If you attended some of the U2 gigs during the 360° Tour in the last three years you might have noticed among the people in the queue a quite peculiar man with thick red hair and a bunch of books with a red cover in his arms. If you have sharpened the view you also have discovered that the title on the books’ cover was “Me & U2”. This indeed is the book that Cathal, the red haired guy, has decided to write back in 2009. It is a book of memories, all connected to U2 and their music, and to the fact of being a fan for over 25 years. Cathal has also decided he would sell the book to other fans at gigs in order to finance his own tour.
It was indeed touring myself that I had the chance to meet him and get fascinated by the adventure he was living. Therefore I thought it could be interesting also for other fans like me to get to know at least a bit of his story.
Read this interview, and if it works up your appetite you can buy Cathal’s books (the second one is a collection of stories/reviews of the concerts he has attended in the 360° Tour) on his own site or via amazon kindle e-book:

Me And U2

Have also a look at his facebook’s pages:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Me-U2/104697002910046
https://www.facebook.com/meandu2documentary

Have a good reading
Eleonora

1) How did you get the idea for the book in the first place?

Whilst travelling through Indonesia in 2008 I had an idea to write a travel book about following the next U2 tour. Initially I thought the book could also include some old stories from earlier in my life about being a U2 fan for 25 years. On a cold, damp Saturday evening In January 2009 I went out for a run in my local park. Whilst running, it hit me: I could write a memoirs book solely about being a U2 fan. I could take it with me to sell during the tour, hopefully to make it a self-funding trip. I began writing that night, and within a frantic three months had more or less finished the book.

2) How did you come up with the idea to give it to the first fan in the queue at each gig on the 360°?

That was a spontaneous idea I had whilst walking along the GA queue before the very first show in Barcelona. I’d had an idea to have a word printed on a piece of paper for a photo in each city which would build up over time into one of Bono’s lyrics, modified to reflect ‘Me & U2’. (I called this series of photos ‘Words @ Gigs’.) Whilst walking along the queue, I thought I could get the photo with the people at the front. I decided I was going to the first concert in Barcelona only as a U2 fan, and not to sell any books. But I brought ten books to give away. I then decided to give free books to the group of three fans at the front of the queue. And then the tradition was started!

3) What has this experience mostly left you? What have you “brought” back home?

Gosh, that’s a huge question!

Personally, I took a huge step out of my old comfort zone to do this project. Putting myself into any kind of public exposure (even though it's actually very small) was a massive step for me. I also did two live radio interviews and one live TV interview which, again, were major challenges for me. I was worried about putting my photo onto my blog away back in July 2009! So I've certainly grown in confidence in one respect.

One challenge I failed with was trying to approach people directly to see if they would like to buy a book. I found it very difficult to do 'cold selling'. But strangely, the very few times I tried it, it worked. But even success couldn't break down the inhibitions.

Socially, I’ve met hundreds of U2 fans around the world, and become good friends with perhaps twenty or so. I’ve discovered that there are supportive, positive and generous people all over the world. I’ve a huge reservoir of beautiful memories built up which I can plunge into nostalgically. Oh, and financially, I’ve brought a big credit card debt back home.

4) Best audience?

The noisiest was in Mexico City. 100,000 people manically screaming their heads off for two hours is something to hear. The most physical crowd was in Buenos Aires, where the entire field was in a wild tumult for the whole show. It was incredible to see everyone on the field waving, bouncing, pushing, and swaying.

5) Worse audience?

Some of the crowds in America were unresponsive, and relatively quiet and reserved. Salt Lake City was like this, but it was a very cold night. I remember being frustrated by the crowd in the pit in Brisbane when many people used Bad as their song to go to the toilet! The crowd in Gothenburg were quite reserved too.

6) Which are the main differences you have found between the European audience and the rest of the world one?

The European audiences are mostly excellent: loud and enthusiastic. But there are differences within Europe too, and even within a country. I think it’s easier to distinguish between native English speaking audiences and non-English speaking audiences. English-speaking audiences in America, Australia, England were much more reserved than elsewhere.

7) Peculiarities and attitudes you have noticed in the different queues?

Yeah the cultures are very different around the world. Fans in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico were happy to queue for many, many days – five, six, seven (or more!) days were common. However Argentina and Brazil used a group system where the groups were numbered and fans were allowed to leave the queue provided at least one person from their group was always present.

European queues were always for individual. In Moscow, the queue system broke down very dramatically with hundreds and hundreds of police and soldiers all confused as to what was going on. In Helsinki, by comparison, one steward with a megaphone managed to organize a very efficient queue. Apparently fans in Gothenburg had to walk into the stadium in a line with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front!

All the stadiums in America banned queuing overnight, so fans went to the stadium a day or two before the show, got a number from the line leader, and then left. They returned for a ‘roll call’ at 6am on the morning of the concert, before the official queue started. This caused a few problems along the road. One of U2’s security team got involved in organizing the queue with the fans from the Baltimore concert onwards.

In New Zealand, there were nine people in the queue before the second concert when I got there at 10am! And by 2pm there were only about 80 people in the queue! In Brisbane, the stadium provided free water, sun cream, and covered gazebos for shade.

8) Best show? Why?

Oooh, it’s far too difficult to choose just one! Here’s a short list:

Dublin 2 – cos it was my first time on the field and I was near the outer rail
Chorzow – cos the communion between the band the Polish audience was profound
Boston 2 – cos it was my first time in the pit, right in the middle
Turin – cos it was Bono’s first show after his injury on a very emotional night
Auckland 2 – cos I was centre on the front rail
Buenos Aires 2 – cos the crowd were so wild
Mexico City 2 – cos the crowd were so loud

If I had to choose just one … just one … then … er … maybe Chorzow … or Mexico City

9) Worst show? Why?

The shows with more reserved crowds were the ones I enjoyed the least, like Gothenburg, Salt Lake City. Helsinki 1 there were a few technical issues and the band had an off night. Anaheim 1 was the seventh show in a row with an identical setlist which was frustrating.

10) What do you remember about the Rome show?

I didn’t get in! So I missed the biggest flash mob you guys organised! I was outside the stadium during the show. There were hundreds of Italian fans trying to get in. There were a few stampedes towards the gates if one opened and the fans thought they could all run in. Miss Sarajevo was fab because the fans outside were still cheering and banging on the fence after Bono sang the opera part.

11) Most touching moment in the tour?

Again, there are many. One Tree Hill in Auckland was very moving, as it was the day after many miners died in a mining disaster, which caused much sorrow and grief nationwide. I almost cried during Bono’s prance around the outer stage during Stingray Guitar in Turin. I had deep, delicious chills and goosebumps when I was in the pit at Sydney 1 and they played Bad. But the most touching moment was New Year’s Day in Chorzow when the fans turned the stadium into the Polish flag.

12) What do you think of the 360° tour as a whole?

The scale of both the tour and the stage were testaments to Bono’s crazy imagination and colossal ambition. Apparently he had the idea for the Claw and tried to demonstrate to others over dinner using forks! Two years later there it is. And there are three of them. And they managed to get NASA and the International Space Station involved. As with all U2 stadium tours, there was a lot of flash new technology developed. And they grossed over $700 million. And raised millions for charity through the Red Zones. And got thousands of people to sign up to the One campaign. I hope Bono was satisfied with all this!

Musically, the tour had lots of variety from start to end, although there were some stale series of setlists as U2 played it safe once they were happy they had a mind-blowing show for people who would go to just one show.

It’s a shame the tour didn’t go to Asia – or even play on the Asian side of Istanbul. But I’m also glad they didn’t because I couldn’t afford to go!

13) In your opinion, there was something missing in this last tour in comparison to the previous ones?

I hadn’t travelled abroad to see U2 play outside the UK or Ireland before the 360 tour, so this tour had more for me compared to previous tours!

Strangely, I think U2 were a little nervous about their own material after 2009 when No Line On The Horizon didn’t seem to being doing well. I think they played it safe with their setlists, trying to play too many of the greatest hits every night. The best performances of songs were usually the freshest ones e.g. the No Line On The Horizon songs, or Zooropa at Sao Paulo, or The Fly at Anaheim 2.

14) How do you like the Claw?

I absolutely loved it. What a mad vision Bono had there, and how wonderfully it was realised. I think we all had the same reaction when we first saw it – shocked.

15) Have you ever counted the money you have spent over these three years touring after the band?

I haven’t yet. I plan to, but I’m afraid to work it out. I suspect it cost around £30,000 in total, but that’s just a guess. I think I spent around £12,000 on flights, but that’s also a guess. (And no, I couldn’t afford it. I should have stopped after the Australia leg of the tour but stubbornness and stupidity and credit cards kept me going.)

16) What do you think about the Italian fans (be honest)?

I love the Italian expressiveness, how they show and share their emotions so openly. Great, passionate concerts need great , passionate crowds, and Italians have no reserve about screaming their appreciation. And they are far and away the best in the world at organising displays!

On the other hand, the shameless, desperate and anarchic attempts of the fans outside the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to try to charge illegally into the stadium were quite shocking.

Milan has very special memories for me cos I sold my first copies of ‘Me & U2’ there, after failing dismally in Nice. Two really cool guys, both called Lili, approached me and bought a copy each. Many other fans stopped to have a look and ask me what I was selling but didn’t buy as they couldn’t read English (“Me y oo due? Ah, il libro!”). The Italian fans who passed me were very outgoing, much more so than fans in other countries, who usually walked past me and gave me strange looks.

17) Where have you mostly bought the tickets? Any scalpers? Any difficult situation in particular?

I bought most of them online in the general public sale. I usually bought two of the cheapest tickets (the £30 / $30 / €30 tickets), and then took the couchsurf host I stayed with to the gig. So I got accommodation and saw the gig for €60!.

I got some good deals off eBay. If someone was trying to auction a ticket for above face value, then I was happy to pay below face value. I paid £2 for a ticket for Amsterdam 2. I also got a €80 ticket in Gothenburg for €10.

I was given many free tickets, I think it was around 10 free GA tickets and two free Red Zone tickets, from very generous fans. (So I then gave my other €30 ticket to my couchsurf host.)

And I was given a ticket to Sao Paulo 2 (when U2 first played Zooropa and Out Of Control), by a local radio station about ten minutes before the gig. I’d have been gutted if I had missed that show!

I sneaked into Horsens 1 for the last two songs. And I sneaked into Brisbane 1 for the entire show.

My friend Kevin won me a ticket to Glastonbury three weeks before the festival.

18) Ever get bored?

Surprisingly little. I got bored of certain songs (Sunday Bloody Sunday, Elevation, I Will Follow) but each concert was always interesting, even if some of the buzz had gone. Being in a new city, a new city and meeting new people managed to keep the tour fresh, even when the setlists were stale.

I watched many shows ‘on my own’ and it was always more fun to go in with a friend. And the three hours between the GA crowd entering the stadium and going in myself could be a bit lonely compared to the fun with hanging out with my GA buddies in the line.

And I got frustrated by the eternal delays getting out of the stadium and then back to my accommodation after the shows. It could take hours in some cities.

19) Milan, Turin and Rome gigs: which were the main differences in your opinion?

(I’m writing this whilst watching the Milan football derby on TV! Oh, how I’d love to be there!)

I only saw the show in Turin. I had to leave Milan before the concert started because I had to fly back to London for work the following morning, so I missed the crowd display there too unfortunately. And I didn’t get a ticket to Rome. Two shows I would dearly love to have seen – and I would have traded many other shows to have been there, especially because the Live In Milan DVD from the Vertigo tour is so dazzlingly spectacular.

20) How about the documentary? how did you get the Idea?

My friend Roland (the producer) had the idea and loaned me his Flip video camera to take with me during the 2011 tour legs. I shot lots and lots of footage everywhere I went, and he took the all and tried to extract something usable. I hope it’s interesting for other fans to watch, but I’m always worried because I talk very quickly with a strong Irish accent so maybe we’ll have to provide subtitles!