ZOOTV

This was my second U2 show. First one had been at the Arena also (War). Now I was married and my wife was anticipating her very 1st concert. Visually unprecedented. Not the same connection to the band that I felt in '83 but every bit as emotionally satisfying. In my opinion, the best set/encore list of any U2 show I've ever seen.

I've seen U2 eight times now, but this show remains the best. Getting tickets was crazy - phone lines tied up for hours. Somehow, I ended up with 2nd row seats. The folks in front had been plucked from the back and moved up front by the ushers. Very cool. This was the place to be. Tickets could have been resold for $2000, but we weren't going to miss it for the world. We had better seats than Billy Crystal, Billy Idol or Ringo Starr - all in attendance. This concert set the bar for the music industry. Video screens everywhere, a belly dancer, cars hanging from the ceiling... But it was the passion and the music that made this a perfect experience.

I was almost 18 and finishing up high school. Achtung Baby! had hit the scene and KROQ in LA was sending contest winners to various concert stops every week during the ZooTV U.S. indoor tour. It was an exciting time to be a U2 fan. I wasn't a U2 fan club member, so I had to participate in the ticketmaster phone in. Ticketmaster was only selling tickets over the phone -- only 2 tickets per phone call and you had to call LA area ticketmaster locations. I was calling for 2 hours (redial was my friend) and I had my mom and my aunt calling. I had to take my friend home, and when I returned, my grandma had told me that my mom called -- she broke through the endless busy signals and bought two tickets!!! I nearly fainted!! I think I was the only lucky one at school -- my friends were not so lucky. I ended up taking my brother. U2 had not toured U.S. soil in 5 years, so that coupled with this being my first U2 concert, it was amazing!! It was so intimate at the LA Sports Arena. I still remember Larry's drums just sitting there before they took the stage. Awesome!!! The TV screens, Bono as the mirrorball man... it was all just so cool!!! 8 songs from Achtung Baby right away. I remember the reviews were critical that nothing from the first 3 albums were played. We didn't care!! I still remember them playing "Bad" and how Bono sang to us on the side of the stage next to Adam. I remember "Ultraviolet" then and it was incredible how they reenacted ZooTV again with that song during the 360 Rose Bowl show. It really took me back to that Sports Arena show. Since then I have seen them at least once on every U.S. tour. Going again to Anaheim in 2011!!