UnforgettableFire

U2, April 10, 1985


Hampton Coliseum, General Admission

I remember standing on the floor for this one.  Maybe 1/3rd back from the stage to the right of center.  The Hampton Coliseum only holds about 10,000, so it was an intimate evening with the band.

It seems the band followed a similar setlist during the tour.  Most dates had them performing 17 songs, unlike this night. Virginia radio was horrible at the time so the band was not widely known.  If it had not been for college radio no one may have heard of them on their 2nd trip to the Hampton Roads area.

1. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
2. I Will Follow
3. Seconds
4. MLK
5. The Unforgettable Fire
6. Wire / Give Me Some Truth (snippet)
7. Sunday Bloody Sunday
8. The Cry
9. The Electric Co. / Amazing Grace (snippet)
10. A Sort Of Homecoming
11. Bad / Ruby Tuesday (snippet) / Sympathy For The Devil (snippet)
12. October
13. New Year's Day
14. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
encore(s):
15. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
16. Gloria
17. 40

Setlist courtesy of www.u2gigs.com

Home Road Game

Keith Jones

Philadelphia Flyers v Washington Capitals, April 10, 1999

MCI Center, Section 423 Row 10

I'm still not used to these new massive rinks with seats a mile away from the ice surface.  This MCI Center is smaller than the new Core States Center in Philly with a more intimate design. But like many old Flyers v Caps games, Flyers fans travel well.

Keith Jones and Steve Duchesne scored for the Flyers in the 1st.  Fighting majors for the Flyers Wesenberg and the Caps Halverson in the opening period.
The 2nd was quiet.  But the 3rd got dicey when  Benoit Gratton scored for the Caps to pull the home team within one.  John Vanbiesbrouck got the win.

One of my favorite things about Caps Flyers games is Flyers fans travel and take ownership of the building.  After we left the building there was a huge crowd assembled yelling.  I pushed my way up the sidewalk only to walk into a guy in a Flyers jersey pummeling a guy in a Caps jersey into the sidewalk.  Here you are in DC, at their home, and not a single Caps fan lifted a finger to help the poor guy out.
Some fans.

First Time for Real

The New Nats Park, Washington, DC

Flordia Marlins v Washington Nationals, April 4, 2008


Nationals Park, Sec 104 Row T

New stadium this season for the Washington Nationals.  We purchased a game plan.  This was the first regular season game in the plan.  I already say an exhibition vs the Orioles a week prior.  This is our first time in our regular seats.  Or should I say the first time we had tickets to our new seats.
The stadium is so open and walkable that we didn't stay more than one inning in a chair. I found this to be the case for most of the games I ended up attending.  The park is laid out great with plenty of places to stand and watch a game.

Pitchers controlled the first few innings until the bottom of the 2nd when an error allowed Nick Johnson to get on base for the Nats.  Another error lead to Johnson's run in the same inning.

Both teams got to each other's bullpens and lit the massive 4000 sq ft score board up later in the game.

The visiting Marlins prevail 10-4 with Scott Olsen getting the win.

Phils Opening Day

Chicago Cubs v Philadelphia Phillies, April 9, 1993

Veterans Stadium, Sec 347 Row 9

We had such a good time last opening day we decided to do it again.  The Phils looked like they were onto something with this new fangled Opening Day baseball being played in the daytime.  Another 60,000 were on hand.

Ben Rivera for the Phils was taking on the Cubs Frank Castillo.  Not a stellar starting set but both teams already played a series to start the season so the aces were in the bullpen watching this affair.
The ball was carrying today with several round trippers recorded.  The first came in the Phils 1st at bat.  With 2 outs and John Kruk on with a double and Dave Hollins on first after a BOBs, Darren Daulton launched a shot to deep left center to make it 3-0. His first of two for the afternoon.
Not to be outdone with multiple homers, the Cubs Derrick May hit two as well.
John Kruk and Lenny Dyksta also hit home runs for the Phils as Jose Vizcaino and Mark Grace also had shots that left the yard for the Cubbies.

Mark Grace

A total of 9 pitchers were on the mound this day with the Cubs Chuck McElroy notching the win and Ben Riveria getting credited with the Phils loss.  Cubbies win 11-7.

Game Day Decision

Atlanta Thrashers v Carolina Hurricanes, April 7, 2002


RBC Center, Section 113 Row C

We were leaving a hockey rink in Raleigh were my son was playing the last game of the morning.  Outside was a father of another player who had a sign printed up "2 Tix for Hurricanes Today".  We had a long car ride ahead of us but I thought it would be a good opportunity to take the boy to an NHL game.
The game started in 2 hours, the 2 seats were 3 rows off the ice in the corner for less than face value.

We were close to the arena to begin with.  Inside the teams were still warming up.  My son caught a practice puck.  Luckily the front row had 2 empty seats on the glass.  I let him go sit there until someone kicked him out.  Which no one did.

Ron Francis scored the only Hurricanes goal of the afternoon while the Thrashers Yannick Tremblay netted the game tier.  Atlanta's goaltender Milan Hnilcka had 42 saves in the game and earned the First Star of the Game. 

Opening Day 1992

Chicago Cubs v Philadelphia Phillies, April 4, 1992

Veterans Stadium, Sec 548 Row 7

I had criteria for a good baseball atmosphere. All 3 of the critera are ideal, but I would settle for 2 of the 3. A game must 1) be played on grass, 2) must be played in the day and 3) the park must be sold out.

It was a 2 for 3 day. The Phils for years held opening day at night. Sacrilege to the purist. The place was a dump, the teams sucked and there was little marketing efforts to draw people back to the stadium. Maybe an Opening Day held in the daytime would convince enough people to take a full or half day off work on a Tuesday. It worked for us.

You had the Cubs and Greg Maddux taking on the Phil's ace, Terry Mulholland. You have an unknown Sammy Sosa, a veteran Ryne Sandberg, Mark Grace and Andre Dawson in the lineup for the Cubbies.

The "gimmick" of daytime opening day baseball seemed to have worked as over 60,000 were in attendance on this cloudy afternoon with temps in the low 60s. Plus, the Fightins finally let go of their 1970's uniforms a decade too late and stepped into modern times with new retro unis.

Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux had trouble with his control early on. He hit the first batter he faced, and threw a wild pitch to advance Lenny Dykstra when he faced his 2nd batter of the game. The Phils John Kruk singled to left scoring Dykstra for the game's 1st run.

The Phils scored 2 more in the 3rd off Dave Hollins and another Kruk RBI.

The Cubs came out strong in the 4th with a Mark Grace home run to deep right with Dawson on base. In the 5th the Cubs put 2 more on the electronic scoreboard when Maddux singled followed by a Dawson single, a Sosa RBI double and a Sandberg sac fly.

Cubs went on to win the opener 4-3.