I saw U2 live last night at Gillette Stadium "near" Boston. This was my third opportunity to have what I used to think might be a once in a lifetime experience. They've toured the U.S. 5 times since I became a fan, so that's not too bad to catch them thrice.
First off, I must say how much I LOVE going to concerts and hearing live music. In the days of $20 face value tickets, I used to go to just about every band who came to town, some of the time splurging $100 for a front row seat from a ticket broker. Sometime in college, those splurge prices became the face value and I had to become much more selective about where I could dump a wad of cash on a rock star, especially once I hooked up with David who couldn't care less about going to concerts. I will also say that I have not been to a concert since before Grace was born. My last one was Sheryl Crow in Feb 2002 at the Winter Olympics!
My dad took me to my first concert ever when I was in 5th grade along with my little sister and cousin. We saw Tiffany at the Salt Palace. I was hooked, right away, on the concert experience. There is just something about seeing someone sing their life and guts into a microphone, play their guitar so intently and expertly, you wonder if they even know a stadium is watching, or rail on the drums with a force and precision that can only come from another cosmic realm. When you combine that with songs that pretty much make up the sound-track to the last 18 years of your life, and a band who cares about things you care about in the world, you've got what it feels like for me (and apparently millions of others) to see U2.
David thinks I'm turning into a Grateful Dead-type fan. Admittedly, I'm wondering how many years, or months, or minutes I have left before my favorite band begins to look like the cast from Tales from the Crypt (has anyone mentioned this to the Rolling Stones?) Worse yet, is the aging crowd you're forced to see these concerts with. Maturity definitely doesn't come with age when you're talking rock and roll, so these people look like even bigger idiots when they're half drunk and falling over stoned at a concert at the age of 45 instead of 25. I could count on one hand the number of high school age kids I saw last night. The ones I saw were with their parents and appeared to have been forced to go.
Ok, I'm not 17 anymore, but I'm not 70 either. 30 something is the new 23 right? I'm still hip. I've still got a little sass, don't I? Sure, it's hidden beneath my "mom clothes" and my kids' ipod playlists which dominate MY U2 issue ipod, but I still love rock and roll. What did they used to say? Rock and roll will never die? Well, the rockers might, but I think that the music is here to stay to be enjoyed by anyone of any age willing to put down their hip-hop crap for just a darn minute. I just feel pretty lucky that my favorite band is still alive and well, playing better than ever, writing new stuff, reinventing themselves, and touring so that I can keep on enjoying them.
Oh, and speak of ENJOYing them. THAT I DID. I took a camera last night. I've never taken a camera to a concert before. Truthfully, this was the first time I've been to a concert since owning a digital camera. (how weird is that?) I was so torn between trying to get a shot (which would be trash anyway with the distance and lights), or pausing long enough to get a little video, or just putting it away and being in the moment. I've learned the painful truth from trying to capture moments with my kids, that if you are taking pictures and video, you are missing the moment yourself. You instantly change from participant to distant observer. Then, when you go home, you have a picture or a video of something you never actually saw. I tried to make a good balance, but most of the time, I was so content to just enjoy every minute of the music and dance and I didn't try to do too much with the camera.
For all y'all who are my fellow die hard U2 fans (all both of you left?) here's the set list from last night. I thought it was a pretty ambitious and more original combination than they've done in a while and definitely made for an interesting show: Magnificent, No Line On The Horizon, Get On Your Boots, Mysterious Ways, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Elevation, Your Blue Room, Beautiful Day, Unknown Caller, Until the End of the World, Stay (Faraway, So Close), The Unforgettable Fire, City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo - Stories for Boys, I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (remix), Sunday Bloody Sunday, MLK, Walk On, One - Amazing Grace, Where the Streets Have No Name, Ultraviolet, With or Without You, Moment of Surrender
The most amazing part was the stage.
They just can't stop trying to out do themselves with the stage-to-fan connection that they strive to create. They've gotten a lot of flack about how environmentally UNfriendly this enormous stage is, which takes 200 semi trucks to move. I have to say though, it was truly amazing and phenomenal. The tour name is "360 degrees", which refers to this space-ship claw thing with a cylindrical screen underneath in the center. The rotating circular stage also connects to 2 orbiting ramps that take the band members to another circular walk through the audience. It is definitely genius in design.
The thing and the screen are so huge, it makes you feel like you are on the front row, no matter where you are sitting. (although I did hear reports that the sound in one end of the stadium wasn't too good.) From my vantage point, almost BEHIND the stage, I could see and experience everything. The speakers were face-level with me and I heard everything crystal clear and just as loud as I like it. The idea was that no one in the stadium would have a bad seat, no matter where you were sitting. worked for me.
Other things that make a concert great: A GOOD CONCERT BUDDY! We decided that on a school night, there was no way for David to go with me and get a babysitter that late. Good thing we abandoned that idea pretty quick because I didn't get home until 2:30am this morning! I ended up taking my friend, Shawn.
She's mmmmmmmm, um, not my age, but even though her birth certificate might out-date mine (sorry Shawn, I know, you're only 29!), her style and enthusiasm are definitely even younger than mine by a good decade. When I was choosing something to wear, I finally gave up trying too hard because I knew that nothing in my closet would be as young and hip as what she'd be sporting. She and I had THE BEST time dancing, singing at the top of our lungs, and jumping up and down for the duration of the concert. We also had some fantastic (and revealing!) conversations while we drove down and back. The only buzz kill of the entire evening was the really lame-o section where we sat. We were on the 7th row of the section, and pretty much, all of the rows behind ours were filled with "old ladies" trying to sit down to watch the concert, continually yelling at us to sit down so they could see. Last time I checked, it's still a free country and if I pay to see a concert, I'm not sitting down. Plus, as far as I could see, the rest of the stadium was all standing, jumping up and down with their arms in the air in one big pulsating mass, so really? we need to sit down, why?
To quote Bono:
And -- and I've heard people say that even if they don't like the band, that they have an involuntary reaction when the band walks out on stage.
I don't know what it is either, but something happens to me when the stage turns red and I hear The Edge's guitar ramping up Where the Streets Have No Name. It makes me want to get in the car and drive down to New York to see it again on Thursday.
(sorry it's not the whole song, but like I said, I had to put down the camera and dance!)
I have to give a huge thanks to David. Even though HE doesn't care about seeing any of it, he does recognize that I do care and he knows how much it means to me to see U2. When the tickets went on sale, I was supposed to be helping out a lady in our ward all morning and I couldn't stay home to make the order. I threw my hands in the air and figured I'd just have to be adult about it and take anything that might be left at the end of the day, if there was anything left. But, David was SUPER nice and gave into my teen-age side. He called me from work when the tickets went on sale and said "ok, I've got 2 tickets on hold for you, do you want 'em?" Thanks babe. You totally rock my world (and yes, I'd choose you over Bono if given the choice... can Bono please be our next-door neighbor though?)
