If you want to have some fun, ring up a giant concert promoter -- Live Nation, say -- and ask to see the contract for a huge concert -- U2, say -- at a public facility. O.K., maybe "fun" isn't quite the right word. But the indignantion that such questions induce can be quite entertaining.

Entertainment value aside, however, the law says that such information must be divulged when it is asked for. It's interesting to see all the details, financial and otherwise, spelled out about a show like U2's Oct. 3 concert at NC State's Carter-Finley Stadium. And that's why we're here, to jump through the hoops of Freedom of Information Act requests to get those documents in order to pass the data on to you. N&O reporters have been asking to see the U2 contracts for months, and they finally hit paydirt this week. Check the results here.

Also, here's an interesting piece about the finances of the whole U2 tour.