It all started out with a pretty crumby morning, falling asleep Saturday night fully clothed and in a ridiculously uncomfortable position on the basement couch. After that I managed to wake up only 10 minutes before having to leave the house for church. But despite having terribly messy hair I just tossed on a toque and went from there, perks of being a male I guess.
I was privileged to hear quite the message given by Andy Moore (@AdorePastor) from Victoria BC, talking about Elijah and perseverance through tough times. Andy had stayed with my family over this past weekend during his stay in the Peg, he is a totally solid dude.
Anyways, once the gathering was over and I turned to exit the theatre (yes, we have church in a movie theatre) I looked a few rows up and saw a face that I had only seen on T.V. As many of you know, I have been a die hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan for as long as I can remember. I have put up with more crap than you could dream of, but it all paid off. The Toronto Maple Leafs dignity saver, oh, and starting goaltender was a stones throw away. After some pushing and prodding I was dragged over and shook James Reimer's hand and snapped a picture. A pretty good rebound to the crappy sleep.
After meeting Reimer we took Andy to the airport, sent him on his way and got ready for the U2 concert. I have had my ticket since the day that they went on sale early last fall.
My first memorable exposure to U2 was at a funeral back in 2003. The individual who died was an avid U2 fan and the majority of All That You Can't Leave Behind was played at her funeral. From this point forward I dug out all my Dad's U2 albums, most notably Rattle and Hum, Actung Baby and The Joshua Tree. I listened everyday for quite sometime, and it was at this point where I promised myself that I would see them live before they called it quits.
Sure enough, I fulfilled the vow I made to myself last night at 7pm.
The show started as the Fray came on stage and put together a great set, although it seemed to drone on for moments as they lost my attention more than once. Either way, they rocked it, great guys with great voices.
Once the Fray left the stage it was a solid hour and a bit before we finally saw Bono, the Edge, Larry and Adam. To pass the time, a formation of 3 planes did dives over the 50,000 people packed in Canad Inns Stadium, each time eliciting a loud roar from the crowd.
Now, when I finally saw the 4 men that make up U2, I went nuts. They hit the stage with a roaring thunder and never let up. The most memorable time of the whole show was the last half where they played a series of older tunes such as One, With or Without You and my all time personal favourite; Walk On.
I sang every word as loud as I could, often noticing that a lady one row up from me kept giving me strange looks, but hey, I'm at U2, I could care less. Actually, I think there may have been a tear in my eye when they played Walk On, it was the perfect culmination of listening to All That You Can't Leave Behind a million times.
So for all the hype that surrounded U2 it was more than worth it. The experience of having so many people packed into a stadium and then to see the biggest band in the world walk onto the stage was worth every penny spent. I would do it again in a heart beat.
My love for Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton has grown more than you know. Such marvellous music, such a brilliant show.
("The Milky Way" from U2 360 in Winnipeg)
(Ending Out the Show in Style, from U2 360 in Winnipeg)
If you have the opportunity to see U2 on the 360 tour, or on any tour for that matter, do it! You will not regret it.
Let me leave you with a U2 lyric...
"And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong
Walk on..."
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