1997 August - Popmart Wembley Two

I woke up feeling rotten, that terrible pain of a migraine along with regular vomiting. I had felt unwell on the way back to the hotel from the concert the previous night, I now knew why. All I wanted was quietness, darkness and my bed. I told the others I wouldn't been going to the concert as I wasn't well enough (Jane later said that it was only then that she appreciated how bad a migraine must be if I would miss a U2 concert because of one!). the girls said they would sit in the same area and keep a seat for me if I decided to come later.

I was relieved when everyone was gone and it was peaceful and dark in the room. Because it was so warm I had the window open and could hear the music from the nearby stadium. I gradually started to feel better and at 7.30pm decided I was well enough to go to the concert and set off on the relatively short walk to the stadium. The others were where they said they would be and they were pleased to see me. Although it was hot and muggy the walk and fresh air had made me feel better too. I was so pleased I didn't have to miss the concert.

U2 came on not long after I arrived. The gig was good, and again from this vantage point the effect of the lighting was really brilliant. At the end of Until the End of the World Edge played a bum note - he didn't get annoyed, he just smiled broadly. Miami menacing, the karaoke was Daydream Believer before which Edge said, "This is not rock 'n' roll, this is suicide." The final song this time was Wake Up Dead Man. A good show, but quite a predictable one, nothing out of the ordinary.

Again we went round the back after the show and met all of the band except Adam once more. Edge was very sweet, Dianne said that she thought the Bullet solo was wonderful except that it was too short. Edge Smiled broadly at her and said, "Thanks." Larry was also very pleasant and patient signing lots of autographs for people. Bono was the last out, doing the, "I'm not worthy" routine which got everyone laughing. He mostly shook hands with people. He looked well, better than he had in the US, he'd put weight on and looked more like himself once more.

We wandered slowly back to our hotel, the night air was warm and we were still high on the adrenalin from the show. Our London Popmart was over now, next stop Leeds!

1997 August - Popmart Wembley One

Our First Popmart show in the UK was on 22nd August at Wembley Stadium. I met up with Jane and Dianne at our hotel close to the venue. We headed off and walked to the stadium as we went up Wembley Way we could see the top of the Popmart arch peeping above the stadium. We went inside at 5pm and at first got near to the B stage but not at the front, I couldn't see a thing so we moved back at bit and finally ended up in the first row of unreserved seats at the back - it proved to be a good position.

The support was Audioweb and The Longpigs, I quite enjoyed the latter band. U2 came on quite early, 8.30pm, Pop Muzik blasted out of the huge bank of speakers and POP came up in red on the screens. the band came on from the left hand side and walked through the aisle between the enclosure and the main area of the pitch. they were dressed the same except for Bono wearing a blue robe rather than a white one. The first few songs were Mofo, I Will Follow, Gone the difference from the early US shows was astounding, the band was very together. The new songs were well received by the audience.

A lovely extra in this show was All I Want Is You, Staring at the Sun was acoustic done by Bono and Edge on the B-stage, very nice. Please was just fantastic, it's a highlight of this tour for me. Hold Me.... is done very differently form in the US, very theatrical and dramatic. Towards the end Bono took off his glasses, and without make-up, turned into MacPhisto again - his face just totally changed. He looked into the camera, his gorgeous blue eyes looking straight at us on the screens, and then he kissed the camera and put the shades onto it, then a picture of MacPhisto appeared on the screens. Wonderful stuff, and brilliant performing.

The images on the screens are great and really complement the music and never over-powering it or the band. From the back of the stadium where we were we saw the full effect of these images and colours.

After the end of the show we went around to the back of the stadium to see if we could catch the band leaving. We met up with Julie, Linda, Karen, Serena, Jackie and Sharon there. I also met up with online friends Michelle, Rory and Clare there too, that's one of the lovely things about U2 tours you get to bump into old friends!

Adam was the first to leave but he didn't stop, just waved from the car. Next was Edge who did the meet and greet, very politely shaking hands and signing autographs for fans as he worked his way along the row of people. He's such a sweetheart!

Third one to leave was Bono, as he came across an Australian girl shot over the barrier like lightening and grabbed him. He didn't look too pleased and she was gently removed by security.


It just shows how fast things like that can happen, luckily this girl was harmless.

Bono shook people's hands, chatted and signed autographs. He wasn't as organised as Edge, and was going back and forth along the line in a rather chaotic manner. I didn't get too close to him because there were people in front of me but I got some photos. It was still just nice to see him.

Last but certainly not least, was Larry who was an absolute star. He signed autographs for anyone who wanted them. He was happy for people to take photos and was so pleasant! I got my Staring at the Sun CD cover signed by him. I thanked him and he looked me right in the eye and said, "You're welcome" with a dazzling smile, what a charmer! When Larry does decide to meet the fans he really can be so nice, I wish he would do that more often.

So that was the end of a long but very enjoyable day in London. We'd seen a great show and met three of the band, not bad going for the first show of the UK leg of the Popmart Tour!

1993 August - Wembley Zooropa 2 and Sunflowers

August 12th. We had a lie in today after yet another very late night the night before, all this touring is tiring! After we got up we wandered around the local area and did some shopping. In the afternoon we all headed off to the stadium, once more it was a gloriously sunny day and the walk was leisurely and pleasant. Soon ahead of us the white towers of the stadium gleamed in the sunlight.

We met up with friends there and soon headed inside the huge stadium. Our seats were from Propaganda and they were not good and we wee not happy! So we moved to the unreserved seats that were much closer to the stage. Even then due to tall people in front of me I had to stand on my toes to see and kept getting cramp in them! thank God for the big screen though, I could see them perfectly.

This Zooropa show was brilliant, much better than last nights show, the spark was definitely there, plus the sound was spot on. At this show was one of the new live performances of Babyface during which Bono got a girl up out of the audience to film him. He lay on the catwalk and encouraged the girl to sit on him while filming, he seemed to enjoy that a lot! But even after seeing it played live I still didn't like the song.

Bono became very upset during the Sarajevo link-up and was crying during it, and the last two UK shows I saw, Leeds and Cardiff, the link-up didn't happen though I don't know if it happened at other shows afterwards.

MacPhisto tried to speak to Princess Diana, "I just love her, don't you think she's funky?" he said with a gleam in his eye. Of course he didn't get through to Diana and was cut off, he sang I Just Called to Say I Love You" which segued into a stunning Ultraviolet this was becoming my favourite song of the gigs. It was so impassioned and theatrical as MacPhisto gradually disappeared and Bono came back to us.

After the show we went round to the stage door again, there was lots going on as the stage was being dismantled and loaded into lorries ready to head for the next venue. There were also a lot more fans there. While we were waiting we got talking to one of the security guys there, a huge black man who was so funny and entertaining that he should have been on the stage! I think he thought we were all mad waiting there. Karen and him got into a banter of mock insults, "Lady, if you were my wife I'd trade you in for a mountain bike" he'd say and she'd retort. Again he would say, "Lady, you must be on drugs", they were well matched and it was all done in good humour and kept us all entertained.

Edge was the first band member to come out to sign auto graphs. He was very polite and pleasant and signed for everyone who wanted his autograph, but he didn't talk a lot. There's a little shyness about Edge that I always find so endearing, he is so different from Bono.

Adam and Larry left quietly without coming over shortly after Edge finished signing.

The crowd were more boisterous than the previous night and when Bono came out it got a little rowdy and there was some jostling. But it never got out of hand and our friendly security man was keeping an eye on things. Bono was carrying a huge sunflower when he came out and held on to it all the time he was with the fans someone asked him about it and he said, "Doesn't everyone carry a flower?"

"I haven't time to sign things I've just come to say hello," Bono said. Then a girl near us asked him to sign something! "Ok but I can't sign for everyone" he said. Then someone else asked, and someone else and someone else - and he obliged. He finds it hard to say no, he's so kind and patient, even when people don't listen to him. We didn't ask for anything from him and it gave the opportunity just to watch him interact with the other fans.


U2 fans are really, very, very lucky that they can meet the band members relatively easily and that the band are so obliging and friendly - not many people that are so famous are that accessible. U2 are the best!

1993 August - Wembley Zooropa 1 - What? Am I In Pain?

I had thought very carefully whether to bother going to the London Zooropa shows at Wembley Stadium. After the bad and very frustrating experience at Earl's Court the previous year, I was unsure whether I'd even enjoy another London gig. It was also a long way from my home. In the end I decided to give London another chance and go to two of the four Zooropa shows that were being played there.

So August 11th saw me on the train heading south. We had arranged to meet Caroline, a Canadian fan who some of us wrote to, at our hotel near the stadium. I was the first of our group to turn up and Caroline was already at the hotel. Unfortunately I found it very difficult to talk with her as she just didn't make much conversation and she talked unbelievably slowly and seemed to be in a kind of daze. I tried my best and was friendly while praying for Jane and Dianne to arrive. After what seemed like hours (but which was probably only about half an hour!) they did arrive and things were not so stilted, though they too had the same difficulty as I had with Caroline. We did try our best to make her welcome though.

After a longer than expected turnaround (due to Caroline being really slow in getting ready and nothing would make her speed up the slightest). The stadium was within walking distance and it was a pleasant walk in the summer sunshine. As we walked up Wembley Way and saw the two towers I was surprised to find there was a real buzz everywhere, good vibes. We met up with friends Karen and Serena and caught up on each other before Jane and I went one way and Dianne and Caroline another - we had seats in different areas.

The sound was a little off at times during this concert and the show was good, but not fantastic. It wasn't the audience, they were enthusiastic and got behind the band. As I wrote, the show was good but not mind-blowing, there was that extra spark from the band missing.

The main event during this concert was that Mr MacPhisto telephoned Salman Rushdie - who was in hiding because of the fatwa issued against him four years earlier for perceived blasphemy in his book The Satanic Verses. MacPhisto spoke to him on the phone and then suddenly Salman walked out on stage to a huge cheer from the crowd, phone still in his hand, and did a little repartee with MacPhisto finishing with, "Real devils don't wear horns". It made headline news in the papers the next day. I knew they would have something special lined up for the London shows but I don't think anyone expected anything like that!

After the show we went to the stage doors, met up with our friends and waited for the band to leave. After a while a man came out and said, "I'm a very rich man!" waving a wad of Zoo Ecu's in his hand (this was U2's take on the precursor of the Euro currency, but at this time the ECU was only used for internal EEC business, it wasn't a currency but it symbolised a united Europe). These ECU's were showered down over the stage during MacPhisto's set. This man cheerfully gave everyone a note and I still have mine.

There were quite a lot of people waiting for the band now and the weather was still being kind to us. I always enjoy the vibe at these times of waiting for the band to leave, chatting to other fans, having a good laugh, talking about the gig, all the camaraderie.

Then suddenly there were Larry and Adam coming out of the darkness. They went to opposite ends of the group of fans lined up behind the barrier and started signing autographs. Larry was in a good mood, full of smiles and looked very handsome! He got to Jane who had a pen ready for him to use, and seeing that he had a pen already said, "I see you're prepared."

Larry looked up at her with a puzzled look on his face, "What? Am I in pain?"

Jane looked back at him equally puzzled, "What? you've just been paid?" then both Larry and Jane and everyone within earshot burst out laughing - it was like an inadvertent double act, hilarious and it was good to see Larry saw the funny side of it. It was one of the funniest interactions I've seen between a fan and a member of U2.

Shortly afterwards Adam reached us and on seeing Jane said, "Hello Jane, how are you?" Jane was really chuffed that he recognised her and even remembered her name as he is her favourite band member. As usual Adam was his polite and friendly self with everyone.

Edge left next but he got straight into a car without even looking at the group of fans, obviously not in the mood for the meet and greet, and was whisked away.

Shortly after Bono came across to the fans and though there were a lot of people waiting but everyone was well behaved. He was out for quite a while, about 20 minutes, until everyone got something signed, most of the time he had a cigarillo in his mouth. He was very patient, softly spoken, didn't chat quite as much as he usually does, though he was still warm and friendly. I got my Zooropa CD cover signed by him. It was the first meeting for Caroline, yet afterwards she didn't say anything about it or show any emotion, I found that hard to understand as she wasn't shy. I think she just found it difficult to express her emotions.

So the first Wembley show was over and though it wasn't one of the best U2 shows I'd seen, I still had a ball and was looking forward to the next Zooropa the following night.