Bono and assistant hitchhike along road in West Vancouver, picked up by NHL player

[Canadiens1131]

Title should read "Bono and assistant", Blue Crack no longer likes editing post titles. File under "Random but cuet" - Oiler Brule gave lift to hitchhiking Bono

Oiler Brule gave lift to hitchhiking Bono

By Ben Gelinas, edmontonjournal.com
June 2, 2011 12:01 AM


EDMONTON - Edmonton Oiler Gilbert Brule and his girlfriend picked up an unusual hitchhiker in West Vancouver on Tuesday — U2 frontman Bono.

Brule and girlfriend Kelsey Nichols were driving to a park to walk Bella, their German shepherd, on Tuesday afternoon near the West Vancouver Yacht club when they spotted a couple of hitchhikers on the side of the road.

Brule, watching out the window, was sure one of them was Bono.

Nichols, who was driving, didn’t believe him, because, really, why would Bono be hitchhiking in West Van?

“I didn’t want to stop, but they waved and G yelled ‘that’s Bono’,” Nichols said Wednesday night at Commonwealth Stadium. “I didn’t believe him so I kept driving.”

The couple went on, a short distance anyway, all the while Brule trying to convince Nichols to turn around. Eventually, she agreed.

The hitchhikers were still there when they drove up, so they yelled out: “Bono!”

He waved and walked over to their truck.

The Irishman, who indeed was Bono, asked if they could give him and his assistant a lift to Horseshoe Bay. Of course, Brule and Nichols obliged.

Turns out, he and his assistant had gone out for a walk when it started to rain, just before Brule and Nichols happened upon them.

On the drive to Horseshoe Bay, Bono and his assistant sat in the back with the couple’s dog. The four chatted about Brule’s hockey career, about Dublin and Bono’s apparent love for Vancouver.

Bono mentioned that his band was playing a show in Edmonton on Wednesday and asked if they’d like to go.

So Brule and Nichols sold their tickets for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, bought plane tickets (three, so Brule’s mom could come too) and flew back to Edmonton, where Brule is a forward for the Oilers.

Bono got them backstage passes to say thanks for the ride.

On Nichols’s pass, he wrote: “Thanks for the ride.”

On Brule’s pass, he wrote: “My hero Gilbert.”

It was the strangest thing.

“We go to walk our dog and Bono ends up in our car,” Brule said.

Bono paid tribute to the favour onstage during Wednesday’s concert.

“I like ice hockey because people who play ice hockey are the kind of people who pick up hitchhikers,” Bono told the crowd.

“I’m ever so grateful. I’ve decided that I want to be Gilbert Brule.”

bgelinas@edmontonjournal.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

 

[TheFly2U]

I am ....speechless

 

[corianderstem]

Ha!

 

[powerhour24]

This is awesome, Bono's nuts haha.

 

[corianderstem]

Powerhour, talking about the band members' private parts is against forum rules.

Spoiler

I couldn't resist.

 

[Canadiens1131]

Thank god it was a hockey player by chance and not a PLEBA member.

 

[mama cass]

Thank god it was a hockey player by chance and not a PLEBA member.

 

[powerhour24]

Powerhour, talking about the band members' private parts is against forum rules.

Spoiler

I couldn't resist.

Spoiler

 

[wendynz]

That is amazing....making note to self to always pickup hitch hikers when U2 are in the country.

 

[U2BROTHR]

His assistant = Murphy.

 

[bono_man2002]

Powerhour, talking about the band members' private parts is against forum rules.

Spoiler

I couldn't resist.

Zing Zing!

 

[the olive]

I wonder what they were doing in Horseshoe Bay - there isn't much there except for the ferry terminal to the island.

 

[bonocomet]

I wonder what they were doing in Horseshoe Bay - there isn't much there except for the ferry terminal to the island.

and a quiet place to relax between shows?

 

[Dfit00]

Thank god it was a hockey player by chance and not a PLEBA member.

What could have happened if Bill Murray had picked him up?

By the way, not answering to Bill Murray questions is against the moral and ethic standards set in our society.

 

[the olive]

and a quiet place to relax between shows?

Interesting photo! Do you know if they have a place up there? Some nice properties for sure.

 

[Catman]

It's made CNN now...

 

[bonocomet]

Interesting photo! Do you know if they have a place up there? Some nice properties for sure.

That's a picture of Larry that Edge posted to his Twitter account a few days ago.

 

[lemonfly]

I know in Dublin Bono picks up hitch-hickers. I have a Danish friend, he was walking with his gf and another friend wearing their heavy backpacks, and Bono just pulled over and gave them a ride. Inside the car, Bono was the one doing all the talking - they were just sitting there completely dumbstruck!

 

[Canadiens1131]

What could have happened if Bill Murray had picked him up?

By the way, not answering to Bill Murray questions is against the moral and ethic standards set in our society.

Are you a bug, Bill Murray?

 

[Rachel D.]

Too bad he didn't do that in Winnipeg. I was driving around aimlessly trying not to crash, so I might have seen him there.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Interesting photo! Do you know if they have a place up there? Some nice properties for sure.

Some very wealthy and well connected people that u2 are friends with, or have done business with in the past, own property near Horseshoe Bay.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Did he bite Bono's finger?

 

[shart1780]

Imagine driving down the street and on the side of the road you see Bono hitchhiking. I don't think I'd believe my eyes.

 

[Achtung11]

Wow this is AWESOME! It's interesting that as a hockey player he sold his tickets to the Stanley Cup to go see U2! Hell, I don't blame him!

I wonder how the German Shepherd reacted, lol.

This is random, but I wonder how Bono would have reacted if it was a tipsy driver. Don't ask me why I ask this, just a random thought that popped into my head, lol.

 

[U2FanPeter]

This is random, but I wonder how Bono would have reacted if it was a tipsy driver. Don't ask me why I ask this, just a random thought that popped into my head, lol.

If there was a car crash of any kind under certain circumstances Bono's personal and tour insurance would give the band some real headaches.

I've heard of strict tour insurance prohibiting artists from going skiing until after they've finished all the dates. I was really surprised to see that katy Perry was photographed bungi jumping in Australia a few weeks back.

Note how you NEVER see more than a pair of U2 members in the same car arriving or leaving a show. I've only ever seen the odd photo opp they did once or twice. The UK Royal family have similar rules about Will/Harry ever being in the same car/heli/plane when travelling.

 

[Achtung11]

If there was a car crash of any kind under certain circumstances Bono's personal and tour insurance would give the band some real headaches.

I've heard of strict tour insurance prohibiting artists from going skiing until after they've finished all the dates. I was really surprised to see that katy Perry was photographed bungi jumping in Australia a few weeks back.

Note how you NEVER see more than a pair of U2 members in the same car arriving or leaving a show. I've only ever seen the odd photo opp they did once or twice. The UK Royal family have similar rules about Will/Harry ever being in the same car/heli/plane when travelling.

Hmm, that's interesting, I always thought they all come in separate cars because, well, they're rich and they can afford it, lol.

But, even if, God forbid, there is an car accident and something happens to only one of the members, from an insurance perspective, wouldn't they have a contract for the tour to be cancelled anyway? Like what good would a tour be without the Edge, for example? So what's the difference, in their tour insurance, of them all being taken out in an accident vs. only Bono?

 

[BVS]

A light hearted thread goes morbid and weird... Interference

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Wait, the members of U2 don't travel in the same car for insurance reasons, and that's the story with the UK Royals?

That's gold.

 

[corianderstem]

Well, U2 is a business, and you will find that there are some businesses that have rules about how many executives can, for example, fly in the same plane, in case it crashes.

Is that what the deal is for U2? No idea. Maybe they all have separate cars because they're total assholes and/or hate each other. But it's not that far-fetched an idea.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

They travel in separate cars, I would think, for a bunch of very simple, logical reasons.

Because they’ve each got a mini-entourage of assistants and security and whatnot, and probably often friends or family. Because they don’t always all stay in the same hotel or house. Because they’re not always coming from the same place immediately before a concert, or going to the same place immediately after a concert. Because they probably prefer their own space. Because why would you want to be trapped in the back of a car with Bono, pumping the latest ‘hip’ and ‘relevant’ will.i.am on the stereo, screaming into his phone about Africa, Spiderman, and mostly, himself. Because it means Larry and Adam can scoot off and away while Bono and Edge heroically take on the pain-in-the-arse duties with the fans who were there yesterday and the day before and the day before. Because they're U2 and they don't ever do anything small, so why not get heaps of cars?