The Booys Down Under: It's a Beautiful Day!

After five days of intense production and preparations, the Etihad Stadium was ready for the biggest rock show to visit Melbourne yet. More than 60,000 fans crammed into the Docklands venue for the beginning of the Australian leg of the enormous U2 360 tour. A 250-man crew ensured that the enormous ''claw'' stage rose above the stadium's roof. The claw itself stands 30.53 metres high (with the pylon, it's 51.8 metres) and is a sight to behold.

Now, you see the stage in the middle, and then a circular walk-way around it? We managed to get in the bit between the stage and the walkway! There were turnstiles to the side of the walkway, and all it took was to ask and we were allowed in!! And we managed to meet Emma in there too! The 'inner circle' holds somewhere between 1500-2000 people so we were incredibly lucky to have been able to get in there! Once we were in there, we had to have our necks stamped to be able to get back in! And it was amazing! It's really difficult to describe just how good it was - it was like being at a gig and a fairground all in one! The band members walked across moving bridges over our heads to the walkways, so one minute they were in front of you, the next they were above you and the next behind you!

The pictures do not even begin to capture the night, but they're pretty good!