We Found What We Were Looking For

So last night was a fine one, for four of us older than 35.  After learning that D1 was stuck in Cartegena for a six hour weather and equipment delay, we went outside where a comically large limo was waiting.  The driver was cool -- named Ushka --and loaded in the supplies.  I came back in and told Wifey -- and she said "Oh -- a beautiful woman driver, with that name?" but I said no -- he was from Ukraine, and I liked him right away.

Deb and Norman drove up, all of two minutes late, and I joked with my fellow time stickler that I thought he'd mistaken the night of the event.  Wifey and Deb make fun of our promptness.  We just are built that way.

We popped a bottle of champagne, and some vodka and gin, and then sampled awesome food.  Deb is a gourmet cook, and she didn't just bring some Publix platters -- we had a wonderful sampling of kebabs, and Greek pastries, and delicious shrimp cocktail...she even made lobster rolls.  We feasted as we drove, and arrived -- too early.  Even though the concert was sold out -- it only took us 40 minutes to get to Joe Robbie from Pinecrest.  So Ushka pulled into a nearby Wal Mart lot, and we continued our feast there.

Luckily Norman noticed the time grew near to the event, and Ushka tried to take us right to the stadium.  A stern Miami Dade cop said no -- we needed to disembark outside the perimeter, so we did, and jokingly whined about the insult to our VIP status.  I insisted we share a couple of Bourbon Street style frozen margaritas, for decorative effect, and we found out seats.

UM advertised them as Club Seats, but they weren't.  Still -- they were very good -- close to the stage and the perfect height.  The opening act was One Republic, and they were very good.  I liked the lead singer right away -- he said he knew no one had come to see them -- they were just to get us in a good mood -- and they did.  The band had many more familiar songs than I knew.

And then, after dark, the familiar strains of U2 started.  They played the first two songs behind the curtain, and then came out and set up near a side -- I guess showing their socialist side.  And they rocked.  They played all the hits from "Joshua Tree" -- the tour was the 30th anniversary of the record's release -- and plenty more.  The crowd -- must have been 60K people in the sold out stadium -- sang along the entire night.

In a strange aside, Bono actually praised our local senator, Marco Rubio, for supporting AIDS research.  Rubio is such a spineless conservative -- I wouldn't have thought the liberal Bono would have much use for him.  But hey -- it was a nice local gesture.

The show ended, and then our adventure began -- finding Ushka.  They made all the limos park across Miami Gardens Drive, and a big clot of people were waiting to cross.  The cops were clownishly bad at it, and finally we risked getting shot and simply made our way.  The young cops just ignored us -- realizing they were being Keystone-like.

We found Ushka, and had a smooth ride back home -- drinking Perrier and helping to polish off the remaining apps.  We acquitted ourselves nicely.

I fell asleep with U2's excellent chords playing in my head.  It was a stellar night.  The third installment of our "See 'em before they die" project is July 7 - Wifey and I are taking D1 and Joey to see Sir Paul McCartney on the kickoff show of his latest tour.  And then that'll do it for me with the shows for awhile -- though my friend John in D.C. DID post some video of Joe Jackson, and I think he's coming to Miami Beach soon...