by Chris Motley

I'm afraid this won't be the most detailed review you've ever read, but I just found this website, and saw this show listed. I was at this show, years ago, on my 17th birthday and it was incredible. At the time all my friends were into Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne and the like and I had started finding punk. I had discovered the Sex Pistols and The Pretenders first album and had taken notice of a group that was hitting the radio at the time. The songs New Year's Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday forced me to go out and buy War. What a great record, what a great band.
For my 17th birthday, my mom bought tickets for the show at the Bronco Bowl. She came with me because she really liked the record as well (I have a really cool mom). What we saw that night was truly groundshaking at the time. The honesty, integrity, and energy of U2 was undeniable. The moments I remember the most were when Bono pulled a shy, slightly overweight girl out of the audience, sat her down on a monitor, and sang to her. She was no model, no groupie, just some very lucky fan and he really made her night. Secondly, when Bono came out into the audience with the white flag, not with a flank of body guards into the first couple of rows, he came all the way around the back balcony (where we were seated), and I got to shake his hand, and became a fan for life. Thirdly, and most vividly, after an intense show filled with passion, power, and energy, they finished with 40. After a slew of concerts from when I was 13 years old (Kiss 1979) up to that moment in the Bronco Bowl, concerts had just been concerts. As I sat there in my seat joining in with "How long, to sing this song" with 3000 other people, the hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up, an enormous welling up of emotion was rising inside, and I felt like I was really part of something truly special. When Larry walked off the stage and the crowd kept chanting, the power of the moment was overwhelming.
U2 changed my world that night. I lost more and more interest in the classic rock and metal of high school and dove head first into a world of new, truly "alternative" music. Thank you, U2.

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