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!!