Regrets...

I've had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.

(thank you, Frank Sinatra)


I truly have very few regrets in my life, but every now and then, I'm reminded of one of my biggest. And it happened in 1987. And every time Rattle & Hum is on TV, like it is right now, I feel that twinge again. And get a little bitter that I wasn't grown enough to make a decision and change a plane ticket. When you're in college, and your parents are paying, you don't really have a lot of options. This is definitely one thing I would go back and have a do-over for.


U2 had been touring the US in support of their Joshua Tree album. The tour began at ASU in April of 1987, and I'm not sure what happened, but I was not able to see either of the two shows...right there on my campus. So wrong. So so wrong. Later that year, after the tour had officially ended, the boys showed up in Tempe again, offering $5 tickets to fill Sun Devil Stadium on two different nights. These nights started the day AFTER I was scheduled to fly home for Christmas break. Bitter, party of one.


Seriously. $5. To see U2. And I couldn't go. I still can't believe it.


The night before I flew home, a few friends and I strolled over to the stadium from our dorm rooms in PV East (oh, the memories that just came flooding back!). It was raining, and we listened to the band rehearse for an hour or so. We couldn't see them as we were standing outside, but we definitely heard them. That was pretty cool, but all very bittersweet.


I'll never forget the feeling I had seeing Rattle & Hum on the big screen at Cine Capri in Phoenix. When the Sun Devil Stadium section started, and it was the first part in color, I thought the theater might lose its collective mind. It was as loud as being at a concert as we all went a little crazy seeing our school in living color on the big screen. Oh yeah, the U2 concert part was cool too. It still gives me chills when that part of the documentary starts...whether I'm watching on DVD or on TV. And every time, I feel that regret all over again.


When the album came out shortly after, and I opened the cover, I actually knew the guy holding one half of the giant U2 cutouts. If you have the vinyl, you know what I'm talking about. I couldn't believe it. I've always wondered what happened to that guy...no idea what his name was now. Bill? Bob? I don't think the photo was in the CD art, just the vinyl. Crazy.


It's one of my favorite U2 albums, and I watch the documentary every time I happen to catch it on TV...and sometimes, on purpose, when I put in the DVD.


I've seen U2 three times since then, and plan to see them again in the fall. They are amazing live, but nothing will ever make up for me missing them that year.


Singing ha-la-la-la-de-day...ha-la-la-la-de-day...ha-la-la-de-day...