Washington (DC) - December 11, 1981

Taper comments : The Ontario Theatre was located in the Adams-Morgan section of town, which at the time, was what we would call a "transitional" neighborhood. I think it's quite a trendy place today, but I could be wrong on that. During the few shows I saw there, sometimes the locals would come out and hassle the people waiting in line to see the show. The place held about a thousand people.

There weren't too many "new wave" bands that I liked at the time, save some of the ones that had interesting guitar work like THE CHURCH, THE POLICE, and U2. This was U2's 2nd appearance in Washington, DC, having 1st played at "The Bayou". From Bono's comments, I guess it wasn't that well attended. This one sold out quickly. BOW WOW WOW opened.
I wasn't too impressed with them musically, but man, could that Annabella Lwin dance and motor around the stage! I'm sure she was still jailbait at the time!

I've always hated seeing music in large venues, so I generally stuck to clubs or small theatres. You know, the old "I'll catch them on the way up, or the way down". I don't think I'll be seeing these guys in my local dive bar anytime soon! A great show, in my opinion. They came out blasting, very little breaks between songs, and did 14 songs in about 65 minutes. Bono was a great front man even then. I remember him grabbing this gorgeous girl out the audience. She just went limp, and he pulled her onstage as 11 O'Clock Tick Tock ended. They walked off together at the end of the show. By the next album, WAR, they progressed to huge venues, and I never saw them again.

bpthree