Where are all the U2 fans?

[chels82]

I will also say that U2s fanbase in general is one of the smartest most educated bunch around

Agreed, even the insults around here are intelligent. Or at least make me chuckle instead of shaking my head with embarrassment.

 

[doctorwho]

um, yeah, that's about it. It might sound like a lot buuut... The majority of people I meet loooove Radiohead but dislike or detest U2, especially Bono. I remember in my Rock History class when we talked about U2 out of a class of 300 only a few people raised their hands when he asked if people liked U2, and when he asked what people thought of Bono the response was overwhelmingly negative. I mentioned Bono in a class today and everyone scoffed and started talking about what a douche he is.

What do they want Bono to do?

Nothing? Sing horribly like Thom Yorke and then claim how "cool" Radiohead is as they "gave an album away" - all the while cashing in on concerts (artists make almost all of their money from touring). Yorke wouldn't even support Live8. Now there's the douche.

Or I guess Bono can be like Jon Bon Jovi and have tons of lovers and cheat on his wife. Or like Mick Jagger and keep strutting out the oldies. Or like the tons of other artists who drank or drugged themself to oblivion. Or he could solicit illegal sex. I guess all of that is "cool".

You have some odd people in your class.

Then again, you have to remember that U2 have made a living out of NOT being cool. And by NOT being cool, they attract millions. How else to explain over 20M in worldwide sales of the last two albums and two sold-out tours?

When a band is around as long as U2, the cool factor starts to slip. It's not cool to like something that's huge. Even the Beatles lost luster the more popular they became. The Beatles, before they stopped touring, actually started NOT to sell out their shows!! Hard to believe, but it proves the cycle of popularity. There's a peak, and after that peak, it starts to falter.

Hating on U2 - it's been the pasttime since R&H. Nothing new. That's when they passed their peak and people started to hate.

However, as "uncool" as U2 are - give them a big hit song or album or big tour, and I guarantee that those 300 classmates of yours will all be rushing for tickets. In fact, I bet many of them calling Bono a douche now, are hypocrites, as they've probably already got a copy of the album.

I find that many won't admit to liking anyone in particular. Music is too subjective. I can rip apart Radiohead or Coldplay or even U2 if I wanted. But I like all three (despite my comments about Yorke above). But most people keep the bands they like to themselves. More private that way. And those who do like U2 congregate. So enjoy U2 with your fellow U2-loving mates. It's better that way.

 

[Sicy]

That's the great thing about Interference.

In real life I know like um 1 person that likes U2 a LOT.. not as much as me, but a lot. My other friends are very very casual fans. I don't know where they are all, besides Interference

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I know a lot of ex-U2 fans. A lot. Big ones. Mad ones. Huge ones. U2 was just the default in our group. I’m working on them, but they all think of U2 as dried up dinosaurs. Sorry to say it, but you can lay the blame for that squarely on the last two albums. Just the other day I had NLOTH on in the car with a friends in it..

“Is this the new U2?”
“Yes, it is”
“Is it just more of that ‘oh you look so beautiful, oh now I have vertigo’ shit?”
“No, this one is actually really worth a listen”
“They should really just give it up”
“Give it a listen first!”
(I believe Magnificent was on by now)
“Sounds like more of the same to me”
“GIVE. IT. A. FUCKING. LISTEN. FIRST!!!”

Having said that, a few friends of mine who have heard it really like it. Hated Boots, but really like a lot of the rest of it. I don’t think U2 will be winning all of these types back on this one, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

I would also say that they’re as respected as ever, just not as well liked in the present sense. At all. Their back catalogue anyway. I put up with getting two years of shit from friends for still paying attention to U2 post-Bomb, but when that Vertigo tour rolled into town it felt like virtually everyone I’ve ever known was going to one of the three shows.

 

[Bono's shades]

I live in Iowa and although there's not a lot of U2 hate, there sure aren't a lot of hardcore fans, either. I thought I would run into a lot of other Iowans when I went to see them in Minneapolis in 2005, but I think I only talked to one - and I chatted with quite a few people in line once we got our numbers on our hands and were milling around.

I guess this explains why U2 haven't played a concert in Iowa since ZooTV. I suppose all the U2 fans who were in high school or college during the JT-AB era have long since left the state (except for me).

 

[intedomine]

They are around...thought there are masses of casual fans, like you might get excited when someone says "I love U2", and then you might tell them that your favourite album is The Joshua Tree, and they're like "What's that?", cause they only know the big singles.

With younger people, you're less likely to have proper U2 fans who'd rate them as a top three band of theirs, because U2, admirably, hasn't really been part of a "scene" for years. Emos, Goths, Indie diehards, top forty teenypoppers, punks, bohemians, ravers, gangstas, aren't really gonna seek U2 fandom, because they don't identify with U2 as something meaningful to their conformist desires. U2 music is music just there, belonging to not necessarily anyone in particular, but with the scope to belong to everyone. It's an amazing thing I reckon, and when you're a hardcore fan like most of us are, you know there is something much more special beneath the surface that a Rammstein or a My Chem Romance or a Billy Talent are never capable of offering, because the fans will probably be sick of them in 3 or 4 years time, and will mean nothing more than nostaliga.

I'm 23, it was highly unfashionable to be a U2 fan back in the day. "Old person's band", even though everyone knew Beautiful Day was the best song ever and enjoyed it immensely.

 

[ic170]

Yeah like has been said I find on 1, 2 other forums I visit that people who liked them tend to have liked the Boy > The Joshua Tree era and maybe some AB... A case of [not my words] "oh it's U2 they used be good when they sang IWF, SBS, Pride, Bad, The EC and NYD etc and had big choruses and made you jump around in the big stadia..."

I suppose to some people I read elsewhere U2 are a sorta "time capsule" for their youth and it's 1983 every day in their little world. oh 1983, bad hair, no internet, Maggie Thatcher and Ronnie Reagan, lard, school... groan...

 

[SeattleVertigo]

Hmmmm, I know several huge U2 fans outside this forum. Maybe even more passionate than me.

 

[joerags]

People don't like U2 because their music isn't conventional or radio-friendly or top 40. Plus, they can't stand Bono because of his ego and his personality.

Believe me, it's always been like that, ever since the 80s.


All my life, I had to be a closet U2 fan, because I know a lot of people hate them. In fact, I am afraid to wear their t-shirts in public.

 

[Rachel D.]

I don't know any other U2 fans here at school. I knew one at my last school and maybe one or two when I was younger, but most people say they don't like them. I've learned not to even bring up U2 in conversations anymore. Sometimes I try to talk to one of my friends about them, but I think it annoys her.

Don't let it discourage you. I've discovered that most people have really bad taste in music, because they just listen to whatever is popular and not necessarily to what is actually good.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

..but I was hearing this guy playing this cd called The pains of being pure at heart....

DAMN! is...really, really good!...something like my bloody Valentine!

It's a very, very good album. Looks like they might be Rookies of the Year for 2009. Are you listening, U2?

*hint*touropener*hint*

 

[luna_lovegood]

A majority of my friends really like U2. They're kind of "greatest hits" fans, and I could get all of them to line up for the GA at a concert. And there is one family in my street who are entirely U2 crazy, like the whole family went into mourning when U2 cancelled the Australian leg of the Vertigo tour. But apart from them I guess the crazies I know are on the blue crack!

 

[mads]

I'm 21 and don't know any U2 fans except my dad, and he's nearly 60.

My friends definitely don't hate U2, but they don't necessarily like them either. I don't have any friends who would willingly go to a concert with me. I've tried. That's probably a good thing, because if they did go, they'd only be there to humor me. That'd be no fun.

I've been a fan since the late 90s, and I've never known a time when it was cool to like U2.

 

[hcbiggs2002]

I have my own Hackney Carriage Taxi, just recently I was playing NLOTH pre-release & had many favourable comments from customers who didn't know who it was, but said they really liked whatever song was on at the time. When I work on Fri/Sat nights, if ever I'm playing U2 I always get favourable comments about the group, of course, every once in a while some cloth-eared idiot will say "I F***ing hate U2" at which point I turn up the volume, & drive on.

Hahaa good for you! And here's me thinking that me living out here in the back of beyond Finland was the main reason I hadn't met any other U2 fans! Although I have met up with other Finnish U2 fans but only by contacting them through fan clubs, internet, or at concerts etc.

On the other hand I've never met anyone, whose actually heard of U2, saying they hate U2 or even Bono. Infact most people here commend Bono for his work on behalf of the poorest of the poor and a lot of Finlands own celebrities have been inspi(red) by Bonos example and are trying to do whatever they can to make this world a better place to live in!

 

[Saracene]

I was talking to my cousin the other weekend and when he found out I was a huge U2 fan he laughed. And then he said " I've always wondered who liked them. They seem to sell a lot of tickets and CD's but I've never met anyone who said they liked them!".

I've seen similar comments around over the years and it never made sense to me, I mean, how many people can any given person actually meet?

 

[Mr. V]

Yep, same shit here.

I'm 19 and go to Uni. I love U2. My housemates all hate them and constantly give me shit for liking them. Apparently Bono is a massive douche. I honestly fucking don't get it. Some other friends reckon they'd tolerate U2's music if it wasn't U2.

I've met one chick who likes U2 as much as I do, she was an American study abroad student, and it was at a bar, and I never saw her again.

I have one mate who likes them, but nowhere near as much as me, but he's back home in Adelaide. I honestly don't know who I'd go to a concert with.

 

[NotBono]

Yep, same thing around here.

Only know 3 people that are really into U2
Might know 1 or 2 casual fans

I'm in college as well and the "Bono is a douche" stands here as well. I don't get it, at least he is sincere in what he is doing unlike most celebrities who do it for publicity.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

I know quite some of them... none goes on fan sites, but at least 5 of them already asked me for tickets...
3 really close friends have been into U2 since AB, thanks to me.... same for my 2 sisters, my cousin and some other people.... my god I must be an annoying fan!

 

[Sken]

I must be one of the lucky ones. Pretty much all of my friends are U2 fans, ranging from really liking them to loving them.

Day the Vertigo tour went on sale in Adelaide, a little over 40 of us went and bought tickets.

 

[ZOOTVTOURist]

I'm 20. I attend a university... The majority of people I meet loooove Radiohead but dislike or detest U2, especially Bono. I remember in my Rock History class when we talked about U2 out of a class of 300 only a few people raised their hands when he asked if people liked U2, and when he asked what people thought of Bono the response was overwhelmingly negative. I mentioned Bono in a class today and everyone scoffed and started talking about what a douche he is. So my question is ... where the fuck are all the U2 fans? They're one of the biggest bands in the world, they sell millions of albums and sell out stadiums, yet hardly anyone I encounter even tolerates them. Is it just where I am or do you guys have this experience as well? The only remotely diehard fan I know is my roommate, and that's only because I converted him long ago. Also, might be obvious but, why does everyone hate Bono so much? Mostly I just want to know if you know very many people you know like U2, and if so where do you live so I can move there. Thx.

Hm, one could write a book upon all the questions, you ask. I'll try to give you a briefer, at times simplifying summary instead of what I think, where at least some of the 'problems' are to be found.
- U2 is a band with a long history now. You have the 'indie' start with kind of punkish EPs and albums. Let's say from 1979 until 1983 the band grew, they were far from superstardom. They foughtd for the breakthrough on stage and played literally for their lives, even two shows a day. Back then, to change the perspective, their fans felt themselves like a relatively small circle of people – with the feeling, to have discovered U2 in a way.
From there on you have the 1983-1986 period, where a lot happened: the huge success of the 'War' Tour, the arty approach to the masterpiece 'The Unforgettable Fire', again a giant tour, the TV highlight of 'Live Aid', a new way of songwriting. Here you had the first mass phenomenon (I became a fan in 1984, too) and the first losses. I remember two people back then in my school, who didn't want to follow their then new path ...
From then on you have the familiar story: a band of superstars, that is creative but always trying to change their faces – which means, you gain fans, you lose them – and you have people, who complain "Why don't they do like they did during 'The Joshua Tree'" or "I want ZOO TV back" etc. And you have a big bunch of so-called U2 fans, who see U2 and their band members as kind of 'their' property – who think to be important, because they think to 'know more about U2 than xy', to 'have seen more shows than xy' etc - and mutate theor behaviour in a very strange way. This is kind of spooky, I think ...
- Connected with U2 being always in the spotlights, you have other effects in being a mass article as rock music is our days. Are you still as artists relevant for yourselves, for your audience? How do you get older, without being a dinosaur or a 'Greates Hits' jukebox? And in a way also as important: Are you a profit centre, that works? Because in the end, U2 do it for love AND money. This combination has always attracted and detracted people from the band, as far as I remember. The 'sell-out' voices, that don't get the money aspect together with the band's engagement for social and political issues.
- Bono of course is the front man, the spokesperson, that is the impersonification of all this U2-controversy: A figure, ranging from a simple Irish guy, an intellectual writer, singer, poet, storyteller, rebel, activist, believer, actor on stage, family man in privacy to the other end with being an often very strange looking guy, a pretender, a comfortable bilionaire, a wannebe saint, an also often very limited pseudo-politician, even a caricature. In a way, he may have the most difficult job of all four –he is blamed for everything.

My advice: We can not change the music market, as it is today, we can not change U2 being a a big part of this mega-business. So, when you like their music, simply enjoy it. It is a gift in that way. And: There are still many more than just interested fans out there. Easily you meet them in concerts or here on interference ...

 

[HyperU2]

I might casually know someone for a year or two before I find out they're a fan. It's happened that way quite a bit.

 

[JanuaryStar]

I'm 21 and also go to uni. Honestly, I can also count the people I know who are really into U2 in real life on one hand (maybe two, if I try hard). I do know quite some people who sort of like U2, as in when they're played on the radio they think they're okay. But real fans? Hard to find. Maybe it's because they're all on the blue craic all the time...?

 

[Thanksandy]

I've got the solution to your problem -- move to western Canada, and I recommend Vancouver (where I live, on-and-off). They are huge there!

The albums all go to #1, and so do most of the singles, including 'Elevation', 'Walk On', and 'All Because Of You'. The Joshua Tree was the first Diamond-selling CD in Canada (CD sales of over 1 million -- proportionately equivalent to 10 million CD sales in the US). Their last Vancouver concert pre-Internet (on Zoo TV) was in such great demand that ticket buyers broken down the city's telephone system. The first 2005 show at GM Place sold out 20,000 tickets in about 4 minutes, at which point they added a second show which then sold out in 5 minutes. On PopMart, at a time when they struggled to sell out stadiums in the US, they sold out two stadium shows in Edmonton (population 800,000), or about 100,000 tickets, with no problem.

At the school I used to work at, at least 7 or 8 of my co-workers were U2 fans (ages 27 to 40) and had seen the band live before. At the University, you hear their music all the time. As late as last fall, the city IMax in Vancouver was still showing U2:3D, eight months after it opened. When I went to University (undergrad) in Calgary, about 90% of my friends owned U2 albums (this was in the mid-90s).

Solution: Western Canada

That for the information. I am 29 years old and I have been in Vancouver for over 4 months now. I live in London and just here on a work permit, but it's good to know they are popular here and I hope they play some dates in Vancouver on the tour. I can't say I have met any U2 fans while I have been over here and some of the rock radio stations slated GOYB.

Also went to see the U23D film in Downtown Vancouver at the IMAX theatre, thought I'd missed out on the chance to see it before I came over from London but really glad I did.

I recommend Vancouver as well, but not if you are a heavy clubber, it's more for the outdoors/activity/sporty type of people.

 

[LPU2]

U2 has never had THAT kind of popularity. At any given moment, the pop sensation and the college rock darling of the day would kick U2's butt in almost every measurable way.

But U2 continues to sell millions of albums and tickets because of their live reputation and because, unlike the temporary sensations, their appeal stretches across the globe to nearly every age group.

 

[lulu15]

I have one friend I go to the shows with. We hardly see each other anymore, but I know we will be going to the next show together. I met a guy here at work 4 yrs ago and just found out he likes U2 a yr ago when he was wearing a War t-shirt. A lot of people at work will say they like them, but they are not 'true' fans like me. My friends 25 y.o. has finally given in to U2!! I've known him since he was born. I would drive him around in my car playing JT on cassette! NOW he likes them! Thank God for that. Maybe he will go to the next show with me.

Otherwise, I live my daily life alone in U2 land except for my new found friends on the forums.

 

[djparky]

there are plenty of U2 fans out there, but I'd wager that alot of them are mid-late 30 somethings or into their 40's- which is going to happen for any act that's been around for as long as U2 have- that will show at the concerts as well

so it's not altogether suprising that folk at university who are 19-22 probably aren't massively into U2

 

[dal975]

From my experience, these are a few of the reasons there aren't too many young U2 fans:

1. The band peaked in their late 80s/early 90s, so kids who were at the right age at the time are now much older.
2. This is one of the few major rock bands out there that doesn't really believe in complicated guitar solos like say, Metallica does. I think younger music fans generally prefer harder more guitar oriented rock. U2 is too soft for them.
3. Their recent songwriting, esp. on Bomb is mostly adult contemporary/ mature stuff and the kids today don't relate to it. Understandably so.



Are you surprised??? I'm a U2 fan and more than half the time I cannot stand Bono and wish he'd shut up and stop being a walking cheesefest. I can only expect non fans to hate him even more. He brings this on to himself.

I agree with this. Also, all of the questions in the original post are extremely valid and ones I have been wondering about for years. Except for the internet it would be impossible for me to interact with anyone in my daily life who is a diehard fan (or even anything more than a casual fan). I'm 33 now, when AB and Zoo TV exploded I was 16-17 and they blew me away. I was the perfect age for it and I fit perfectly in #1 of Zootlesque's post quoted above. Obviously, I kept going with it. But I still have a hard time finding people my age who have more than even a passing awareness of anything on AB besides One and Mysterious Ways. I live in New York City. U2 to most of my "peers" are still known as the Joshua Tree band with a "recent" big hit called Beautiful Day and some Ipod song. And didn't they do some techno weird thing in the 90's? But their concerts tend to be "fun" and a trendy and expensive thing to do if you can get tickets. Even if you can't name any other song from the last decade other than Beautiful Day, the concerts are fun b/c the lights come on during Streets and come on, who doesn't like hearing WOWY? That was the song I danced with that girl/guy to at the eighth grade dance.

Its worse with Bono. The toughest part of being a U2 fan is hearing ignorant comments about him from friends who really mean no harm. He clearly doesn't help matters, either.

I think it is also an age thing. I remember being 18 or 19 and thinking the Rolling Stones were a dinosaur 1960s band who I had no interest in. They were "old men." (Mick was Bono's current age). They were selling more tickets than U2 at the time. Ironic.

ETA: I greatly admire bono...i didn't mean for this to sound so harsh regarding him.

 

[tryan101]

I'm growing them from birth, so there's hope still.

 

[shart1780]

Yeah it's weird. U2 is one of the biggest bands in the world yet I know of almost no U2 fans.

 

[Cactus Annie]

Where are all the U2 fans?

up my arse