It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of my first U2 show. Good God, I’m old. Way way back in the mists of time, a small group of friends drove from CMU to the once and soon-to-be beautiful Fox Theater (not yet fully renovated at the time, I mean) in Detroit. U2’s appearance was part of the first leg of their Unforgettable Fire tour. The Waterboys opened the show. U2’s crowd was so enthusiastic that their constant jumping and hopping had the balcony visibly bouncing, threatening to send it balcony crashing down.
Carter Alan, in his book Outside It’s America (which unfortunately I can’t find now or else I’d quote directly from it), talks about how the band were so intimidated by the rowdy crowd that they feared for their safety and eschewed the customary practice of going out and meeting the fans after the show. What Mr Alan does not add is that the band did go out and meet fans after the show. And I’ve got the autographs to prove it.
Adam appeared first, showing up on the sidewalk outside the venue, with his back against an old station wagon parked at the curb. He was wearing a suit jacket and holding a small cordial of wine. Someone asked him where The Edge was at, and with a dramatic pause he replied drolly “The Edge…is in his underpants.”
After The Edge showed up, he was swamped by fans. I waited my chance for an autograph, listening to some other kid enthuse about The Edge’s unique guitar style. Someone else called out to ask if he was wearing any underwear. Even though he must have had no idea what prompted such a question being asked, The Edge replied calmly “I am, but I’m not prepared to prove it.”
I’ll keep my Bono story to myself. Larry dashed straight onto the bus, but we still managed to get some stuff signed by passing it on to the bus driver.
Here are a couple keepsakes from that night…
Here are a few of my surviving photographs Unfortunately I took too many concert photos and ran out of film before the end of the show, so I have no photographs from when we met the band. You’ll have to excuse the poor framing; I was holding the camera over my head.