The View From Prospect Hill

Davis Square was turned upside down for the secret-until-the-last-minute U2 event last Wednesday. A cleverly orchestrated plan was put in motion and it went off without one arrest - a testament to the coordinated effort of the Somerville Police Department, the band and the Somerville Theatre. While it was tremendous publicity for Somerville, it might have been better if it hadn't been so secret - there still would have probably been the same preparation, probably the same amount of people hoping to catch a glimpse of the band, probably no serious incidents, probably a lot of the same things would have gone the way they did. Probably. One thing that would have most definitely been better - local media and radio and VJ Sway might have been able to remember the event was in Somerville and not Boston. That would have been nice. The day came and went so fast, if you spent any amount of time outside the city in the last week, you probably got a couple of "why would U2 play in Somerville?" questions from people when the subject came up - and quite frankly, that is the only regrettable byproduct of the whole thing.