My Little Corner of the World

- by Karin Brown | guccifab@yahoo.com

I always appreciated music and it's only been the last
few years that I've gotten away from it. It's really
strange; I've been a fan as long as I can remember,
actually 14 years old. My first boyfriend,
god-love-him, gave me my love of music and good music
to boot! (English Beat, Madness, Dexy's, Bob Marley)
The memory of having Unforgettable Fire tickets and
not being able to go still scars me today. But, I was
there for ZooTV and Popmart. Being from the Bay Area,
you really get spoiled with good music, new music and
the memory of those two shows still are in the
forefront. It's really weird, I've grown-up with U2
and until a short while ago I thought you had to be
"in the moment" to truly appreciate a band like U2.
Am I ever wrong. Those of you who are in your late
teens and early twenties get it! It's as if it's
1984. That's the cool part. Their music has remained
as current today as it was over fifteen years ago.
And I know the battle will go on as to which sound or
album is the best, or if Bono's voice is shot.
(Personally, I feel it's awesome. I can hear his
youthfulness on UF and while it is excellent, you can
feel from their years in the music of the late,
Zooropa and now ATYCLB. Trust me, when you are closer
to Bono's age than most of your ages, you connect with
the age thing! You tend to appreciate these things,
as you get older. I don't mean this to be a 'dis, I
still can't get into the Rolling Stones, no matter how
hard I try and I know I should! It's just that you
can understand that all those years have passed and
much has gone on in all their lives. Basically, we
all age, horrible fact of life, but true! Through the
years, my husband and I have bought every cd, gone to
every concert and sometimes it was as if we were going
through the motions. "Hey, we love U2, get the cd."
But it's not until now that I've re-listened (now
that's a grammatical error if I ever saw one.) and I
am totally blown away. It was such a bold move to
make Zooropa and Pop, that when they came out, I was
like: "Where's JTtwo?" The music of the Nineties, I
feel is exceptional. It's just a shame it took me a
few years to get it. Anyway, those are my thoughts,
be kind.

P.S. - Fav u2 moment, actually 2 of them, very quick:

**ZooTV: My husband and I didn't get tickets when
they went on sale, very upset. Were out playing pool
on a Saturday afternoon and this gal @ the bar is
lamenting because she can't go. "If only I could
unload these tickets…" Bingo! Sold to us for half
price, race up to the Oakland Coliseum, wiggled our
way up to the front! "I Can't Help Falling in
Love…our wedding song.

**Popmart: LSS(longstoryshort). Waited in line,
blew our rent money for tickets 3 months away (those
were the lean years), got excellent seats, first row
second section, and when the band walked to
stage…right in front of us, Bono grabbed my hand!

u

The essay was first posted on Wire, September 28, 2000, and reprint for this page purpose by kind permission of the writer.