mysterious_jen said:
HOLY CRAP !!!!!!!! awesome pics thanks for sharing
thank you for all the compliments!
first of all, the guy who Bono borrowed the crown from (he gave it back later in the show) is Todd Reubold, from Minnesota, US actually! i met up with him and two other girls (Vero from Stockholm and a norwegian girl) through the internet just hours before the show. We decided to dress up as Pop-tarts, and therefore the crown, masks and make up (as you can see on the picture of Todd and the norwegian girl).
after the show Todd was the hero of the town, and a lot of people asked him if he wore the same crown that Bono had during the show.
yes, during Lemon Remix of this show, the lemon didn't open, and all we could see for a couple of minutes were the feet of all of U2 inside the lemon. It stopped opening after only 10-15 cm. After a while the lemon rolled back and U2 entered the b-stage from beneath the catwalk, walking exactly where Bono walked when he borrowed the crown. I remember Bono repeatedly called out "Lemon breakdown, lemon breakdown..." Funny!
as for the Dublin meeting, me and my traveling partner walked down to Hanover Quay, and a few other fans stood waiting outside beside a bench covered in words and catch-phrases of U2 lyrics and so forth.
after about 2 hours the black Mercedes came, and we could all see the silouettes of Edge, Larry, Bono and Adam.
Bono then suddenly stood in the doorway, and all he said was "Ey..." I immediately jumped up, shouting "It's Bono!!" and walked straight over. He stood there calmly, hand outstretched. When I shook his hand, he said, "Nice suit, tin of fruit!" I'm from Norway, so i got a bit puzzled by this, and I replied, "sorry?"
Then he explained that back in the days, the women would give compliments to the men by making the compliment rhyme on anything (suit - fruit)!
I asked him about their (then) new song "The Hands That Built America", and said i liked the vibe of it, with Edge on the piano. He seemed surprised that I had heard of it (this being July 15, 2002). I said I heard it at u2.com, and then he laughed and said that was probably a very poor version!
I remember he smelled very nice, but i didn't dare to ask what kind of perfume he used! (being a male and all!
My friend asked Bono if it was ok that we played some of U2's songs at our local church back in Norway, and he said sure, what songs did we play? I replied The First Time, and my friend said 40. Bono: "Ah, 40! That song changes my heart every time we play it."
That was the goose-bump moment for me!
When Bono said he had to go inside again, it was like a big big void, and i wanted to cry out, "Please don't go now!!" It was just like seeing Bono from all the videos and pictures, and still he was so relaxed and human. It was a very bittersweet moment when he walked back up the stairs to their studio.
Some days later we met Norman, inside his cafè Nude, and when I asked him; "Are you Bono's brother?" he replied, "No, he's mine!"
Just before leaving for Norway, we walked back down to HQ, and this time we could hear The Edge playing the guitar riff to Electrical Storm. A couple of hours later, Adam came out and he just signed some autographs and walked back in.
Some very memorable and unforgettable days in Dublin, which i will treasure for the rest of my life! I feel very blessed to have both shaked Bono's hand and spoken to him! It felt like meeting a long lost friend.