Spent. Utterly spent I am. My feet hurt from stomping them to the beat of the music for two hours plus. My throat feels like I gargled sandpaper. I stink from three layers of sweat accumulated during the night. And it was all completely worth it...the show was incredible. Those Irish lads can play. This band gives it its all and probably expects nothing less from its fans. And I know I did my part in delivering. A few short rows from the very top of the nosebleed section and almost everyone around us was as completely invested as we were. We danced and bopped around, sang our heartsout. That kind of mass adulation must be both a bit scary and addictive.
So cross one off the bucket list for me. I must tell you that I was worried that I had built up my own expectations too much, that I was destined to be disappointed, to be let down. I was not. We were not. Outside factors were conspiring against us from before the show began. A broken down car, late arrivals, missing the opening act and oppressive mugginess...the concert gods were testing me. But fortunes turned as we returned from being gouged for water....the roof was opening. To cheers no less. A collective sigh as well as the heaviness in the air escaped through those open panels. The gods were back on side.
From the opening drum beats of Sunday Bloody Sunday to the final raw ringing chords of I Will Follow the band did what they do best...played fucking rock and roll! We sang, we cheered, we clapped and we sang some more. It was incredible to hear 50,000 plus people sing in unison to I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For or belting out the Spanish accoutrements to Vertigo HOLA! COMO ESTA!
But this isn't a concert review anymore. Allow me to make an observation....and since this is my blog I'm going to make it whether you agree or not. As much as the world is messed up, and Bono et al went to pains to point it out throughout the show, there are moments when things are simply perfect. We all have them if we care to see them. Or get out of our own way long enough to allow for them. To let us live in the moment. There I was, night sky descending, a thousand cell phone flash lights shimmering around the stadium and Bono letting us help him sing With Or Without You and in a brief pause I took the time to look around...on my perfect time
The faces around me...young and old framed by the CN Tower looming over us and what I saw was joy. Smiling, swaying and loving. Willie Nelson wafting through the air but I can't imagine why anyone would have needed it. This was a musical high...a life high. It brought a smile to my face. I kept looking around, it became part of my experience...people watching writ large.
Imagine all the things going through peoples lives that they set aside to fall into the music. 50,000 stories being played out all around us...love lost, love found, pain, shame, fear and triumph. Shunted aside to forget, even for a moment, to let the music carry you away.
Maybe we can all do better with taking the time to look around. Stop and smell the roses more. Our lives fill up with stuff so easily and I don't think that is what living is about...not all the time at least. This night it was U2 and 50,000 new friends but it can be as simple as a walk in the woods, a drink on a patio with good friends, a long subway ride to think...anything can be a moment to remember. Remember those important things...like cowbells and harmonicas.
Ciao
D
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