I needed to get new glasses, because . . . .well, because it was getting
harder to see out of my old glasses. This is not a change you take lightly.
Here’s how it went down — the advice I got from Shawn Stewart, what
I was trying to accopmlish, and the look I wound up with.
Let me know what you think:
And by that I mean: Let’s get somebody else to do my gardening! I don’t exactly have
a green thumb, although I sure like nice landscaping. So it worked out great when
Vertumni Fine Landscaping & Gardening came on board for our Mountain Insider
Advantage. (Click here for a sweet half-price deal.) Here’s what happened when
Bruce Bond and his crew from Vertumni came over and had their way with my front yard:
I don’t know who hepled Barack Obama fill out his NCAA brackets, but Shawn Stewart helped me fill out mine (because it’s a well-known fact that I’m sports-challenged) so I feel pretty good about my chances. And no matter what happens, I still know I can out-bowl the President any day.
Here’s my picks, with a few things crossed out and messed up, of course:
And here’s the President’s picks:
Here’s Obama explaining to ESPN how he made his picks:
And this (bootlegged from Shawn Stewart’s blog) is me making my picks:
When we offer a sweet discount on dance lessons at Arthur Murray
via the Mountain Insider Advantage, you know i’ve got to get in on that.
So I went to Arthur Murray and I told my amazing dance instructor
Casey that she had one hour to make a dancer out of me. She
was very patient, and very encouraging, and you don’t get to
see me stepping on her toes, but here’s how it went down:
My U2 moment was in one simple word, AWESOME!
My brother (a cop) and I are walking around the Theater and checking out how we are gonna get into this show without tickets? We found some of his cop buddies in Somerville and they are trying their best to get us in… I even have a cop jacket on (the second time I impersonated an cop - the other time was also for a U2 show). As Bono stated later in the night, you can get away with just about anything in this town, as long as you know a cop or are in U2.
As it gets closer to show time, I check with a connection that Shawn Stewart gave me, thank you! I talk to a U2 person outside and he knows The Mountain and says that "We are one of the best stations in the country", I must agree! Well while I check with my inside connection, my brother walks into the theater with another cop and they check out the sound check and come out and tell me that U2 is shooting a video for the next release, WHAT and I miss it…. oh well, it was meant to be because my inside connection didn’t have the right cell number for me and once we get that straightened out, he is my in!
We get in about 15 before show time and the place is so tiny and very hot, there is steam hovering in the theater and the crowd is buzzing and a guy comes out and introduces the band. First Adam walks out and Larry takes his seat behind the drums and The Edge strolls out and the lights dim and Bono walks out. The stage is so small they looked caged in. They break into Get On Your Boots and Bono is just about in the front row with one step. The place is just rocking and the band cruises through Magnificent, I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight, Breathe and then Bono says we have one more song for you all he says in Uno Dos…. and the crowd kicks in and B-Bam the whole place is singing right along with Bono and the energy was just chilling, goose bumps!
The Q&A followed with questions that continued while they were in commercial. Some good ones:
1. What song do you wish you wrote? Bono said Leonard Cohen’s "Hallelujah" and the audience taunted him into singing it and he treats us to a few bars
2. What is it like to play Boston? An experience for them each time, the crowds energy is always amazing. Bono says that when he looks out in a Boston audience the first thing that comes to mind is the potato famine(crowd laughs) and The Edge chimes in "well this is where all the tall Irish came to settle"(more laughs)
3. Is there a song that you wish you didn’t record or before release? A surprise yes comes from Bono. He felt that they were rushed in the early years to release albums and he would love to rerecord Boy. he said the band played well but his vocals sound like its filled with a fake British accent and that he sounded like a girl, not that there is anything wrong with sounding like a girl but he is not a girl.
I also had the best shirt there, lots of nice comments and people took lots of pictures of it. I got it made at B-Bam in Seattle that read on the front Cool name: The Edge Uncool name: Sting and on the back it said U2 Boston 3/11/09
Well lot of fun was had, best birthday ever! Now I am tired and I hope I can sleep on the plane back to Seattle.
Bob
Our U2 expert, Bob St. Onge, has made his way in to the U2 show at Boston!
Some photos from the event… talk about a SMALL venue!
More to come!
- Shawn
Nope, not Marty Riemer, but my good friend Marty Lennartz from the mighty Chicago radio station WXRT.
Marty and I often share our "James Lipton" moments when we meet backstage at Bonnaroo for 40 interviews in 4 days. But this time, we both had similar "good fan" experiences meeting Bono. Eerily similar.
You know who else is like that? Bill Clinton. Ask anyone who has had the great good fortune of meeting the guy, and they’ll all agree. He might not say it, but Bill Clinton could walk up to a table of radio djs and say, "Hello, I am a rockstar." And within minutes, not one person would discount that statement.
Here’s Marty’s account of night 2 of U2’s escapades:
—
U2 Three Nights Live, Night Two, Chicago.
The city was in a U2 frenzy. WXRT called it U2’s Day and played nothing but U2 all day long. The TV stations sent crews to the station to report on the buzz.
U2 was in Chicago. The worst kept secret in town. U2 and Shirley Manson, chatting and playing their favorite songs at Chicago’s premiere rock club, Metro. Where else?
A roomful of lucky U2 fans gathered to watch a radio show. The band sat on two leather couches looking totally relaxed. Larry set up “I Wanna Be Sedated” and the Edge chose “Brown Eyed Girl”.
I’m sure those classics sounded great on the air. Too bad what happened in the room during the music wasn’t part of the show. Shirley opened it up to an informal audience Q and A. Questions about inspiration, lyrics and one from a guy who wanted to know how Bono and his wife have been able to maintain a relationship all these years. Bono answered it by saying he’s known her since high school but he’s still trying to get to know her. Sweet.
After the show, it all moved to a very cool bar in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood called the Violet Hour. Handmade original cocktails and private club atmosphere. The band showed up and spent time with everybody.
Bono sat with us and was engaging, charming, humble and also charismatically down to earth, if that makes sense. He’s a man who can talk to popes, presidents and radio people. Let’s say, he knows how to work a meet and greet. Not in a slick and shallow sort of way. He actually carried on a conversation with the people around our table. He talked about the old days, Edge’s guitar as well as inside stories about No Line On The Horizon. He said four of the songs were recorded in one take. “20 minutes for four songs, two years for the rest”.
He remembered a story of meeting someone almost 30 years earlier and he told us the band’s longevity is due to the fact they all get along in the green room. Off stage, they like each other.
Bono was then ushered off to the next table and Adam came in and was equally generous. Band’s of U2’s stature aren’t normally so giving of themselves.
It was almost like they were a new band trying to make a mark and make some friends.
When it was all over Bono, before he left, made a point to stop back at our table to said he enjoyed spending time in our little corner of the room.
That’s something I’ll remember.
—
- Shawn
No one knew what to expect of our U2 evening, least of all me! But our Mountain "Do You Know U2" contest winner, an employee of REI, came prepared for an adventure. Literally! He was carrying a huge backpack. Change of clothes if the event turns formal? GPS system if the band tries to shake us? Solar shower? Stay tuned for the answer but first, from the lobby of our Hollywood hotel, meet the man who knows U2!
Once we had been shuttled to our secret location, The Capital Recording Studio, we were all told numerous times to check our cell phones and recording devices. Everyone seemed obedient enough, except me of course, who cannot be trusted. I snuck both my phone (old-timey BlackBerry with no camera) and flip video cam in the old fashioned way, under my dress.
But once the event was over, EVERYONE pulled out cameras and phones to document the band walking into the small crowd of fans. There were maybe 60 people max and in the melee as the band greeted and chatted up everyone, I nervously pulled out my camera and began to record. Check out this timid little vid. Don’t blink or you’ll miss The Edge!
True story: I watched this several times before realizing the guy getting the autograph is OUR contest winner! It was so random… but now, so cool. Inside that huge REI pack? Two coffee table U2 books now signed by every member of the band.
Much more to come… and remember, you can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com
- Shawn
And so it began, my 10 minutes of relatively private time with (arguably) the world’s biggest rock star, Bono.
In a corner booth in a dark lounge, with flash bulbs popping and nervous-looking minders hovering, Bono chatted with 3 excited female fans who all happened to be Music Directors at radio stations. Present at the table: raven-haired hottie and former Mountain-eer Haley Jones, now MD at The Sound in Los Angeles, and earthy goddess Kelly Ransford (follow her at twitter.com/kellykfog ) from KFOG in San Francisco. Oh, and me: skinny, buck toothed Olive Oyl look-a-like, once again WAY overdressed.
He charmed, we charmed. We drank a toast to the new album and I shouted “Bob’s your uncle,” an old Stewart family rallying cry and he laughed.
More flashbulbs but no lull in the conversation. We talked about The One Campaign (join at www.one.org). Bono ordered a margarita (with salt).
We talked about change, the inauguration, and public service. He asked if anyone will care about Africa now that we’re all broke.
I reached across the table and handed him his drink with my giant floor grazing arms and said, “My arms are long.” And he heaved a sigh and said, “And so is my…thirst.”
I mentioned that I’d read an article in USATODAY about more American’s volunteering in the down economy. And he said, “USATODAY?” and I said “Yes.” And he said, “Today’s USATODAY?” and I said, “Yes.” And he said, “I must get that.”
Flash bulbs. Nervous minders getting nervous-er. And finally someone told him it was time to move on. I believe I saw a twinge of regret in his eyes. Was he wearing sunglasses? I didn’t even notice.
Here’s what I do recall:
- He smelled nice.
- We touched accidentally several times (we were sitting side by side) and every time I thought, I just touched Bono.
- At one point, someone joined our little bouquet of Music Directors, and we had to “scoot over” to make room. I said to Bono, “You can sit on my lap.” He said, “I might just.” To which I replied, “The night is young.” And he looked at me and laughed. Laughed!
- The flashbulbs did not phase him even a little.
- He was sitting on my good side.
- I genuinely liked him.
More tales from my once in a lifetime night with U2 (including a preview of tonight’s guest dj-ing, Adam’s curiosity about The Mountain, and why I chose to pass on meeting Larry Mullen, Jr.) all to come…with some U2 home movies too!
- Shawn
Kat here.
Shawn’s been crazy-busy in LA today, and her news is coming down the pipeline, from me to you…
7:16 PMHey! In LA and the event is at Capital Studios in that cool capitol bldg, shaped like a record. Only 200 people allowed.10:20 PM I JUST MET THE EDGE 10:50 PM Oh my gosh I just spent 5 minutes on a sofa with Bono. BONO!!!!! 10:52 PM Bono took off his shades and Adam kissed me.
I’m sure Shawn will have tons more info upon her return to the airwaves. Until then, keep checking back – and at her Twitter.
- Kat
|
