U2

I think, even for a person my age, I came across U2 late. I'm sure I heard a couple of their songs on the radio, and I'm sure that is what prompted me to buy my first U2 album, their "Best of the 80s" double CD.

And one of my clearest memories is riding on a bus in the Dominican Republic on my first-ever mission trip, listening to that CD. There's something about listening to beautiful music (with a meaning) while you're doing something meaningful, and it was pretty cool. Ever since then, I've really liked the band. I don't really have a favorite band, but I've answered U2 as my favorite band on a couple occasions. Because, honestly, they're as good as any other answer I could give.

Of my favorite songs of theirs, a lot of them are from the early years. "Pride (In the Name of Love", "Where the Streets Have No Name", "With Or Without You", and "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" are a few of my favorites. And "One" is one of my favorite songs of all time. I've liked some of their newer songs, but I haven't followed them as closely as I've followed other bands. That probably has something to do with the fact that I haven't bought an entire album in years (of any band), and the fact that I don't listen to much (music) radio.

But when I heard that U2 was going to play The Death Star (aka the new Cowboys stadium), I bought tickets because I knew that I had to go. Seeing U2 in concert was something that I knew I wanted to do before I die, and while I realize that they'll probably be in concert for another 20 years, I wanted to make sure it happened as soon as possible.

And so when I returned from Colorado (much more on that in my next post) on Sunday, I had to put together a group to go. The final roster included Ashley, Tucker, and Beau. It was extremely exciting because it would be my first-ever U2 concert, and it'd be my first trip to the Death Star. I couldn't think of a better experience.

We left around 6:45, and we arrived at the stadium during the opening act (Muse). The stadium is enormous, and it took quite a while to go up all of the ramps to the 400 level. The seats weren't great, but we were pretty close to the stage (albeit behind it).

About 9pm, it started. And the concert was a perfect example of the pros and cons of Jerry's behemoth. First of all, the stadium was huge enough to contain U2's massive stage. The stage was awesome in every sense of the word. It released smoke, lit up, and turned into dozens of different colors. Then there was the 360 degree screen that was always filled with something cool, not to mention the couple of songs where the screen stretched into a cool light show. I'd describe it, but I wouldn't be able to do it justice.

But the sound in that place is terrible. You could hear the music fine, but the lyrics just barely reached me. I've heard that the PA is almost impossible to hear at Cowboys' games, and now I understand what people have been talking about. I knew most of the songs so it didn't really matter, but it was really hard to understand Bono whenever he said anything. He didn't stop down much, but when he did, I had to focus to figure out what he was saying. And, no, not just because of his accent.

That being said, the show was great. All of the visuals, the great music, and the live versions of some of my favorite songs. Yeah, Bono is full of himself, but there's at least something behind the jacket and glasses. There aren't a lot of people who do as much as him, and I think that's commendable.

I was a little surprised that they didn't play "Pride (In the Name of Love)", but they played a lot of other great ones, including a cool live version of "One" that was pretty sweet.

In conclusion: if you like U2, you need to find your way to a concert. You'll love it, and it will be a great memory for you. If you just like concerts, I still recommend it because the band puts on a Hell of a show. And I know there are people out there that don't like U2, but I don't understand it. Not all of their songs are "preachy" and most of them have a great beat/melody. Even the songs I didn't recognize were pretty cool and well done.

And next time, I'm gonna shell out a bit more cash and get better seats. I've had the experience now, but I'm going to want a bit more on the encore.