recreational drug story from zootv?

[marik]

in an old rolling stone article (see u2star.com) there is this line...


"We had this idea that irony was the enemy of soul," Bono says of the early days, winding down back in Stockholm with a postshow snack of white wine and Swedish hash in a cafe."

hash? as in the drug you smoke? maybe i'm confused, but does anyone else have an explaination for this? (i don't really care if b-man did smoke hash, just curious)

 

[kakvox]

Swedish hash browns, silly. Potatoes for the Irish, see?

Joking aside, I really am not schooled in drug lingo to answer you honestly.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

Wouldn't surprise me, but I wouldn't call it a snack. Hash can also be like tiny diced potatoes. (corned beef hash, etc.)

 

[marik]

you could be right. the two things i thought of first were drugs or potatoes. don't you think it would be weird to drink wine and eat potateos? i know some liberal cafes in europe do let you smoke pot/hash. it makes more sense to be smoking with wine after a concert

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

Again, though, I'd hardly call it a 'snack.' Snack implies eating.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Again, though, I'd hardly call it a 'snack.' Snack implies eating.

Perhaps the writer was trying to be amusing calling it a snack.

 

[rjhbonovox]

Wowow Bono smoking hash, string him up! Hehehe I think Bono's tried many things!

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

Oh, I'm not saying he's a saint. In fact, I remember rumors circulating during the Elevation tour. But this just seems to be food to me

 

[indra]

It has the feel of being food...the snack bit. Plus I've heard that Swedish pot and/or hash ain't all that, you know. But maybe it is if it's food.


I've often wondered about something since registering on this site, and that is: Would you feel a whole lot differently about members of U2 if you found one or more did have a history of using (more than dabbling, that is) illicit drugs? I'm not implying that any member does/has/or will, it's completely hypothetical. I'm just interested in what people think.

 

[kennerado]

I remember hearing a story about edge doing something and being locked in his hotel room while he came down from the high.

 

[lazarus]

Well Edge has tied LSD (or mushrooms before) and while that may have been dabbling, it's still pretty hardcore. Adam used marijuana for a long time.

I say more power to 'em. We all know that some of rock and roll's greatest artists experimented with or were even addicted to drugs. Every jazz great I can think of used drugs. It may hurt the people in the long run but it definitely has a positive effect on the music.

I don't see why it's okay to support U2 getting plastered all the time yet wonder if it would be "okay" if they did drugs. It's a rather hypocritical stance. Let's not forget that Adam missed a show not because he was stoned, but because he had a hangover.


laz

 

[discothequeLP]

I read an Edge quote from @U2.com I think where Edge said that back in the 70s they decided to play a show completely stoned. He said it was a complete mess. Haha. awesome

 

[rjhbonovox]

I think the Zoo Tv days were the wildest days the band have ever had. I remember reading a while back where Bono woke up in apartment with loads of half naked Japanese girls around. One of them apparently offered him heroin and sex. Of course Bono refused both, and I think later that day he said to whoever he was with, this has got to stop, he was going too far. This was way back at the end of the Zoo Tv tour 1993 in Japan, I read this recently in uncut magazine. So I think them were U2's real wild days.

 

[MrBrau1]

Adam was arrested for marajuana posession back in the late 80's.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

If anything, I don't see any of them using heroin, especially Bono. There's too much pain over friends lost to Heroin in "Running to Stand Still" and "Bad" for that

 

[Shade]

If anything, I don't see any of them using heroin, especially Bono. There's too much pain over friends lost to Heroin in "Running to Stand Still" and "Bad" for that

Bono did an interview, once, where he was asked if he'd ever used heroin, since U2 have a half million songs about it. Instead of saying 'no', Bono said something to the effect of "I choose not to answer that question because I travel a lot and don't want to be searched every time I land." Those weren't his exact words, but that was basically what was said.

 

[jojoline]

Oh, I'm not saying he's a saint. In fact, I remember rumors circulating during the Elevation tour. But this just seems to be food to me

What rumors?

Take a look at the statistics. How many great bands have disbanned or had a member die as a result of drug-use. The fellows drink a lot, but we're not talking about Slash here or freakin def leopard.

 

[jojoline]

I'm sure they've dabbled, just never went overboard. They support each other so well as a whole.

 

[david]

Read U2 at The End of the World. The book about the period between 1990 and 1994 and documents the entire ZooTV tour.

They would part non stop from the time their shows ended until 4am the next day.

Edge tried mushrooms one night (according to the book) and locked himself in his hotel room and apparently discovered the secret of the universe then recorded it into a tape recorder. He played it back the next day and all he could hear was jibberish.

 

[indra]

I say more power to 'em. We all know that some of rock and roll's greatest artists experimented with or were even addicted to drugs. Every jazz great I can think of used drugs. It may hurt the people in the long run but it definitely has a positive effect on the music.

I don't see why it's okay to support U2 getting plastered all the time yet wonder if it would be "okay" if they did drugs. It's a rather hypocritical stance. Let's not forget that Adam missed a show not because he was stoned, but because he had a hangover.


laz

The acceptance of alcohol while condeming other drugs has always rather surprised me too. But that is true in general society as well, so I guess it shouldn't be such a surprise.

Yeah I do think the freeing aspects of various drugs can have a positive aspect on creativity, although if overused that can also be destroyed. I know guy who went through the whole cataloge of a band deciding which drug predominated which album...you know, several were (and still are) pot albums, one's a cocaine album, one's a heroin album, one's an LSD album, etc., etc. Pretty funny, and pretty accurate.

What happened when Adam missed that performance...who played bass? That would be a cool concert bootleg to have...sometimes those can be hilarious shows. I have a bootleg of a band I like where the singer/bassist is missing...that made a huge difference, but it's so much fun to listen to.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

I seem to remember hearing something about a "green room" with some "funny smoke" early in the tour

 

[madonna's child]

Read U2 at The End of the World. The book about the period between 1990 and 1994 and documents the entire ZooTV tour.

They would part non stop from the time their shows ended until 4am the next day.

Edge tried mushrooms one night (according to the book) and locked himself in his hotel room and apparently discovered the secret of the universe then recorded it into a tape recorder. He played it back the next day and all he could hear was jibberish.

That's a great part of the book.

U2 clearly do not have a drug problem, so whatever they may have tried in the past is no business of ours. If there is any substance abuse problem in the band, I would say it's alcohol. But even that hasn't caused them serious problems. Hey, they're Irish.

 

[indra]

That's a great part of the book.

U2 clearly do not have a drug problem, so whatever they may have tried in the past is no business of ours. If there is any substance abuse problem in the band, I would say it's alcohol. But even that hasn't caused them serious problems. Hey, they're Irish.

I'm not really interested to know any nitty gritty details (except how the missing Adam show was handled ), I'm just interested to know how people's feelings about them would (or would not) change if they were to admit to serious illicit drug use. I just have read several time on this board comments of the "at least they aren't drug users" variety, so I just wonder if that is the predominate view of U2 fans.

 

[MrBrau1]

Adam was a drug user, and his bass tech, Stewart Morgan filled in for him on the Zoo show he missed in 93.

 

[klappie]

There's this very amusing book called "VICE - the vice guide to sex drugs and rock and roll", it's a collection of articles that ran in the magazine with the same name.. In it they have a list of songs to put on when you're on a coke high. Amongst them is Pride ("Rattle and Hum version only") with the description and explantion why it is on this list:

"This song is the sonic equivalent of Leni Riefenstahl's 'Triumph of the Will'. Everyone joins in step and why not, for something that's this alive and earnest? Remember how bugeyed Bono was in the film? Now go look in the mirror"

I'm sure it's all done in good satire, but I do remember a RUMOUR about a coke thingy for bono during the JT period...hmmm

Oh the rest of the Vice "high list" include, FYI only of course:
- "don't stop believing" - Journey
- "Sister Chistian" - Night Ranger
- "Starship Trooper" - Yes
- "Here I go again On My Own" - Whitesnake
- "Centerfold" - J. Geils band
- "Electronic" - Belle and Sebastian
- "Ladytron" - Roxy Music
- "I wanna be your dog"- The Stooges
- "Magic" - The Cars
- "Suspicious Minds" - Elvis

 

[ZeroDude]

They've probably all dabbled in/were doing many drugs except Larry who had to look after the other three.

 

[U2girl]

I'm just interested to know how people's feelings about them would (or would not) change if they were to admit to serious illicit drug use.

Yes, they would. I would probably still like the music but would think less of them as people. One of the things that I admire about them is their anti-rock-star cliche lifestyle.

That said, if it was a long-time, serious abuse (a la Adam and drinking/drugs) and if they did not seek help about it - that would bother me.
If they only tried it, that wouldn't bother me.

 

[beli]

What about alcohol? Alcohols a drug. What if Bono, for example, was consuming excessively ?

 

[U2girl]

We know they drink and smoke.
None of which excessively, to the point of AA meetings.

 

[beli]

We know they drink and smoke.
None of which excessively, to the point of AA meetings.

How do you know Bonos not an alcoholic? Im not saying he is, I dont know him, but how do you know he isnt?