by Jon Coutts

This was the first concert I ever attended, period. It was also the first I'd heard of U2 other than what a person picks up randomly here and there. It was literally a coming of age for me.

My friend got us floor seats and we stood on our chairs the entire show, craning our necks to take in all that was going on. The show was literally a bombardment of sight and sound. You could hardly take it all in. And the songs---every last one of them---were epic.

I distinctly remember being beside myself with anticipation when Zoo Station kicked it off with its wall of sound. This only escalated as they made their way through Achtung Baby and I was enraptured when it unfolded into New Year's Day (which has since and forever been my favourite U2 song). This all before they reached the classics and the encore.

By the end we were all drenched with sweat and overcome by ears-ringing and eyes-bedazzled. I got in a minor car accident on the way home from not paying attention. It was a fitting end to the evening after having watched those little German cars swinging from the rafters into each other all night.

I also recall that Flava Flav was not allowed into Canada for the Public Enemy concert, and that Bjork spent most of the Sugar Cubes show yelling at the half empty BC Place floor crowd for not standing and getting into the music. I remember being pretty into it, but laughed about how in our face she was.

It was a night I'll never forget. When the band ended with "Can't Help Falling in Love" they must have known that by singing along many of us were declaring how WE felt about THEM. Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam certainly had us in the palm of their hands.

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