Boston, March 11 Part 3

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Awesome video!!! I am in it, at about 2:33 I am talking to Adam and then I saw a horrible glimpse of myself looking on as Bono walks over and I am mortified by the look on my face (my daughter said "mom you look like you were crying. but did you wear something pretty or nice that day?")
Unfortuantely you panned out at my most favorite part (peck on cheek)

Oh sorry about that, I think I was kind of too excited, so I did a crappy video taping job/got confused about where they were in the crowd haha...I saw you though, don't worry everyone looks starstruck!
 
A review as a fan and employee

Hi everyone. I am very glad everyone who was there enjoyed another spectacular Boston U2 show. It has been great reading all of the posts of interference members telling their stories about yesterday!

Here is mine: As some of you know, how many, depends on whether you have read my posts or looked at my profile here, I work security at concerts in Boston. I work for a company hired to do all LiveNation venues and shows in the region. I live near Boston and go to school in Vermont. Last week, I was e mailed about a "top secret" event taking place at the Somerville Theater, the first e mail from my company that I had ever been explicitly told to keep confidential. Of course, given the day in question, I knew this was U2 and jumped at the opportunity to work all day starting at 8 AM. I contemplated saying something here beforehand as Somerville theater, I think, had been in the "reliable rumor" category for about a week. It was all but official. However, my main concern was in people here maybe thinking I would be able to do something for them as far as autographs, tickets, etc and there would have been absolutely no way for me to make this happen. The Mayor and others were not kidding when they said the only way into this would have been to win on the radio. I did not want to get stuck in the position of having to tell fellow fans here that there is nothing I could do for them when they are lined up outside or when they see me inside. Also, in the unlikely event that I had to get affirmative with someone(the fans of U2 are great as you all know), I did not want to risk the 0.000001% chance it was a fellow poster here, or was in front of people who knew who I was because I told them on here the week before. Plus, overriding concern, I had been told to do nothing to advertise this and want to keep my summer job in these difficult times when another one may be hard to come by upon graduation.

I left Vermont at 2:30 AM, met my brother in New Hampshire and down we went. Davis Sq was filled with Police, Fire and all kinds of curious people from the time we arrived. It was a very festive atmosphere, w/ bars, restaurants, banks, schools, etc in the area all having signs "welcome, U2" or "we love U2" the best comparison I can think of is a Patriots/Red Sox/Celtics victory parade as far as the signs lining the route. I had the priviledge of working/speaking with many Somerville police officers(all of whom were great) and in doing this, it was really clear just how special Boston's relationship is with U2. All of the cops(mostly in their 40s-60s) loved them and were so interested in hearing the soundcheck, rehearsals, etc. They seemed to all especially admire and be interested in Larry, maybe because he rides a bike, I dont know. Either way, one officer told me how he has been a big fan since JT days and was at the St Patrick's Day Zoo TV show and Larry rode his bike in w/police motorcycles!

It was just amazing having people much older than myself knowing and loving the same band as I do, just shows how timeless they are. My personal philosophy from reading history, etc is that we always advance/move forward, and I would not want to have lived in another time. That being said, talking to those Irish-American cops who remember an Irish band sweeping the entire world in 1987, as well as to fans lined up around the venue who had seen them at the Paradise or the Orpheum or had seen JT or Zoo TV or what have you made me wish I had been born earlier. My favorite was the lady who had seen every tour, was a friend of Adam's and had specifically fond memories of the Unforgettable Fire tour in Worcester! Nicest lady, her husband was very nice as well, and if either post here, great meeting you guys!

I was out back where U2 was escorted in most of the day, watching the door. I knew in advance what time U2 was coming, but it did not really hit for me until I heard on the cop's radio next to me that they were rolling from the Ritz Carlton in Boston and that all intersections were covered. It was for real then. At 4:20, it all happened so fast, I saw the motorcycles, the Mercedes Sedans and the Escalade. Adam got out first, followed quickly by Bono and Edge. All exited, shook hands with and thanked the police(what other artists do that- answer-none that I have seen) then went to where you have all seen pictures of people getting autographs, about 20 feet to my right. 20 minutes later, they all went inside through my door, Adam first, then Edge then Bono, all made eye contact, shook my hand and thanked me. I could not show excitement as I was working(that was difficult) and our instructions are only engage artists to the extent they engage you. I simply told them to hang around for another 33 years if they did not mind, they smiled and Bono said 50 yrs. Now everyone is wondering where Larry is- cops, crew, etc, where's Larry? He came in about half hour after the others went in, looked to be in some pain, but again, walked by, shook my hand and thanked me. I said no, thank you and off he went. I would have done more talking had I not been working, but once I agreed to work, my job is to choose professional over rabid fan when the 2 conflict. And working was the only way into this for me, I have nowhere near the drive some of you do to keep dialing through busy signals and try to crack these radio station codes when there are a bunch of people jamming the line who dont even know I will follow or 11 tick tock or an cat dubh or twilight or another time another place, party girl, like a song or Gloria or you all get the idea!

I heard all the soundchecks and rehearsals, Boots, Breathe, Magnificent and Crazy Tonight all got more run throughs than I could count, both by technicians and U2. All the cops seemed really interested in when it would actually be "Mullen" as they all called him playing the drums. One cop said "you'll know" and I seconded that! I had dinner during the rehearsals, and it was muffled down below the stage, but I could have sworn I heard part of Stand Up Comedy rehearsed, maybe that was in consideration for the Vertigo slot? Either way, they only ran through Vertigo maybe 2 times after that and then it was 8:00 and for reasons of brevity and self preservation, I will not get into why I thought I would be stuck at the back door for the show. I had resigned myself to hearing, not seeing, and kept telling myself the handshakes were enough.

A stroke of luck had me running into a gentleman who used to work with us but is now part of U2 tour security grabbing me on the way back from the bathroom to go down to the stage front! Again, I was jumping up and down inside, but could not outwardly show the excitement. 2 minutes before or after, one more paper towel to dry my hands in the bathroom, etc, and I dont run into this guy and I dont see the show! I started front and center as the crowd was coming in, met Jerry and Scott, tour security directors, and both great, humble and professional guys with the best communication skills of any security personell for any band I have dealt with. For those who always claim U2 is not only a great band but a great organization all around, I spent an entire day on site and could not agree any more with this. Just before the show started, I was moved to stage right by Brian, Bono's guard and another true professional and appreciative guy in order to watch his back and keep people from using the photographer's chairs and stools as stairs to the stage. He also told us he would know when/if Bono wanted someone on stage, wanted people to move up from other rows, etc and that he would keep us informed. Toward the end of Boots, he signaled to us that people could fill in, and we knew to let them. Though it was incredibly loud down there and space was tight, this man's non verbal communication skills were the best of any I have EVER seen and it made my job easy the enitre time.

Note:there was another guard next to me facing front most of the time, he had curly hair and some facial hair, I was the other guy, clean shaven, short hair, shorter in height than the young gentleman next to me and facing across toward Adam's side most of the time. This is just in case any of you noticed us down there! I kept thinking the entire time that considering how difficult it was and what you had to do to get tickets, that there HAD to be people I have encountered HERE ON INTERFERENCE at the show. Again, I could not show my excitement, but the few people around me I talked to certainly knew very quick that I was a major fan. One gentleman kept calling for 11 tick tock in quiet moments and before the Q&A I told him that maybe Bono would have listened had he called for Twilight. He did a double take and we were friends the rest of the night. There were 2 girls that filled in right behind me when Bono and Brian signaled for the release and whenever I cant sit down on stage front, I get a little nervous about blocking the views of the people who are behind me. Most guys are taller than me, but most girls are not. Doing security, we have to do our jobs, but the last thing we need is to lose the sympathy of the crowd by unnecessarily blocking views. I asked before Magnificent if I was blocking this young lady's or her friend's view and to let me know if I did at anytime. After Vertigo, we talked about U2 shows we had attended. I think a girl near her could have been daygloeyes and a guy in the same area was spaceboy, I am pretty sure! Spaceboy, sorry again for confusing you, and if the girl I talked to posts here, let me know please!

Again, the only difficult thing was to keep telling myself I had a job to do and people to watch and that any of the show I actually saw had to be secondary. I am somewhat proud of myself in the sense that I am a bigger fan than any of my co workers and I think I spent the most amount of time doing what I was supposed to do as opposed to having my eyes fixed on the show. Of course, inside, I was bursting with excitement at seeing up close how much Bono gives to every performance, how Adam's bass goes right through you(Letterman does not lie), how Edge plays so effortlessly and notices every technical thing(he thought something was off during breathe) and just how damn hard and fast Larry plays the drums. Bono says it shakes the room, and he exagerrates sometimes, but not this time, that is for damn sure.

Boots and Vertigo were the high energy rockers of course, Breathe was the great rock song with alot going on musically as well, Magnificent absolutely soared live and Crazy tonight, at least from the "baby,baby, baby" on ABSOLUTELY took off. Is Magnificent Streets? It is too early to tell, but its the only thing since that has a chance, in my opinion! I keep telling people, and if you were there, please tell me if you agree. This promo tour, though short, has seen Bono's voice in top form and the band completely firing on all cylinders. As good as the whole thing has been(since the inaguration), this blew it all away and then some. I keep telling my friends when asked how it was that it was very short, went by even faster since I was constantly moving, watching different people, scanning the crowd, etc, but despite that, I can safely say I have only heard them better on Japan 12/4 and 89 Point Depot Bootlegs and maybe some select War SBS or UF Bad performances. Bold statement, but probably true. The Q&A featured, of course, the guys showing just how intelligent, passionate and genuine they are.

After the show, it was basically the getting the band in process in reverse, they left around 10:40, said thank you again, and that was that. My brother and I walked to the car, called TAnthony in Brookline (out by the Paradise) for pizza, gassed up and I rolled into Vermont at 4:25 this morning. Couldnt tell you what happened at 4:27 I was so tired. Slept all day today, had been up 24 hrs, still recovering, but MORE THAN worth it!

Just my very long, unique perspective on a great day that was the perfect end to a spectacular promo tour!!
 
U2387- My goodness that is an amazing story. I agree on so many levels that hearing some stories of U2 from the 70's through the early 80's really makes you wish you could have been there from the beginning. However, its the stories we cant forget and we are still able to see them today and beyond thankfully. I hear a lot of people say they are becoming a little bit less relevant because their fans are getting older but Im 20 and I appreciate their music more than any band out there especially right now. These guys have class, talent, respect and give it their all. They obviously havent been hit by the drug scene, they have never changed their appreciation for their fans once they hit it big and they continue to give it their all every time they take the stage. The energy they put into their music rivals any band ever, IMO.

Thats pretty cool that you know someone on their security team as well. Do you happen to know how he got a job with them? As I posted earlier Im looking into college classes to get involved in music and any stories of those involved in the industry can go a long way in my search. If you want to PM me with the info instead of taking space here that would be cool.

Anyways, It sounds like your experience is something that will stay with you forever and its good to hear more people who actually appreciate being there as opposed to someone who took everrything for granted. Thank you for sharing your story with us, it was a pleasure to read :applaud:.
 
U2387- Thats awesome! I am actually in a similar situation, as I work for Team Ops Security, which does security at Gillette Stadium. I figured that if I wasn't able to get tickets to the concert in September at Gillette, I could just work the concert. I still wonder which is better though, having really bad seats at the top of the stadium, and able to enjoy yourself OR the possibility of being security close to the stage, but having to concentrate on your work...its a dilemma...right now, though, I have a Breathe pre-sale code so hopefully I will get GA tickets! However, if they add another show, then I will definitely work security for that!

btw, how did you get the live nation job? I tried to apply online earlier this year, but I don't think they had any open positions? Did you apply online or was there an employee hiring session like Team Ops does?
 
I'm so happy for all of you. I'm surprised that Carter was up in the balcony. hmm...

I was surprised Carter was in the balcony/mezzanine too. In fact, I was surprised he was in line at the MoS at all (about 20 people in front of me). I would have thought he would be on the band's guest list (blue wrist bands).
 
He was at the post-show party in Cambridge, tho

Yeah. I met him back in '98 at a Rolling Stones show and got a picture. I almost brought that picture (with my U2 stuff) for a potential autograph. I kept telling myself in line at the MoS, "Go talk to Carter. Get friendly. He'll likely be seeing the band afterward." But I figured it was best not to bug him. Oh well. The afterparty was VIP only anyway.
 
Me too:)

Really need to get back to the real world--but I don't want to!

I was sooo close to U2 when I was in the ellipse 3 and a half years ago. Thought nothing could be better than that.

I was nowhere near as close this time, but ohmigod it was even better. :heart:
 
So disappointed I didn't find a way to the show. Everyone that had the chance to go is so lucky!

Anyways, on my limo ride to the airport yesterday, the driver said he had picked up the band and taken them to their charter flight. He said Bono was not with the rest of the band, but that the other guys were pretty cool.
 
So disappointed I didn't find a way to the show. Everyone that had the chance to go is so lucky!

Anyways, on my limo ride to the airport yesterday, the driver said he had picked up the band and taken them to their charter flight. He said Bono was not with the rest of the band, but that the other guys were pretty cool.

Did he say where they were headed? I know it's been reported Fez for a video shoot.
 
ok here is the second half of my video of U2 leaving Somerville Theater (well both halves on a better quality video uploading site)...wow I'm so U2 crazed right now, I cannot wait until September! Anyone know when those ticket go on sale?

U2 in Somerville! on Vimeo

Great video. Does anyone who was there know what Larry was saying when he came out after the show? He looked unusually animated :D. And from his answers during the Q & A I'd say that "cough medicine" was still having an effect on him. Great to see him so relaxed and funny though. Hope he's feeling better by now. Must have been miserable having to do all the promo things the past 3 days and not feeling well.
 
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