*Ally*
New Yorker
no, not mine (unforutnately!). but read this Notre Dame student's Bono encounter- it's incredible!!
from ******.net
http://www.nd.edu/~observer
October 9, 2001
Bono: Notre Dame has soul
Tim Collins
Scene Music Critic
My name is Tim Collins and the story that I am about to tell you is true, every word of it.
It is a story about U2, the band that is opening the third leg of their Elevation Tour on our
campus this week. It is a story that proves life moves in mysterious ways. A story where I
found what I was looking for.
I took part in the University's London Program during the Spring 2000 semester, and during the
first of my two one-week breaks I traveled to Dublin, in God's country, to spend a week with my
girlfriend, Julie, who was a part of the Dublin study-abroad program.
On Feb. 15, Julie and I walked along the south side of the Liffey River on a self-guided tour
through Dublin. The final destination was the recording studio where U2 recorded Pop and All
That You Can't Leave Behind. About a 15-minute walk from the Pearse Street train station, the
studio is in a very industrialized area of the city; there are no sidewalks and few street signs.
But we were determined to get there and take a few pictures while pretending that our favorite
band was just behind the wall in front of us.
Well, after hanging around for about 30 minutes we found out the band actually was behind the
wall in front of us. We knew this because Bono walked out of a door about 50 feet away from us
to get something out of his Mercedes parked on the street. I was unable to get over to him in
time to get an autograph, but our desire to meet the band was now at a fever pitch, and we
were going to stay at the studio until we got an autograph. Fifteen minutes later, a garage door
opened and out drove Adam Clayton, the band's bass player, in his hatchback Mercedes. He
pulled up next to us and signed an autograph on the All That You Can't Leave Behind album
booklet that Julie had luckily brought just in case something like this happened. I told him that I
couldn't wait to see him on tour and he drove off.
We were ecstatic, but nothing could prepare us for what was going to happen next.
Ten minutes later, Bono again walked out of the door in front of us, this time with his wife. I
walked up to him as coolly and calmly as I could and asked for an autograph, album booklet
extended in my right hand. He agrees and shook our hands, asking what we were doing in the
area. He thought we worked in one of the factories or buildings around the studio since it was in
such a secluded area. When we told him we were there to just see the band, he was shocked.
He said, "You're here just to see us?"
After again explaining to him that we were only there to see him, he made us an offer we
couldn't refuse. He said, "I'll tell you what, why don't you get in the car? We'll give you a ride to
Pearse Street, is that OK?"
Let me repeat that: Bono offered us a ride in his S600 Mercedes.
Julie accepted the offer (I was incapable of speech) and we got in the car. He sat with his
briefcase on his lap, so we could have more room in the back. We were introduced to his wife
and thus began our double date with Bono and his wife.
It was about a 10-minute ride in the car with Bono; luckily there was a fair amount of traffic due
to construction that day. I asked him if he was excited for the tour that was scheduled to begin
in about a month and we talked about the Grammy's, which were only a few days away. He
said he didn't think they would win any of the awards they were up for (they went on to sweep
all of the awards for which they were nominated). He signed our album booklet, told us we were
in his "posh car" and even wrote a lyric from the song "I Fall Down" with his autograph because
the song is about a girl named Julie ("Julie says John I'm going nowhere").
Then the University of Notre Dame came up. We told him that we were students here and he
said that the ex-Canadian Ambassador to Ireland lives across the street from him and that he
was somehow associated with Notre Dame (this is ex-athletic director Mike Wadsworth). Bono
said that he has heard Notre Dame is different from most colleges in America and he asked us
why that is.
Julie explained that our school has a great sense of community and it is a really spiritual place.
Bono responded by saying, "So, it's a place with a lot of soul." We said that we couldn't have
agreed more. Notre Dame has never been as cool to us as when Bono said that we have a lot
of soul.
As Bono's wife informed us that we would have to jump out of the car at the next stoplight,
Bono turned around and shook both of our hands. We thanked him about 15 times and said we
would see him on tour later in the summer. I almost knocked his leather jacket out of the car as
I jumped out.
Bono and his wife sped away, with Bono giving us a quick wave we could see through the rear
window as they pulled away. Julie and I jumped around the streets of Dublin for about 10
minutes willing to tell people passing us on the street what had happened before calling our
parents to tell them on her cell phone.
Some days are better than others, and Feb. 15 was truly a beautiful day. So when the biggest
and best band in the world plays on Notre Dame's campus later this week, just remember:
Bono thinks Notre Dame has a lot of soul.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The
Observer.
Tim Collins can be contacted at collins.87@nd.edu.
from ******.net
http://www.nd.edu/~observer
October 9, 2001
Bono: Notre Dame has soul
Tim Collins
Scene Music Critic
My name is Tim Collins and the story that I am about to tell you is true, every word of it.
It is a story about U2, the band that is opening the third leg of their Elevation Tour on our
campus this week. It is a story that proves life moves in mysterious ways. A story where I
found what I was looking for.
I took part in the University's London Program during the Spring 2000 semester, and during the
first of my two one-week breaks I traveled to Dublin, in God's country, to spend a week with my
girlfriend, Julie, who was a part of the Dublin study-abroad program.
On Feb. 15, Julie and I walked along the south side of the Liffey River on a self-guided tour
through Dublin. The final destination was the recording studio where U2 recorded Pop and All
That You Can't Leave Behind. About a 15-minute walk from the Pearse Street train station, the
studio is in a very industrialized area of the city; there are no sidewalks and few street signs.
But we were determined to get there and take a few pictures while pretending that our favorite
band was just behind the wall in front of us.
Well, after hanging around for about 30 minutes we found out the band actually was behind the
wall in front of us. We knew this because Bono walked out of a door about 50 feet away from us
to get something out of his Mercedes parked on the street. I was unable to get over to him in
time to get an autograph, but our desire to meet the band was now at a fever pitch, and we
were going to stay at the studio until we got an autograph. Fifteen minutes later, a garage door
opened and out drove Adam Clayton, the band's bass player, in his hatchback Mercedes. He
pulled up next to us and signed an autograph on the All That You Can't Leave Behind album
booklet that Julie had luckily brought just in case something like this happened. I told him that I
couldn't wait to see him on tour and he drove off.
We were ecstatic, but nothing could prepare us for what was going to happen next.
Ten minutes later, Bono again walked out of the door in front of us, this time with his wife. I
walked up to him as coolly and calmly as I could and asked for an autograph, album booklet
extended in my right hand. He agrees and shook our hands, asking what we were doing in the
area. He thought we worked in one of the factories or buildings around the studio since it was in
such a secluded area. When we told him we were there to just see the band, he was shocked.
He said, "You're here just to see us?"
After again explaining to him that we were only there to see him, he made us an offer we
couldn't refuse. He said, "I'll tell you what, why don't you get in the car? We'll give you a ride to
Pearse Street, is that OK?"
Let me repeat that: Bono offered us a ride in his S600 Mercedes.
Julie accepted the offer (I was incapable of speech) and we got in the car. He sat with his
briefcase on his lap, so we could have more room in the back. We were introduced to his wife
and thus began our double date with Bono and his wife.
It was about a 10-minute ride in the car with Bono; luckily there was a fair amount of traffic due
to construction that day. I asked him if he was excited for the tour that was scheduled to begin
in about a month and we talked about the Grammy's, which were only a few days away. He
said he didn't think they would win any of the awards they were up for (they went on to sweep
all of the awards for which they were nominated). He signed our album booklet, told us we were
in his "posh car" and even wrote a lyric from the song "I Fall Down" with his autograph because
the song is about a girl named Julie ("Julie says John I'm going nowhere").
Then the University of Notre Dame came up. We told him that we were students here and he
said that the ex-Canadian Ambassador to Ireland lives across the street from him and that he
was somehow associated with Notre Dame (this is ex-athletic director Mike Wadsworth). Bono
said that he has heard Notre Dame is different from most colleges in America and he asked us
why that is.
Julie explained that our school has a great sense of community and it is a really spiritual place.
Bono responded by saying, "So, it's a place with a lot of soul." We said that we couldn't have
agreed more. Notre Dame has never been as cool to us as when Bono said that we have a lot
of soul.
As Bono's wife informed us that we would have to jump out of the car at the next stoplight,
Bono turned around and shook both of our hands. We thanked him about 15 times and said we
would see him on tour later in the summer. I almost knocked his leather jacket out of the car as
I jumped out.
Bono and his wife sped away, with Bono giving us a quick wave we could see through the rear
window as they pulled away. Julie and I jumped around the streets of Dublin for about 10
minutes willing to tell people passing us on the street what had happened before calling our
parents to tell them on her cell phone.
Some days are better than others, and Feb. 15 was truly a beautiful day. So when the biggest
and best band in the world plays on Notre Dame's campus later this week, just remember:
Bono thinks Notre Dame has a lot of soul.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The
Observer.
Tim Collins can be contacted at collins.87@nd.edu.
