There will be no parking for the show until 3 p.m. Boy, they really don’t want people to make a day of this event. Odder still: no lining up for general admission seating until 3 p.m. Typically, on this tour, U2 opens up the entire floor of the venue for general admission seating, and the lines start as early as 9 a.m. Fans in every other part of the world have lined up to get as close as possible to the stage without incident. Why not in East Lansing?
