That One Time I Met 3/4 Of U2
- Samantha Blovits
- May 23, 2019
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 2, 2019
I'm not even going to try to come off as cool here. U2 is my favorite band to the point that in my mind they are untouchable in comparison to any other musicians. Maybe, that's not the right opinion to hold as a wannabe music critic, but at this point I am taking this with me to the grave. I refuse to be unbiased in this instance and this piece is probably just going to be me reliving that one time I crumbled emotionally in public in front of the biggest band on the planet.
I've seen U2 live 9 times and have traveled countless hours for shows. I am beyond grateful for this band because they have given me so many things to be joyous about, including wonderful life-long friends.
In May of 2018, a close group of friends and I traveled to Chicago where we would stay for four days for U2's Experience Tour shows on the 22nd and 23rd, (I had continued on after Chicago to catch the band's show in Nashville as well). Below is a picture of a group of us during our first day in the city, blissfully unaware of the crazy couple of days that was about to follow.
It is well known that U2 have a unique relationship with their fans and will often stop before shows to chat and sign autographs for those waiting outside the venue. On the day of the first show, my friends and I camped out hoping to get a chance to talk to them, but sadly only bassist Adam Clayton had time to stop and we were a bit too far away. A little defeated, we shook off our blues and got ready for the main event: the freaking show!
The first show arrived and we had our pick of perfect spots on the e-stage rail, which is the stage in the center of the floor audience that the band would perform from throughout the concert. Dancing, singing, smiling, and some tears followed. At one point during "Until The End Of The World", Bono was 2ft away from me, elevated on the stage and growling into his microphone seconds before throwing water over the sweaty crowd below him. We had been Bono-tized.
Hours after the show and $40 worth of Taco Bell later, we were out cold in our cozy Chicago loft Air B'n'b.
The second show day started like your average U2 show day; we woke up at 6am and rushed through the city to arrive at the United Center and check into the GA line. Now checked in and numbered, we sprinted over to claim a good spot to try to meet the band later when they would be arriving to the venue. Moments like these sound stressful and quite crazy, but having your best friends to run along with makes it complete happy madness.
3pm rolled around and security guards emerged from the entrance tunnel of the United Center. Policemen on motorcycles mulled around the street, shutting down traffic. The band was arriving very shortly. A buzz of excitement went through the crowd.
First to stop was the lovely Adam Clayton, stepping out of his car to a chorus of cheers with an endearing, signature upside-down smile on his face. Three of my friends are huge fans of Adam specifically, and he took time with each one of them, hugged them and thanked them for their support. My memory holds Adam as the epitome of a soft spoken gentlemen with kind eyes.
Wow, we thought we were lucky, we had just met Adam Clayton! Two large Suburbans pull up moments later and none other than Bono and The Edge jump out! Surprise! At this point I had to pinch myself. This was really happening? It suddenly hit me that I had mere minutes to prepare myself mentally for what was about to happen. I was going to have to formulate somewhat understandable sentences in front of my idol. Yikes.
Bono made his way down the line of fans, joking around and flashing his charm at any person who had the ability to look at him straight on.
"How ya doin', dude?" Bono asked my now speechless friend on the left of me. He joked with him and explained that he wears his signature sunglasses because they help him "see through people", his hidden superpower. It was now or never. Bono was directly in front of me at this point.
"Is there anyway I could just have a hug?" I managed to stutter out.
"Uh, I will-" Bono leaned down to kiss my left hand, "-kiss you a hug," he responded with a grin. At this point, two seconds into our conversation, my entire life was already pretty much made.
Now that I managed to speak once, I was on a roll. I told him about the "I'm wide awake" tattoo I have on my left bicep, handwritten lyrics I had nicked from an exhibit in the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame for U2's song "Bad". I rolled up the sleeve on my t-shirt to show him, unable to hold back a laugh while doing so. The whole moment seemed a bit absurd to me while I was living it. (Like: 'hi, you wrote these lyrics when you were 24 or whatever and now I have them tattooed on my arm, do you remember this???") He smiled graciously and grabbed my elbow, squinting down at the inked lyrics. "Yeah, looks close!" he stated, "I bet you are wide awake."
At a sudden loss for words I tried to mutter out how important that song is to me, how that song has given me support when nothing else has, how mind-blowing it is to hear the person who wrote it tell you that YOU represent the meaning behind it. In the middle of all this word scrambling, Bono asked for my name. "Sam," I replied. He parroted back my name to me in a now quite subtle Irish accent. Then he asked for my hand.
"I am sorry I'm shaking a little bit," I blurted out as he grasped my outstretched hand and brought it up to rest against his cheek, the scruff of his stubble tickled the top of my hand. Bono closed his eyes for a brief moment before bringing my hand down and eventually releasing it.
"Thanks, Sam, you're amazing."
My idol. Thanked. Me. The comfort of knowing someone that you put so much hope into, someone who inspires you to believe in things and be a better person, was exactly how you thought they would be was indescribable. I thanked Bono back, now beginning to embarrassingly tear up.
"Wide awake is right," he mumbled as he moved further down the line away from me to talk to my other friends on the right of me.
I stood there, or really, I leaned there, (my knees had thus buckled and I found myself haunched over the barricade), in shock. I was so caught up I totally forgot that Edge was still making his rounds!
I collected myself enough to have Edge sign my Joshua Tree vinyl, which I suddenly realized Bono had signed as well during our interaction. I found the courage to ask Edge for a selfie, which he was all too happy to oblige. His smile lit up his face and brought out the crinkles at the sides of his eyes.
"How are you not burning up? It's soooo hot out here!" I asked the leather clad Irishman incredulously, which got a laugh out of the guitarist.
"I could ask you the same thing!" he chortled back, while signing someone's vinyl a couple feet down from where we were standing.
Bono and Edge spent about a half an hour out talking to fans before returning to their cars and waving goodbye. They climbed in their black detailed cars and zipped down to the United Center underworld.
Once the excitement had died down, my group of friends sat in somewhat of a prayer circle in the arena parking lot telling stories, laughing, and hugging. We even ordered some Chicago style pizza to deliver to our concrete haven before the show. (Thank God for UberEats, dude.)
The icing on the cake: during the concert that evening, Bono spotted my friends and I near the front of the stage and held his hand over his heart before pointing at us during "Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way". Which, in fact, was the exact words written on the flag we had been carrying around all day. Talk about a surreal moment.
As a recent college graduate who is generally unsure of everything in her life, the impact of meeting someone of such personal importance was inexplicable. My life has changed a lot, and will continue to change, but one thing has always been a constant: U2 and their music.
May 23rd, 2018, is a day I will hold close to my heart forever. U2 have inspired me to live authentically, love louder, and find the good in the world even when it seems impossible. It was the day I confirmed first hand that I'd picked the right band to turn to for comfort in times when negative influences creep back in through the shadows.
The most important thing Bono has taught me would be that feeling everything too much may feel like a crutch, but in fact it can be your most powerful weapon. At its root, it is a refusal to closing your eyes and letting the world happen around you. Any one person can be the change they want to see in the world; It only takes a pair of open eyes and a kind heart.
"Wide awake is right."
*all photos courtesy of my angel of a friend Josie Shattuck*
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