U2 first drew my attention in 1984 with Pride. I bought the LP and I was overly excited by it. U2's Live Aid set made me a FAN...
First concert was the JT tour in 1987, Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam. I cried when the intro of Where the streets... started.. an impressive and truly amazing experience. Four guys on stage with a Joshua Tree backdrop in broad daylight with little or no light and showeffects. The band blew me away.
Next stop on the line was Lovetown. I initially had tickets to the third Amsterdam show on 20 December '89. This gig was cancelled due to Bono's voice problems. The rescheduled gig, three weeks later also was the last Lovetown gig.
The 90s brought us Achtung Baby. Imho, their masterpiece. ZOO TV indoors (Ahoy, Rotterdam) was kickass, ZOOROPA outdoors so overwhelming that had to see multiple shows in order to take it all in (Rottedam stadium twice, Olympic Stadium Berlin and Nijmegen Park).
Then POP, still not one of my favourite albums, although it contains a number of gems... The tour, however, was a different ballgame; absolutely breathtaking, especially the Discotheque part where the entire stadium transformed into a dancefloor... Great... I saw two POP shows, one of them in front of the B-stage (Rotterdam stadium + Strahov stadium in Prague).
ATYCLB was playing it safe in my opinion. The tour was lovely. The Irving Plaza broadcast was something to look forward to. I saw 5 Elevation shows (3 X Arnhem, Antwerp, Slane). Arnhem 3 when I was in the heart is top of the list, followed by an absolutely going bananas crowd at Slane when Thin lizzy's 'The boys are back in Town' was played 15 minutes before the show started. Most impressive moment was that Bono sat down for a prayer and solemnly asking the Lord to get him through the show the day after his dad's funeral..
HTDAAB is an another playing it safe album with a few gems.. The outdoor tour again impressive. I watched the Euroepean premiere in Brussels from the enclosed section in the front. Great to see them again after a four years absence. I also went to all three Amsterdam shows. Amsterdam 3 being the most special one of the Vertigo shows I experienced ( Miss Sarajevo, OOTS with Edge on the guitar)....
What can I say about the band... man, I consider myself a big fan, but I am critical towards them. I really hope the band will look for new boundaries and cross them in order to take the music to new levels.. If one is capable of doing this, it's U2. Keeping the fingers crossed...
Whereas my age is concerned (I'm 35).. I'm an older fan, but I'm not old.. ;-) ...
I think it's kind of cool to see the band attracting a younger crowd who are into the music as much as the 'older' people are.. I hope to have the band around in good shape for another 10 years before they consider calling it quits....