I Will Follow

In 1987 tweens were given a choice a decision that would affect them for the rest of their lives. They could choose New Kids on the Block's "The Right Stuff" or U2's "The Joshua Tree." Last night, 14 years later, I confirmed what I suspected all along: I chose wisely

Last night I spent my 37th birthday screaming just like I did when I was 12. U2 gave one of the best concerts I have seen and I've seen a few...

Bono was on fire. No sign of a broken back as he leapt around the stage. He reinvented his own songs, like when he had Mark Kelly the Astronaut sing Beautiful Day FROM SPACE, or dedicated his obscure October song "Rejoice" to Ang Sung Su Kyi and then moving seamlessly into "Walk On," which he wrote for her to or when he paused and had the crowd sing almost all of PRIDE In the Name of Love. Or when they rededicated Sunday Bloody Sunday to the Arab Spring. Edge played new riffs for old songs like I Will Follow and nailed the falsetto in Mysterious Ways. Larry drummed standing up and I'm fairly certain I saw Adam having a blast!

Around me I noticed the Tweens and frat boys of yesteryear rocking out like me remembering their great choice.

There were other U2 nerds near me which always makes me excited, especially to see someone singing obscure lyrics along with me... The girl next to me and I were among the select few helping Bono sing the Pavarotte lines of Miss Sarejevo. Of course when I saw the tattoo of Bono lyrics on her arm I got competitive. But then I reassured myself that I was clearly the bigger fan, because I have seen them several times in Ireland AND I have Irish citizenship more or less because of Bono and the boys.

In front of me was a dad rocking out with his tweens who started out embarrassed but then Bono got to them too.

As they wound down and said their goodbyes I was surprised that Bono kept saying how great it was to have performed and thanked the audience profusely. I got a sense that after the broken back scare he's realized just how rare and special this little band called U2 is.

And as I scurried out of the stadium with 70000 of my closest friends I thought how grateful I am that I chose heroes that have lasted a life time.