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May 08, 2005
The Highs and Lows of Life: How I Ended Up at the U2 Concert Last Night
Yesterday began with an emotional event. Mi chavo had to end the suffering of his shi-tzu and I accompanied them to the vet's office. As mi chavo's houseguest for the last few months, I've gotten to know his dog a bit. And I have deep regrets about the passing of my own childhood dogs - Lightening while I was in junior high and Freckles this past summer. So while I didn't know mi chavo's shi-tzu for long, I could totally relate to mi chavo's pain and sadness at making the decision to end her sickness and allow her to go to a better place.
So, we spent the rest of the afternoon relatively somber and hangin out in bed. Mi chavo had read that Ticketmaster puts seats on sale to sold out shows the day of the concert, so he obsessively tried to find tickets to U2's first Chicago performance. I was skeptical - hell, I it ain't like I have a lot of cash lying around - but understood that he needed the break from everyday life. Around 5pm, Ticketmaster started showing available seats. First, only behind the stage. Then I joined the action on my own laptop and had more luck. I found $165 per ticket seats and eventually got seats in the second tier for $95 plus fees.
In about an hour, we showered, dressed, and ate dinner. I even put makeup and jewelry on and foolishly chose heels so that I wouldn't have to fold the bottom of my jeans. We got to United Center in record time and I put my high-heeled foot down on the idea of parking nine blocks away to avoid the price of parking. After a painless visit to will call to get the paper tix, we made our way into the Center.
Very few people were in their seats for the opening act, Kingdom of Leon. To clue us in on why they're "playing support" for the entire summer North American tour, they opened with that song from the Volkswagen commercial. It was all downhill from there. Perhaps some people enjoy annoying, heavy metal-screech ballads by men who are ugly and can't sing, but I didn't come for that shite. Mi chavo said Franz Ferdinand was opening on some dates on the tour, which U2's website confirms.
Two things would have made the night perfect: Franz Ferdinand opening and having known I was going to the concert, which would have given me time to really delve into the Atomic Bomb cd, so that I could appreciate those songs during the show.
Well, actually a third thing would have made the night perfect - if Bono had limited his political rants to the space between songs, instead of trying to incorporate them into songs. He stopped "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" to don a bandana with the symbols of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Problem was, he mumbled the explanation and the camera guy never bothered to show the side of his head that included the crescent and star (which I'm assuming is the symbol he used for Islam). And it was odd to see an Irish Catholic with a Star of David in the middle of his forehead. He was trying to make a point about the synergy of the three major religions to evolve from Abraham - and I believe he even sang a ditty about Abraham - but mi chavo doesn't remember the song and couldn't understand what Bono was saying to hear his point.
It's ironic to me that Bono's current political obsession is with Africa. He urged us to come together to end war and poverty and AIDS - I think, again the politics were a little incoherent and I'm inferring that from what I know of his political activism. In a town with a significant black population, it said something to me that (1) I didn't see any black people in the basketball stadium and (2)the majority of people in attendance were clearly upper middle class (who else can afford $100 tickets?) Don't get me wrong - I appreciate Bono's political work. I think he's been a significant and important supporter of poverty eradication and AIDS prevention. I just think his way of fusing his political message with his music was poorly done.
On the other hand, as a rock group, U2 still has it. Their lights and most of the video added to the concert. The stage was set up with an elliptical cat walk that reached out into the center of the court, allowing all of the performers to get closer to my side of the stadium, which I really appreciated. It was also interesting to see Bono play back up drums on the opening song, "Love and Peace."
The set list was okay. After the excitement of the first three songs, the energy seemed to ebb and only seemed to pick up during their old skool staples. Mi chavo and I agreed on this problem afterwards, although my experience was dampened more than his by the people around us.
I don't know why it bothers me so much to be near people I detest. There was a group of ancient wannabe's in front of us who got so damn drunk that the men were flailing about, throwing their arms out in classic drunk old white guy in a polo shirt dance and blocking my view of the stage. Additionally, one of the brianiacs decided to invite his son to join them in their seats - literally taking over the seat of a man next to the group and adding to my inability to see the stage with his drunkenness and random pot smoking. At one point I even spoke to the losers - just to release some of my built up anger over their interruption of my concert experience.
But enough about the drunk losers. Truly the best part of the concert was watching mi chavo rock out. I've also been jealous of couples at concerts - the ones who kiss and dance together and generally look like they're enjoying life more than me. This time, I was part of one of those couples.
We danced, we kissed, we stood together watching the concert. It was the perfect antidote to a painful morning. In fact, it was also an antidote to my painful evening - Aunt Flow decided to join the party and brought her dog Cramps with her.
You have never lived until you've seen mi chavo smiling. With his pearly white teeth and the cute dimply on his right cheek, it's really a great experience. Plus, he looked hipster cool last night in a t-shirt with guitars on it, jeans, new Sketchers, and just enough stubble to make him look good, not scraggly.
Alas, we missed all of the political booths because they were only on the first floor of the United Center and we went straight to the second floor where our seats were. So, we were unable to pay a buck to buy a One band. Now, if I want one I have to buy ten and pay $5 for shipping. Doh! Curious what the hell I'm talkin about? Here's the About page from One's website. The only reason I knew about the wristbands was that my sister-in-law had bought some at the U2 show in Phoenix and was wearing it at Passover.
Off to try to call my mom again. Happy Mother's Day for Peace. (Julia Ward Howe created the day to bring together moms to end war.)
Posted by cj at May 8, 2005 11:04 AM