U2 listeners forty and over

[U2Mama]

What a great picture!!

 

[Cassandra]

46 here and like quite of few people here, been a fan since the early eighties. "A Celebration" was the song that made me really take notice of them and so glad that I now have a legit copy of the song on cd! Not until the Vertigo tour did I get to see them live, but I remember all the tv programs they were on (MV3 featuring DJ Richard Blade, hosting MTV, seeing the earliest videos on USA's "Night Flight", the US Festival, Live Aid. But my fondest memories is when they would come into town (that would be Detroit back then, now a NYer) and they would visit all the rock stations and I would be turning from one station to another trying to here them. Boy, those were the days!

 

[kassandra]

I want in this exclusive club! 52 here and a Grandmother! Been a fan since the nifty 80's (no mullets here).

Me too! Grandmother, or more specifically "Yiayia" My little 3 and 1 year old boys just love Sexy Boots!

Hi and welcome. I am also a grand mom! Of a precious five year old girl.

I want to thank everyone for posting their stories. It is so wonderful to read them. I admit. I was a bit hesitant. When, I first came to Interference. Thinking, I would be the "oldest one" here. But, I see. I am in great company. We lived in the eighties, remember MTV, well at least when it really was a music channel.

I also remember, holding my infant son and watching Live Aid. The feelings of hope that I had. The promise of helping those who were starving in a foreign land and making the planet, a better place for our children. I also prayed, U2 would stick around for many more years to come and they have.

I listened to their songs and reflect. My, how things have changed. Some for the better and perhaps, a few not so much. The wide eyed innocence of an entire generation has produce a mature group who is not only taken on the world by a storm. With the invention of the internet, but also a global awareness of how interconnected as people, we are. The simple fact we have to "carry each other."

We will be remembered in history for this. Technology, global communication, clean energy and the war on extreme poverty. Which, I believe, we will win! Our future generations will thank us.

I couldn't say it any better.

 

[RockNRollDawgie]

Same here, Vietnam, Nixion, was horrible. We can't say, it still doesn't affect us. It does. And you are absolutely right. Music was the one bright spot.

Wow, you saw the Doors and Hedrix? That is fantastic! My first rock concert was Zeppelin, in Baltimore Maryland, 1972. I was fifteen years old.

The 60's are somewhat romanticized now. It wasn't all "peace,love and flowers." The FBI had our phone tapped for awhile. Both my parents were anti-war and into the Civil Rights Movement. The peace sign now is a fashion statement. It was a horrible time. Vietnam, Kennedy's being killed, Dr. King was killed, etc. It was also very naive. You could trust just about anybody with long hair. Hitch-hiking wasn't a big deal. Sharing your stuff with others.
Different time for sure.

Yep! I saw The Doors in the summer of '68. "Waiting For The Sun" album had just been released. Morrison was sober and in good voice. He did some of his antics like jumping off the stage to make the teen girls in the audience scream. Ray Manzarek just shook his head in disgust. "Um...Jim the show is up here." Most of the time, Morrison stood perfectly still and hung onto the mic and sung. In "Love Me Two Times," Jim recited a bit of "Celebration of the Lizard" poem. The encore was "Light My Fire."

I saw Jimi later that year in November of '68. When he turned on the stacks of Marshall amps, it was like being punched in the chest. The first half of the show was Jimi doing his "act." Playing with his teeth, behind back, on the floor, etc. Jimi grew tired of that, and rest of the show centured more on music. The highlights were the world premier of "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "Red House." Jimi was acting weird throughout the show. He was having tech probs. He threw his white Strat over the amps in disgust. Then he kept knocking over the mic stand over, giggling as a roadie ran on stage to pick it up. Rumored he was dosed with LSD, before the show.

Never did see Zep. ( or The Who) Closest to Zep I got was seeing Page/Plant tour in the 90's.

 

[captluther]

I am 42...soon to be 43... I worked at a College radio station when I was 18 years old and I got a single of Out of Control...I played it to death. I have been a fan ever since. My favorite band starting that second and have never left my heart...or record player, tape deck, CD player...or iPod. They are my soundtrack to my life.

 

[Desert Dog]

43 here - Under a Blood Red Sky was the first U2 album I bought after arriving in Arizona in 1983 at the age of 18

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

41 here, but I look 47.

I can vouch for that.. ur a wrinkly lookin old FART.




on that note, I am 43 going on 44 next month and have been a fan since the mid 80s. My first U2 show tho was the JT tour. LA Coliseum November 18, 1987. And it's been hardcore ever since!

 

[Purplereign]

^ . . . I love how most of us remember the date of the first show we saw, mine was Thursday 28th September 1989 and tix were $39.90 (aus) (woulda been earlier cept for the ugly grounding incident before the unforgettable fire tour . . . sheesh did that hurt) . . . I'll admit to (in the days before computers) sitting with friends after the show (and after standing out the back at the stage door hoping for a glimpse of the band . . . got a proper wave and hello from Bono after screaming out something insane once ) and obsessively writing down the set lists on those big teledex cards . . .still have all of em for the lovetown shows . . . . loving stuck into the back of the programme . . . .

looking forward to hearing more stories

 

[Anji]

Just turned 43. But still feel 21, and act it (before Wild finds this)

First saw U2 in November 1983 At Wembley Arena (still have my ticket too) Not sure why it was so late in their tours? I was already a massive U2 fan by then

I bought I will follow as I liked it, it was different to what was out there at the time. Then they released Gloria and I was hooked

First impressions of the Band was that Larry was cute as hell, god can't believe I admitted that Don't know what happened, but I am now a staunch unashamed Bono drooler and have been for many decades now Oh yeh I know what happened! I saw them live

I would say that U2 were just another band to me in the early 80's, I still collected anything about them, as I thought they were great, but they were not my number 1. Bono was my pin up, but I prefered other music, as I was more into Electro/Synths back then.

The 80's ended, so did the synths, so I had my new number 1 band. It has stayed that way ever since. In my opinion NOBODY comes close to my love of U2 They are like a fine wine! They improve with age

 

[RedRocksU2]

I can vouch for that.. ur a wrinkly lookin old FART.

I love you Amy.

 

[Purplereign]

^^ . . . there are few things that make me as unreservedly happy as I am when I'm listening to U2 . . . and get me to a concert . . . well, I'm sorry, slap me silly and call me stupid but the adrenalin rush when they walk on stage stays with me for weeks

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

I love you Amy.

ya too . so how does it feel to have one foot in the grave?

 

[nicv]

Is that really you Purplereign??

*runsbacktobetween20and40thread*

 

[alanah]

It's nice to see people of all different ages enjoy U2.

 

[RedRocksU2]

ya too . so how does it feel to have one foot in the grave?

wait for it............................





































kma

 

[Down Under]

^ . . . I love how most of us remember the date of the first show we saw

46 here and my first show was Sydney, 27 Sept 1989, LoveTown and have not missed an Australian tour since.

 

[Purplereign]

Is that really you Purplereign??

*runsbacktobetween20and40thread*

no . . . I had big hair but not quite that big

I was more of a fan of this look

. . . far out, what a hoot . . . when you type 80's hair into the google search engine that's the first piccie that funny 80's family pic pops up

 

[Purplereign]

46 here and my first show was Sydney, 27 Sept 1989, LoveTown and have not missed an Australian tour since.

that was the only one of the shows of that leg that I could not scam get tickets for!!!

I haven't missed them since either (although came dangerously close on the vertigo leg . .. and I still bear the scars of that particular ticket anxiety I cried like a baby when the phone lines and my internet connection imploded before my very eyes . . . sad, but true . . .thank god for the 3rd show )

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

wait for it............................





































kma

KMA!







mine is better than yours.

 

[plp]

41 here. Saw Live at Red Rocks on MTV and immediately went out and bought the album. Bought The Unforgettable Fire the day it came out and loved it from the first listen. Was second in line at my local ticketmaster outlet (I think it was ticketron at the time) for the Radio City show and did not get tickets. Scalped tickets for the MSG show later in the year and was blown away. Have seen them every tour since and am as big a fan today as I was 25 years ago.

 

[nicv]

no . . . I had big hair but not quite that big

I was more of a fan of this look

. . . far out, what a hoot . . . when you type 80's hair into the google search engine that's the first piccie that funny 80's family pic pops up

I didn't think so. Yes, I did that madonna wanna-be thing too! Hairspray was my best friend thru those years It was fun, but happy to get past that stage.

 

[Purplereign]

I didn't think so. Yes, I did that madonna wanna-be thing too! Hairspray was my best friend thru those years It was fun, but happy to get past that stage.

. . . me too . . .the knots were a killer with all that crap in my hair . . . mousse, gel, hairspray . . . i was a walking ignition stick . . . and can remember my hair catching fire at least once . . . the 80's were a dangerous time

 

[kassandra]

I had that "bi-level" haircut. Remember that? It looked like a mullet. Oh the 80's had the worst of it.

 

[dawnboo]

I'm 45. I fell hard when I saw New Year's Day on MTV... First live show was Cleveland Music Hall in December 1984 on the UF tour.

 

[Purplereign]

I had that "bi-level" haircut. Remember that? It looked like a mullet. Oh the 80's had the worst of it.

I had a bunch of friends who all had proper flock of seagulls hair and another girl friend who did that lopsided bob thing . . . super short boys hair on one side and long floppy shoulder length bob on the other . . . .noice

I'm 45. I fell hard when I saw New Year's Day on MTV... First live show was Cleveland Music Hall in December 1984 on the UF tour.

what an introduction to the band

 

[Jimali]

I'm 40! I first seen U2 (on TV) supporting The Police at Gateshead, UK. I think it was summer 1982. I was really only interested in seeing The Police perform but U2's performance that day blew me away. I can still quite vividly recall (no dementia yet!) Bono climbing one of the PA towers and planting a white flag on top.....whilst belting out Electric Co. Real edge of the seat stuff and I was hooked! Over the next few weeks I invested my hard-earned pocket money in Boy and October and proclaimed myself a "U2 fan" to my mates.

It would be a looooong wait for my first gig though. Zooropa - Glasgow 1993. But, fuck me was it worth the wait! Six years earlier I did have tickets for the JT Tour gig in Edinburgh 1987 but couldn't go at the last minute Still brings a tear to my eye.

 

[dougal55]

I havent posted here for a long while, a few years i reckon... so want to wave a big hi to some peeps here including Rambling Rose, Nicamom, gosh I cant remember who else so apologies for those I have forgotten... forgive me!

anyway, Im 41, fan since 1985 when I had a college friend tell me all about seeing U2 play at "The Longest Day" in Milton Keynes (anyone here who went to that show? I heard there was bucket loads of rain that day!) so I got out and bought my first U2 album, Under a Blood Red Sky. Fell in love with it so I was hooked from that day....

Fast forward two years later, I saw U2 live for the first time at Wembley Stadium during Joshua Tree tour (13th June) but unfortunately I didnt really enjoy it that much for various reasons. So that was a bit of a downer but happy to say that the next show got me hooked with U2 and I havent been disappointed since. The show? Edinburgh August 1st 1987 oh man, that gig was unbelievable... the atmosphere was electric (gosh, I still get goose pimples when I think about it now), the support bands were great, U2 was on top form and the best moment of the gig? two songs actually... Bad and New Year's Day. I love those songs and I still do so I felt joy and happiness that I have finally found a connection to U2 in a way that the Wembley gig failed to do.

So from that day, I went on to see U2 live numerous times here on every tour they did (with the exception of Lovetown tour) in UK, Germany and Ireland, met some wonderful U2 fans through the years including some interferencers here, really lucky to have met the 4 guys here in London and in Dublin too. I saw them last Friday (rooftop gig at Radio 1) and I still get the same excitement as I did at the edinburgh show and I cant wait to see them again this year on their tour and hopefully meet more cool new and old U2ers at the gigs too.

 

[Jimali]

The show? Edinburgh August 1st 1987 oh man, that gig was unbelievable...

Yip, that's the concert I mentioned....I had to give my ticket away (to a mate) on the morning of the gig....a beautiful sunny Sunday!

 

[U2FloridaFan]

47 and proud of it...fan since New Year's Day. Lost touch with them during the Achtung Baby (a shame cause I would've loved to have seen that tour) and Pop eras (young kids at home)...came back to them when I heard Beautiful Day and actually saw them for the first time live on the Elevation tour. After that I caught up with their back catalog and all the great music I had missed from 91-2000 and will be a fan for life. I love this band!

 

[dougal55]

Yip, that's the concert I mentioned....I had to give my ticket away (to a mate) on the morning of the gig....a beautiful sunny Sunday!

Well Jimali if it makes you feel a bit better... I was mad to sell 4 tickets to see U2 at Croke Park last tour but I had to cos none of my 3 friends I bought them for couldnt make it and because of them pulling out, I lost interest and dropped out... looking back now, Im still kicking myself for not going... sighs... duh!