Hello, I normally lurk, but I was the San Jose signing as well. I thought I'd share.
I convinced my concert buddy, Tiff, to come early and try to catch the band before the show. She'd never seen live before, and always regretted missing out on Elevation. Good thing she went along with the plan - she took all the pictures. I was far too excited!
We arrived at about 2:30 and sat down on corner of the curb to wait. Since neither of us had eaten lunch, we had picked up some pizza, which we wolfed down pretty quickly.
At about 3:30, the band's "Vertigo" jumbo jet flew overhead, arriving at the San Jose airport. The crowd of about 100 at the gate erupted into cheers.
I was a little antsy, because I knew that sound check had to be at 4:00. I also got really fidgety and kept dropping things. Luckily, we were right up against the corner of the barricade. Well, 15 minutes later, Edge, Larry and Adam drove up, and straight into the compound. Edge flashed us a thumbs up and nodded. Bono was last to arrive. He rolled down the window to tell us "One hour." Awesome.
At about 5:30, a spriffy bald bodyguard named John walked up, flanked by Bono. The staff announced that he would sign autographs, but there was no time for pictures together. Now, I was expecting a courteous, but curt "Nice to meet you, thank you for coming, here's your autograph... Next!" automoton routine. But he was really quite sweet, charming, laid back and soft-spoken. Although he was pretty short, you don't really notice it because it's BONO standing right in front of you. He actually took his time with everyone and chatted, graciously listening to their accounts about their personal lives, and asked what we thought of the last few shows. You know, actual conversations with his full attention. And he really seemed to enjoy doing so. He even recognized some fans he had met before.
When he got to me, he said hi, and started signing my cover to a vinyl single of "Pride". "This is a good one," he remarked, and went on to say that he got a little scared when he saw some of the older pictures, especially his hair. At this point, I was quite petrified/starstruck with glee and shock. Also, his gaze is pretty intense, even through the sunglasses. The man exudes charisma. I barely managed to squeak out a "Thank you."
(Tiff took this one when he was talking to me!)
While he was signing my cover, I remembered that I had prepared chocolate dipped strawberries and packed them in nice red and black box in hopes of giving them to a band member. (the strawberries looked fantastic at the farmer's market, and the chocolate was on sale!) I suddenly remembered that box, and nervously asked, "Can I give this to you?" He seemed genuinely delighted and surprised. "For me? I get a present? And I didn't have do any work or favors anything for this?" All I could think of to say (pretty lamely) was, "Of course. To thank you. You can share them, if you want. Or not." He began to gingerly open it, and asked, "What is it?" I told him, "chocolate covered strawberries." With a little mock gasp, he beamed and exclaimed, rather mischieviously, "You naughty thing!" I gaped a little, then giggled and totally blushed beet red to my toes. (What a flirt! Figures. Irishmen. Oh, and sigh...) He handed them to John, "Would you mind keeping an eye on these?" When the bodyguard pretended to hide them behind his back, I giggled, "I think he just might run off them, Bono." He winked and told his bodyguard "We'll just keep this between the two of us, John." He asked my name and went on to sign a pre-Joshua Tree songbook of mine.
He moved on to Tiff next, and squeezed her hand and signed her "Bomb" album cover. She was also awestruck and couldn't really think of much to say either. I honestly can't remember what he said to her, it was such a blur. Neither of us could move, for the next 20 minutes. I swear, it was as though our legs were brick pillars!
Oh, and when Ali and the kids drove up, it was so cute - he totally dropped what he was doing and broke into a huge smile to greet them. What a lucky family!
Anyways, Tiff is hooked on the idea of hanging at parking lots of every single U2 show now. I guess you can say I've turned her into a die hard fan.
Oh yeah, I also have to say that the fans and security staff in San Jose were incredibly courteous and cool. Everything ran really smoothly. I hope Oakland gets a clue from them.