U2 listeners forty and over

[what a bomb!]

43 in march..been a fan ever since I saw New Years Day video in 1983 which would of made me 17 had other bands that I went thru phases as my "faves" but U2 were always in the background ,always bought their stuff, guess I went hardcore with them in 1987 with JT

 

[u2jesusgirl]

I'll be 51 next month...First U2 show I saw was March 25, 1982, October Tour.

 

[kitkat234]

I am 45 & loved them since I was a senior in high school, starting with boy but really since the war album.I did not have the cash to see them on the Joshua Tree tour but did see Zoo TV & all the tours since then.
Now my daughter is a huge fan, I guess it was all the times I played them since I had her 17 years ago....

 

[tripletmom]

Well, I'm 39 and have loved them since 84.
I remeber WBCN of Boston playing "U2 A to Z" with Carter Allen and trying to record it on my double cassette player. I can still hear him doing the intros and have listened to it so much over the years. I also remember staying up "late" as a kid and trying to video record them off of V66( a local MTV type cable program). I can relate all growing up phases of my life with their musical phases. Live Aid made me cry.
And the dreams...another thread altogether.
I actually got(ahem "borrowed") a 3' x 5' window decal of Bono's signature from the Hard Rock Cafe and keep it safely between my matress and me! Still feel and act like a kid regarding U2!!

 

[Val]

I'm 39 1/2 so does that count? lol.

...

No! One thing I've learned is never make yourself older than you are. Not even one minute. You are in your thirties. Period!

I just had to say that.

 

[digitize]

Sixteen here

 

[drumkeeran]

43, didn't really care for the people who listened to them in college, always jumping on the latest bandwagon, but couldn't get BAD out of my mind and absolutely loved WAR album.

 

[Harry Vest]

48 here (about a month to go till 49) - bought "Boy" in 1980 brand new off the shelf (funny thing is I actually thought the name of the band was "Boy" at first) LOVED IT at first hearing...then came October which didn't leave my car cassette deck for at least a year...I was in New York City visiting a college radio station (Fordham University) and the guy had a promo copy of "War" - first heard "Sunday Bloody Sunday" in the dj booth turned up full blast. Was lucky enough to see U2 in Toronto at the Maple Leaf Gradens in Mrach 1984...and...got to meet Bono in the hallway...alone...very cool moment. Followed the Joshua tour from Rochester New York to St. Paul Minnesota in 1987 and met the entire band at the Whitney hotel. Saw the ZOO TV tour in Toronto and the Popmart tour in Winnipeg...last but certainly not least I saw them in New Jersey in June of 2001. I've only heard NLOTH a couple of times and I can safely say I like it better than anything since POP. Have always liked the darker aspects of U2 or should I say the more intense i.e. "Bad" " The Unforgettable Fire" "Acrobat" "Love Is Blindness" "Wake Up Dead Man" "Gone" " Tomorrow" "I Threw a Brick Through a Window" " Drowning Man" "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" "Out Of Control" " Miss Sarajevo" " Your Blue Room" " Walk to the Water" "Bullet The Blue Sky" "Exit" "Running To Stand Still"...well, you get the idea. I'm so glad this album seems less commercial than the last two. I think they've done the right thing. Can't wait for the tour!!!!!

 

[digitize]

It is really cool to read these stories, from my perspective as a newer, younger fan.

 

[ShipOfFools]

Sorry, I'm 26. I wish I had been around and a fan during the 80s, would have been cool to see them live on an early tour.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

I first got into U2 in 1981 from the first time I heard Gloria. Then I heard October, and bought Boy and have been a fanatic about U2 ever since. Saw them the first time they came to Australia in 1984 and have followed every tour here.

hey great thread. got a qustion for the over 40's. or actuly to be honest it may for the over 50's. close to 60. lol. but its a real qustion. you guys grew up in the great era of the late 60's/early 70's. classic rock as we know it now. we know all the bands from that era. how do you feel about u2 compared to the bands of your childhood/coming of age time of your life? like would you have accepted a "u2" back then? would the under 30 version of yourself have liked the band? do you think u2 could have played the 1969 woodstock? would it have fit?

I pondered this question even though I don't fit in the age bracket because in my opinion U2 don't fit in there. They are to me part of the punk generation, post '77. Doesnt' matter how much blues or whatever they try to incorporate into their music, they will always be of the post-punk generation and they have admitted that themselves.

 

[Daddysgonnapay]

48 here! been a fan since 1982....never looked back!!

 

[JCOSTER]

Sorry, I'm 26. I wish I had been around and a fan during the 80s, would have been cool to see them live on an early tour.

Thats whats great about our age, we've been there since the beginning!!

 

[Gee40]

40 here and been a fan since 1984 ..now my 12 year old daughter is a huge fan also ...

 

[MadelynIris]

40, and heard U2 for the first time when my older brother (7 years older) had the Under a Blood Red Sky record in 1983. I was 14. That record lead me to play the guitar (was so inspired), went on to have a pretty good indie record career with my wife (check out our cover of Drowning Man -- MadelynIris), and have seen them on every tour since Joshua tree. Took my kids to the last two tours, and plan on taking them to the next, no matter how many thousands of dollars it costs me.

 

[wendynz]

Hi I'm 46. U2 War and October were the albums that we partied to in the 80's and the songs I still love. Went to my first concert in 1984 when they came to NZ.

 

[Judah]

I'll be 45 in June. First heard U2 in the fall of '82...first year university (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada...eh). The campus radio station had Boy only and they played the shyte out of it. And then came War, and the world really took off. I remember the local radio station in that early part of '83 had a "find-the-location-of-the-hidden-object" mystery contest...they would give daily clues and you had to solve where, in theory, something was hidden. The first prize was a trip to the US Festival, which i wanted to go to just to see U2. Needless to say, i didn't win (but i actually knew the person who figured out the mystery location...the London Tower or something). That summer of '83, all i listened to was War and Big Country's first album (the Crossing). I would watch NBC's Friday Night Videos religiously, just in case U2's video's showed up (we didn't have MTV up in Saskatchewan in those days). When UF was released in '84, i thought no artist in the world came close to U2. Still think that's their best album (though the new one is a close second or third). Oh, and Live Aid...yikes. I stayed up all night waiting for U2 to come. They didn't come on until 11 a.m. Saskatchewan time, July 13/85. And then, at the end of Bad, after Bono's danced with that girl on the floor, he goes back to the stage and there are two girls waiting for him, the one with the curly hair, holy geez, it's totally my girlfriend (she was in London for the summer and had gone to the concert)...or so i thought...it looked like her, wasn't her, but i thought it was for a few days...and she kissed Bono. I was so proud of her. Yikes, has it been close to 25 years already? Totally feels like yesterday...

 

[Sicy]

48 here! been a fan since 1982....never looked back!!

Wow I totally thought you were younger!

I like these threads.. I get to see how old everyone is.

 

[A stor]

hey great thread. got a qustion for the over 40's. or actuly to be honest it may for the over 50's. close to 60. lol. but its a real qustion. you guys grew up in the great era of the late 60's/early 70's. classic rock as we know it now. we know all the bands from that era. how do you feel about u2 compared to the bands of your childhood/coming of age time of your life? like would you have accepted a "u2" back then? would the under 30 version of yourself have liked the band? do you think u2 could have played the 1969 woodstock? would it have fit?

Great question! Maybe,Bono singing "I am the Walrus." Would have went over big. I was only ten years old, during the summer of love. But, I certainly would have like U2. Since, at that age I was into the Beatles and The Dave Clark Five.

As far as the seventies, I think U2 would have fit in with the glam rock bands. Especially The New York Dolls and Roxy Music, both bands I saw live. They would have been a great opening band for David Bowie. But, the two different tours, I went to see Bowie. He didn't have any opening acts.

 

[A stor]

Here's a random thought.....how do you think Bono and Ann Wilson of Heart would sound together in a duet. I was watching Heart last night on a concert channel and they did a thirty year anniversary of their "Dream Boat Annie" tour. Which, I saw the original concert, 29 years ago. I would love to see Ann and Bono sing the song Dream Boat Annie. Since, both singers can hit the high notes.

 

[itsmekath]

Hi..I am 45 and my first U2 concert was at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago in Dec. 1983. The concert that Bono mentions on the Vertigo DVD. Funny that he couldn't get how many years it had been right, either!

I have been so privileged to see U2 a few more times since then. I saw them in 1985 three times. Milton Keynes, UK in June. Dublin, Croke Park a few weeks later, and then at Live Aid at Wembley in July. I moved back to the States after that awesome Summer. I saw them in Nov. 87 in Indianapolis, and then Sept. 1992 in Madison, WI.

I then got married and had kids. The ex wasn't a U2 fan and wouldn't "allow" me to see them in concert. I finally got rid of him. I was due to see them in Portland, Dec. 2005, but my son got very sick just before the show. I had a real moral dilemma but finally came to the realization that I would have to stay home with him.

This time around, I don't care what I have to do! I am going....

 

[diamond]

46.

 

[oktobergirl]

I just turned 40 this year. I feel much younger, most of the time.

 

[U2FanSince83]

No! One thing I've learned is never make yourself older than you are. Not even one minute. You are in your thirties. Period!

I just had to say that.

Hehe. Thanks Val!

I'll stay on this side of 40 as long as I can.

 

[RedRocksU2]

41 here, but I look 47.

 

[kassandra]

hey great thread. got a qustion for the over 40's. or actuly to be honest it may for the over 50's. close to 60. lol. but its a real qustion. you guys grew up in the great era of the late 60's/early 70's. classic rock as we know it now. we know all the bands from that era. how do you feel about u2 compared to the bands of your childhood/coming of age time of your life? like would you have accepted a "u2" back then? would the under 30 version of yourself have liked the band? do you think u2 could have played the 1969 woodstock? would it have fit?

52 here been a fan since well forever.

U2 was like a an amazing band at the time they came out compared to what was happening to music then. I was never a fan of the disco scene and bands like U2 re-invented the music. I was 19 when they began so yeah I loved them.

Woodstock happened when I was a kid so my guess would be as good as yours as to how U2 would have fit.

 

[YBORCITY]

42

I've been a fan since my sister dragged me to a show on the War Tour, her freinds wouldn't go so I was pressed into service..... Fan ever since - haven't missed a tour since.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

41 here, but I look 47.

More like 27, my brotha!

42 going on 43 a week after the album is released...

First show...LA Sports Arena, March 5, 1985...first time they ever brought someone on stage to play guitar with them...it was "Knocking On Heaven's Door"...did I mention it was awesome!!! Bono taught the guy the chords and then he left the stage after a couple of shouts of the chorus...and then the Edge left...and then Adam...and for about 30 seconds that lucky SOB strummed guitar with Larry keeping the beat in front of 20,000 hysterical U2 fans...one of the greatest moments of any concert I've ever seen...and I've seen hundreds of shows...that is why I've never stopped loving this band...

 

[diamond]

i was at that show.

<>

 

[BEVERLY56]

41 here, but I look 47.