One month before I saw them
The celebration of MTV's 30th birthday is in full swing, with highlights galore airing on the VH1 Classic channel. It's a continuous loop of programming that is a painful reminder of just how great the network used to be compared to what it is now. But I suppose all good things must come to an end. When the money train looked like it was gonna run on inane reality shows and other non-musical crap it could only be expected that the MTV CEOs, hungry for the bottom line, would follow it into the dark tunnel it has remained in for so many years.
But I didn't come here to whine and moan about the downfall of MTV.
I just happened to catch the "MTV30" segment that featured U2's performance at LiveAid and it got me to thinking about the only time I ever got to see them in concert. It was very early in their career...June 10, 1983, when "War" was the album they were promoting. It was so early, in fact, that they were still playing songs from their debut, "Boy" (and even one from their first single, "11 O'Clock Tick Tock", which was never released in America). Bono was still wearing leather jeans and had his hair all done up in true new wave style. He was still hoisting that huge white flag into the audience during "Surrender". All in all it was a great time to see them, in a venue that was very small compared to the other venues they played (not even mentioning the arena tours). The Lloyd Noble Center, on the OU campus, hosted a lot of big concerts back then and it was where the June 10th U2 show happened. It was the building where all the OU Sooners home basketball games were played. For this show, however, they had set it up with what was called "theater seating", which basically meant that only half of the seats were going to be used. I always thought it was a very bad reflection on the collective musical taste of Oklahomans that U2 didn't even sell out the place. But I figured it wasn't their fault that the band had received almost zero promotion, on the radio or anywhere else.
That said, there WAS a bit of radio promotion, if not much. Had there not been I would never have obtained tickets to the show. The KATT (100.5 FM) were giving them away in contests and stuff. You'd think that a "free" ticket, won from a radio station, would be for a crappy seat, but these weren't half bad.
I didn't win one, though. I knew someone who DID. The details of how I obtained one have been erased from my memory, other than the fact that someone gave one to me. Why? Maybe the person couldn't make it...maybe they had no interest in attending but entered the contest on a lark. None of that mattered to me. I'm sure I was appropriately grateful but apparently not enough to have remembered reasons for the good gesture.
I remember wearing this corny bootleg U2 shirt...corny because it wasn't official merchandise but was very obviously designed to appear as it it were...that I thought was just about the coolest thing in the world. And I brought a "ghetto blaster" (as we called them back then) with me to play U2 tapes while standing in line at the door. I was there by myself (alas, my benefactor only had one winning ticket) and I thought I was the MAN! The people seemed to enjoy the music and were friendly so I didn't mind being alone at all.
My first stroke of luck at the concert was all due to my brother's generosity. He had come with a friend who had...get this...FRONT ROW TICKETS! And the guy had probably never even heard a U2 song in his life. His uncle was a vendor for the ticket companies and he would get free front row tickets for any band he cared to see. I knew him pretty well, too, and the genesis of my tinnitus can likely be traced to the front row spots he got me for Blue Oyster Cult and Rainbow. I couldn't tell you how "into" the band my brother was, but I'm sure he'd seen them on MTV and no doubt he recognized their talent and potential.
So, I've got tickets about halfway up into the stands and my brother has front row seats (actually I think they were 2nd row seats, but in a floor situation like that there is really no difference). I don't know whose idea it was or who suggested it, but we decided I should get through security and down to the floor. So we both bought t-shirts and I let him take mine with him. Then, a few minutes later, he met me where the sections were divided and I said, "Hey! Did you get me that shirt I asked for?" To which he replied, "Yeah, got it right here," and handed it to me...with the front row ticket stub neatly tucked within. I waited a few more minutes, then went to the security guy, showed him my ticket stub and waa-lah! I found myself directly in front of the stage! Genius!
The support group on this particular concert was The Alarm. They were an unremarkable band who went on to score a couple of minor hits (the best being "Rain in the Summertime"). They came out onto the stage sporting nothing but acoustic guitars and a drum kit. I figured it was their gimmick, but they weren't doing themselves any favors if it was, as the sound quality was pretty dismal. They started their set and everyone got up out of the folding metal chairs to rush the stage, but the security people weren't having any of that. They made us sit back down. The singer from The Alarm wasn't having any of that, though. He chastised security and exhorted everyone to, in these exact words, "GET UP AND DANCE!" Though their music wasn't exactly the kind you could dance to, we were more than happy to get back up.
When U2 hit the stage I was ecstatic. I was a HUGE fan. I worked in a record store at the time and you'd hear "Boy" on the stereo at least once every day during my shift. They'd played at an extremely small venue in Norman when they first toured and I kicked myself every time I think about how I wasn't able to go to that one. So I don't need to tell you how excited I was when the band came out and the first notes were played.
At the front of the stage there was this extension, I don't know exactly what they're called, but it gave Bono a chance to come out a little farther into the audience (or at least into the first few rows). It was right next to this whatchamacallit that I stood for the duration of the show, one of the absolute best views in the house.
This is kind of weird, maybe, but I had this really cool crucifix on a chain that my mother had bought me and while everyone else was raising their fist to the music (as pumped up audience's are wont to do), I held up this crucifix. There's no way, no way whatsoever, that Bono didn't see it. I don't know exactly WHY I did it...only that I'd heard that Bono was a Christian and I was, too. Later on I would wonder what Bono thought of that, on several different levels. I mean, first, the obvious: What is this guy waving that crucifix in front of my face? A reasonable question that, as I said, I couldn't have answered myself. But also, this was a time when tensions were running pretty high between the Catholics and the Protestants in Ireland. I'm not too sure but I would guess that Bono Vox is NOT Catholic, so what could he have been thinking? It's all SO strange, the things I'm possessed to do. But I laugh when I imagine some fantastical in-depth interview where Bono says, "Something I'll never forget, Jann...that guy in Oklahoma with his crucifix!" Because, hey! Even with a full life such as his, that's something you may well remember for it's enigmatic quality alone!
There was a girl standing next to me...a quite attractive young girl, if I may say...and during one of the songs Bono took her by the hand and brought her onstage, where he did a little dance with her. Which was cool, but not so much as when he took the hat from "front row ticket" guy, set it on the ground, and did some kind of war dance around the thing. It was a camouflage hunting hat, and if I know "front row ticket" guy (and I do), the rest of his gear was camouflage as well. He thought this was cool as hell and left that place a U2 fan. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
The highlight of the night was when Bono reached his hand out from the stage extension and I grabbed hold of it. He gave it a squeeze and that was that. Rock concert story of a lifetime: I shook Bono's hand! Okay, well maybe there are much better rock stories out there, but this was about as close as I'll probably ever get to one that I'll tell my grandchildren.
Perhaps obviously I don't remember anything after that...just like I don't remember any of the performance highlights...I mean, jeez, this is 28 years ago! All I need to remember is that this was one great show...the first REALLY great show I'd ever seen, and along with Sigur Ros & Bruce Springsteen it ranks as one of the top 3 concerts I've ever been to.
No comments:
Post a Comment