by Chad Crawford

I was 17 years old and a senior in high school when U2 made its only stop ever in Sacramento in 1992. I remember the whole experience very vividly. When tickets were rumored to go on sale at 10am a few weeks before the concert, my friends and I arrived to camp out to buy tickets at 4am, and we were only fifth in line! There were die-hards who had been there all night in sleeping bags and we weren’t even guaranteed ticket sales that day! One of my friends backed up her Ford Bronco and we flipped down the tailgate and just had an awesome party waiting in line. Around 8am, someone had a radio on and the DJ announced that tickets for U2 at Arco Arena were going on sale that day and everybody in line cheered! Needless to say, the moments leading up to the actual purchase of tickets were nerve wracking! But my friends and I all got great tickets in the lower level and we were very excited.

At the concert I remember the opening act Pixies playing for about a half hour and they weren’t very memorable. Like myself, I think this was the first U2 show for most of the crowd and they didn’t really care who played in front of them, they just wanted to see U2.

When U2 finally came out and opened with Zoo Station the crowd went wild and everybody stood up and danced in their seats for the entire concert! One of the best songs they played live was “The Fly.” I wasn’t a big fan of that song when it first came out, but after seeing them play it live, I thought it just rocked! It sounded way better live than on the CD. Also, portions of the concert were being videotaped and at the time I didn’t know why. I soon found out a few days later on Mon., April 20, when the performance of “Even Better Than The Real Thing” was shown to the sold out crowd at Wembley Stadium in London for the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert. That was so awesome to say, “I was at that concert!” Portions of the Oakland show were taped as well, but it was the Sacramento show that was shown on live TV, at Wembley, and around the world!

Another song highlight for me was when Bono came back out for encores in his gold suit and played my all-time favorite song ever, With Or Without You. I remembered that song being played tight and to perfection. I know all is right in the world now that I have seen that song performed live.

All in all it was a great show and experience for me, and I will remember it forever. The music critic from our local paper, The Sacramento Bee, trashed this performance by U2. I believed, as do many others that were there, that he was very, very wrong in his review. Since this show was near the end of the 1st leg, there was a feeling from U2 that this was just another show and they were sometimes going through the motions. For me, a performance by U2 just going through the motions is still far superior than the best performances of other bands. The songs were played great, the crowd was excited, and the music was loud like a rock concert should be, it was awesome.

(Some corrections to the set-list: I am 100% certain that they played “Desire” at the show. I remember it being played very vividly. The only song I can’t remember being played on your set-list is “All I Want Is You.” I don’t recall it being played, but I’m not 100% sure.)

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