LemonMelon said:
Now, about Patty Culliton, I do believe that she had an interview with Bono (it would not surprise me in the least; once you've been to that many shows and met the band that many times, it seems like something that could happen regularly), but I'm not sure that I buy the whole "she turned on the band because they snubbed her" thing. Now, whether they snubbed her at all is a different matter...I suppose it be could be possible, as this bit does sound a bit off:
How funny seeing Patty get her own thread after all these years. I've known Patty over 15 years now and consider her a friend. I initially met Patty through a U2 message board on the old Prodigy dial-up service, WAY back in '91/92, before AOL and the internet. Patty did indeed interview Bono for her "Touch" U2 fanzine prior to the October 1992 Tempe, AZ Zoo TV concert. I'm happy to have indirectly helped Patty get that first interview in Tempe. I provided her with the concert ticket (we swapped extra Propaganda tickets, my extra Tempe ticket in exchange for her extra Madison, WI ticket). I worked for America West Airlines at the time, so I was able to provide her a "buddy pass" for standby travel, otherwise she couldn't have afforded to fly out here to Arizona for the show. She wasjust out of high school and starting college. Patty's dream job back then was to work for the U2 organization in tour management. Through persistence, she got to know some of the people working at Propaganda and was able to get that first interview in Tempe secured for her fanzine. Patty hit a homerun with that interview. Bono was blown away someone her age could understand their music and lyrics so well and ask in-depth questions compared to the usual fluff questions they get asked by media. Since that first interview in '92, Patty has met Bono numerous times across the country and overseas working in the music industry, defininitely not by stalking him. Ok, maybe some stalking involved.
If Bono believed she was a stalker, I seriously doubt he and Ali would have allowed Patty to look after Eve and Jordan backstage at a music awards show in LA several years ago. Yes, that's 100% true. And Patty has even shot pool with Larry at a bar in downtown Chicago. Bono and Patty are by no means close friends or anything like that. I just know there's mutual respect. As far as Patty disagreeing with some of the decisions made by U2 the past few years, that's true. Back in the spring of 2001, Patty learned many of the GA line screw-ups occuring during that first US leg of the ATYCLB tour were deliberately orchaestrated by U2 security to get "fresh" faces into the heart. Then the GA mess at the 2nd Boston show in June 2001 happened. Of course this is all old news everyone has heard about by now. Patty was there to witness the Boston GA fiasco. She arrived at the venue late in the afternoon and was NOT one of the "hard-core" fans near the front of the line who were held back by security to allow people in from the back of the line. Patty felt that whole situation was very poorly handled by U2 security, stuck up for the fans at the front of the line who were deliberately mislead by U2 security and got into an argument with Bono about the GA line fiascos in Boston a day or two later. The fall leg of the 2001 tour went well without any GA line incidents. Patty believed U2 had learned from the mistakes made during the first leg and weren't going to let anything like that happen again. But then in early 2005, the U2.com pre-sale fiasco , the $40 U2.com memberships, 2-ticket limit. Patty felt the business side of U2 was up to it's old tricks and let her feelings be known online in a couple message boards and in a Chicago newspaper article. I saw Patty in Chicago while U2 was in town for the May shows and dvd shoot. The band knew about her quotes in the article and weren't too happy about it. I haven't really kept up with her much since then being busy with work and other stuff, so I don't know if she was ever able to patch up her differences. I do know she was still very much a fan of U2 even if she didn't agree with some of their business decisions. And I'm sure she still is today. Being a fan of a band doesn't mean you have to blindly agree with everything they say or do.
Someone in an earlier post in this thread mentioned Patty is a good-hearted, well-intentioned U2 fan. I would agree with that 1000%. Patty is the most giving U2 fan I have ever met. She's always been there to help out myself and other of her U2 friends who travel to Chicago for U2 shows every tour. By offering a place to stay, giving us car rides to and from our hotel, helping us meet the band, even lending money knowing she may likely never get it repaid. I've been with her on a couple U2 road trips from Chicago to Madison during Zoo TV and Pop Mart. Great times! And the ultimate road trip in 1993, travelling to London and Ireland during the Zooropa tour. Patty rented a Dublin city bus for a day and took a busload of fans including myself on a tour of U2 sites in and around Dublin. We passed by their childhood homes, current homes, Mt. Temple school, Windmill Lane, and many other U2 sites I could not have found on my own. There weren't websites back then to look up all this info. Then after the bus tour, Patty helped arrange a party for us at the Clarence Hotel. She went above and beyond to make sure U2 fans like myself who travelled to Dublin had a great time. I'll never be able to thank her enough for all the time and effort she put into setting up the bus tour and Clarence party. So when I read or hear someone refer to Patty as an elitist U2 fan or Bono stalker, I just have to laugh because they really don't know her.