Joshua Tree at US Bank Stadium?

This past Friday night I surprised my wife, Amy, by taking her to hear U-2 perform at US Bank Stadium.  I had shared with her that I was going to take her on a secret adventure for her birthday, which was a day earlier.

I waited to purchase the tickets all week, but finally on Friday I pulled the trigger.  Buying tickets on-line felt like gambling.  I knew the prices were going down, but how long could I wait?  If I could have stomached waiting until Friday evening I could have saved another twenty percent.

The first time I listened to Joshua Tree was on a drive out west.  A confluence of events set me up to fall in love with the music.  Wide open spaces, spiritual messages that fit my views, and long guitar riffs by Beck—it felt like heaven.  Driving for days and listening to the music over and over and over cemented the lyrics in my mind.

The downloaded tickets said the concert started at 7:30, so like proper Minnesotans we were in our seats and ready to go.  But as inexperienced concert goers we didn’t realize we had a long wait to hear the main attraction.  Beck started out the concert.  I couldn’t understand a word the band shared.  I told Amy that I needed the lyrics to be projected.  When Beck finished we waited—and waited—and waited.  Poetry was flashed on the screen in back of the stage.  I liked reading the poems the first five times.  By the 20^th I was mindlessly using my phone.

Finally Larry Mullen walked down the stage, then the Edge, and the Bono and Adam Clayton.  Soon we were all singing “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”  They played their first set of songs on a small stage without any video.  They didn’t need any extra help.  The songs and the music and the singing lifted me back to that drive out west.

When the video choreography started I was wowed.  Scenes of the desert and more wide open spaces.  It felt universal.

The sound was horrible for Beck; slightly better for U-2.  It would be hard for me to go back to US Bank Stadium for a concert.  I have walked through the doors of US Bank Stadium twice—once to watch the Vikings and once to watch the Blaine Bengals.  The stadium worked for me when I watched football.  I went to my seat and cheered.  As I've written before the stadium works differently than Target Field.  At US Bank Stadium the experience works best when I look at the huge windows and take in the sky.

But to spend hundreds of dollars to hear an iconic band and not enjoy a crystal clear sound?  No.  Why not Target Field or TCF Bank Stadium? 

Plenty of reviews have been written about the concert.  And they are worth reading.

Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/u2-inspires-nostalgia-and-excitement-at-the-same-time/443373193/#1

City Pages http://www.citypages.com/music/u2-celebrates-pride-and-prince-at-the-joshua-tree-revival/443453823

Pioneer Press http://www.twincities.com/2017/09/08/u2-revisits-the-joshua-tree-and-shines-brighter-than-the-venue-u-s-bank-stadium/

And plenty of conversations about the sound at US Bank Stadium http://m.startribune.com/u2-fans-sound-off-on-u-s-bank-stadium-s-troubled-acoustics/443645123/?section=%2F’

For me the symbol of the night was the Joshua Tree.  The shape of the tree reminded the Mormons of when Joshua lifted up his hands in prayer.  Whatever our view of God, U-2 connects us to something deeper and far beyond ourselves.  And despite the cost and the venue having that moment with Amy was beautiful.