The Unforgettable Fire — The 80s were my rebel years!
By: Lj Ryan
Tags: Lifestyle, Growing Up, Life Lessons, U2, Music

Photo courtesy of PH Romao on UnSplash

The Unforgettable Fire — The 80s were my rebel years!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little nostalgic trip down memory lane and my first encounters with a band called U2. My life in the seventies was slightly different to those entering their teens, but I loved and appreciated the freedom and trust provided by my Dad.

The eighties were different for me too, or do I just think that? They were my rebel years, lets put it this way, black was my favorite color to wear, arguing with my parents was a common pastime and a few jaunts working abroad was a regular summer habit.

As U2 evolved from a post-punk band of the late seventies to commercially viable rock demi-Gods in the eighties, I too grew from a rebellious teenager to a married woman in her early twenties, at the end of the 80s decade.

As I wrote about my second U2 concert in the RDS Main Hall, we’ll move on to my next encounter and their first concert in the “hallowed” grounds of Croke Park, Dublin. I actually can’t believe it was 35 years ago!

U2 was becoming one of the few bands to show interest in making great albums as well as hit singles. There were many bands out there that produced an album with say one or two hit songs, but with U2 each song on their albums released that decade, was guaranteed a hit if they chose to release it. Not many bands could keep up.

In Croke Park that sunny June day, the support acts included REM — yes, REM were U2’s support act and attempting to break Europe.

I decided early on to stand back at the lighting/sound stand (unsure of the technical name) which was based in the centre of the pitch. As I was of short stature, only 5’5”, and unable to wear heels on the grass pitch, I knew this crowd of 57,000 was bigger than any concert I was lucky enough to attend. So, I decided the stand would be safer, providing a clear view of the stage. My friends decided to wander around for a better view, but I was happy with my find. Little did I know that my future husband was somewhere in that crowd too, maybe I should’ve wandered around the pitch more…

As the support acts finished you could feel the atmosphere building, there was no such thing as recording the concert on your smartphone, etc. You actually needed to watch the stage and listen — in the early days of U2 concerts, there were no large screens either so the stage contained all the action.

Rolling Stone called U2 the “Band of the 80s” just a month or so previous, the crowd knew they going to watch something special, their band was home and in the hallowed grounds of the GAA — the headquarters of our national sport. I’m unsure if Larry played with the Artane Boys Band there, as a young boy he was a member. But I know it was his preference to play in those grounds for their first, major concert in Ireland, returning to their hometown as they rose to fame and success on the world stage.

Once U2 arrived on stage, the roar of the crowd for their opening song 11 O’Clock Tick Tock was deafening, the sway of the crowd before me, enthralling. “And the boys and girls collide to the music in my ear”, these lyrics from the song rang true as I watched the crowd. Everyone was familiar with the lyrics — I watched the electrifying atmosphere continue to rise as the crowd waved from side to side and moved closer to me. The wave spread quickly and suddenly I was caught with the steel barrier sticking into my back.

It was scary and I’d say that emotion was written all over my face. I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned my head to be greeted with strong arms lifting me across the barriers. The kind security guard just smiled and said “stay there until it’s calmed down a bit.” I wasn’t going to argue the point with him as he walked away.

But the story doesn’t end there — as I enjoyed the song from the safety of my new little haven, I kept hearing a man shouting a name. I turned to see where his voice was coming from, I didn’t see anything unusual but could still hear a loud, panicked voice screaming someone’s name. So, I walked around the stand to the back section, to my horror there was a second security guy struggling to keep one of the barriers up. Where he got the strength from is beyond me!

I ran back looking for my rescuer to find him in the opposite corner getting people to stop pushing against the barrier. I grabbed him, pointing to where his colleague was, of course he didn’t understand but then I screamed, “The barrier is coming down!” We both ran around the stand, by then another guy from the crowd was helping and the three of them soon got the barrier back in place.

It looked extreme as there were still people who couldn’t find their balance to get up, but the three guys got there, ensuring the barrier was now properly secured to the others.

By the time, everything was sorted and I was back in my little corner, U2 were finishing their third song “Seconds” — I couldn’t believe such time had passed, missing part of the first and the full second song, the whole incident felt like seconds.

The crowd soon settled and the remainder of the concert, thankfully, was uneventful. I could enjoy and sing along with our homecoming heroes U2. Bono was enthralling, The Edge — well what can I say, each time I heard his guitar his growth in his play just made me want to try to learn guitar (again!) and maybe just achieve the ability to play their music. That never happened — Ahh well, it took my teen son’s musical ability to garner that interest again.

It would take a few more years before I would experience U2 live in concert again — marriage, children and a few house moves tended to get in the way. It was how I chose to live my life.

Throughout the nineties, I missed a lot of concerts, getting only to see my favorite bands on video or live concerts on TV. But I didn’t mind, it was the way of life and my growing family. The one steadfast was my parent’s house on a certain Cedarwood Road, but that’s another story to be told…

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