25 Years Ago Today in Pittsburgh music history....

On May 3, 1983 - for my 15th birthday - my brother bought us tickets to see U2 at the Fulton Theater (now the Byham). U2 was far from a household name at that time, but my brother and I were somewhat ahead of the curve in our musical tastes. U2 was just beginning to hit it big in the U.S. on the success of its "War" release and the singles "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Years Day." The Fulton Theater in the 1980's was far-removed from its early-20th century vaudeville/movie house grandeur (read: pretty dingy), but it was a fantastically intimate and appropriate venue for the Irish quartet. No stadium-sized laser shows, no explosions, no giant stages -- just a 23 year-old Bono on the road to taking America by storm.