When I’m old and wobbly I think there are a great many things I’ll look back on in my life and think to myself how glad I am I did that. While it might not compare with flying through the Northern Lights at the edge of the North Pole, watching the sun set across the Arabian Sea, or lying on my back in the silence of the Mojave Desert watching shooting stars, standing in the midst of a frenzied crowd all singing their hearts out at a U2 stadium show deserves a place on that list.
I don’t want to sound like too much of an adoring fan, but there really isn’t another band around that commands a stadium like U2. I was on the front row of the stage at Wembly way back on their ZooTV tour. As the band began ‘Where the streets have no name’ the stadium lights lit up the vast crowd and according to a friend who didn’t live far from there he said that at exactly that point their house lights dimmed for a few moments!
Right there, right then, with my hands in the air and soaked to the skin in sweat and with shivers shooting up and down my spine, I felt about as alive as I have ever felt. Singing at the top of my voice with thousands of others was just an amazing feeling, as overly dramatic as this sounds, I just don’t think words can describe that rush.
As U2 left the stage after their last encore that night, ushers and St John Ambulance crews flooded onto the grounds giving all of us who were near the stage blankets and bottles of water. I’d lost my friend James and as I turned to leave I thought to myself “Oh shit! How the heck am I going to find him among all of these people!” But as I walked to one of the exits gulping down the water I’d been given and shivering from the cold air that was now biting through my damp clothes, James’s smiling face appeared through the crowd. “That was good wasn’t it.” He said in a glorious stroke of understatement that I’ve never forgotten. With a grin the size of south London I shouted over the ringing in my ears “That was a-fuckin-mazing!!”
If I close my eyes and listen to the track below I travel through time right back to Wembly Stadium or indeed any other the other times I’ve seen U2 play to another gigantic sell out crowd. And though you might feel I’m getting carried away in my adoration, I don’t know that there’s ever been, or indeed could ever be another band that could play so well to such vast numbers of people, for as long as U2 have been filling stadiums.
At some point they’ll call it a day and anthems like ‘Where the streets have no name’, ‘Pride’, and ‘Sometimes you can’t make it on your own’ will only be heard on the radio or sung by tribute bands in pub gigs. Their star will fade and they’ll no longer be “the biggest rock band in the world.” But I think that when people look back though musical history they’ll be a certain amount of envy for those who stood among the thousands that have sung their hearts out to U2 under the glare of Stadium lights in the shadow of one of Irelands most famous exports.
Wrote the following comment on Dec 7, 2006 at 3:17 pm
U2’s Vertigo tour was truly a spiritual experience for me. I agree completely with your take on it.
Wrote the following comment on Dec 7, 2006 at 3:19 pm
I went to the Joshua Tree concert, ran to the stage…and a big, fat stoned guy stepped on my foot. My best friend carried me to the car, we were 16. I’ll never forget that concert either b/c thats all I got for Christmas that year from my parents. Incidently…ha ha footage from the concert I went to ended up on Rattle and Hum. And yes, I also share your adoration for really the biggest band with a real humanitarian cause….not some stupid “sell out” band. They are great. :)
Wrote the following comment on Dec 8, 2006 at 1:34 pm
ryc: dang that single men comment struck a nerve! i have received alot of “defensive” comments. not to say yours was but…uh you could have given feedback on the 4 leaf clover tattoo on my ummmm…. behind. or maybe my hip. nahhh im too wimpy lol.
Wrote the following comment on Dec 8, 2006 at 3:35 pm
I was turned on to U2 when I was about 19 years old (twenty years ago)!! I bet it was awesome!
Wrote the following comment on Dec 10, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Just wanted to thank you for your post about seeing U2 at Wembly… My friends had a similar experience in Sydney & Melbourne in November & you captured the final moments beautifully.
Thank you :)