Two Nights at The Forum With U2

I longed to be a music journalist, dedicating my life to covering every aspect of the pop world—from in-depth interviews to thoughtful reviews. I came close-ish but now turn to this blog to dip my toe in that dream world while making my actual living covering things other than music.

I didn't end up at Rolling Stone or MTV. I'm not ghostwriting the memoir of the guitarist from a '90s band. I'll never be nominated for a Grammy for liner notes. I won't be on the voting committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So many missed opportunities.

There are times, though, when I'm grateful I didn't make it down that path, like this weekend when I was loving every second of U2 at The Forum. I could be a fan, not a critic. I could be goofy and hyper and dance badly and sing even worse. No note-taking, no early morning deadline, just pure bliss.

I write this as a fan. I write this as someone who just attended her 15th and 16th U2 shows. I write this as a person who was more than a little judgmental of the people who sat down when "The Wanderer" started playing (it's Johnny Cash, people, show some respect). It's pretty freeing.

The two Innocence + Experience shows I attended this past weekend were amazing. Totally, completely, utterly amazing. I'd put on my blinders in anticipation of these shows, avoiding interviews as well as friends' write-ups and photos. I wanted to walk in totally fresh, ready to be surprised and stunned.

I was.

U2, thanks to the help of its incredibly talented creative team, has earned a reputation for inventive, envelope-pushing live shows. This tour's innovations are ceiling-suspended speakers that deliver warm, clear, rumbling sound throughout the arena, and two video screens that surround an elevated catwalk, allowing the band to perform within the projected animations and videos.

I knew none of this going in so when a ladder dropped down from the screens and Bono climbed inside, only to be seen a few minutes later walking across an animated version of the street he grew up on, disappearing and reappearing in time with various musical cues, I was wide-eyed and thrilled.

It wasn't just the spectacle that made the show, none of that would have mattered if the music didn't deliver. It so did. The band opened with "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)," then took us back to "Boy" and spent some time on "Songs of Innocence." The evenings were then filled with a mix of old and new, the sentimental and the anthemic, radio hits and fan favorites.

"Song for Someone" and "Every Breaking Wave" have become new loves. The double-header of "Angel of Harlem" and "When Love Comes to Town" on Sunday had me screaming at the top of my lungs (I'm sure I ruined many a phone-captured video). "Stuck in a Moment" always chokes me up.

Beautiful.

Thanks to my seats on the side of the stage, I had a great view of everything both nights. The guys looked so healthy, and played and sounded as good as they looked. Bono talked about the audience filling the hole left by his mother's death and lifting him, and the band, up. With all that's gone on in the U2 universe these past few months, I think we're happy to be there for the band considering how reliably the band has been there for us.

This weekend wasn’t only about the shows for me, it was also about spending time with people I adore. Thanks to this band, I've had incredible adventures, I briefly had the title "contributing editor," I worked with a group of people who are making a positive change in the world because of Bono's example (visit africanwellfund.org for more on this fantastic organization), and I've made great friends. This weekend was reunions and trips down memory lane and hug after hug after hug.

If I was working for The Times this weekend, I wouldn’t have had any of that. I would have had notes to take, a deadline to make. Instead, I have this. I have a camera teaming with pictures. I have a scratchy throat. I have songs stuck in my head. I have more memories to recount at the next gathering. I have another tour to look forward to.

First in Friendship, Fourth in Obesity

I recently asked my Facebook friends to suggest romantic movies that would be great Valentine's Day counter-programming to "Fifty Shades of Grey." They made some fantastic suggestions, from classic to recent, definitive to off-the-wall, but my suggestion to anyone looking for a love story, or several, to delve into is just tune in to "Parks and Recreation."

Tonight, this amazing show is airing its final episode, an hour-long farewell that hits the airwaves at 10. I could write about my sadness at the show ending, or the injustice of its 13-episode final season being burned off in a month-and-a-half (#tankit), or the ridiculousness of a show that aired Thursdays at 8:30 and 9:30 getting its farewell Tuesday at 10. I could mention how I'll likely never watch NBC again with this show following "Community" out the door and nothing comparable walking in. Instead, I'll just write one more time about how much I love this show.

"Parks and Rec" is one of the rare shows that I've watched from the beginning and stuck with. I've done that because, season after the season, the show has gotten better, funnier, sweeter, stranger. Pawnee has become a real universe with recognizable landmarks and residents. The main characters have grown multidimensional. I watch the show because I care about these people and their town, because I want to know what will happen next, because of the writing and the acting and the sets, for the in-jokes and the political commentary. I watch because it's great.

I also watch because I'm a softy, because I rooted for Ben and Leslie to get together, because this is the show that had a wedding with the vows, "I love you and I like you." I watch for Jerry/Larry/Garry and Gayle, for Donna and Joe, Tom and Lucy, Ron and Diane, April and Andy, Ann and Chris, Ann and Leslie, Ann and April, Ben and Jerry/Larry/Garry, Leslie and Pawnee.

This show had heart. It was sweet and goofy, but still landed punches. It made fun of government while showing what people could accomplish working together. It believed in small dreams and lofty ambitions. It showed how you can come back from crushing defeat.

I'm going to miss all of that. I'm going to miss having a show I look forward to every week, a show I watch live and hate to miss. Must-see shows are few and far between these days.

I'm going to miss the camaraderie of the cast and crew, of seeing the people who make this show in press, on panels and at junkets, their genuine respect, admiration and affection shining through.

Thank you to every single person who made "Parks and Rec" a reality, who brought Pawnee and its citizens to life. Thank you for creating this strange and lovely universe. Thank you.

Living in an Extraordinary World

Gwen Stefani rocked the crowd at The Orpheum last night. Of course she did because that's what Gwen does, she gets people on their feet, singing and clapping and dancing, jumping, screaming and swaying. She calls and we respond. She says move and we do. She asks for more and we give it because we know we're getting so much more in return.

It's been 20 years since I first learned about Gwen and No Doubt as a college student in Orange County. Everyone talked about the band, just months away from breaking huge, so personally. I still feel like anyone in the (714) is less than six degrees from a member of No Doubt.

I've since developed a relationship with the band and its music, speeding along the 57 anytime "Just a Girl" came on the radio, getting over some boy or other to "Ex-Girlfriend," finding comfort in "A Simple Kind of Life," being pushed forward by "Settle Down." The music—fun, fantastic, rollicking pop that it is—is personal so it makes a lasting connection.

Even though her solo work is fluffier, dancier, lighter than her music with No Doubt, much of it sticks, too. Who hasn't tried to maintain a friendship with an ex? Who hasn't been afraid to take a career risk? Who isn't driven craziest by the person they love the most?

I went last night to sing and dance and yell and jump and check out the costume changes and people-watch. I went last night because, 20 years in, I'm still fascinated and inspired by Gwen Stefani. I went last night because, a generation later, my niece and nephew are Gwen fans, too.

Sharing that with them excites me. Singing "Spiderwebs" with my niece in the car, buying my nephew Adrian Young drumsticks for his fifth birthday, decking out all the kids in Harajuku Mini for the holidays, these are just a few of my joys in being an aunt.

Even though I don't agree with everything she says, even though I understand the criticism levied against her turn on "The Voice," I'm happy for the kids to know Gwen because there's so much to admire about her, like determination, loyalty, creativity, confidence. I'm happy for the kids to see that being the only woman in the room is an opportunity to shine, not to hang back. I'm happy for the kids to have great taste in music.