U2 kicks off tour in Tulsa
Fans waited in line for days outside the BOK Center in anticipation of U2’s tour launch Wednesday night in Tulsa.
“Where are you from?” was a question pitched to some fans during a preconcert stroll through an encampment of blankets and lawn chairs.
The responses suggested that U2 and the UN (United Nations), separated by only a keystroke, are as international as each other. U2 fans trekked from all over the globe, because that’s what they do.
Meanwhile, Negeen Sobhani and her husband, Victor Sobhani, traveled “only” from Oklahoma City, but they still managed to put about 1,000 miles on their Toyota Sequoia because, per the rules of the fan-created waiting line for general admission seating, they had to check in twice a day to save their spot in the queue. They made daily doubleheader commutes so they could meet the criteria to remain near the front of the line.
“We have three kids, so a couple of times we have piled them in the car and came back and forth,” she said. Of course there are non-U2 fanatics who are of the opinion that the line-waiters are, you know, crazy, and that it’s not worth investing days of waiting on a few hours of entertainment.
But it is worth it, Negeen Sobhani said, pausing to collect her thoughts before elaborating.
“There is something about U2 that elevates music to have purpose,” she said. “There is a message in the music that is unifying, that is uplifting, that is hopeful. There is a community of fans that support each other and are friendly, and coming to something like this, I can understand why people tailgate, because you are out with others that are excited for the same thing, so you make a lot of friends. I have friends from all over the world as a result. But I think the reason that we are here is because the music is so much more than the lyrics and the instruments. There is a message that is very positive and very unifying, and I think it brings out the best in people.”
The waiting line sprang up Friday at an intersection across the street from the BOK Center. Fans were permitted to move to the east entrance of the BOK Center at 6 a.m. Wednesday. By noon Wednesday, the notebook with the waiting list had 259 names, but 62 lost their place in line because they failed to check in or chose to forfeit their spots.
U2 family reunion
Among those benefiting from attrition were a father (Larry Pongratz) and daughter (Jessica Pongratz) from Green Bay, Wisconsin. They moved up to the No. 7 and No. 8 slots. Like the Sobhanis, they arrived Friday and said the wait was worth it. Larry Pongratz pulled out his mobile phone to show a selfie he took when band members popped out to meet fans Tuesday. Jessica Pongratz said she got an autograph.
Asked if they are missing anything back home, Larry Pongratz said: “We’re trying to buy a house. My wife’s about ready to shoot me. I told her, ‘If you find one, buy it.’”
His daughter, who described the people waiting in line as a U2 family, said before the show that she couldn’t wait to see the band. The wait for most Tulsans was 35 years. U2 last performed at the Brady Theater in 1983.
U2 took the stage a little after 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, and, three songs into the set, Bono addressed the BOK Center crowd for the first time. The band then roared into “Beautiful Day,” which it was for those who had this date circled on their calendars.
Before U2’s BOK Center show, Tulsa’s Julie Huston, No. 16 in line, tried to catch up on rest while lying down near chair-equipped fans from France and the Netherlands. “My daughter and I were talking about how much fun this has been because we have met the most amazing people,” she said. “Though it has been a lot of work, it has been a blast, but we are both ready for (Thursday) to come so that life can be normal again and we can rest and it won’t be so crazy.”
Huston said she offered her home to two fans from out of town who needed a place to stay. They accepted the offer.
Many fans said they had seen U2 multiple times. Jaime Rodriguez traveled from Miami, Florida, to see the band for a 34th time.
Rodriguez said he wasn’t that big of a fan when a friend urged him to go to his first U2 show in 2005. He said the concert was “completely different from anything I had experienced” and that, from that moment on, he was addicted to U2.
Rodriguez said he has seen the band in many states and overseas. He said his wife of four years “begrudgingly” tolerates his love of traveling to tour stops. He compared the tour stops to high school reunions because he gets to catch up with friends from all over the world.
What is it about U2 that inspires such loyalty from fans? “This band is about being bigger than yourself,” Rodriguez said, adding that U2’s music has “transformed” many people. “It really has, because it inspires people to have breakthroughs in their lives. But, also, U2 doesn’t sugarcoat it, like how difficult life can be. So (the music is) very grounded, but it’s also inspiring at the same time.”