Mrs. Edge
Bono's Belly Dancing Friend
As I sat in the Hospital?s photography room - yet again - scanning these pics, I realized that here is yet ANOTHER way that we slave away in the name of U2 fandom. This is the Post-Production phase ? where we develop the pics and scan them and crop them and upload them and post them?it takes HOURS!!! This is just about half of my pics, it would have been ridiculous to scan them all. Though I examined them all carefully ?hmmm, Bono has his head tilted THIS way here, and his eyebrow is up there, and in this one he?s smiling slightly, but THIS one?.? It was getting crazy. I didn?t include all my GA line pics either, but I will mail out hard copies of the good ones to those who are in them.
Anyway, since I am the resident Pleba storywriter, I thought I?d regale you with my Vegas experience in a typically melodramatic fashion?
It all started very well, as I climbed into my airport limo in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Gliding through the quiet city streets I began to shiver with excitement at the thought of what lay before me. The airport was extremely busy, crammed with middle- aged men with golf clubs. I had to go through three separate lines, one for checking in, one for customs and one for security. Here I was, waiting for the customs guy to ask me what I was going to do in the US, and he couldn?t have cared less. I got through there in about 20 seconds!
The lunch on the plane was unusually good, and in no time, I arrived in Vegas, ? an hour ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, I had to wait for my friend Lynn for 2 HOURS in the Vegas airport, which is less than inspiring, and pitch dark. After an interminable wait, Lynn arrived along with Carrie (OliveU2cm)! It turned out they were on the same plane! Carrie didn?t have to worry about a long GA line, she had GC tickets, and it must have been nice just slipping in at the last minute.
It was after arriving at our hotel (The Luxor) that I first realized that stupid AT&T Canada doesn?t work in the US!!!!! So if you can believe this, the grand total of 2 phone calls I made to other people, which were about 2 minutes each, cost me $27!!! That?s $43 CDN!!! What a rip off! Anyway, after meeting up with our friend Phil from England (whom I had not seen since Popmart at Wembley Stadium!), we stuffed ourselves on an all you can eat buffet, and proceeded to the Hard Rock.
As we made our way there, I began to become more and more nervous. Here were all these people that I have read about, or emailed for all this time, and they would be THERE! What if they didn?t like me? I have always been bad in crowds, even of my own friends. To say I was never in the ?in crowd? in high school would be an understatement. I paused outside the door to pull myself together, and went in.
At first it was hard to tell who was interference and who wasn?t. I was expecting one huge group, and unfortunately, I didn?t get to meet as many people as I had hoped ? but I was so glad to meet the people I did!! While I was meeting interferencers, Phil was selling copies of his fanzine, Elevator, of which I am Canadian Correspondent! I think he did a roaring business, both there and in the GA the next day.
The first person I saw was the infamous Sicilian Goddess. She looked EXACTLY like her photos, but 100 times smaller. She is the tiniest, skinniest person I have ever seen!!!! She makes the dancers at the Ballet look large. But all that notwithstanding, she looked very regal, like the Queen of Sheba surveying her domain. Next to her was April, who also looks exactly like her photos, with such pale skin and huge dark eyes. I had been emailing back and forth with April at a mad rate for weeks, and it was so great to finally see her in person. I had just started talking to April when Discoteque called me. Disco is someone I have wanted to meet ever since joining interference, and what a thrill it was to finally give her a huge hug. My dear friend Carrie was there, and I also got to meet Angel (who is so gorgeous she made me want to crawl under a rock!), HelloAngel, Like O2, EpandAmerica, U2Flame, Martha, Moonie, and many others. What a fun evening!
After that, I was exhausted, so I wanted to go to bed. April was supposed to be staying in our room, but she stayed behind at the HR for a while. Phil and Lynn at first wanted to go to a strip club and get lap dances, but the $30 cover charge put the kibosh on that. So instead, they went gambling and lost a bunch of money anyway! Eventually, we all went to bed, and some time in the wee hours, April arrived. The scenario was that we were stuffing 5 people into a room for 2. It was originally supposed to be Lynn and her friend in one bed, me and April in another, and Phil on the floor. Well, since we weren?t sure when April was coming, Phil was in bed with me. When April arrived, she got in with us, and there were three of us squished in, with me balancing precariously on the Edge (har har) of the bed next to the alarm! I remember thinking ?here I am, lying in a bed in Vegas, with a guy I?ve met twice and a girl I?ve met through the Internet. And I?m fine with this! Only U2 fans?.? LOL!
We had decided to rouse ourselves at 3:30am for the GA line. As we were on our way there, we got a frantic call from Disco and Moonie, saying that there wasn?t a soul around and that campus security were kicking everyone out. We drove around the venue a few times looking for signs of life, but found none, so we decided to go back to the hotel for more sleep. But first ? to Freemont St. since we hadn?t seen the ISHFWILF ?set? yet. There we were, wandering around the familiar street, in total silence. It was quite surreal. We did see a guy deck his girlfriend and get arrested, which doesn?t make for a very U2 atmosphere!
We were so wide-awake at this point that we went back to the hotel for showers, and breakfast. As we were sitting having more all you can eat buffet, we got yet another panicked call from Disco. This time we learned that there had been an off site lineup and that there were already at least 300 people in line! We were furious. Either you get up early and get the benefit of a good spot, or you get up late and get a bad spot, but to get up early AND get a bad spot? This SUCKED!!!!! We raced to the line and were relieved that we had at least made it into the 200s. At least we would get a reasonable spot.
I?ve got to say, the day in the GA line went by really quickly. We had the most spectacularly gorgeous weather (sitting here now in 3 degree weather?grrrrrr) and there were so many wonderful people to talk to. In this line I also met the famous DB9 (who recognized me despite my sunglasses much to my amazement), jesseU2, the lovely Sula (what a sweetie!), Gina Marie (who has the most amazing green eyes!), bluesky (another beauty), and several really cool non-interference people.
In between chats, Lynn and I worked on my sign. This was supposed to be my last chance to make my ultimate U2 dream come true. After 15 years of dance classes and one very successful belly-dancing lesson, my plan was to get on stage and dance for The Edge. At first I wanted to do a sequel to the Montreal sign that had got his attention so nicely, but then we though he might have forgotten all about it. We also decided not to refer to Edge, because he?d probably just laugh, and Bono is really the one who gets things done on stage. We also tried to make it as brief as possible, although that is amazingly difficult! It said ?Just for a change: Ballet+Belly+Me=Dancing for U2? Not great, but we were desperate. We had some panicky moments when security told us that none of us could bring in our signs, but fortunately that was a false alarm.
The last hour was the worst. We were freezing and sore and dying to get inside. Finally, they let us in one at a time and I?m glad they did, we all got in safely and pretty much in the order we were supposed to be (except for certain people who managed to slime their way in anyway). Good work Ally/DB9!
When we got in, I decided that my safest bet would be to stand outside the heart. I got to 2nd row, Edge?s side. Not bad! It was there during that wait that someone asked me where I was from, and when I said ?Toronto? a very cheerful and friendly voice said ?Really? I?m from Windsor! (which is in Southern Ontario, the same province as Toronto for those who don?t know)? this was to become Julie the guitar player, but more on that later. I observed the heart ramp with a feeling of trepidation. Not only is that ramp extremely narrow, but it?s also curved (down and sideways and tilted, like a water slide) and full of seams. With that plus the pitch dark, I began to worry that if I did get pulled up, I?d teeter off the side and go crashing into the audience. But, I knew I would manage somehow. I then made myself promise to enjoy the show and not dwell on getting pulled up or not, because chances were, I wouldn?t get pulled up, and I could sulk later (I didn?t and I did!)
I was expecting No Doubt to be awful (I can?t stand her cupie doll voice most of the time) but it was really very well done and full of energy. Really enjoyed them. And then, it was countdown to U2. Out came everyone?s fave guitar tech, and it was then that Disco gave away her accent ?Daaayyyylaayyyyys!? She screamed. It was hilarious. FINALLY the FAMOUS PRE-MUSIC BEGAN!!!! And THEN U2!!!! I screamed my head off. I noticed how many signs there were and how difficult it would be to get mine read. One of the signs said ?this chick plays a mean guitar?. I remembered that sign from Hamilton (though I didn?t realize it was connected to Julie), and wondered if that was the same person (it was). During New Years Day, Bono looked at a girl with a sign that said something about slow dancing with him. He gestured to her and said ?We?ll see what happens?. I am 99.9% positive of that, because the girl looked deliriously happy. Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten all about her. Imagine how awful she must have felt. I feel so badly for her. I couldn?t imagine having Edge say he?d dance with me and then not doing it. Hopefully (for her sake) I am wrong, and he didn?t say that at all.
I tried my luck with my sign briefly during Wild Honey and between that song and Please. (I may be forgetting the order, but you know what I mean). I tell you, between fans not being one bit happy that I had it up, and the competition with other signs, it?s just about impossible to get your sign read! This makes me realize what a feat getting my sign fussed over in Montreal really was!!! Signs really only work when you are in the front row, and can hold it low or to the side, or in the heart. It?s too crazy otherwise. Anyway, as you know, Bono came over and grabbed Julie, and I threw my sign to the floor, never to hear from it again. Game over. But I?ve got to tell you, Julie was obviously a wonderful person, and boy, was she professional! I have never seen anyone so calm and just plain happy. Also, she was very unaffected. I was positively proud of her! Proof of this is that I took 2 pics of her. Normally I never take pics of people who get pulled up because it?s too depressing. Not in this case! Yeayyy Julie!
Overall, Vegas was not my fave show of all time by any means. It seemed a bit leaden in places. This is probably because 1) I was so depressed it was my last show 2) the audience wasn?t as into it as they could have been 3) I REALLY wanted them to play MW, with or without me in it! Montreal was such a joyful show, and I was hoping Vegas would be ? Vegasier!!! But don?t get me wrong, it was still an excellent show. Highlights were Please, Wild Honey, Wild Horses and I Can?t Help? In fact, when he sang ?Whose Gonna Riiiiiide your wild hooorseeeees? I suddenly burst into tears. I have no idea why at this song, but it just tore at me. I sobbed harder than I have ever cried at any U2 show in my life. We?re talking POURING tears and gasping, choking sobbage that did not stop throughout Streets, and came back in fits and starts throughout the rest of the show. How embarrassing! It must have been the beauty of the music, combined with exhaustion and the fact it was ending.
After the show, we went home almost immediately to bed, having heard that U2 were doing a runner (I learned after the fact that they were meeting fans at Bellagio, but what can you do?!). April had to leave at 5am, and I left at about 9:30. I had to get to the airport 3 hours early, it was almost as long as the flight! Lunch was not nearly as good as it was on the way over. When we did land, we had to sit in the plane for ages because ?the crew was tired of waiting for us and went away?!!! Then the bags were held up. I didn?t get to bed until 11pm, and I had to get up for work the next day. I am still feeling the effects. But as always with U2 it was worth it.
The next day at work, I received a call from Disco informing me that not only did U2 do Mysterious Ways in LA, but that she got to meet Edge afterwards!!!!! My heart sank into my shoes. If there?s one person I can think of who deserves to meet Edge, it?s Disco (an indispensable member of the Orgasmatron Club on Pleba). I am thrilled for her, but was I ever in a sour mood for the rest of the day!!!! I guess that the U2 access gods have decided that after having coffee w. Bono, I have had my ration to last me a lifetime, and I am never going to dance with, or for The Edge. Shaking his hand and saying ?thanks? in May was it. *sigh*
Anyway, despite the fact that LA sounded like a stupendous show, I am still so glad I went to Vegas and met all those wonderful people. Thank you to all of you for making the amazing experience that is U2 that much more awesome.
And now, I will shut up and post some pics!
Grant, April, Angel
LikeO2, DB9, April
Lynn & Me
Me, April, Sicy
Daaaayyyyylaaaayyyys!
to be continued momentarily....
Anyway, since I am the resident Pleba storywriter, I thought I?d regale you with my Vegas experience in a typically melodramatic fashion?
It all started very well, as I climbed into my airport limo in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Gliding through the quiet city streets I began to shiver with excitement at the thought of what lay before me. The airport was extremely busy, crammed with middle- aged men with golf clubs. I had to go through three separate lines, one for checking in, one for customs and one for security. Here I was, waiting for the customs guy to ask me what I was going to do in the US, and he couldn?t have cared less. I got through there in about 20 seconds!
The lunch on the plane was unusually good, and in no time, I arrived in Vegas, ? an hour ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, I had to wait for my friend Lynn for 2 HOURS in the Vegas airport, which is less than inspiring, and pitch dark. After an interminable wait, Lynn arrived along with Carrie (OliveU2cm)! It turned out they were on the same plane! Carrie didn?t have to worry about a long GA line, she had GC tickets, and it must have been nice just slipping in at the last minute.
It was after arriving at our hotel (The Luxor) that I first realized that stupid AT&T Canada doesn?t work in the US!!!!! So if you can believe this, the grand total of 2 phone calls I made to other people, which were about 2 minutes each, cost me $27!!! That?s $43 CDN!!! What a rip off! Anyway, after meeting up with our friend Phil from England (whom I had not seen since Popmart at Wembley Stadium!), we stuffed ourselves on an all you can eat buffet, and proceeded to the Hard Rock.
As we made our way there, I began to become more and more nervous. Here were all these people that I have read about, or emailed for all this time, and they would be THERE! What if they didn?t like me? I have always been bad in crowds, even of my own friends. To say I was never in the ?in crowd? in high school would be an understatement. I paused outside the door to pull myself together, and went in.
At first it was hard to tell who was interference and who wasn?t. I was expecting one huge group, and unfortunately, I didn?t get to meet as many people as I had hoped ? but I was so glad to meet the people I did!! While I was meeting interferencers, Phil was selling copies of his fanzine, Elevator, of which I am Canadian Correspondent! I think he did a roaring business, both there and in the GA the next day.
The first person I saw was the infamous Sicilian Goddess. She looked EXACTLY like her photos, but 100 times smaller. She is the tiniest, skinniest person I have ever seen!!!! She makes the dancers at the Ballet look large. But all that notwithstanding, she looked very regal, like the Queen of Sheba surveying her domain. Next to her was April, who also looks exactly like her photos, with such pale skin and huge dark eyes. I had been emailing back and forth with April at a mad rate for weeks, and it was so great to finally see her in person. I had just started talking to April when Discoteque called me. Disco is someone I have wanted to meet ever since joining interference, and what a thrill it was to finally give her a huge hug. My dear friend Carrie was there, and I also got to meet Angel (who is so gorgeous she made me want to crawl under a rock!), HelloAngel, Like O2, EpandAmerica, U2Flame, Martha, Moonie, and many others. What a fun evening!
After that, I was exhausted, so I wanted to go to bed. April was supposed to be staying in our room, but she stayed behind at the HR for a while. Phil and Lynn at first wanted to go to a strip club and get lap dances, but the $30 cover charge put the kibosh on that. So instead, they went gambling and lost a bunch of money anyway! Eventually, we all went to bed, and some time in the wee hours, April arrived. The scenario was that we were stuffing 5 people into a room for 2. It was originally supposed to be Lynn and her friend in one bed, me and April in another, and Phil on the floor. Well, since we weren?t sure when April was coming, Phil was in bed with me. When April arrived, she got in with us, and there were three of us squished in, with me balancing precariously on the Edge (har har) of the bed next to the alarm! I remember thinking ?here I am, lying in a bed in Vegas, with a guy I?ve met twice and a girl I?ve met through the Internet. And I?m fine with this! Only U2 fans?.? LOL!
We had decided to rouse ourselves at 3:30am for the GA line. As we were on our way there, we got a frantic call from Disco and Moonie, saying that there wasn?t a soul around and that campus security were kicking everyone out. We drove around the venue a few times looking for signs of life, but found none, so we decided to go back to the hotel for more sleep. But first ? to Freemont St. since we hadn?t seen the ISHFWILF ?set? yet. There we were, wandering around the familiar street, in total silence. It was quite surreal. We did see a guy deck his girlfriend and get arrested, which doesn?t make for a very U2 atmosphere!
We were so wide-awake at this point that we went back to the hotel for showers, and breakfast. As we were sitting having more all you can eat buffet, we got yet another panicked call from Disco. This time we learned that there had been an off site lineup and that there were already at least 300 people in line! We were furious. Either you get up early and get the benefit of a good spot, or you get up late and get a bad spot, but to get up early AND get a bad spot? This SUCKED!!!!! We raced to the line and were relieved that we had at least made it into the 200s. At least we would get a reasonable spot.
I?ve got to say, the day in the GA line went by really quickly. We had the most spectacularly gorgeous weather (sitting here now in 3 degree weather?grrrrrr) and there were so many wonderful people to talk to. In this line I also met the famous DB9 (who recognized me despite my sunglasses much to my amazement), jesseU2, the lovely Sula (what a sweetie!), Gina Marie (who has the most amazing green eyes!), bluesky (another beauty), and several really cool non-interference people.
In between chats, Lynn and I worked on my sign. This was supposed to be my last chance to make my ultimate U2 dream come true. After 15 years of dance classes and one very successful belly-dancing lesson, my plan was to get on stage and dance for The Edge. At first I wanted to do a sequel to the Montreal sign that had got his attention so nicely, but then we though he might have forgotten all about it. We also decided not to refer to Edge, because he?d probably just laugh, and Bono is really the one who gets things done on stage. We also tried to make it as brief as possible, although that is amazingly difficult! It said ?Just for a change: Ballet+Belly+Me=Dancing for U2? Not great, but we were desperate. We had some panicky moments when security told us that none of us could bring in our signs, but fortunately that was a false alarm.
The last hour was the worst. We were freezing and sore and dying to get inside. Finally, they let us in one at a time and I?m glad they did, we all got in safely and pretty much in the order we were supposed to be (except for certain people who managed to slime their way in anyway). Good work Ally/DB9!
When we got in, I decided that my safest bet would be to stand outside the heart. I got to 2nd row, Edge?s side. Not bad! It was there during that wait that someone asked me where I was from, and when I said ?Toronto? a very cheerful and friendly voice said ?Really? I?m from Windsor! (which is in Southern Ontario, the same province as Toronto for those who don?t know)? this was to become Julie the guitar player, but more on that later. I observed the heart ramp with a feeling of trepidation. Not only is that ramp extremely narrow, but it?s also curved (down and sideways and tilted, like a water slide) and full of seams. With that plus the pitch dark, I began to worry that if I did get pulled up, I?d teeter off the side and go crashing into the audience. But, I knew I would manage somehow. I then made myself promise to enjoy the show and not dwell on getting pulled up or not, because chances were, I wouldn?t get pulled up, and I could sulk later (I didn?t and I did!)
I was expecting No Doubt to be awful (I can?t stand her cupie doll voice most of the time) but it was really very well done and full of energy. Really enjoyed them. And then, it was countdown to U2. Out came everyone?s fave guitar tech, and it was then that Disco gave away her accent ?Daaayyyylaayyyyys!? She screamed. It was hilarious. FINALLY the FAMOUS PRE-MUSIC BEGAN!!!! And THEN U2!!!! I screamed my head off. I noticed how many signs there were and how difficult it would be to get mine read. One of the signs said ?this chick plays a mean guitar?. I remembered that sign from Hamilton (though I didn?t realize it was connected to Julie), and wondered if that was the same person (it was). During New Years Day, Bono looked at a girl with a sign that said something about slow dancing with him. He gestured to her and said ?We?ll see what happens?. I am 99.9% positive of that, because the girl looked deliriously happy. Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten all about her. Imagine how awful she must have felt. I feel so badly for her. I couldn?t imagine having Edge say he?d dance with me and then not doing it. Hopefully (for her sake) I am wrong, and he didn?t say that at all.
I tried my luck with my sign briefly during Wild Honey and between that song and Please. (I may be forgetting the order, but you know what I mean). I tell you, between fans not being one bit happy that I had it up, and the competition with other signs, it?s just about impossible to get your sign read! This makes me realize what a feat getting my sign fussed over in Montreal really was!!! Signs really only work when you are in the front row, and can hold it low or to the side, or in the heart. It?s too crazy otherwise. Anyway, as you know, Bono came over and grabbed Julie, and I threw my sign to the floor, never to hear from it again. Game over. But I?ve got to tell you, Julie was obviously a wonderful person, and boy, was she professional! I have never seen anyone so calm and just plain happy. Also, she was very unaffected. I was positively proud of her! Proof of this is that I took 2 pics of her. Normally I never take pics of people who get pulled up because it?s too depressing. Not in this case! Yeayyy Julie!
Overall, Vegas was not my fave show of all time by any means. It seemed a bit leaden in places. This is probably because 1) I was so depressed it was my last show 2) the audience wasn?t as into it as they could have been 3) I REALLY wanted them to play MW, with or without me in it! Montreal was such a joyful show, and I was hoping Vegas would be ? Vegasier!!! But don?t get me wrong, it was still an excellent show. Highlights were Please, Wild Honey, Wild Horses and I Can?t Help? In fact, when he sang ?Whose Gonna Riiiiiide your wild hooorseeeees? I suddenly burst into tears. I have no idea why at this song, but it just tore at me. I sobbed harder than I have ever cried at any U2 show in my life. We?re talking POURING tears and gasping, choking sobbage that did not stop throughout Streets, and came back in fits and starts throughout the rest of the show. How embarrassing! It must have been the beauty of the music, combined with exhaustion and the fact it was ending.
After the show, we went home almost immediately to bed, having heard that U2 were doing a runner (I learned after the fact that they were meeting fans at Bellagio, but what can you do?!). April had to leave at 5am, and I left at about 9:30. I had to get to the airport 3 hours early, it was almost as long as the flight! Lunch was not nearly as good as it was on the way over. When we did land, we had to sit in the plane for ages because ?the crew was tired of waiting for us and went away?!!! Then the bags were held up. I didn?t get to bed until 11pm, and I had to get up for work the next day. I am still feeling the effects. But as always with U2 it was worth it.
The next day at work, I received a call from Disco informing me that not only did U2 do Mysterious Ways in LA, but that she got to meet Edge afterwards!!!!! My heart sank into my shoes. If there?s one person I can think of who deserves to meet Edge, it?s Disco (an indispensable member of the Orgasmatron Club on Pleba). I am thrilled for her, but was I ever in a sour mood for the rest of the day!!!! I guess that the U2 access gods have decided that after having coffee w. Bono, I have had my ration to last me a lifetime, and I am never going to dance with, or for The Edge. Shaking his hand and saying ?thanks? in May was it. *sigh*
Anyway, despite the fact that LA sounded like a stupendous show, I am still so glad I went to Vegas and met all those wonderful people. Thank you to all of you for making the amazing experience that is U2 that much more awesome.
And now, I will shut up and post some pics!
Grant, April, Angel
LikeO2, DB9, April
Lynn & Me
Me, April, Sicy
Daaaayyyyylaaaayyyys!
to be continued momentarily....
