How can I prove U2 aren't like other rock stars???

[u2zed]

I need help!

I'm trying to write an essay for my creative nonfiction class on what it's like to be a U2 fan, and especially an online fan, and why that's so important to so many people. However, when I brought a draft to class, one of the major problems people had with it was they were unwilling to believe U2 aren't like other rock stars -- that is, they thought U2 would take on groupies and do drugs and all that stuff. Normally I wouldn't care what people think, but I'm trying to write for an audience that for the most part knows nothing or next to nothing about the band, and they need to be convinced of the truth about U2 as a band before we can move on.

I had already included in my essay that I met some women who stayed in the same hotel as U2 in Boston and were not even allowed to speak to them inside the hotel, much less sleep with them. I also was completely open about the fact that U2 aren't perfect, that while they may not be snorting coke, they do belly up to the bar like the Irishmen they are. Yet, this does not seem to be enough to convince my readers.

I may have to also make note of the fact that Adam is a bit of an exception -- he had that marijuana bust (which still isn't like he took heroin or something), and I wouldn't be surprised if he's done his fair share of sleeping around. But, it seems like he probably kept that separate from the fans (not taking advantage of anyone's love of U2's music) -- otherwise, wouldn't someone have surfaced online by now with a claim to sleeping with him???

Do any of you have quotes from band members regarding their attitudes towards drugs and groupies? Also if you have anything about their positive attitude toward fans, that would be great. Also any ideas about how to make the truth believable to people, including criticisms that I might put in -- part of what made people less likely to believe me was that they thought the picture I painted was too perfect.

Thanks!!!

------------------
you've got the right shoes to get you through the night

 

[U2girl]

I don't have any quotes, but i think that the fact that 3 of them are in relationships and have families,
and the fact there are no stories of affairs with fans, speak for themselves!

------------------
"That's why i still love playing live in a rock'n'roll band. There's just this feeling of this thing could just about do anything..." - Edge

"Something inside said this could be everything in your life." - Bono

"U2 as a band does things no one else can do. I think that is a very powerful thing." - Larry

"Adam believed in the band before anyone did." - Bono

 

[Diamond The U2 Patriot]

Mine,Arun's Louis' and Bebe's stories..for instance too maybe?
D
B
9

------------------
"...The big guy is made of STEEL." - Bono as we stood together on stage at Boston #4, June 9th, 2001.

---
If curious click
links for
Boston 4 story
and photos..

http://www.arizonaautoweb.com/bono/

http://members.aol.com/diamondbruno9/

 

[Shygirl]

The book At the End of the WOrld by Bill Flannagan might help you...

 

[Diamond The U2 Patriot]

Originally posted by u2zed:
Diamond- I didn't realize you were the guy from Boston 4! I was there & I saw you! I loved the spinning Bono part. And you're right, your story is a great one for me to use, with the way Bono got angry at those bouncers... Thanks!

Thanks Zed-Btw I will be at P{rov 1 and 2.

My email is at end of story.

Yeah I remember reading your friendly posts about me.

Thanks again-
Diamond


------------------
"...The big guy is made of STEEL." - Bono as we stood together on stage at Boston #4, June 9th, 2001.

---
If curious click
links for
Boston 4 story
and photos..

http://www.arizonaautoweb.com/bono/

http://members.aol.com/diamondbruno9/

 

[u2zed]

Originally posted by adam's_mistress:
I hope I don't get flamed...

No flames at all, though it seems I should reiterate I HAVE read At the End of the World (and more than once).

I guess I should clarify what I thought I was saying: I am not trying to prove that U2 are perfect. And I don't doubt at all that they've had their slip-ups.

And I don't want to make light of the good things U2 have done in terms of Amnesty, etc. But what's most important to me, and to a lot of other people, I think, is that U2 are measurably different from typical rock stars. And, okay, they may live in a world of sin and temptation, and it may get the better of them sometimes, but that's still a far far cry from the temple of drugs and sex at which most rock stars worship. Where are the recurrent sessions at rehab clinics? Where are the out-of-wedlock children? Where are the E true hollywood stories where B-grade celebrities tell all about the wild times backstage with U2?

And we all know, too, about Bono driving fans out of the less-friendly section of Dublin where they work in the studio, but have we ever heard of him trying to lure any of them into the Clarence for an afternoon tryst? They sell themselves as a band who care about their fans (more quotes needed for this), and they have always done so, and we buy it I think in large part because there's so little evidence to the contrary.

I would be especially not surprised at indescretions in the early years, when they weren't so well known and were adjusting to stardom and everyone vying for their attention. (Adam's mistress, your unmentionable bit seems to fit here.) But, again, if there were a few unsavory things that happened over the years, the gulf between U2 and other bands seems, still, so so wide that it's impossible to ignore. And I'm still not claiming they're "perfect."

If any of that sounded like flames, it wasn't meant as such... but having something to argue against is probably one of the bext things for me right now, since it helps me sharpen my ideas. Thanks!!

------------------
you've got the right shoes to get you through the night

 

[u2zed]

Thanks for all so far...

Diamond, if those stories you're referring to are on the forum, can you direct me to the thread(s)? Thanks!

I do have At the End of the World... perhaps I'll have to read it again...

------------------
you've got the right shoes to get you through the night

 

[Diamond The U2 Patriot]

Zed-
You can click mine on at bottom..
Arun and Louis just posted them like last wk so they are back 5 or better pgs. here.
Bebes was long time ago..write her.

Your Friend
Diamond

------------------
"...The big guy is made of STEEL." - Bono as we stood together on stage at Boston #4, June 9th, 2001.

---
If curious click
links for
Boston 4 story
and photos..

http://www.arizonaautoweb.com/bono/

http://members.aol.com/diamondbruno9/

[This message has been edited by Diamond The U2 Patriot (edited 10-24-2001).]

 

[NicaMom]

"I think we've got a relationship with our own audience, the U2 audience, that's quite elastic. I think they expect us to mess with them and their perception of the group, and that's what they want. They don't want to come and see just any old U2 show. It's gotta be a trip. It's gotta be some kind of roller-coaster ride."
Bono, discussing Zoo TV in 1993
--------------------------------
"I danced every night under a mirror ball with a young lady from the Zoo TV crowd. Every night during 'Love Is Blindness'. They were amazing. I love it so much. Some nights I fell in love. I never really spoke to these people, but that's okay." - Bono in 1995

 

[u2zed]

Diamond- I didn't realize you were the guy from Boston 4! I was there & I saw you! I loved the spinning Bono part. And you're right, your story is a great one for me to use, with the way Bono got angry at those bouncers... Thanks!

------------------
you've got the right shoes to get you through the night

 

[adam's_mistress]

The thing is, only because you don't know U2 personally and you have to go with only what you've read about the band, you can't essentially *prove* that U2 aren't like other rock stars. Sure there are things that set them apart from other bands who've reached rock star status, but the reality is U2 ARE rock stars. Take a look around this messageboard devoted solely to them.

U2 have a lot of experience being rock stars, over 20 years under their belts.

Take into consideration that during that time I'm sure they've been tempted with all the fixings of rock stardom - the big houses, the nice cars, groupies, mildl flirtations with the womanfolk, drugs, overdoing the drinking, partying. U2, although they aren't the typical Aerosmith or the Rolling Stones rock stars who shag groupies every minute they get, are not immune to certain temptations. They are not immune to slip ups and mistakes. They are human, and any human put into the situations U2 have been in will react to the temptations either positively or negatively. We don't know all they've gone through, we only know that before anything else (including the band's character) the music comes first and foremost.

I've seen some things with my own eyes a long time ago that I will not divulge here. It is not my intention to deface U2 as a whole or individually by band member. As of now, their personal lives and how they deal with their lives and all that is thrown their way is not, and never was, my business... I don't really know the whole story, because I don't know the band. Looks can be deceiving, just as much as any reporter's words may be twisted to make a story more juicy than it really is.

Judging by what I've read over the years, it is safe to say that Adam is more or less the "rock star" bad boy of the band. Dig up some old news stories and you'll see that back in the Unforgettable Fire days he was arrested for drunk driving en route home from a club. Not only did he resist arrest, he dragged the poor cop who was hanging on to Adam's car door for dear life. After a big apology, Adam was let off with a fine and suspended driver's liscense. Later on he was busted for some cannibis in his car and he wound up in court and there was fear among the band members that he would lose his travel visa (didn't happen, he got off but had to pay a hefty fine.) Adam was also bumped for handing out condoms at at a Dublin Virgin Megastore (gotta love the safe sex) but because condoms in Ireland were illegal at the time, he was fined. If you read the book that Shygirl recommends you'll see that after Adam was dumped by Naomi Campbell, he was caught in a hotel room with a bunch of hookers and a lot of coke. Actually, At the End of the World is a great book that's for the most part no-holds-barred and offers some great insight into the world's biggest band and their trials and tribulations on the road. I also found it strange that Bono woke up in a heroin den, and that U2 rented a van and picked up some er, Mexican prostitutes *shrugs* Then again, I only know what I've read and seen and just like everyone else who happens upon this forum, I don't even know the half of it.

That aside, rather than try and pinpont exact details of U2's private going ons, why not focus on what they have done that sets them apart from other "rock star" bands. There's a list a mile long that sets them apart from other rockers. Bono first of all, who travelled to Ethiopia with Ali to see it first hand and to help feed those starving kids. He also went to Nicaragua to see and experience it first hand, get his hands dirty so as to better understand what was going on in that region and how it would affect him as a person. U2's involvment with Band Aid, Live Aid, Amnesty International, Sheffield, children's charities, Jubilee 2000... and the list goes on. U2 have, unlike many other rock stars, turned their money into light and through their songs and performances, educated their fans in global issues as well as causes they hold dear to their hearts. That in and of itself, is much more important than the goings on at parties or bedrooms or their personal lives.

In all, people slip up and do subversive things. Rather than try to put U2 on a saintly pedestal of "they who could do no wrong" it is much more important to point out the good things they have done that sets them apart from other rock stars.

I hope I don't get flamed...