by Justin Burke

I had waited too long to see U2 once again. They were my first concert and in the time between seeing them at JFK in 1987 and the release of Actung Baby, I had worked myself into a U2 freny that starved me for more live shows. Waiting four years was hard. This is probably why I paid some inscrupulous scalper $80 for seats. I simply had to be there. When the concert actually rolled around, it was during Spring Break of my Freshamn Year in college and I had managed to contract a rather severe case of strep throat that had me hallucinating in my girlfriend's dorm room in New Paltz, NY the night before the show. Worried that I wouldn't make it to the show, I tried to "suck it up" as best as possible and endured the pain (with the help of major doses of Tylenol). I was hurtin' and hurtin' bad. My girlfriend's mom came and picked us up in NY and drove us back to Philly where we met up with our fellow concert goers and friends and were off to the show before I knew it. Of course it was miserable and raining and I had a fever so high it seemed like the rain-drops turned to steam the minute they hit my head.
The show was magnificant. The staging so uniquie and clever and fantatsic. Chosing the Pixies to open was also like a dream come true. The whole gestalt of the night reeked of magic. It was a constant stream of surpirse for me. I was entertained, yes, but I was also forced to think about TV, the media and rock and roll. "The Boys" were making a big point here and I am glad that I was there to recive it. Unfortunatly, I was unable to stand for most of the show as I was simply to sick and at some point the people surrounding me decided that I would make a better seat cushion than a human being as they stood right in front of me (no small feat considering the small asiles) and completly blocked my veiw of the latter part of the show. It amazes me how inconsiderate people can be at concerts and I've been to more than 100. I had ot leave before the encores as I was feeling rather putrid, but I still felt that I got my $80's worth.

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