How important is meeting U2 to you?

[Chizip]

Utoo mentioned yesterday that he was shocked that people would spend hundreds of dollars on airfare and a hotel room to fly across the country to get 5 seconds to say hi to Bono at a book signing. I have to agree with him that some of the lengths that people go to to meet either Bono or the band are a bit ridiculous at times. Unless I could have a drink with them and a real conversation or something, I don't see the huge appeal of getting 5 seconds to say the exact same thing to them that thousands of people have already said. ("Ummm, I'm a big fan, thanks for all you do...")

But I know others feel very differently, and what I want to find out is if the obssession of meeting them is more of a female thing, or if its a unisex phenomenon.

So vote, based on your gender, how important it is to you to have been able to or be able to meet the band.

 

[pepokiss]

"It'll be nice" would've been my choice... but went with SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT

 

[onebloodonelife]

Yeah, I wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars to get a glimpse, but I did get to meet Adam before the Minneapolis concert (one year ago by the way) and it was a great experience. That being said, I wouldn't have met him if I hadn't already been going to the concert.

 

[Tiger Edge]

Somewhat important. I wouldn't wait any longer than I did when I just saw, not even meet, last year. That was a 2 hour wait in a light drizzle.
I'm not too big on meeting celebrities I guess.

 

[Chizip]

Somewhat important. I wouldn't wait any longer than I did when I just saw, not even meet, last year. That was a 2 hour wait in a light drizzle.
I'm not too big on meeting celebrities I guess.

2 hour wait in light drizzle = lifelong goal

 

[Sicy]

Somewhat important. I have been a fan for like 18 years Never met them. I cant say that I would fly somewhere just to meet them, or spend hundreds of dollars. I tried a few times when they toured in my area by waiting outside the venue etc but I was never lucky

 

[Canadiens1131]

It's funny. I was able to get an autograph from Edge and be two or three feet away from the Bono in Montreal and it was one of the greatest celebrity things ever.

The odd part is that I don't really have this want to meet any other bands other than U2. I just don't know what I'd say or do with Eric Clapton, or Muse, or whatever. I have very little want to meet these people. I mean sure an autographed ticket would be nice but it wouldn't mean anything next to meeting U2 again.

 

[schnumi]

Somewhat important. It's not a goal but it would be nice to meet them.

 

[yeter]

So vote, based on your gender, how important it is to you to have been able to or be able to meet the band.

Vote based on my gender? Is there any other way?

I am a girl and I voted not important at all. I don't see the point. I think I would not know what to say and, as you pointed out, if I did meet them I wold end up saying the same thing that everyone else does. Namely, thanks for all you do I think that if I did meet them I would get really nervous and freeze but that bothers me because they are just people after all.

of course, if I were in a pub and one of them sat down next to me I wouln't move away!

 

[LMP]

It'd be pretty cool to meet the band, but I'm not going to go to ridiculous lengths to do it.

I feel like I know them already through listening to their music and watching their concerts.

 

[Tiger Edge]

2 hour wait in light drizzle = lifelong goal

I was waiting for my concert and there was no where else to go.

And for the record, Chizface, it didn't rain the whole time. Maybe about 10 or 15 minutes.

 

[waynetravis]

went to London, saw Edge, Adam and Larry 3 times and saw Bono 4 times

 

[adrball]

Not important at all. But if I was in the same town and had nothing better to do then I might hang around in the hope of bumping into them.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I think in general the internet plays a huge role in the lengths some people will go. I don't see how anyone can honestly deny that there is a competitive element to it, that many people want to go on a website like Interference and talk about their meeting or multiple meetings with them. I can only speculate that for some people, it is a bragging rights type of thing, and for some people it seems to make them feel like they are special or more important fans. People shouldn't feel badly if they've never met any of them-and some people do feel that way. I think if web sites like this didn't exist, the interest in meeting them wouldn't be nearly what it is. I knew one girl years ago (on the PopMart tour) who I worked with who met them outside a hotel, honestly it never would have occurred to me to even try. I did on the Elevation tour only because after being a fan for so long, I just thought it would be something nice to experience. Of course the internet also gives fans access to info on how and where to try to meet them.

Personally I don't understand the need or desire to do it numerous times or to go to extremes. Just for me, if Bono or any of them started recognizing me for being around them so much I would be concerned what they thought about me. That's just me, I don't expect anyone else to feel the same way. They are nice guys and very nice to fans, but I would be concerned what they might say in private- again that's just me. I have no interest in talking about it on the internet or needing to meet them in order to do so. It wouldn't affect my life, my self-esteem, whatever to know that Bono or any of them recognized me personally or knew my name or whatever Just for me personally, some people can get a little scary about it. Or more than a little scary.

I have had brief meetings with all of them outside the hotels they were staying in, 3 times I tried over about 5 years. I wouldn't mind having a more personal contact with them, but it's not any sort of obsession for me-and I wouldn't go to extreme lengths for it either. I would never spend money like that to fly across the country or to their studio or wherever to have that brief contact-even if I had that kind of discretionary money. It's not what my admiration for them is about, or what my enjoyment of their music is about. The most important relationship I can and ever will have with them is through their music, nothing more than that. They don't owe it to me or to any fan, they do it as a courtesy. And I'm sure some fans can be annoying and/or troublesome, it's human nature. U2 fans are not immune from that.

I don't know how much gender has to do with it. Age might have something to do with it, I don't know. Females are more demonstrative regarding their desire to meet them (they're probably just more open in general about things like that), but I have known some male fans who are just as obsessive and who have other issues surrounding the meetings, their closeness to the band, etc etc.

 

[U2girl]

If I ever travelled to Dublin (to see Ireland, for tourist purproses) and if I happened to be near Windmill Lane I might stop by for a few minutes and see if they're there. It's not something I give much thought to.

I wouldn't camp in front of their houses or anything like that.

I woudn't travel long distances or wait for hours before/after a show to see them.

edit: I misvoted. Consider one M vote for Not important at all less and add it to the F votes.

 

[Utoo]

I guess the other thread pretty much shows how I'd vote..

I agree with Chiz---I'd love to sit and have a beer with Edge, but stalking their hotel or 5 seconds at a book signing gets an "eh" from me.

 

[RademR]

love their music, will always b my favorite band.

dont really care about meeting them, though. if i do....thats awesome. but im not going to be at the gigs three hours early to catch a chance

 

[corianderstem]

"It'll be nice" would've been my choice... but went with SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT

Yeah. I don't know that "important" is my choice of wording, but you know, it'd be a nice thing. I would get very excited about it, but I won't cry myself to sleep at night if I never get to have 30 seconds with Bono again.

 

[AtomicBono]

I said very important. I dunno. I've been a fan half my life so it'd be really great if I could meet them. But I don't have the money to follow them around and I'd feel weird stalking them at their houses or hotels or whatever. So probably the only chance I'd get to meet them would be in a GA line or something. It'd be really great, but it's not like my life's purpose or whatever. Though if I could hang out with U2 the same way I hung out with Alien Ant Farm that'd be sweet

 

[U2Man]

I "met" Bono and Edge in Copenhagen outside their hotel. It was very maly and somewhat important

 

[Chizip]

I "met" Bono and Edge in Copenhagen outside their hotel. It was very maly and somewhat important

hotel stalking is classified as "very important"

 

[Bono's shades]

It would be awesome to meet them, but I think traveling overseas for the express purpose of trying to do so is ridiculous. If I ever did go to Dublin it would be to see Dublin. I wouldn't hang around outside any of their houses or even the studio. I'd feel like a stalker. (Hanging around outside an arena before a show is a different thing entirely. I have no problem with that.)

 

[ntalwar]

Some of these stories don't really match the vote.

IMO:
Going out of town (non-concert), camping out (non-concert), waiting outside hotel = lifelong goal

Waiting outside a concert venue for them = somewhat to very important

 

[JCOSTER]

26 years .....has become a lifelong goal even though it didn't start out that way!

When I first got into them in 80/81 the only resource I had for finding things out about the band where magazines, radio, MTV.
When I went to a show if you wanted an audio of your show you might just find a bootleg and pay big bucks back then. Today is way simpler, with the internet you know where they will be at any given moment which make it alot easier to meet them.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i suppose the fact that i'm taking a day off from work to go to this thing tuesday makes it somewhat important.. but i wanted to take a day off this week anyways so it just worked out that way

i've "met" adam, the edge and paul mcguinness, been online as bono walked by, and only seen larry in a passing car (besides in person and all). at a concert i'll try to see 'em before hand, but that's it. i think going to their hotel on purpose to try and find them is a bit sketchy... no disrespect meant to those who've done that, i just wouldn't unless i was specificly invited there... which obviously will never happen.

i've never gone looking for 'em unless it involved a concert, despite the fact that they are in my area quite often, esp. bono. if i was in manhattan and heard bono was somewhere, yea, the dork in me would take over and i'd see if i can get a picture or something... but would i spend hundreds/thousands of dollars to fly across the country for 5 seconds? no chance.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

not important at all. if i ever won a contest or something where i could meet them i would of course, but i wouldn't stand in line for hours to get a pic and/or autograph.

meeting celebrities really isn't my lifetime goal.

 

[U2Man]

i think going to their hotel on purpose to try and find them is a bit sketchy...

hotel stalking is classified as "very important"

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

I voted "not important at all"

 

[BAW]

I wouldn't buy a plane ticket with the slim hope of meeting them. If I was going to a concert and was spending the whole day at the arena, yes, I would probably give it a shot but I wouldn't lose any sleep if it didn't happen.

I've waited outside a few loading docks with mixed success but I didn't actually plan my trip around it, it just sort of happened.

So, somewhat important I guess.

 

[vaz02]

My live long goal. I'd die a happy man if i met u2 and had a few wonderful kids with a women i loved.