RadRacer
The Fly
I. The Sickness
U2 are touring the world. Now, for those who are not seeing them this tour, watching them pass us by - I've heard it so often: "Real U2 fans know the avenues to get at tickets." That usually means hopping around on Craigslist, ticketmaster, eBay, Yahoo groups, forums, and other extra hassles. Well, if being a U2 fan means wasting your entire life campaigning for tickets, then I don't want any of it! Making you jump through all those hoops and perform acrobatic tricks may be some persons' idea of proving your loyalty to the band, but I beg to differ, and you should tell me who is right when you see me on the floor, going off like a rocket, and they're standing there, hugging a rail, because they don't want to take their eyes off that leather jacket
And then there is the pain. I've read up about this enough on the forum. I don't want any bit more. People who got no chance of being there are getting caught up in the hype, nonetheless. And then you want to be there and then there is the pain of separation
II. Cure, Pt.1
I don't envy anyone on this tour, anymore. March 30th, two days after SD1, I went to my friend's - he's got a roomy cellar (looks like the one from Walk On) - played a whole bunch of songs, ourselves (wasn't all U2, either - we played what we wanted), and it ended up more satisfying and more energetic than any concert I could pay for.
Our setlist was also over 3 hours long, so when I looked at U2's nightly, wimpy setlists, I'm not impressed. And the energy output - forget about skipping any scream on ABOY; we're talking quadrupling them, and then some (U2 are pretty soft, after all, so you gotta turn it way up)
III. Deeper Thoughts
I've already hinted at this, but coming back the next day, my eyes glanced over the news and the hype, and I'm thinking: "not impressive"
I've already noticed at the concerts I've been to that they are a great place to get loud and emotional the way you just can't, even in your own house, but I'm pretty sure that if people had another outlet for these very basic impulses, all of a sudden the enthusiasm they have for a concert of their favorite performer, is suprisingly diminished.
Now, you'll still see me running around this site and others, looking for tickets. That's because I know it's apples and oranges to compare doing your own show and seeing a U2 show. All I'm saying is that U2 can't give me what my own exertion can. But what I'm talking about gives me enough detachment so I don't hunt tickets like mad and cry my eyes out at night. I just lay it in the lap of the gods, and I shall smile curiously and happily if it falls in.
IV. Cure, Pt.2
Also, another part of this "cure" would be going out to see a small act that you like, when they come around. There you can go crazy
and, more than likely, have more fun than at a U2 show. (Big acts are usually over-rated; and "intimate" is only a label U2 can slap onto themselves, when, in reality, an arena show is still far from that.) Even better is a local act, whom you can see like every weekend. If you do that, you'll count as one of their hardcore fans, in no time. And no one will question 
your fandom if, for example, you're not in the fanclub or subscribed to the magazine or aren't a personality on the forum, 'cause they DON'T have one!
I know the stones don't like to move, but, brothers, friends and fellow country-men, you may open your mind to receive this message
U2 are touring the world. Now, for those who are not seeing them this tour, watching them pass us by - I've heard it so often: "Real U2 fans know the avenues to get at tickets." That usually means hopping around on Craigslist, ticketmaster, eBay, Yahoo groups, forums, and other extra hassles. Well, if being a U2 fan means wasting your entire life campaigning for tickets, then I don't want any of it! Making you jump through all those hoops and perform acrobatic tricks may be some persons' idea of proving your loyalty to the band, but I beg to differ, and you should tell me who is right when you see me on the floor, going off like a rocket, and they're standing there, hugging a rail, because they don't want to take their eyes off that leather jacket
And then there is the pain. I've read up about this enough on the forum. I don't want any bit more. People who got no chance of being there are getting caught up in the hype, nonetheless. And then you want to be there and then there is the pain of separation
II. Cure, Pt.1
I don't envy anyone on this tour, anymore. March 30th, two days after SD1, I went to my friend's - he's got a roomy cellar (looks like the one from Walk On) - played a whole bunch of songs, ourselves (wasn't all U2, either - we played what we wanted), and it ended up more satisfying and more energetic than any concert I could pay for.
Our setlist was also over 3 hours long, so when I looked at U2's nightly, wimpy setlists, I'm not impressed. And the energy output - forget about skipping any scream on ABOY; we're talking quadrupling them, and then some (U2 are pretty soft, after all, so you gotta turn it way up)
III. Deeper Thoughts
I've already hinted at this, but coming back the next day, my eyes glanced over the news and the hype, and I'm thinking: "not impressive"
I've already noticed at the concerts I've been to that they are a great place to get loud and emotional the way you just can't, even in your own house, but I'm pretty sure that if people had another outlet for these very basic impulses, all of a sudden the enthusiasm they have for a concert of their favorite performer, is suprisingly diminished.Now, you'll still see me running around this site and others, looking for tickets. That's because I know it's apples and oranges to compare doing your own show and seeing a U2 show. All I'm saying is that U2 can't give me what my own exertion can. But what I'm talking about gives me enough detachment so I don't hunt tickets like mad and cry my eyes out at night. I just lay it in the lap of the gods, and I shall smile curiously and happily if it falls in.
IV. Cure, Pt.2
Also, another part of this "cure" would be going out to see a small act that you like, when they come around. There you can go crazy
and, more than likely, have more fun than at a U2 show. (Big acts are usually over-rated; and "intimate" is only a label U2 can slap onto themselves, when, in reality, an arena show is still far from that.) Even better is a local act, whom you can see like every weekend. If you do that, you'll count as one of their hardcore fans, in no time. And no one will question your fandom if, for example, you're not in the fanclub or subscribed to the magazine or aren't a personality on the forum, 'cause they DON'T have one!I know the stones don't like to move, but, brothers, friends and fellow country-men, you may open your mind to receive this message
