Freeze Frame

I heard the morning newscaster say “March 10” today and, immediately, I looked up from my breakfast to take note.

You know how some months are more memorable than others? Well, it seems like everything happened during the month of March 1982. And of all the happenings from March 1982, none was more noteworthy for me than the evening of March 10, 1982.

It isn’t often that Knoxville becomes the epicenter for rock and pop music, but it really was that night. On the University of Tennessee campus, an up-and-coming group – the J. Geils Band – was set to perform at Alumni Memorial Building.

Fueled by their videos on MTV and the popularity of such hit songs as “Love Stinks” and “Centerfold,” Geils was a great get for UT’s Campus Entertainment Board and especially in such an intimate setting as the Cox Auditorium at Alumni Gym (as it was called then). And I’m sure that most of us who shelled out the $9.50 for those tickets were excited to see the Boston-based band.

I’m sure none of us really made much note of the opening act for that show; four Irish gents who we all now recognize as U2.

It was a who’s who of my high school friends at that show. I can personally confirm that my friends Bo, Bobby, Rob and Wayne were there with me and a few hundred others that night.  But as the folklore of that evening has grown over the years, the throng grew to thousands or tens of thousands who witnessed Bono’s famous climb up the rope ladder to the top of the room as he belted out opening song from the band’s setlist, the venerable “Gloria.“

In fact, if someone tells you they were at that show, you might want to ask to see their ticket stub just to make sure they aren’t urban legending you!

Anyway, from the opening strains of Gloria – a song that was also popularized by the heavy play of its signature video on MTV – all the way through the show, Bono and the boys captivated the audience with their high energy and witty banter. By the time they closed with “Out of Control” we were sold. Instinctively, we knew this wasn’t just some run of the mill band opening the show.

Though the J. Geils set was well played, it couldn’t match the energy and exhilaration of the U2 performance. There’s very good and then there’s great. And, indeed, whereas I’ve never been to another J. Geils concert, I’ve seen U2 perform an additional six times over the years.

It’s hard to believe that was 33 years ago and yet the calendar tells me it’s true. I can still close my eyes and get a mental Freeze Frame, if you will, of the events of that evening.

I told Lisa recently that I’ve seen the boys from Dublin perform in three of the four major markets in Tennessee. Who knows? Maybe see them in Chattanooga next?

If not there, certainly somewhere nearby.

JG

Originally posted 3/10/2015