theres three songs in the 80s i totally remember hearing the first time they debuted on the radio

the police’s “every breath you take”, van halen’s “jump”

and one night as i was driving west on the 10 and then south down the 405

one of those great deep throated LA FM radio jocks said

we’ve got something very special to play for you now

it’s a brand new song from u2’s forthcoming record,  “joshua tree”

it’s a little different than you might expect

it’s called, with or without you.

and that bass rolled in and i was driving a 76 caddy and i didnt have much money

but what i had i put into the stereo and speakers of that baby

which is what you do when youre 20.

and that night, right away, that song was perfect

subtle, haunting, tribal,

right on the money.

tonight u2 doled out one hit after another and still had a few left in their pocket when the assault was over.

tonights centerpiece was their best selling album of a run that started in the late 70s(!). they played a few pre-joshua tree hits and then the Grammy winning album in its entirety and the memories and feels rushed back.

how do you start an album with the one two punch of the streets have no name and i still havent found what im looking for?

in fact, how dare you.

it was a beautiful night. 75 degrees or so. and the images on the giant, wide screen, showed off the irish band’s love of america, specifically the west, and namely california.

the power of Fox News has convinced the nation that the West is out of touch with main street usa but U2 reminds us that in the 80s – and even today – the West is where dreams come true

ive been to a hand full of these full album spectacles and whats interesting is they never know what to do after the record is over.

as fantastic as u2 is, they didnt know either.

they slapped together some decent songs, and compelling video

people got to clap for Michelle Obama, Pussy Riot and Hillary Clinton

but it held little magic once the heart of the show was over.

which was fine.