U2: The infamous moments.

[Axver]

Hey folks,

Woo, 1200th post! To celebrate this totally pointless milestone, here's a bit of a question for you: what do you feel are some of U2's most infamous moments? What are some of the greatest? What moments do you think U2 would much prefer to forget? They can be anything, as long as they're infamous (either to the general public or the fanbase).

Pretty simple question really. There's one particular moment I'm curious about: I'd imagine Adam's arrest on drug possession would be a very low moment, but I don't know much about it. Could anyone tell me some details? Perhaps give a link to somewhere about it? Thanks!

Have a good one!
- Andr?

 

[Stefan]

My choice of worst moment is when Adam was not able to play at a Zoo-TV concert in Sydney because he had been drinking. This is the only time the four of them have not performed together at a u2-concert.

If u2 ever are to be featured in a "behind the music" documentary it will be because of Adam

 

[The Sage]

My choice of worst moment is when Adam was not able to play at a Zoo-TV concert in Sydney because he had been drinking. This is the only time the four of them have not performed together at a u2-concert.

If u2 ever are to be featured in a "behind the music" documentary it will be because of Adam

lol, that was exactly what I was going to say

 

[gareth brown]

HA HA! I can see it now! All this epic, sinister music with photos of the band constantly zooming on Adam as he lights a joint or something with James Earl Jones style narration!

 

[U2girl]

So bad moments only, or good moments too?

For bad, also their opening night of Popmart tour and that TV special, and I suppose the critics' reaction to Rattle and Hum album/movie.

For good memorable, I would say bringing up Salman Rushdie on stage during the Zoo TV tour, ("I have even more problems with the critics than you do!"), playing in Sarajevo in Popmart (despite Bono's voice), brining mothers of the dissapeared on stage, and the heart-shaped stage on the last tour.

 

[typhoon]

So bad moments only, or good moments too?

Infamy=bad.

How about the "Last Night On Earth" video? Must've been some good ganja.

 

[U2girl]

Yes I know, but he said what some of their most infamous moments are, and then he said what some of their greatest are.

 

[Axver]

Infamous to me means both good and bad. The things you're remembered for, both the really incredible stuff and what you'd rather forget.

Heh, got to agree with some of the stuff about Adam. I hate to think what some documentary writers would do to him.

 

[follower]

For bad, also their opening night of Popmart tour and that TV special

I must be the weirdest human being ever, because I love both

My answer? Gotta think better. Be back later, maybe.

Cheers
MT

 

[HelloAngel]

An Infamous moment can be bad or good - it just has to be something that was widely known about - which therefore makes it "infamous."

So yeah - good and bad famously big U2 moments.

 

[wolfeden]

the first few that come to mind:

"Rock&Roll Stops the Traffic"
Bono spraypainting on the big ugly concrete sculpture in California..
(less because he did it and more because of how the idiotic politicians flew off the handle.. Should've left it there, it'd be a shrine now)

The now-infamous dropping of the F-bomb at the awards show... gaaahh get over it already....

Most people will not remember this but there was a point in time when there were all these rumours about members of U2 having affairs with Moya Brennan of Clannad, and Adam finally suggested "why don't we just take a pic of all of us naked in bed with her"... that shut people up... *smirk*

 

[U2zoogirl]

Infamy=bad.

How about the "Last Night On Earth" video? Must've been some good ganja.

yeah, that video was very ganja is what we needed to watch that video!...

 

[david]

Getting stuck inside the big lemon. The video for Discotheque.. Announcing the Pop Mart tour from inside a K-Mart.... Bono spray painting Rock and Roll Stop The Traffic..

 

[The Sage]

Getting stuck inside the big lemon. The video for Discotheque

I hope you're not saying these are bad moments...both are insanely funny, definitely not bad...I love the discotheque video

 

[Axver]

What show was it that they got stuck in the lemon? My memory's failing me a bit ...

 

[The Sage]

Well in Osaka was the time when they got completely stuck - it broke down a couple other times on other shows I think but those times they managed to get out the back - eventually it started working again and travelled the rest of the way to the stage.

 

[Axver]

Oh, it happened multiple times? I thought it only happened once. I seem to remember hearing something about Norway ...

 

[thrillme]

http://www.u2faqs.com/band/

Has the scoop on the "Adam bust."

Even with Adam's wild younger days, U2 still didn't have enough "dirt" for Behind the Music, which is why they got the Legends instead.

Think it was in Sweden ? where the Lemon spaceship didn't open. Guess Edge started giggling, and they just laughed it off.

Achtung Baby cover, minus the clover.

Bono's f-bombs, at 1993 Grammy's and last years Golden Globes.

Good infamous--Protest at Sellafield.

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

Something they'd probably like to forget - Vancouver Zoo tv Larry forgets to start the drums for Pride twice Bono gets pissed and chucks the mic at him.

 

[thrillme]

Something they'd probably like to forget - Vancouver Zoo tv Larry forgets to start the drums for Pride twice Bono gets pissed and chucks the mic at him.

Ah poor Larry, and Edge yelled at him during one of the 2001 Boston gigs, some miscommunication. Edge dropped his pick, wanted Larry to play softer, but thought Edge said longer.

You can see Edge kick his guitar on the Boston DVD (I don't get why they left that in, mixed footage from both nights.)

Good thing Larry's got such a laidback personality with Adam.

 

[jick]

No band in history has had as many infamous moments as U2. Here are some off the top of my head:

1. Adam's drug bust.

2. Adam's missing the Sydney gig.

3. Bono linking up with Sarajevo in Zoo TV in a pathetic effort to amuse the audience, in the end he was humiliated and embarrassed when the Sarajevo people told him "sure you're having all the fun there in that concert, but really now - what good can you actually do for us?"

4. Popmart Las Vegas opening night stage fright - some songs the guitars weren't plugged in, the songs were off timing, an obvious lack of preparation, and they even had to restart another song.

5. Bono saying the F-word and swearing at one poor audience member in the Castle Hall, Osaka, Japan Lovetown show.

6. U2 releasing POP before it was finished.

7. The failed K-Mart press conference.

8. U2 in their early days doing serious copyright violations and lying their way to win a band contest - they claimed that they wrote the two songs they played when it fact they were Ramones songs --- talk about good morals and being ethical!

9. Bono's voice being so screwed up in the Amsterdam show that he had to finish the show early (Lovetown era).

10. Bono swearing on national TV and giving the F-word in the Grammies - showing an uncharacteristic lack of class and manners.

11. U2 being negligent in their recording sessions, failing to properly secure their tapes as they were stolen during the Achtung era - thus revealing to the public how "rough" they can be in the studio.

12. U2 cancelling a Popmart show in Raleigh North Carolina because of low ticket sales, yet trying to deceive the public that their equipment was damaged (yeah right!).

Well, that's my dirty dozen for now ...I am sure there are much much more like the vandalism in the San Francisco monument (this has already been mentioned), and even their stupid publicity stunt in the LA liquor store when they did Where the Streets Have No Name which caused a lot of traffic and public disturbance. Oh yeah, they even closed a freeway in Kansas just to shoot their forgettable Last Night On Earth vdeo which even did not highlight that city any bit. Also how U2 maltreated their fans through their negligence and having the first Slane show sold out even before the tickets had barely been on sale. Then U2 had to "bully" their local politicians to change the laws to allow a second Slane show --- which U2 quickly cashed in on a DVD release. U2 also cashed in nicely on the 9/11 tragedy.

Cheers,

J

 

[Angela Harlem]

They're kinda tame moments when you think of what other bands do.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

ahhh thinks jick for stirring the shit one more time...

they talked about the ramones thing before... unless they're flat out lying, it was the record company who thought that they were originals... at no point was u2 trying to pawn them off as such.

the stupid LA liquor store moment? lol thanks... i got an extra chuckle out of that one.

so it was u2's fault that the first slane gig sold out in under an hour? riiiight... oh and how quickly they turned that gig into a dvd release... date of show, september 2001... date of dvd release, november 2003... 2 years and 2 months later. whewwwww talk about speed.

cashed in nicely on 9/11? this one is such BS that it's not even worth my time...

if you really believe u2's moments are more "infamous" than any other band, i would like to point you to any episode of behind the music... billy friggin joel has more wild and crazy moments than these guys.

thanks again jick

cheers
H

 

[A_Wanderer]

As long as there are no hotel rooms smeared with excrement and various bodily fluids then I can safely assume U2 is not the most infamous band ever.

 

[* MoFo *]

No band in history has had as many infamous moments as U2.

3. Bono linking up with Sarajevo in Zoo TV in a pathetic effort to amuse the audience, in the end he was humiliated and embarrassed when the Sarajevo people told him "sure you're having all the fun there in that concert, but really now - what good can you actually do for us?"

5. Bono saying the F-word and swearing at one poor audience member in the Castle Hall, Osaka, Japan Lovetown show.

8. U2 in their early days doing serious copyright violations and lying their way to win a band contest - they claimed that they wrote the two songs they played when it fact they were Ramones songs --- talk about good morals and being ethical!

9. Bono's voice being so screwed up in the Amsterdam show that he had to finish the show early (Lovetown era).

10. Bono swearing on national TV and giving the F-word in the Grammies - showing an uncharacteristic lack of class and manners.

11. U2 being negligent in their recording sessions, failing to properly secure their tapes as they were stolen during the Achtung era - thus revealing to the public how "rough" they can be in the studio.

12. U2 cancelling a Popmart show in Raleigh North Carolina because of low ticket sales, yet trying to deceive the public that their equipment was damaged (yeah right!).

Cheers,

J

My god man what is wrong with you these are either unimportant or expressed in a way that is bs coming from a U2 fan, which im assuming you are

 

[Sherry Darling]

Well in Osaka was the time when they got completely stuck - it broke down a couple other times on other shows I think but those times they managed to get out the back - eventually it started working again and travelled the rest of the way to the stage.

Definitely their best Spinal Tap moment, if nothing else.

I'm a fan of when Bono refered to the president of France as a "wanker" to do with some nuclear tests while he was in Paris. I love it when his claws come out.

sd

 

[The Sage]

No band in history has had as many infamous moments as U2. Here are some off the top of my head:

3. Bono linking up with Sarajevo in Zoo TV in a pathetic effort to amuse the audience, in the end he was humiliated and embarrassed when the Sarajevo people told him "sure you're having all the fun there in that concert, but really now - what good can you actually do for us?"

Bono was not linking up with Sarajevo on Zoo tv 'in a pathetic effort to amuse the audience', he did it cause he was genuinely moved and saddened by what Bill Carter showed and told him about Sarajevo, and he wanted to raise awareness of the atrocities taking place there. To say he used those images for a bit of cheap entertainment is incredibly unfair on Bono and a huge slur on his character.

I have a lot of complaints with many of the other things you said too but this is the main one...If you have such a low opinion of U2, why do you claim to be a fan?

 

[marik]

funny

funny, jick tries to pretend he knows something about u2 'in a pathetic effort to amuse the audience'

 

[david]

Well, U2's members still have all of their arms, every U2 member is still alive, so U2's "Infamous" moments are pretty tame compared to other bands..

 

[U2girl]

Interference infamous moments = anytime jick posts.

Jick, there are probably very little bands with so few infamous moments like U2. Ok, most fans already agreed Adam's drug moments and the bad first Popmart show are infamous. That would pretty much be it as far as U2 is concerned for infamousy.

The other things in dirty dozen:
3. Was already answered, and you REALLY misunderstood it.
5. That particular audience member was behaving disorderly before and was warned more than once to quit it.
6 and 7 is just bad preparation, not necessarily a big deal in the scheme of things.
8. I also heard the record label executives thought U2 played their own material at that incident.
9. It happens.
10. True, Bono swears a lot, but then again, some people tend to do that more than others.
11. See no.9 - could happen to anyone.
12. Perhaps it was both; low ticket sales AND their equipment broke down that day. Were you there?

Spraying graffiti? There's far worse things to do, and didn't Bono pay to get that clean/cleaned it up later?
Where the streets have no name is a great video - I don't think it was a publicity stunt.
Well if you shoot the video in a freeway, not much chance of showing the city is there? (think REM's Everybody hurts video)
How is it U2's fault the tickets sold out so fast for the first Slane show? U2 only asked the prime minister to allow the second show - they're not the mafia to bully anyone. And it wasn't "cashing in" as they filmed the show when it happend anyway - it wasn't like they later said "oh let's put out another video".

The 9/11 allegation takes the cake though, and I do believe you made that claim before. (trolling) Just curious, why do you - with U2's history and their affection for the US - think they cashed in on that?
Because they put tickets on sale afterwards? They A) were already thinking about coming back in the fall anway, as Bono mentioned several times on the first leg and they always come to America twice and B) it was all in the fans' hands - they made the choice to come to the shows.