U2 360, Pretty Vacant and The Pastor's Daughter

“Hello, Hello!” Bono sang.
“Hola!” The crowd roared back.
“I’m at a place called Vertigo!”
“Donde esta?” [Where is it?]

Events don’t come any bigger than the U2 360 concert at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl! It was for me the perfect way to erase the bitterness of the Los Angeles Dodgers being eliminated from the playoffs the previous Wednesday…

My pastor had an extra ticket to last night’s performance, but paying him $60 for the ticket was just the start! It cost $20 to park at Pasadena City College, five dollars to take the shuttle to the Rose Bowl, five dollars for a bottle of water (I bought three) and $40 for a concert t-shirt. I didn’t buy a shirt. I didn’t like any of the designs U2 offered, at least not for the price.

There was a line for parking, a line to get inside the Rose Bowl, a line for refreshments, basically a line for everything. My pastor peppering me with comments in line didn’t help: this line’s going nowhere/this can’t be the right way/did Bono have to go through this/which gate do we enter? For a man of faith, he has a surprising inability to suspend his disbelief!

I thought he asked me to accompany him and his 17-year-old daughter because of my ease with big events and crowds (such as San Diego’s Comic Con or the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in London), but apparently he invited me simply to annoy me. I wanted to say: Man up, grow a spine and deal with it! However, I kept my mouth shut. It’s like this all the time at the house, the pastor’s daughter (hereafter referred to as TPD) said apologetically…

Leaving my pastor to guard the seats, it was in line to buy water that I got my first surprise of the evening. That’s when TPD said she read my Pretty Vacant comic. She liked the plasticized-women-as-mannequin-molds saga. Wow, I thought while we walked back to our seats. I’m always happy that other people can enjoy my stories -- even people I wouldn’t expect!

The multi-cultural Hip Hop group Black Eyed Peas were the opening act, and during this set my second surprise of the night occurred. Somewhere between "Where’s The Love?" and "I Gotta Feeling", Slash (formerly of Guns N’ Roses) came out and played lead guitar to the GnR rock classic "Sweet Child O’ Mine", with Fergie singing lead! It was a fun set! I especially liked Black Eyed Peas frontman will i am mentioning various towns and places in the Los Angeles area: La Cresenta, Montebello, East L.A., etc., but points off for not mentioning Hacienda Heights, my – and Fergie’s – childhood town!

U2 finally came on a little after 9 pm and the two and a half hour show didn’t disappoint. Even though most of the songs they performed came off their latest cd No Line On The Horizon (including the first three of the concert), they ran through a very good sample of their past hits, keeping the stadium crowd riveted.

My final surprise of the night came during the encore! In between "One" and "Where The Streets Have No Name", U2 performed the Christian hymn "Amazing Grace"! U2’s mission of bringing people together through music was highly successful last night, with a pastor, comic book creator/accounting analyst, and a student with theatre aspirations in attendance with other more interesting people, complete with a Hispanic gentleman with a big posterior – but that’s a story I’ll save for another day!

And at multi-generational shows such as U2’s, one can impart wisdom to the next generation. When TPD brings her friends and family to a future concert, I do hope she keeps water and cough drops handy, knowing the concert never, ever ends until the stadium lights turn back on!