by Eric

I was introduced to U2 in March of 1983 when I got the War album and was blown away by the lyrics and music. Then came the live EP "Under a Blood Red Sky" followed by the video tape of the concert from Red Rocks.

I was so pumped to see this band that when tickets went on sale I dialed the rotary phone (long distance) for 45 minutes strait before connecting. Well the trip to Minneapolis was an adventure but we finally arrived at the Minneapolis Auditorium. After the Red Rockers closed their set with their top-40 hit "China", the crowd was ready to go. U2 came on stage under very dark and ethereal background music that sounded like the Edge's experimentation he did while they made the album at Slane castle. They kicked off the show with Eleven O'Clock Tic Tock which was awesome as that is one of my all-time favorite songs.

The show was really high-energy and I stayed on my feet for the whole thing. During Bad, Bono picked up one of the stage spot lights and shined it through the crowd, starting with our side of the area (left side about 20 rows up near the front). Visible was the many "peace" signs people held up. During the encore, Bono asked for someone from the crowd to come on stage and play a few chords to Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door" but it took a few tries before he found someone who could actually play the guitar!. The concert closed out with 40 and as they left
the stage, "Harry's Game" by Clannad came.

Little did I know this was to start a life-long love affair with the band. Thanks for the inspiration.

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