Q. When is a U2 fan more than just an average U2 fan?

A. When the fan camps in a line overnight 48 hours before the band even takes the stage.

That's what dozens of mega-fans of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. began doing Thursday on Salt Lake Boulevard outside Aloha Stadium, awaiting tonight's U2 Vertigo tour finale.

Aloha Stadium Authority officials had said they would allow general admission ticket holders to start lining up outside the venue's turnstiles at 6 p.m. yesterday — a full day before the concert. But that wasn't enough for the most ardent, who began queuing a full day before.

Dozens of fans — many freshly arrived from the Mainland and worldwide — had been milling outside the fence for more than 30 hours before being allowed on the stadium grounds at 6 p.m. yesterday.

Washington, D.C., resident Brad Dier, 24, was the first in the streetside line, having arrived at his spot at 2 p.m. Thursday. Tonight's U2 concert will be Dier's 23rd in the Vertigo tour.

"I would've gone to this if it was Tokyo," said Dier, armed with a chair, sleeping bag and overnight bag.

Asked how he'd passed time since the previous afternoon, Dier laughed and said, "I've been watching the porta-potties blow by in the wind. I think that one's going to go right now."

A group of fans calling themselves the Flagship was near Dier at the head of the line. Their name was taken from the flags they carried with them that represent their home countries — the U.S., Ireland, England and the Netherlands, among others.

Around 4 p.m., about 200 people were in the streetside queue. Javier Vara and Octavio Morcuende, both 29, of Valencia, Spain, were hoping to record the show — their 11th on the tour — for their FM and broadband radio broadcast Radio Manises. They'd done the same in Dublin, Ireland; Rome; Paris; Nice, France; Berlin; Lisbon, Portugal; and all three tour stops in Spain.

Vara and Mocuende planned to pass around 2,000 red balloons they brought with them to fans on the field to blow up today.

"We want the big red wave to be in Hawai'i as it was in Spain," Morcuende said.

Near 6 p.m., the fans waiting in line were told by security guard Eddie Spiezio that upon entering, they would have to line up in a far corner of the lot for a couple of hours while the band did a full sound check.

Closer to the stadium, a blast of sound escaped the venue as U2 ran through "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "Vertigo" and other hits.

Across the parking lot, the megafans cheered loudly. Only 23 hours left to get in.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.