Did Bono really say this to a fan?

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Rob33 said:
hmm.. Yeah, he did say that, no overdubbing or anything...there were all these people on youtube who didn't believe that the original video was real because the video/audio timing was way off so it appeared fake, until another guy made a video with two different camera angles and better synch, pretty much proving to the naysayers that it was in fact real...

I'm not quite sure what Bono was thinking...even if someone does have there phone out, and they're talking on it, who cares? What if it's a once in a lifetime experience for a fan and they want to share the moment with a friend and have them on the phone during their favorite song or whatever...or for any reason in the world haha...it shouldn't make any difference to Bono. There are many other fans at U2 shows that have their phones out at some point in the show, but Bono just can't see them :shrug: I dunno...but I think Bono reeeally overreacted here. And the girl was just taking pictures of him with her phone...Bono couldn't see that? It was a very odd thing to do and you would never expect it from him...very uncharacteristic.
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I haven't posted in ages, I lurk -- but I am on Bono's side, here. The last time I was at a concert, the people around me totally blocked my view and ruined the mood by yapping on their phones and holding them up. Nice to share with a friend not there, yes.

But this song especially, I can't imagine not letting yourself be in the moment and the emotion of it. The last few concerts I've been to, I didn't even take my camera. On the Elevation tour, I realized I had spent an entire concert looking through a lens to get crap pics instead of just enjoying and being into the concert. Since then... well, "no more, NO more" camera or cell phone for me at a U2 concert.

Plus, it's almost like having a camera or phone in church, since concerts are a near-religious experience for me.

I was a bit shocked at first, then thought, why would you want to distract yourself even a second from being right THERE at that moment, so close and such an emotional song?

Good for him, and good for him for apologizing, as well.

Cell phones are really starting to irritate me, they're obnoxious when you're trying to pay attention, and if you're the one at home, you know very well you can't hear much of anything but distorted NOISE anyway. I doubt he/she was "only" taking photos. Looks like Bono saw exactly what they were doing. Great impression of a phone conversation! LOL

Just listen and BE present, put your phone in your pocket -- you're living a moment you can remember in your soul, if you just let yourself. :sad:
 
jonnytakeawalk said:
Agree.

All this bullshit 'oh he's only human' 'he was in the moment' 'Axl Rose and Tori Amos are worse.' The guy was being a prick. It shouldn't be harped on about but it should be so quickly dismissed with these excuses either
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I was just trying to put myself in his shoes. Maybe he was in the wrong, but if I'd been in that situation (or in Tori's, who I love too) I might have done the same thing.
 
To answer the thread question:

Yes, he really said this.

Can we now move on? :rolleyes: he's human people, even Bono can make mistakes and it's a personal opinion wether you see this as one.
 
danondorf said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpR9t4ZZfAo

I understand that it's Sunday Bloody Sunday and Bono really gets into it during the bridge but to me this very unlike Bono.

Is this fake or dubbed or something?
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Way to go, Bono! I actually am in full agreement with him there. I have had the burden of being behind people obsessed with filming and taking pictures and it's really hard to see. These same people also don't tend to care about the music. They usually wander off during songs they don't like or whatever and show no concern for those behind them. It's the really ugly side of technology.

That crap about Al Qaeda attacking New York because it's a place of coexistence is bull, though. They picked a major target not to fight against coexistence but because American foreign policy is obstructing the freedoms Americans enjoy from ever being enjoyed by brutal dictatorships the US government backs in the middle East and a democratic Israel's brutality toward Palestinians.

However colonial their ambitions and wrong they were to target innocents, there was a logic to attacking the nation that is making it impossible to rebel against oppression. Whether they wanted to replace that elitist repression with a wrongheaded religious fundamentalism is a different matter, but Bono is hardly talking down to Christian and Jewish fundamentalists for using American foreign policy to bully and kill innocent citizens throughout the Middle East -- and the death toll is far higher than 3,000 people and has been going on for far longer.
 
Muldfeld said:
Way to go, Bono! I actually am in full agreement with him there. I have had the burden of being behind people obsessed with filming and taking pictures and it's really hard to see. These same people also don't tend to care about the music. They usually wander off during songs they don't like or whatever and show no concern for those behind them. It's the really ugly side of technology.

That crap about Al Qaeda attacking New York because it's a place of coexistence is bull, though. They picked a major target not to fight against coexistence but because American foreign policy is obstructing the freedoms Americans enjoy from ever being enjoyed by brutal dictatorships the US government backs in the middle East and a democratic Israel's brutality toward Palestinians.

However colonial their ambitions and wrong they were to target innocents, there was a logic to attacking the nation that is making it impossible to rebel against oppression. Whether they wanted to replace that elitist repression with a wrongheaded religious fundamentalism is a different matter, but Bono is hardly talking down to Christian and Jewish fundamentalists for using American foreign policy to bully and kill innocent citizens throughout the Middle East -- and the death toll is far higher than 3,000 people and has been going on for far longer.
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wow you reeeally like going off on political tangents! :giggle:
 
Breaking news... Bono can be an asshole sometimes.

I've seen him yell at fans a few times over the years, mostly for "fighting". I think it's his way of getting the crowd fired up. As someone earlier said, Axl Rose does this at every GnR show, and it works, the crowd always loves it.

I remember Bono cussed out some poor sap during the free concert in SF during the JT Tour, accusing him of holding up an IRA sign (the sign said "SF Loves U2", and Bono apparently thought SF meant Sinn Fein instead of San Francisco). :doh:

He dissed the local stage managers onstage when Edge's rig blew up in SF during the War Tour, calling them a bunch of "hippies". Not cool, but hilarious nonetheless. Those guys probably hate Bono ever since.

That time when someone threw water on him was in Oakland Vertigo, I think, he was really pissed off, which I thought was an overreaction. During the same show, he got pissed at my friend for handing him an Irish flag during SBS instead of a US flag. He gave her a dirty look and made some snide remark into the mic for everyone to hear. Made her feel like shit, but I thought it was kind of cool, good theatre. I've heard other stories from his personal life in Ireland that aren't very flattering.

If you worship Bono, do yourself a favor and don't examine him too closely. Just enjoy his music and words, and realize that he's a mean old bastard at times (as he freely admits), not the nice, soft saintly figure some people make him out to be.
 
bonette said:
I haven't posted in ages, I lurk -- but I am on Bono's side, here. The last time I was at a concert, the people around me totally blocked my view and ruined the mood by yapping on their phones and holding them up. Nice to share with a friend not there, yes.

But this song especially, I can't imagine not letting yourself be in the moment and the emotion of it. The last few concerts I've been to, I didn't even take my camera. On the Elevation tour, I realized I had spent an entire concert looking through a lens to get crap pics instead of just enjoying and being into the concert. Since then... well, "no more, NO more" camera or cell phone for me at a U2 concert.

Plus, it's almost like having a camera or phone in church, since concerts are a near-religious experience for me.

I was a bit shocked at first, then thought, why would you want to distract yourself even a second from being right THERE at that moment, so close and such an emotional song?

Good for him, and good for him for apologizing, as well.

Cell phones are really starting to irritate me, they're obnoxious when you're trying to pay attention, and if you're the one at home, you know very well you can't hear much of anything but distorted NOISE anyway. I doubt he/she was "only" taking photos. Looks like Bono saw exactly what they were doing. Great impression of a phone conversation! LOL

Just listen and BE present, put your phone in your pocket -- you're living a moment you can remember in your soul, if you just let yourself. :sad:
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I totally agree bonette...I was so psyched to see Bono doing this, and I suppose it was nice of him, and appropriate too lol, to apologize afterwards. I mean, I wouldn't have wanted to be the poor guy on the receiving end of a scolding, but at the same time, I wouldn't have wanted to be standing near someone talking on their bloody cell during a concert! It's bad enough when people come to a show and spend their time chatting with their mates instead of getting into the music, but it's even worse when their buds aren't in the room!! And poor Bono, to have to put out his guts like he does for a concert, and instead of having the audience be 'present' right there in front of him, available to engage in the experience, it's instead more like a fanline, ooh, lookie at me buddy in another city, I'm in the heart or whatever at the show, here's Bono right here, see, woot! It's gotta get frustrating...
cheers all...
 
4U2Play said:
Breaking news... Bono can be an asshole sometimes.

I've seen him yell at fans a few times over the years, mostly for "fighting". I think it's his way of getting the crowd fired up. As someone earlier said, Axl Rose does this at every GnR show, and it works, the crowd always loves it.

I remember Bono cussed out some poor sap during the free concert in SF during the JT Tour, accusing him of holding up an IRA sign (the sign said "SF Loves U2", and Bono apparently thought SF meant Sinn Fein instead of San Francisco). :doh:

He dissed the local stage managers onstage when Edge's rig blew up in SF during the War Tour, calling them a bunch of "hippies". Not cool, but hilarious nonetheless. Those guys probably hate Bono ever since.

That time when someone threw water on him was in Oakland Vertigo, I think, he was really pissed off, which I thought was an overreaction. During the same show, he got pissed at my friend for handing him an Irish flag during SBS instead of a US flag. He gave her a dirty look and made some snide remark into the mic for everyone to hear. Made her feel like shit, but I thought it was kind of cool, good theatre. I've heard other stories from his personal life in Ireland that aren't very flattering.

If you worship Bono, do yourself a favor and don't examine him too closely. Just enjoy his music and words, and realize that he's a mean old bastard at times (as he freely admits), not the nice, soft saintly figure some people make him out to be.
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This reminds me, I saw an October tour video of Bono getting annoyed with the audience for not really being into it. I think he said something like "You know, where we come from, it's customary to clap at a concert."
 
4U2Play said:
I've heard other stories from his personal life in Ireland that aren't very flattering.

If you worship Bono, do yourself a favor and don't examine him too closely. Just enjoy his music and words, and realize that he's a mean old bastard at times (as he freely admits), not the nice, soft saintly figure some people make him out to be.
Click to expand...

OK, I think YOU are a bit overreacting here:

1. Heard stories about his personal life in Ireland ... I don't think this topic is the right place for "stories" about Bono's personal life in Ireland. We all know he's very famous and thus the object of much envy and jealousy. Of course people tell (and often make up) stories about a celebrity that show them in a bad light. Not saying it's all untrue, much of it probably is true, since Bono is a human being and certainly has his moods and makes his mistakes, like EVERYONE else does. You might hear some not so flattering things from my neighbors about myself, too, if you ask them. NO ONE is nice and friendly 100% of their time. I also have to add that I have heard and read comments from people who live in Bono's neighborhood and/or have met him near his house and all of them said that he and his wife are always very nice people. So go figure. I'm sure he's just a normal human being in private with good and bad days.

2. I hate it when people make it seem as if U2 fans are totally deluded and see Bono as a SAINT, because I'm sure 99% of fans DON'T. I find this assumption annoying and I hate it when the word WORSHIP is tossed around to portray fans as blind idiots.

I don't know why there always have to be these extremes: Either total asshole or saint. I mean there's more between these two extremes and EVERY human being, including Bono, is more complex than that. I don't think anyone here is so stupid as to think Bono is a saint and can do no wrong.

"Don't examine him too closely"? Wtf? Of course I want to examine him closer, because I'm interested in the person he is, and he is a complex personality. Just because he has good AND bad sides doesn't make me any less a fan. In fact, I am interested in him because of his often controversial personality. And Bono will be the first to admit his mistakes and not so good sides. Just read his interviews, comments, and so on, he NEVER said he's a saint, in fact he tries hard not to fit into this picture as an exclusively good person.

We all can be assholes at times, I am, too, living is tough and sometimes things go wrong. If you're having a friendship or relationship with someone, you normally don't run away just because this person is moody sometimes or says or does something you don't agree with.
 
That whole clip reminded me of David Brent from The Office for some reason. The way he went on about it made it more embarrassing for him than for the girl in the end. Eh, he's human. Who hasn't blown up over something trivial at some point in their lives?
 
DreamOutLoud13 said:
This reminds me, I saw an October tour video of Bono getting annoyed with the audience for not really being into it. I think he said something like "You know, where we come from, it's customary to clap at a concert."
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on the early club tours, bono would routinely chide the audience for their occasional lack of enthusiasm, or at least the enthusiasm bono expected/wanted in return for his going all out during a show. this typically happened in europe outside of the UK, where not only was U2 still relatively unknown, but the fans did not understand the lyrics...One of my favorite bono-isms was from I think the Milky Way club (maybe the Paradiso) in Amsterdam in 1981, when after about the fifth song he addresses the relatively sedate crowd with "well...you know...it's up to you!" I can just picture him standing there with his hands on his hips, refusing to sing any further until he gets his way!

with respect to this whole thread...all of us U2 fanatics know that sometimes bono makes it real tough to love him every single second, and sometimes he can be very exasperating, kind of like a family member. But that is what makes him one of the most human performers out there, and one of the reasons why we all feel as close as we do to him, the rest of the band and their music. Yes, he f*cked up here, no excuses, but life will go on for all involved. Hopefully, we can move on from this thread...no need to keep harping on the negative.
 
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