A Wild Bono Appears!

Happy new year to all my watchers!

Had this shot laying around in my scraps for quite a while, so why not upload it? Saw U2 live in Cologne thanks to RHCP-Cream being a hero and snatching some tickets for us more than a year ago. They were sold out almost instantaneously, with the website being constantly overloaded, but somehow, she still managed to get some. Being there nice and early, we were able to secure good places right in front of the stage and near the walkway that connected the two stages. No cameras with detachable lenses were permitted, so this lousy phone pic is the best I have to offer.

If you know me, you know I'm not a concert guy at all. But the chance of seeing my fave band up close and for real was something I wouldn't want to miss. And indeed, it was well worth it. Seeing some songs, including the "classic" ones from the late 80s, being performed live, is a truly unforgettable experience. There were some boring parts as well, with the musicians disappearing behind a large projection screen (that's not what I came here for), but that was just for one or two songs perhaps. All the rest was marvelous. And it was refreshing to see an audience made up of completely normal people like me. The first concert I ever went to was Die Ärzte performing in Berlin, and the audience was quite... "szenentypisch", aka lots of rude punks, and I didn't think about bringing ear plugs, not knowing that concerts were all about turning the volume way too high. Now though, I came prepared, and my hearing will thank me in the long term. Yay!