June 3rd, 2001. A Sunday night spent at church. But not just any church. This one had its roots grounded in hope and its walls made up of the Hartford Civic Center. Its pulpit was heart-shaped and embraced its audience, while the preacher wore black leather and shades, and whose name was only one four-letter word: Bono.
It was my first U2 concert, and it truly was the sweetest thing.
My mom, younger sister and I arrived at the venue in mid-afternoon. Judging from a girl's account of seeing the guys arrive for soundcheck, we missed them by less than an hour or so. Oh well. I knew that even if I never met them personally, in a little while I would be lost in the power of U2's music. After obtaining our tickets from the window, we wandered over to the huge stand of official U2 merchandise. A few minutes later I ended up with two T-shirts, a tour program, keychain, and a whole lot less cash.
We ate dinner at the Wendy's inside the building, and then waited for the gates to open. Even though I know it really wasn't very long, it felt like an eternity of waiting. And then suddenly we were let in! Our seats were in the upper section, row s, so we made our way over there. However, before we got settled in our seats we stopped to pause in awe of the beautiful heart-shaped catwalk, and snap a few quick pictures of the empty stage. After arriving at our seats, even though we were fairly high up I could not help but think that this was better than what I had expected. We had only secured tickets from Ticketmaster.com the day before, so I felt lucky just to be in the building.
P.J. Harvey was the opening act. Although not in any way a poor performance, something felt lacking. Whether it was the acoustics or a lack of energy from the band, I am not sure. The crowd seemed unable to connect with them. Finally, that set was over, and we all anxiously anticipated U2's arrival to the stage. Music played over the sound system, as people wandered in to find their seats or returned from a trip to find food and beer.
Then, there they were! Single-file, Edge, Larry, Adam, and Bono walked on stage to the most thunderous applause I have ever heard in my life. Obviously, A LOT of people had finally found what they were looking for, myself included.
I was surprised to find the houselights on, even when Bono began singing the first few lines of "Elevation." The lights stayed like this through a good portion of the song, then dramatically dimmed at a high point of it. I realized then that this light effect was incredibly effective, because right from the start the audience was given the feeling of being connected with the band. We were all one family that night. One family at a night at church.
Another memorable moment came during "Stay (Faraway, So Close)." Bono motioned for a girl to be brought up. A young woman stepped up, and embraced Bono. They stayed like that for a long while, the girl with her arms wrapped tightly around Bono's middle, and him singing just over her head. Her smile was huge, and I don't think she wanted to ever let go. I don't blame her. To stand there onstage with Bono singing to you...well, that has got to beat just about any other experience.
