Concert (Ticket) Vault: Unforgettable

This ticket is from a U2 concert at the Worcester Centrum in April of 1985, just a few weeks after the Prince show. This tour was for The Unforgettable Fire, which had been released the previous fall. It's the one and only time I saw U2 live.

I didn't win this one, I bought the tickets for myself and five of my friends. It was near the end of my final semester in college, my course work was winding down, but finals were still a few weeks away. But we still had to get out to Worcester, and with a group of six the bus didn't seem like a preferable option.

Back then, there were places around that rented out older cars for much lower rates than the big companies, and they didn't care so much how old drivers were as long as they were licensed, so one of my friends was able to rent a full-size Ford LTD that was about five years old.

Cynical types will say that the time to see U2 was on their previous tour, for the album War, when the band wasn't as popular and played the Orpheum; or their first-ever American show, which was at the Paradise; or even a couple of years later when The Joshua Tree came out. I do think that's a stronger album than The Unforgettable Fire, though I think by that point they were playing stadium shows at venues like the old Foxboro. And I do wish I'd seen them when they toured for Achtung Baby, because that is my favorite of all their albums.

But any U2 concert is still a pretty special event. We had floor seats, maybe 20 rows back, and we got to spend a couple of hours engulfed in the music. I happen to think it's one of those things everyone should experience at least once.

And if you're keeping track, this ticket cost $13.50, which was $4 less than the Prince show.