by chuck Zacharias

It was another magical day as my wife Shelly, and I took in another Vertigo concert. This time it was the city I left behind 24 years ago - Milwaukee.

We arrived at around noon and took our place on our folding chairs right in front of the gates where the tour buses are parked. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the band when they arrived for soundcheck. All day we watched roadies and semi drivers walk about. They were all very nice as they would often give a nod and a smile as they walked by us. Larry's drum technician Sam O'Sullivan even waved to us. The forecast called for rain all day, which it did off and on so we were prepared with our umbrella, at one point we moved closer to the arena to seek shelter from the lightning. At one point the rain stopped, right about at the point Paul McGuinness arrived. We watched him through the gates as he unloaded his belongings from the Mercedes his was traveling in.

After that the rain never let up. We were worried that the boys wouldn't stop on out for autographs and chat with the rain being so heavy. But when they arrived in the carvan from Chicago the window on the Ford Excursion rolled down at Bono appeared with a smile and giving us the peace sign. Another car rolled in this time being Adam Clayton rolling his window down to smile and wave at us. By this time we must have had around 30 fans with umbrellas waiting by the gate. As we waited a security guard from the Bradley Center approached us carrying his umbrella. We knew then that something was up because he stopped and looked towards the arena entrance in which the band entered. No more than 10 minutes later out appeard Bono and his bodyguard carrying an umbrella and we all erupted in cheers. He motioned with his fingers 'two' and mouthed the words 'be back in a couple minutes' and walked down towards the opposite end of the Bradley Center loading area. Edge also appeared with his bodyguard carrying an umbrella and followd Bono. After a few minutes Bono walked towards us. It was unreal, almost surreal to see this. Kind of funny to seeing his bodyguard carrying an umbrella. As the got up to the gates his bodyguard told us that no autographs would be signed because of the rain, only handshakes.

THE REASON WHY BONO MENTIONED U2's 29th ANNIVERSARY:
He went on down the line and shook hands. As he shook my hand I said "Happy 29th Anniversary, Bono!" He looked at me in a confusing way and asked me what anniversay it was maybe thinking I was mentioning a wedding anniversary... I then replied along with my wife that it was the anniversay of U2 when they all met in Larry's kitchen. My wife said to Bono to ask Larry if this was correct! He then replied "Yeah, it was around this time of year." He still seemed stumped at this and then this bodyguard said they were only '21 years old, they're not that old!' However, later we caught up with Bono's bodyguard as he was outside by the loading area. He approached us by the gate and mentioned he was only kidding about the band being 21 years old. My wife and I broke the ice by asking him if this was the weather he's used to seeing in Ireland to which he replied "Naw, I'm from Detroit!"

Our seats were on the side of the stage and it was an incredible show. It was great to hear Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses as Bono forgot some of the lyrics. Bono brought a woman up on stage during With Or Without You and the whole evening was entertaining and you could really see it in the band that they were really having fun by the smiles on their faces. It is one show we soon won't forget!

-chuck and shelly zacharias

Return to previous page | Post a Review of this show!