U2 Concert: The Prequel

On Wednesday, my best friend Rob and I are driving to Houston to attend the U2 concert. The tickets have been on the shelf above my computer for months. Soon they will be used to gain entrance to the Reliant Stadium for a spectacular concert and their stubs will later be faithfully stored alongside many others in a binder of cherished ticket stubs.  After each concert, when I put the ticket stubs in the binder, I look at my collection of old stubs, some dating back to the 1970's, and I remember the shows like they happened yesterday.

Cheap Trick...Paul McCartney...Robert Plant...Rod Stewart...Sting...Bruce Springsteen...I've seen some great great shows.  Farm Aid II...The Blockbuster Music Festival...The Lilith Fair...Lollapalooza...there have been some doozies.  For many, many years, the Gold Standard concert has been "The Who, 1982, at the Astrodome".  My friend Rob and I were so juiced about seeing the Who that we forgot where we parked the car.  After the concert I asked, "Dude, where's the car?" and Rob said, "No problema, mi amigo, it's right by the entrance."  The Astrodome had 4 identical entrances, so we wandered around and around and around looking for the car.  I remember Rob saying, "when everyone else is gone, it should be easier to find". Those were the days before we had the keychain button to push and make your car horn honk.  Our respective wives were back at Rob's home, taking care of my 1-month old daughter at the time.  They had been watching the evening news and saw that several arrests had been made at the Who concert and the ambulance had also been called out there, so they naturally assumed that we were either in jail, in the hospital, or dead.  What a great concert that was.

Now that I think back on some of the great concerts we have attended, it occurs to me that I should share some of these events with you.  Some of the most special events were not even evident to us at the time they were happening, but have come to be more special over the years.  For example, when we saw the Ramones open for Pearl Jam at Southpark Meadows in Austin.  At the time, we did not realize that it was the Ramones swansong.  Now Southpark Meadows is history, Joey Ramone is gone, but what remains emblazoned in my mind is HEY HO, LET'S GO and the entire audience leaping up and down in unison like we were all connected.  We were, in fact, all connected and we were propelled by the power of punk rock.

That feeling of unity will be evident again this Wednesday evening.  Even with the great songs, the stirring message, the technological wonder, and the superb musicianship and chemistry of Larry, Adam, the Edge and Bono, the real show will be us.  U2 fans make the concerts special.  We create such a powerful positive party vibe that it is impossible for U2 to fail.  It will be an epic show.