I Saw U2 in Concert!

In 1983, I got introduced to a band called U2. I was in high school, a mere tenth grader. My friends at the time wanted to see this great band called The Alarm, and the band they were opening for was U2. It was the “War” tour. I remember knowing two songs from them. “Gloria” I had heard on the radio a few years back, and at that time, “New Years Day” was constantly being played on KROQ, a “new wave, punk” station in LA. I saw the concert at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. It was only halfway full. It was the “white flag” era of U2. The Alarm was cool, but when U2 came out, I quickly understood what “rock and roll’ was all about! It’s about making a “statement”! A declaration, a complaint, a plea! It was church with guitars, amplifiers and a screaming congregation!

And Bono, what a front man! Talk about a screamer! “Supersonic folk music” as Bruce Springsteen would later call it. I remember this concert like it was yesterday. Prior to the mosh-pit and singers being carried throughout the crowd, Bono made “being one with the crowd” an art form! He almost bumped into me on the aisles when he ran around the arena with his white flag, always with that determined, pissed off look! I remember thinking at the time: “These guys are going to be the best band to see live, if they don’t break up!” I remember hearing Bono putting “other song bits” in the middle of some of their songs. It’s like doing a cover, but only a few lines of it. He made that an art form. He sang “Let’s Twist Again” in the middle of “Two Heart Beat as One”, and I thought it was cool! After the concert I bought the albums Boy, October and of course, War at “Rockaway Records” by my L.A. house. I remember the guy telling me: “Let me guess, you just saw them at the Arena yesterday.” I said yeah, then he added: “Cool, I was there too! Actually it was obvious because I was wearing the War shirt, with the boy’s face on it. I probably wore that shirt every week for the next two years! Until someone borrowed it and never gave it back! Wherever you are Joy, I want my U2 shirt back!!!

For some reason, I missed U2 around 1985 for their “Unforgettable Fire” Tour. Since then, I’ve seen them at least twice on every tour. I saw them four times during the Joshua Tree tour (Yes, four times!). The Pretenders, along with Johnny Marr, opened for them at the Coliseum in LA. I saw them twice in 1992 during their ZOO TV tour. The first time was at the LA Sports Arena, again! All the video screens, their look, the songs, it was amazing! Probably my favorite concert ever! They brought back the “runway” idea, a la Elvis, and now everyone does it. The second time was at Dodger stadium! What a concert! Joy Division and Public Enemy opened for them! I remember Jack Nicholson walking around the floor screaming U2, U2! In 1997, my friends and I drove to Vegas to see them start off their “Pop Mart” tour. My friend wrote a sign on a cardboard that read “Pop or Bust” and put it on the back of the car! (We were dorks!) Rage Against the Machine opened for them. They were a great opener for U2. We had great seats, 20th row on the floor. They walked right behind us to enter the stage, with their crazy “Village People” outfits, with Bono entering like he was ready to box someone! That was the best rock entrance I’ve ever seen! I have to mention this here. It was their very first performance for the tour. They screwed up “Staring At The Sun” midway through the song, Bono stopped, they all stopped, huddled, then Bono said: “excuse us, we’re just having a family squabble here”, then started the song from the beginning again, and the crowd went crazy! I’m sure it was real, but the way it turned out, you’d think it was all planned! It’s what made U2 great, the humility!

In 2001, I saw U2 three times for their “Elevation” Tour. The “heart” stage was really cool! I took my kids for their very first rock concert. I know they will always remember it! In 2005, my friend Izzy and I decided to fly to Denver, Colorado for their “Vertigo” tour. We missed our flight in the morning and ended up catching a later flight. When we were approaching Denver, we experienced the worst turbulence ever! I thought the plane was going to fall apart! There was an “eerie silence” in the plane while it shook. I remember asking Izzy: “Dude, is everyone sleeping, or praying?” He turned to me with a very empty stare and said: “Praying”. Then this lady sitting next to me, who overheard me, said: “Don’t you worry, this is common is this area, and there has never been a record of a plane breaking apart because of severe turbulence.” I thought: “Maybe it just never got recorded!” The severe turbulence kept coming and sure enough the next thing came from the pilot: “Sorry for the inconvenience, but due to severe weather, we cannot land in Denver Airport”. We had to land in Colorado Springs, at least an hour’s drive from Denver. So we finally land safely in Colorado Springs, count our blessings, and then realized we had less than two hours to get to Denver for the concert. We begged two different taxi drivers to drive us to Denver, and both said no. The third guy was a charm. He said yes and we paid him $120.00 for the rainy drive. It took us almost two hours to get to the Pepsi Center in Denver. We walked into the arena with our luggage, looking wasted, and people were giving us suspicious looks. We got there and the Kings of Leon had just finished their set, twenty minutes later, U2 opened with “Love and Peace or Else!” It was worth every effort!! Back in Los Angeles, they came back to play the Staples Center with Damien Marley opening. That show was amazing! They brought back the song “40” to end their concert, just like beginning days. I remember Damien Marley’s band had what I call a “flag waver”. He stood towards the front of the stage, waiving the Jamaican flag all throughout the concert! That was new!

All in all, I’ve seen U2 at least fifteen times since 1983. I remember having “confrontational” conversations with friends since high school, comparing their favorite bands with U2, and in most cases, their bands well, disbanded!

I definitely picked the right band to love! Blessed are the peacemakers!

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