Seriously.

Hehe. So, Thursday was probably the happiest day of my life so far, straight up. Me, fiance and little sister went up to Sheffield to see U2 in concert.

(Possibly a little bit of history should interject here. This has been the number one aim on my wishlist for near on half my entire life. Younger squibling, having shared a bedroom with me as a teenager, kinda got forced into sharing my taste in music(!) and fiance wasn't difficult to entice. Hence, both were quite keen on the night too. XD)

Pre-concert was actually really fun, even before we got to Sheffield. Encountered a bunch of people who were also headed to the concert on the train from Sheffield, and even more people that I later realised were going too when I saw them at the stadium. I love little communal coincidences like that.

We arrived about two hours before the gates even opened, and I've never been so happy to waste time standing around in my life. We got to hear the band warm up. Mind you, I think you could probably hear that, and the whole concert, throughout most of Sheffield. There's something incredibly fun about being around several thousands other people also hyperactive about the prospect of things to come. Not least of all because I get to engage in one of my favourite activities, talking to random people. Met some lovely women who had come all the way from Canada and had only that morning been subjected to that most revolting of British foods, black pudding. Not one you'd ever find me eating. @_@

At this point, my little squibling deserves a huge thank you for buying me squajillions of presents including a programme and a t-shirt. XD

Anyway, some time later, we got the support acts, The Hours and Elbow. Hadn't heard of The Hours before, but they were pretty good. Must look up some of their songs actually. Elbow were kickass, not least of all when we were invited to provide the "woooahOOOOOooooahOOOOOOOOO" for "Grounds for Divorce". You know which bit I mean. XD And competitive wooahing between ends of the stadium was also incredibly amusing. Might I add that our end, with the less people, were declared winners and asked by Elbow's frontman to be given a round of applause. That was fun. XD

I did spend the next 45 minutes after Elbow's set feeling entirely sick with excitement about the main act coming on. It really wasn't helped by just how much awesome fun errupted in the stadium when a spontaneous Mexican wave broke out for the last ten minutes or so. 50,000 people working together to create epic-scale fun is an experience everyone should have. Jumping up and whooping every time it came round to us, cheering and clapping when the wave reached the other side of the stadium. (Credit, also, at this point, to whoever decided all the music they'd play while we were waiting would be songs by bands from Sheffield. That was cool. XD)

The stage, incidentally, was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. Sort of like a four-legged War of the Worlds Tripod spaceship with a massive, tubular, extendable screen in the middle. Absolutely amazing stage architecture. So entirely fitting when all the lights went down and the band came on to "Space Oddity". XD

From that point on, there really aren't any words for how excruciatingly happy I was. I honestly now know what it's like to have a moment so incredible you don't want it to end. Cheesy, I know, but that's just how much all this meant to me. Y'see, when I was at school, there were a bunch of girls who were complete arsewipes to me for not having the same taste in music as them, and for the longest time they really got to me. This was like the antithesis, the biggest two fingers up to those girls and a great big hug to 14 year old me. Inner 14 year old me then proceeded to scream and dance so much she was pretty sure she'd faint. XD

I can't even pick what the highlights were. Just standing there half not realising what was actually happening. Choice of songs was entirely, faultlessly awesome. They even played t'fiance's favourite album track from nigh on 20 years ago, Ultraviolet, in the encore. That was an incredible surprise. I don't think I could pick one song that was my favourite, the upbeat songs just induced total manic happiness, and the slow numbers near on made me cry. Especially One, probably my favourite song ever. Hearing a few songs I really didn't expect, like The Unforgettable Fire, was also a big highlight.

It was just amazing, absolutely incredible. I could and probably will write a much longer review with even more fangirlism, but I doubt anyone would want to read that, even less than they did this! Suffice to say that really was one experience I'll never forget.

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