As a long-time U2 super fan, Photo teacher Ryan Norgren’s dream came true when U2 announced a new Joshua Tree Tour.

The tour, which hasn’t been performed in 30 years, will come to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on May 20.

But how he got tickets before anyone else is a story of amazing luck and skill.

Norgren first saw U2 live in 1987 on the first Joshua Tree tour.

“The Joshua Tree was my favorite album. At the time I only had a record player and radio. There was no iTunes where you could buy many songs, so we didn’t have much choices when it came to music so we really came to appreciate the music,” said Norgren.

His favorite U2 album is hard to pick, but The Joshua Tree stands out to him with the song, “With or Without You” being a favorite on that album.

“The Joshua Tree came out in my high school days, I grew up listening to that album,” he said.

While sitting in his car in his driveway, Norgren heard on the radio station 104.3 that they would be giving away U2 tickets for the Joshua Tree tour all week through their morning series, “Battle of the Sexes.”

In the show, contestants of opposite genders must answer questions the other gender would likely know the answers to.

When Valentine in the Morning, the host of 104.3, told people to call to be featured on the show, Norgren thought he would give it a shot.

“I was on hold for forever, and then all of a sudden I heard him asking me what my name was for the show,” said Norgren.

He got his first question wrong that asked for the president in the T.V. show Scandal. Then he correctly identified what kind of product Bare Minerals are.

Next, the DJ listed some female names and asked what novel they were from. He correctly identified them as from the book Little Women.

With Norgren getting two out of three right he edged out his female competitor.

“I don’t know how I got the Little Women question right. When she said three sisters and it was a question women are supposed to know, I just guessed Little Women,” said Norgren.

Norgren received two tickets for winning the show with a certificate. Valentine in the Morning also gave a shout out to SJHHS for Norgren representing us.

“I was beyond excited when I heard I won the tickets,” said Norgren.