This kids and I went to see a U2 concert at the Oakland Coliseum last night. You might wonder why I would take my kids to such an event. It wasn't really the plan when I purchased the tickets almost two years ago (Bono injured his back and they had to reschedule the tour). Life has changed a lot in that time. Still, I am glad I got to share the experience with my children, and I think it will be a great memory for them.
The evening started out with a long , rush-hour drive to Oakland. Traffic was bad, and the longer we had to be in the car the more we were all getting on each other's nerves. Finally, about 2 miles from the Coliseum exit I yelled "ENOUGH!" in response to the alternating teasing and whining happening in the back seat. I ordered silence until I parked the car in the lot ($40.00 to park, and yes we could have taken BART, but that would have required a change of trains in San Francisco and who wants to take BART at midnight, when the concert was expected to be over?). Once we got out of the car, moods improved considerably.
There was so much to look at. From the people filling the stadium to the cameras, cables and lights. Then there was "The Claw" -- a space ship looking crab shaped structure built over the stage. In the daylight, it was a little hard to imagine how it would look during the show. It reminded me of flying into LAX.
There were two opening acts. First a local band called MoonAlice (grey-haired, Deadhead style group with good musical ability but lacking strong lead vocals.) They made nice background music for the time when people were milling around and finding their seats, or filling in the field. Then Lenny Kravitz came out, with a really great trumpet player who made his more familiar hits seem fresh. He was able to engage the crowd and was fun to watch.
It took 30 minutes to set up for "the boys" (my nickname for my favorite band, from when I first liked them in high school in the early '80s). The kids were busy eating pizza and french fries and making "the wave" with the crowd. I was getting impatient. The last time I saw them was ten years ago. Would they live up to my expectations?
Finally the stadium lights went dark, "the Claw" was lit with bright blue lights and the show began. It was so exciting we stood for the first 45 minutes, singing along and dancing. At first the kids seemed embarrassed at how I was bopping around, but I guess they looked around us at the other 40-something fans and figured it was ok. After all, none of their friends would see me.
One unexpected highlight was the introduction of the song , "Beautiful Day" by Captain Mark Kelly, the astronaut whose wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona is still recovering from a nearly-fatal shooting. It was filmed as he traveled in the last Space Shuttle flight, and his floating around on the big screen over the stage, with the words floating too, was pretty cool.
As is usual for U2 there were plenty of socially conscious messages like promotion of Amnesty International with a display of lanterns. There was even a message from Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was recently freed from house arrest after almost 20 years and who Bono wrote the song "Walk On" for. This all made me feel like I was exposing the kids to something more important and global than just a rock concert.
But I was still there to hear Bono sing, watch him handle the microphone and swagger for the crowd. Yes, it was exciting to be there, to be part of all that energy and noise. I felt more "present" than I ever have at a concert (maybe the fact that I was not drinking beer like most of the fans around us or that I was there with the kids instead of my spouse). Whatever it was, I think it was a most memorable concert and I hope it will be for the kids too.
We left during the encore, just to get out of the parking lot before the crowd. Heads nodded on the way home. I listened to KFOG radio for the drive, as they played U2 songs in honor of the concert. My feet hurt and I was tired, but it was a good tired.
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