I listen to a wide range of music and I have never been obsessed with a single band. I didn’t grow-up with posters on my bedroom wall. Band members, celebrities, star athletes…I have never thought of them as people I desperately have to meet or my life will not be complete – I am not a “I am never going to wash this hand again” type person. Music for me sits the background and songs I haven’t heard in years can instantly take me back to a single moment in time.
Sure I’ve been to concerts over the years – a few stadium and arena shows along the way – but my favorite concerts were in small, dark clubs in DC when I lived there after college. Seeing bands before they made it big – hanging out with friends without the big concert hype.
Last night was my first concert in a long time and the first concert that Scott and I have attended together (he bought tickets for a concert in 2005 but decided to get his appendix out at the last minute instead – we have not chanced another concert since). When the U2 tour date for Pittsburgh was announced last fall, I told Scott I wanted to go and he paid some extra money to get a pre-sale code and we ended up with really great seats.
I can’t remember the last time I purposely played a U2 song (although Elevation and Vertigo make regular appearances on my running play list), and I didn’t know any of the recent songs they played at the show. But if I had to choose a single band as my all time favorite – it would be U2. The Unforgettable Fire album came out as I was hitting my teenage years and I was in high school when Joshua Tree was released. When I hear One from Achtung Baby I am taken back to hanging out with friends from college late at night after the bars were closed. Beautiful Day is my favorite U2 song – it reminds me of 2 of my best friends and a week we spent in Vegas together running a program for work). The first few notes of those songs can completely change my mood. And last night I found myself singing every word of songs I haven’t heard in years.
At 11:00 on a Tuesday night I am usually in bed or on my way. Catching up on twitter, blogs, pinterest or reading a book. At 11:00 last night I was singing and dancing like I haven’t in years. And if I wasn’t singing I was smiling and enjoying every moment. It was so much fun and I didn’t want the show to end.
The claw stage with it’s magical transforming screen and spire complete with a disco ball and streaming lights…yeah, that was cool too.
