HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
U2 'bomb shelter' full of joy
By VIRGINIA BLACK
Tribune Staff Writer
CHICAGO -- Since 1987, I've been to at least one show of nearly every U2 tour.
I've seen my share of concerts from lofty spots in huge arenas but never envied the people in the "mosh pit." That's the area in front of the stage in most concerts where wild young things stand in line for hours to be smashed up against other sweaty people, dancing and singing wildly, women tossing their panties on the stage, and so forth.
I know my age is showing. Even worse? I'm short. Who wants to endure all that and not actually see a concert?
But floor seats we had Tuesday night, so my husband, Mark, and I lined up at the United Center. Our tickets were scanned once by hand, then in a machine, and our floor seats were confirmed.
The stage is set up on one end of the oval floor, and a small, circular catwalk extends out from that. Most floor "seats" run the length of the main floor. Only a tiny group is allowed in the circle created by the catwalk, called the "ellipse," or, because the band's latest album is called "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," the "bomb shelter."
When the attendant ran Mark's ticket, the screen lit up with the "Vertigo" tour logo -- and I hopped up and down. "I'm with him!" I squealed to the attendant, who laughed and asked, "Is she really with you?"
We were giddy. We were in "the bomb shelter." Look, there's the section up by the ceiling and behind the stage where we were in May!
Even sometimes having to peek around heads and flailing arms, I was able to see things I had seen only on film before.
Bono doesn't wear any rings, but the Edge wears a platinum-looking wedding band. I could see the seams in Bono's clothes, the sweat dripping down his face, the veins that would bulge in his temples when he hit the high notes.
I caught the amused eyes of Bono, the Edge, and bass player Adam Clayton, who can really see only the people right in front of them; I'm sure they promptly forget about individual faces in the mass of fans before them every night, but they saw me, and smiled, and I felt a connection unlike any concert I've been to. I was really there.
Of course, by the end of the evening, I was growing weary of the crush of humanity. Young men felt free to push their way to the front. Someone around me had apparently not laundered their clothes well. A tall, drunken blonde leaned against me during several quieter moments, screaming, "B-o-n-n-n-n-o-o-o-o! Yes! Bono! Sing it! Yes!"
Bono dedicated "For the First Time," one of the band's less-played songs, to "Father Scully at Notre Dame," with whom the band apparently bonded when it played here in 2001. (Two young men standing right in front of me whose elbows I had been dodging much of the evening leaned in together and yelled, "Go Irish!")
The song has a religious overtone, including such lyrics as these:
He said, "I have many mansions
And there are many rooms to see."
But I left by the back door
And I threw away the key ....
For the first time, I feel love."
That says it all.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/sto...20050923-sbt-MICH-D7-U2__bomb_shelter__fu.sto
By VIRGINIA BLACK
Tribune Staff Writer
CHICAGO -- Since 1987, I've been to at least one show of nearly every U2 tour.
I've seen my share of concerts from lofty spots in huge arenas but never envied the people in the "mosh pit." That's the area in front of the stage in most concerts where wild young things stand in line for hours to be smashed up against other sweaty people, dancing and singing wildly, women tossing their panties on the stage, and so forth.
I know my age is showing. Even worse? I'm short. Who wants to endure all that and not actually see a concert?
But floor seats we had Tuesday night, so my husband, Mark, and I lined up at the United Center. Our tickets were scanned once by hand, then in a machine, and our floor seats were confirmed.
The stage is set up on one end of the oval floor, and a small, circular catwalk extends out from that. Most floor "seats" run the length of the main floor. Only a tiny group is allowed in the circle created by the catwalk, called the "ellipse," or, because the band's latest album is called "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," the "bomb shelter."
When the attendant ran Mark's ticket, the screen lit up with the "Vertigo" tour logo -- and I hopped up and down. "I'm with him!" I squealed to the attendant, who laughed and asked, "Is she really with you?"
We were giddy. We were in "the bomb shelter." Look, there's the section up by the ceiling and behind the stage where we were in May!
Even sometimes having to peek around heads and flailing arms, I was able to see things I had seen only on film before.
Bono doesn't wear any rings, but the Edge wears a platinum-looking wedding band. I could see the seams in Bono's clothes, the sweat dripping down his face, the veins that would bulge in his temples when he hit the high notes.
I caught the amused eyes of Bono, the Edge, and bass player Adam Clayton, who can really see only the people right in front of them; I'm sure they promptly forget about individual faces in the mass of fans before them every night, but they saw me, and smiled, and I felt a connection unlike any concert I've been to. I was really there.
Of course, by the end of the evening, I was growing weary of the crush of humanity. Young men felt free to push their way to the front. Someone around me had apparently not laundered their clothes well. A tall, drunken blonde leaned against me during several quieter moments, screaming, "B-o-n-n-n-n-o-o-o-o! Yes! Bono! Sing it! Yes!"
Bono dedicated "For the First Time," one of the band's less-played songs, to "Father Scully at Notre Dame," with whom the band apparently bonded when it played here in 2001. (Two young men standing right in front of me whose elbows I had been dodging much of the evening leaned in together and yelled, "Go Irish!")
The song has a religious overtone, including such lyrics as these:
He said, "I have many mansions
And there are many rooms to see."
But I left by the back door
And I threw away the key ....
For the first time, I feel love."
That says it all.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/sto...20050923-sbt-MICH-D7-U2__bomb_shelter__fu.sto
me either, but hopefully I will in Cleveland...I'll be on the floor at least!!
