Love You Too

So. U2 last night. The culmination of 20+ years of fandom, from the moment that Stacy loaned me her copy of War in the summer of ‘86 and I huddled in the basement listening to Sunday Bloody Sunday on the record player. I still have that album by the way. Sorry, Stacy. You were the coolest.

And making it to an actual show was the fulfillment of almost-made-its and just-misseds (the one time I had a ticket in my hand, I had to give it away – to a person who ended up touching Bono. Yes, that hurt.).

And I’m going to break this into parts.

Visually the show was worth everything. The amount of showmanship and stagecraft that goes into a U2 show is simply stunning. They’re stage is both a work of technical art and a deeply utilitarian, interactive tool that allows them to give the fans what they cam for – the BIG SHOW. It’s also nice to see that they still seem to enjoy working together to make music on stage. They’re still having fun being rock stars. The moment that Bono brought a teenage kid on stage to get a moment of what it’s like to stand in front of thousands of screaming fans was very sweet. I really admired the way that deeply personal songs like Sunday Bloody Sunday and One have been turned into universal calls for peace and compassion. Really a show that encompassed everything from calls to peaceful revolution to electric light-suited rock god glam.

[Though just on a sidebar note: Adam? Honey? It’s time to start taking care of your body. You’re starting to give Keef Richards a run for his money. The Edge is into the clean living, and he’s jumping around the stage like a Jonas Brother. I’m just saying.]

But, oh, wait. Look. Here’s another shoe! Let's drop it.

The acoustics at Cowboys Stadium where I saw the show were so bad I was completely appalled. Granted, I was in the nosebleed tier. But so were about 10,000 other people who all paid $80 a pop to listen to an echoing, reverberating, cacophony. The 23+ years of U2 love? I was only able to recognize about 4 songs from the first few bars. It took half of the song to figure out they were playing Stuck in a Moment. There were really only 2 songs that I could really enjoy listening to. Well kind of enjoy. About half way through I realized that the weird black shower curtain across the roof was some sort of lame ass, hillbilly duct tape fix where the stadium had attempted to baffle sound. Not. Even. Close. So obviously they know they are selling concert tickets in which you can’t actually hear music. You hear something. But it ain’t music. If Cowboys Stadium doesn’t start to close off the upper tier and just not sell those tickets, they are completely without honor and no better than con artists and highway robbers. They should be deeply ashamed. Plus the parking sitch is a complete shambles.

I’m glad I went to see the boys. Because, when it comes down to it, I’m never going to get to see U2 unless it’s in an arena. They won’t be playing the local House of Blues any time soon. But now that I have, I’m able to say, “As God is my witness, I will never see another arena show again.” Not even for Bono. Love ya, babes. But that was awful.