me2

Last time U2 came to South Africa was my final year at Varsity.

I was already with my now husband (we're nerdy like that) and as broke students, just post the long summer holidays, we'd resigned ourselves to not being able to afford tickets and tried valiantly to stop up our ears every time someone started gushing about how excited they were ...

3 days before the band was due to play in Cape Town I got a call at my Mum's house (pre- mobile phones), there was an Aussie on the line. He was high up in the Lighting crew (ha ha I'm so funny) and knew my cousin in Melbourne. She'd given him my number and he was phoning to tell me he'd left 6 GOLDEN CIRCLE (that's good, very very good) tickets at the reception desk of the hotel he was staying in. For me.

Gobsmacked.

Now-Husband, my brothers, their squeezes and I went along and had the time of our lives - all the sweeter for being so unexpected, and so thoughtfully arranged by both my cousin (thank you again girl!) and her friend, who could just as easily have decided it was too much bother to get in contact with little ole me on the southern-most tip of Africa.

I've not seen many live international acts. SA is a long way to come for most of them and I confess my taste in music is not that, um ... current.
But those that I've seen have for the most part been totally and utterly amazing (the exception was Lenny Kravitz, we worked as ushers and so got freebies for that one thank god 'cos he was dismal) and all of the experiences have had an added component of sentimental value.

Paul Simon was the first. He came as soon as the UN cultural boycott was lifted against SA in 1992. He got some flak, many people thought it too soon to start celebrating democracy, but as a starry-eyed teenager I were thrilled and having been raised on his music, emotionally overwhelmed.

Sting, Midnight Oil, Burning Spear, Snoop (yup, as in Doggy Dog [there's a whole other story to this one 'cos let me tell you no one was more surprised than I to discover that the man is sex-y!]) were all seen with some of my best girl friends in the world.
Girl friends who, while they might not necessarily let me sit on their shoulders to get a better view, can talk crap endlessly during the inevitable live concert waiting, can comment on the passing fashions at will, are always happy to queue for the loo together and never too shy to jump up and down and scream 'ohmygodIloveyouSnoopyoudirtydog' etc.

And now, tomorrow night (tomorrow night!), U2 again.

U2 again and one of my best girl friends again and big concert stadium fun again and missing bedtime/bath time again and, and, and ... the excitement, it overwhelms me.