Riding With U2: Watch the Band Prep For 360 Opener in Chicago

Follow Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. as they meet a throng of screeching fans outside their Chicago hotel, make their way to local radio stations for interviews ("The scale of the production is much bigger, but it boils down to the four of us out there," the Edge says) and journey to Soldier Field, where U2 kicked off their epic 360° Tour. If you haven't seen the band's giant "Claw" stage glowing in a football stadium, don't miss the last 25 seconds of this clip. Rolling Stone was on the ground at the opening-night show in Chicago, too — read our report and flip through photos of their show.

And don't miss our other fantastic U2 features:
• Q&A From the Cover Story: U2 on Their Next Album
• Album Guide: The Essential U2
• Photos: Three Decades of U2

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

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