Joshua Tree

It was my first big concert. College freshman. Got lousy seats, cost $25. Signs outside saying they were filming a movie and that by entering concertgoers agree to "worldwide exploitation". (That movie was Rattle and Hum, and it was awesome!) The opening act was pretty forgettable. The u2 show was so powerful! The crowd energy was amazing. I've seen them several other times since, but never has the crowd been so charged up. Ended on 40. I remember the crowd singing "How long, to sing their song..." long after the concert ended an into the parking lot. I still have the stub...

It was a Sunday night and I was a Sophomore in High School. My Dad wasn't going to let me go out, to a concert no less, on a school night. We had a very serious talk about it. I told him that I didn't want to disrespect his household but that even if it meant that I had to move out, I was going to attend this show." He relented (thank goodness - I really didn't want him to call my Bluff). The Bodeans were the opening band and for some reason, they were deafening loud. When U2 came on, they walked out silhoutted against a redd back drop with the building progression of "where the streets have no name". It was magical - and to this day and approximately 1000 concerts later (seriously) I have never had that moment equaled at a concert. I recall the Beatles Helter Skelter being covered and I think some of the Beatles "Help" as well. I remember the intro to Sunday Bloody Sunday - something bad had happened in Ireland that day and Bono was emotional and so eloquent that I couldn't believe what he was saying wasn't written down. When he asked us to sing for the Reverend Martin Luther King during Pride - I let loose with everything I had - as did everyone else as the lights flooded everyone in McNichols Arena. There was unadultered love for that band that night and I don't think that I have ever relinquished it.