My Three Thoughts - U2 at The Sphere
The Las Vegas Super Bowl Week gave us an amazing concert opportunity
On Wednesday we had the opportunity we couldn’t believe. The chance to see U2 – a band that has meant more to me than maybe any band – live at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
It is hard to say which portion of that experience I was looking forward to more.
On one hand, you have U2. The first CD I bought as a 14-year old who was experiencing music on my own terms as 14-year olds will was The Joshua Tree. To suggest I listened to it a million times sounds about right. The first major concert I attended was U2 on September 23, 1992 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, to see the Zoo TV tour (with special guest Public Enemy). Admittedly, I have expanded my musical palate quite a bit over time and there are years where we grow apart, but over my 51 years of life, I can safely say the top spot in my head and heart for any band is reserved for these boys from Ireland. We have all sort of grown old together.
And on the other hand, you have this technological marvel venue that has just popped on the scene as the potential future of live shows. The Sphere would have been a centerpiece field trip to just tour it and see it’s structure and design, but to experience my favorite band paired with a venue I wasn’t sure I would ever experience seemed too good to be true. Then, to have it on a “work trip” and on an available night where we could secure tickets (good ones!) and see it happen in front of us? I am thinking I might have won the lottery again.
Well, I have a thousand thoughts and a few dozen photos and videos, but in the interest of time, let me just hit the highlights here.
These, like I did when I wrote up the Pearl Jam show last September, will have to pass as my Three Thoughts:
– “I CAN’T STOP SMILING!” – Me, talking to Craig Miller who was on my left for this concert.
We all live lives where the mundane often wins. The routines and the duties and the responsibilities of making sure we check all of the boxes on the to-do list of each day/week/year to stay an employee in good standing, a husband and father of reasonably-high regard, and a guy who can still see his feet and not let the body get too far off the rails in the wrong direction as the metabolism slows down.
So, when you have a chance to just buy a night where you feel nothing but pure joy and happiness, I highly recommend it.