Some of you oldtimers may remember this, but I had a very very unique opportunity to work very closely with U2's "people" and be around the band at the 1st My VH-1 Awards and it culminated in me ending up in a photo with Bono taken by other fans.
To read Part 1 of the account, go to this link:
http://www.interference.com/u2news/u2_camilo_myvh1_bono.html
(Read Part One above first)
Part Two is below and I will summarize the loose ends in my next post.
Thursday, November 30th, 2000: The Day of My VH-1 Awards
Finally, the big day arrived. The My VH-1 Awards and my last chance to meet someone other than Adam in U2. Their scheduled time to arrive was 12:30 PM but I had heard Paul McGuinness telling the boys the night before that they did not have to be back until 1:00. My scheduled time to be at the Shrine was 11:30 AM and I got there by about 12:00 and their security guard Jack was already there at their trailer, which was, located right outside the back entrance of the Shrine. I put on my walkie-talkie headset when I arrived at the Shrine. I also picked up a manila envelope that was to be given to Bono. I was told it was their script. Of course I opened it and looked at it and it was just the words and lyrics and an overview of the music refrains to Beautiful Day.
At about 12:30 I heard them state that The Edge would be driving alone, separate from the rest of the band when they would be arriving. I continued to wait and spoke to Jack and he said that The Edge had spent the night in Malibu with his girlfriend. He also said that the band had turned in relatively early the night before, despite his concerns that they may had wanted to go out and party since the night was still young when they left the Shrine the night before. He had confided in me that he had been hoping the rehearsal would go longer so they would be less likely to want to go out. Fortunately for Jack, they had turned in early despite the early night.
Seth, the Stage Manager for the Awards Show came by and introduced me to Dennis Sheehan and told Dennis if there was anything U2 needed that he could contact me. Dennis in turn told a member of the U2 Security entourage I had not seen the day before, a tall reddish brownish haired guy named Jerry. A friend there told me that he was not Jerry Melee. I took advantage of this time to let them know I had Bono?s script and they nodded. This sealed my plan to get to speak to Bono without his security guys being suspicious of my intentions.
12:45 PM:
I hear on the walkie-talkie that part of U2?s cars had arrived. It was The Edge and in another car Adam. They walked out and greeted Jerry and Dennis and they directed them into the trailer. I stayed outside of it. Another car pulled up and this one had Bono and Scottie, his main security guy in it. He stepped out of the car, he was wearing shades and a black shirt and he said hello to Dennis and I approached Bono shaking the manila envelope to get his attention before he dashed into the trailer. Dennis Sheehan saw me and told Bono to turn around and finally we spoke.
?Bono, I have your script for you.? He looked at me kind of surprised. I said, ?It?s for the show, more or less a formality?. And then he smiled and acted a little silly and said:
?A script? Oh, I am a big star now, I need a script!? And I laughed at him and handed it to him. I told him, ?Like you really need it.? And he laughed and went into the trailer.
OK, that was progress. As I stood outside of the trailer I could see The Edge reading the Los Angeles Times and drinking a Canadian Dry Ginger Ale soda. Paul McGuinness lifts up a bottle of Stolinachya vodka and smiles. I don?t see anyone drink any though.
Next Larry arrives and he has a bag of shirts that he takes into the trailer. He starts showing it to the other people in the trailer and stuff. The funny thing is, they are U2 shirts!! Some of them old! Maybe he was trying to make his pitch for the 2001 Tour shirt designs!
Adam steps out of the trailer and passes me and goes up to Jerry as he lights a cigarette. Jerry lights a cigarette also and Jerry and Adam engage in light conversation. I decide to smoke too since the area outside of the trailer we are all standing at has turned into the smokers section. Eventually he goes back in the trailer and before I know it, it is almost time for U2?s dress rehearsal.
1:45 PM?
Seth the Stage Manager (Seth is the guy talking to Bono in the car at the beginning of the Awards show) comes and talks to Dennis Sheehan and I then ask Seth if I should follow Bono out to the front or stay with the band when they go onstage. He told me he would handle Bono, and for me to follow the band on stage and stay on stage left until they were done. And then before I knew it, we were moving. The entourage of security, management and miscellaneous U2 people were all moving from the trailer in the back to the stage. On my walkie-talkie headphones I heard people?s other talent escorts saying things like ?No Doubt wants to be in the house when U2 does their rehearsal? and ?Lars Ulrich wants to be notified when U2 is about to go on stage?. I walkie-talkied back, ?U2 is about to take the stage.?
I walked on to the stage and stayed behind it, to the right if you were in the audience but what is called Stage Left for productions. I heard Larry start playing the drums and I could see The Edge and Adam a little from behind the huge stage props. Then, I heard it. My heat skipped a beat. YES!
11?0 CLOCK TICK TOCK!!! The Edge and Adam and Larry were playing 11?0 Clock Tick Tock just feet from me at the end of the year 2000 and it sounded so fantastic. They only played it half way through, but I knew that they were serious about playing it and I was elated that it might be played at the Irving Plaza gig or maybe even on tour!
Suddenly, the keyboard intro that I had grown very FAMILIAR with boomed over the PA system and out of the speakers and the lights in the house dimmed as the band prepared their Dress Rehearsal performance of Beautiful Day. I heard Bono singing and eventually I noticed him walking down the aisle and the spotlight following him. After the Beautiful Day performance the band did not exit the stage on stage left as I had been told they would. So I ran around and caught up with the entourage just as they were walking out the back entrance of the Shrine to their trailer. They went inside and I hung outside of it, as I was supposed to. They drank water and then Scottie; their main Security guy came up to me and asked me if I could help them with something.
The Corrs were rehearsing in the lot across the street from the front of the Shrine. Bono and Larry wanted to go watch them and Scottie wanted me to escort him and the two of them to where they were as they were not exactly sure the best way to get there and they did not want to go through the seating area where people were already watching the other performers rehearse. I told Scottie it would be my pleasure. Of course I didn?t call him Scottie that seemed to be Bono and the other band members affectionate name for him.
So I walked and they followed, Scottie, Bono, Larry, and some other guy, I am not sure whom. We went around through the side hall to the front lobby and out the doors and across the red carpet to the Pre-Show stage and area that The Corrs were at. Bono and Larry showed up just as they finished and they both began to applaud very loudly. Then Scottie came up to me and explained a predicament that they had suddenly found themselves in. Their credentials do not allow them re-entry to the Shrine through the front entrance we had just exited! He needed me to go get credentials that would allow the four of them entry back into the Shrine. So I got on the walkie-talkie and radioed the request and I was told to go to Talent Check-In. At Talent Check-In they said they didn?t have those credentials and that Crew passes would get them in but those were at the gate. So then I went all the way to the back entrance gate to ask them for some and they said they didn?t have any more! So I got the Head Honcho on the radio and She says that they can all re-enter the Shrine IF they are with ME! So I run back to the front and Seth sees me and says that that isn?t right, there are four of them and I cant be where all of them are all of the time and he will get some credentials for them later but he told me to stay in front and walk them in when they are done with The Corrs. After waiting for a few minutes finally Bono, Larry, and company headed towards the entrance and I flashed my credentials to the guard and said, ?I am their escort? and he let us all through. They went back to their trailers and before I knew it they were planning to leave. I asked Jack where they were going and he said, ?Back to the studio.? I asked him if they were aware they needed to be back by 5 PM and definitely needed to be here at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET to open the show. He said they were aware. I asked if they were familiar with Los Angeles traffic and he said they were. I was concerned. I could tell Jack was too. They left the Shrine at 3:00 PM, almost guaranteed not to be back when they were due. I took a break and told Jack I would be back at 4:30 or so.
4:30 PM?
One of the U2 helpers, a lady asked for ice and food. She wanted to have all the amenities prepared for them when they were returned. This was all done in a matter of minutes. And as expected, 5:00 came and went. 5:10. 5:15.
Sometime after 5:15 Scottie came up to me (for whatever reason he was not with the band) and he told me, ?I need Seth the Stage Manager, NOW. I need the Security Director for the Shrine NOW.? I got on the walkie-talkie and immediately made the requests. And nobody responded. I requested it again. No responses. I went to one of our Production Assistants and told her. I went over to Jack and he said, ?they?re not going to make it. They?re stuck in traffic at least a half hour away.? I still was getting no response regarding U2 needing Seth. I ran into Jackie who I reported to and she said that Seth was over at Christina Aguilera?s trailer, which was right next to U2?s and he would be right over. At about 5:30 or so Seth talked to Scottie and then Scottie came up to me and told me that The Edge?s Significant Other and her guest needed credentials to get in the show. I asked him did he mean Morleigh and he said yes, Morleigh.
STRESS! U2 and their people had given a list of all the people who were supposed to be attending and got all the credentials the night before. I went back to the Credentials people at Talent Check in and they found one for me to get to Morleigh. It was now 5:35 PM!!! 25 minutes until they were to begin the live broadcast and U2 was still not here!
5:40 PM
There was movement in the U2 camp and I saw headlights at the gate. Jack, the well dressed U2 security guy told me, ?They made it, they?re here. Just in the nick of time!?
I was totally able to breathe easier. I had been having nightmare visions of being the only one to know what the show would have opened like.
The band stepped out of their cars and into the trailer. On my walkie-talkie headset I heard that they could not find Kevin Spacey. This was critical because they needed him to be in the car with Bono at the beginning of the show.
5:45 PM
Scottie, U2?s main security guy came up to me and told me that Morleigh and her guest wanted to be seated for U2?s performance. In addition, Bono had a guest in one of the trailers and she did not have an access badge. It was Winona Ryder, and Scottie wanted me to get her Security clearance in time to be seated before U2?s performance. I rushed to Talent Credentials and they told me Winona Ryder was not on their list and they didn?t have any escorts for her. I said, ?She doesn?t need an escort, I WILL escort to her seat, she NEEDS credentials!? And they told me that they didn?t have any more!
