About 2 months ago I became involved in a discussion somewhere on here about the GA and it evolved into a thread about people's first time seeing U2 live. Several people asked about what to expect and told us that the excitement level of us tour veterans was palpable enough to have them jazzed as well, though they had never seen the band live. I became quite misty-eyed and waxed eloquent about the utter rapture of the U2 concert experience, and how a U2 concert WAS the U2 Experience. If you hadn't seen them live, you really had not captured their essence.
Several people responded to me and we got the idea of starting a thread, when the tour began, where first-timers could share their reactions--and, hopefully, wax as eloquent as I did.
The U2 concert, even on a bad night, is an amazing experience, and I said in that long-ago thread that if any of the "virgins" were lucky enough to experience one of the better shows, it would be an event that would truly change their lives. And looking at the dress rehearsal setlist (An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart? ELECTRIC CO?? "40"?!?#*%^#!@@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's enough to give this left-wing evangelical Christian the mouth of a sailor!)) there's a very good chance that they may happen sooner than later. Among many older fans, there was a saying in the '80's that when you go to your first U2 show, you're "getting baptized."
We have not felt that in a LONG time. Not since the 80's. I haven't--the first time I saw the band was during ZooTV, when the raw power of the band was superceded, by their will, beneath the soul-crushing behmoth of the video walls. I went along for the ride, and the band said it was fun. I had fun, but in retrospect, those were some of the most serious shows the band ever played. Since 1985, I had my bootlegs to sustain me, and I knew that those who had come before me were right all along. A U2 show is, above all things, as one breathless Bsoton reviewer wrote in 1983: a MOVING experience. One that rocks your soul and your world and shakes your very foundations. You stumble out, exhausted, exhilerated, your heart on fire and your mind ablaze--often ( as I have read) with the tears pouring down. (If "40" becomes again the traditional show closer, I'm sure I'll be among those crying--and not just because this is a song, an experience a whole generation of fans never got to hear. The lyrics just happen to fit my life right now, in fact.)
We are about to experience that again. A new era is dawning upon us, and it is not without some poignancy--the band is growing back into what it was. There may indeed be a wrenching beauty, seeing these wealthy, worldly and accomplished older gentlemen seeking--and perhaps, even finding, for a few moments--what they are looking for: a state of mind, and of the heart, that says, still, against all the odds: "All is possible."
Heck, it may even happen 2 hours from now. It's 10:40 EDT right now (I'm writing from Albany, NY) and the show usually starts around, what, 9:15?
So: here we go! I want to hear your stories, first-timers! Required info:
1)how old you are, (Myself, 36
2)when you became a fan, and how; (I was about 12, in 1981, sitting and flipping the stations on the kitchen radio on a boring winter Sunday, and stumbled upon the Latin chorus at the end of "Gloria" on a local college station; I never got to see the band live until 1992 however, though I began collecting U2 bootlegs in 1985 )
3)and details, details, details! Tailgating, journeys to and from, meetings, Line stories, meeting the band stories--I know there's a thread for that, but if you're a first-timer, hey, they can overlap!)
4)If the show has changed you in some profound way, if you go out and join or start something, let us know! I may sound pompous here, but judging from that setlist, there might be a RIOT in the GA before the first 5 songs are done! You'll see what I mean!
You don't have to post right away--generally, it takes about 2-3 days to come down from a U2 concert high, and with "40" it may take longer---(if you find yourself blurting out "HOWWWW LONNNNG, to sing this SOONNNNG!" in the middle of well, some especilly inappropriate moment, whatever that may be, don't be embarrassed!Heck, I"ve never heard it live, and I KNOW it'll happen to me!.
If you just HAVE to post NOW, if your socks have been rocked off, go ahead, breathless snetences are OK, as long as you come back later on and give us the FULL story!
Yes, that's what I want here, is TESTIMONIES. So share with us all you'd like, brothers and sisters.
On second thought, you don't have to be a "virgin" especially---I know verterans might not be able to resist joining in, esp those for whom the early 8o's songs (heck, some of that stuff on the Sat setlist hasn't been played since Bono had a last name!) are new discoveries. Maybe this can become a general tour reaction thread--but I'd like it to be mostly the newcomers, and responses to them.
What a wonderful, magical time this is. The world can never go completely to heck in a handbasket as long as they're out there playing somewhere.
But also, don't forget to keep praying for Edge and his family. We all know, and he still needs our prayers....
Let the magic begin...and don't forget Who Else will be in the house as well. AMEN!
Several people responded to me and we got the idea of starting a thread, when the tour began, where first-timers could share their reactions--and, hopefully, wax as eloquent as I did.
The U2 concert, even on a bad night, is an amazing experience, and I said in that long-ago thread that if any of the "virgins" were lucky enough to experience one of the better shows, it would be an event that would truly change their lives. And looking at the dress rehearsal setlist (An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart? ELECTRIC CO?? "40"?!?#*%^#!@@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's enough to give this left-wing evangelical Christian the mouth of a sailor!)) there's a very good chance that they may happen sooner than later. Among many older fans, there was a saying in the '80's that when you go to your first U2 show, you're "getting baptized."
We have not felt that in a LONG time. Not since the 80's. I haven't--the first time I saw the band was during ZooTV, when the raw power of the band was superceded, by their will, beneath the soul-crushing behmoth of the video walls. I went along for the ride, and the band said it was fun. I had fun, but in retrospect, those were some of the most serious shows the band ever played. Since 1985, I had my bootlegs to sustain me, and I knew that those who had come before me were right all along. A U2 show is, above all things, as one breathless Bsoton reviewer wrote in 1983: a MOVING experience. One that rocks your soul and your world and shakes your very foundations. You stumble out, exhausted, exhilerated, your heart on fire and your mind ablaze--often ( as I have read) with the tears pouring down. (If "40" becomes again the traditional show closer, I'm sure I'll be among those crying--and not just because this is a song, an experience a whole generation of fans never got to hear. The lyrics just happen to fit my life right now, in fact.)
We are about to experience that again. A new era is dawning upon us, and it is not without some poignancy--the band is growing back into what it was. There may indeed be a wrenching beauty, seeing these wealthy, worldly and accomplished older gentlemen seeking--and perhaps, even finding, for a few moments--what they are looking for: a state of mind, and of the heart, that says, still, against all the odds: "All is possible."
Heck, it may even happen 2 hours from now. It's 10:40 EDT right now (I'm writing from Albany, NY) and the show usually starts around, what, 9:15?
So: here we go! I want to hear your stories, first-timers! Required info:
1)how old you are, (Myself, 36
2)when you became a fan, and how; (I was about 12, in 1981, sitting and flipping the stations on the kitchen radio on a boring winter Sunday, and stumbled upon the Latin chorus at the end of "Gloria" on a local college station; I never got to see the band live until 1992 however, though I began collecting U2 bootlegs in 1985
)3)and details, details, details! Tailgating, journeys to and from, meetings, Line stories, meeting the band stories--I know there's a thread for that, but if you're a first-timer, hey, they can overlap!)
4)If the show has changed you in some profound way, if you go out and join or start something, let us know! I may sound pompous here, but judging from that setlist, there might be a RIOT in the GA before the first 5 songs are done! You'll see what I mean!
You don't have to post right away--generally, it takes about 2-3 days to come down from a U2 concert high, and with "40" it may take longer---(if you find yourself blurting out "HOWWWW LONNNNG, to sing this SOONNNNG!" in the middle of well, some especilly inappropriate moment, whatever that may be, don't be embarrassed!Heck, I"ve never heard it live, and I KNOW it'll happen to me!
.If you just HAVE to post NOW, if your socks have been rocked off, go ahead, breathless snetences are OK, as long as you come back later on and give us the FULL story!
Yes, that's what I want here, is TESTIMONIES. So share with us all you'd like, brothers and sisters.
On second thought, you don't have to be a "virgin" especially---I know verterans might not be able to resist joining in, esp those for whom the early 8o's songs (heck, some of that stuff on the Sat setlist hasn't been played since Bono had a last name!) are new discoveries. Maybe this can become a general tour reaction thread--but I'd like it to be mostly the newcomers, and responses to them.
What a wonderful, magical time this is. The world can never go completely to heck in a handbasket as long as they're out there playing somewhere.
But also, don't forget to keep praying for Edge and his family. We all know, and he still needs our prayers....
Let the magic begin...and don't forget Who Else will be in the house as well. AMEN!
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