Hi Plebans!
I was lucky to meet Bono yesterday before the March 30th show in San Diego. Some friends I met in the GA line and I walked to the entrance that band members had been driving through on their way to the sound check. There initially about 30 of us lined up at around 2:30. After about 30 minutes a black Escalade approached with Edge in the backseat. The driver parked behind the gates and Edge came out a few minutes later and signed autographs. I was more interested in getting a photo, but his bodyguard said no photos (quite a few people actually did manage, photos, though). So I had him sign my ticket. He was very quiet and sort of “all business,” moving through the line pretty quickly. He looked a little sunburned—how cute!
I’m not sure if I’m remembering the order exactly, but about 15 minutes later another Escalade drove through without stopping, and Adam was in the backseat. Then a third one came roaring past us (Larry, of course). Within about 30 minutes a final Escalade approaches…it’s Bono! He has the window down, is in the front seat, and is waving at the crowd and giving everyone peace signs. The car stops *exactly* in front of me, about ¼ of the way down the line, and I’m stunned. The door opens and there’s Bono, barefoot. People start shouting out a few things to him, and he looks at me and smiles. I tell him I thought Monday’s show was great, and he says, “oh really, you did?” as if he is genuinely interested in my opinion. I then tell him that I’m an anthropologist, in large part due to the influence of U2’s concern with human rights—and that I’m currently supervising the work of two students who are working in Africa. He said: “Wow, that’s really wonderful. Good work that you are doing.” I then tell him my students would be delighted if I could send him a photo with the two of us, and his bodyguard says: “Sorry, no photos—we just don’t have time.” During this conversation, Bono is slowly putting on his socks (brown socks with black Creepers!) and seems totally unconcerned with the time, and is in no rush. People start to ask him questions and ask for photos, and he turns to the driver as he is buckling his shoes and says, “maybe I should just stay here so you can go on?” and the driver tells him he’ll stay. So then people start yelling for photos and trying to pass him stuff to sign, and he gets out of the car and the bodyguard repeats again that there isn’t time for photos. Bono then climbs out of the car (after almost poking himself in the eye trying to put his glasses on) and says, “I want to get a picture with my anthropologist friend.” He puts his arm around me and people start taking pictures. Once we’re done, people are asking him questions but he stays in the same place with his arm around me for a little while, which was great.
It was great to meet him, and he struck me as very relaxed, easy to talk to, and had an amazing way of making eye contact that almost felt like staring, but not in an invasive way. He’s very intense, very soft-spoken, and incredibly kind to fans. He took tons of pictures with people, and seemed willing to make time for everyone. Thanks for listening to my long story!
Thanks so much to Eliv8 for taking this picture (in which I had been in the GA all day and very deprived of sleep the previous night):
I was lucky to meet Bono yesterday before the March 30th show in San Diego. Some friends I met in the GA line and I walked to the entrance that band members had been driving through on their way to the sound check. There initially about 30 of us lined up at around 2:30. After about 30 minutes a black Escalade approached with Edge in the backseat. The driver parked behind the gates and Edge came out a few minutes later and signed autographs. I was more interested in getting a photo, but his bodyguard said no photos (quite a few people actually did manage, photos, though). So I had him sign my ticket. He was very quiet and sort of “all business,” moving through the line pretty quickly. He looked a little sunburned—how cute!
I’m not sure if I’m remembering the order exactly, but about 15 minutes later another Escalade drove through without stopping, and Adam was in the backseat. Then a third one came roaring past us (Larry, of course). Within about 30 minutes a final Escalade approaches…it’s Bono! He has the window down, is in the front seat, and is waving at the crowd and giving everyone peace signs. The car stops *exactly* in front of me, about ¼ of the way down the line, and I’m stunned. The door opens and there’s Bono, barefoot. People start shouting out a few things to him, and he looks at me and smiles. I tell him I thought Monday’s show was great, and he says, “oh really, you did?” as if he is genuinely interested in my opinion. I then tell him that I’m an anthropologist, in large part due to the influence of U2’s concern with human rights—and that I’m currently supervising the work of two students who are working in Africa. He said: “Wow, that’s really wonderful. Good work that you are doing.” I then tell him my students would be delighted if I could send him a photo with the two of us, and his bodyguard says: “Sorry, no photos—we just don’t have time.” During this conversation, Bono is slowly putting on his socks (brown socks with black Creepers!) and seems totally unconcerned with the time, and is in no rush. People start to ask him questions and ask for photos, and he turns to the driver as he is buckling his shoes and says, “maybe I should just stay here so you can go on?” and the driver tells him he’ll stay. So then people start yelling for photos and trying to pass him stuff to sign, and he gets out of the car and the bodyguard repeats again that there isn’t time for photos. Bono then climbs out of the car (after almost poking himself in the eye trying to put his glasses on) and says, “I want to get a picture with my anthropologist friend.” He puts his arm around me and people start taking pictures. Once we’re done, people are asking him questions but he stays in the same place with his arm around me for a little while, which was great.
It was great to meet him, and he struck me as very relaxed, easy to talk to, and had an amazing way of making eye contact that almost felt like staring, but not in an invasive way. He’s very intense, very soft-spoken, and incredibly kind to fans. He took tons of pictures with people, and seemed willing to make time for everyone. Thanks for listening to my long story!
Thanks so much to Eliv8 for taking this picture (in which I had been in the GA all day and very deprived of sleep the previous night):
