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.
