I couldn't listen to U2 for 8 months after they cancelled the Australian leg of the Vertigo tour in March this year.
I was gutted.
Knowing that someone in the band's family was really sick made the news more bearable. You just can't be angry or wallow in your personal grief over shattered expectations when someone is sick.
Like the band, you have to work out how to get on from there. For me it meant silence.
One thing you can count on is U2's integrity and their deep commitment to their fans. They rescheduled, casting away millions in the process, to complete the tour that will take in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Hawaii in the following months.
How am I feeling about the tour now?
Is it safe to start getting "amped'?
Given the earlier disappointment I've never been absolutely sure that I would have the fuel to keep my interest burning.
The Wait
Text message: "Did you see Bono on the Arias last night?'
I did.
Bono: "See you soon'.
So you are coming. Better make sure that lamp is still burning"
E-mail: "Stephen, news says U2 have landed!'
Phone call: Its Micah Challenge, "Stephen will you be in Melbourne for U2? Do you wanna go to the charity gig?'
Phone call: It's my mate, Peter. Stephen, cancel the Backpackers, I'm coming with you to the charity gig, you can stay with me in Melbourne" '
Am I dreaming? It's really happening.
There is an enormous dam of pent up expectation inside me. I don't know how I'm going to handle it when I'm actually in front of the band. I'm so wired I can't sleep. I'm emotionally tired. It's been a long haul. Not just because of the postponement. That was the lemon next to the pie. Let me tell you why"
I bought my tickets to this tour back in 1997. At least, figuratively speaking. It was U2's Popmart concert at the Sydney Football Stadium. I remember that while I was ushered to my seat on the football pitch we passed a throng of fans who were standing right up close around the "B-stage'.
I asked one of the security people, "how do you get in there?' They flatly replied, "U2 fan club'. I knew then that I hadn't done my homework. Next tour would be different. So, here I am in 2006 with tickets to every Australian gig.
We begin with one show in Brisbane (Nov 7), then three shows in Sydney (Nov 10, 11, 13), one show in Adelaide (Nov 16) and finally two shows in Melbourne (Nov 18, 19). God willing, I will follow the band around the country and just maybe end up with those hard core fans along the rail of the stage.
Getting the tickets has been quite a saga. People may recall that the first concert in Sydney for the Vertigo tour sold out in less than an hour. But that wasn't my problem. I already had tickets before they went on sale.
I repented from my ignorance in 1997 and quickly set about joining the U2 fan-club network. I had realised that being part of the fan network meant that concert tickets were pretty much assured. It also often meant getting a spot close to the stage. Back then being in the fan club meant subscribing to U2's Propagandamagazine. After a year my subscription lapsed and when I tried to resubscribe nothing happened. The line was dead. It took about 18 months of persistence to discover that Propagandamagazine was being terminated.
After many, many letters, cheques, money orders and e-mails being ignored or "bouncing' I was told, "sorry, no more subscriptions being taken'. Then, I think in late 1999, U2 started their website, U2.com.
I immediately subscribed to the new on-line fan club. In 2000, U2 released their superb All That You Can't Leave Behind album and their "Elevation' tour (2001-2) throttled around the US and Europe but sadly missed Australia and the rest of the world.
The best Australian fans got was a web-cast of one of their concerts from Notredame. The tour came and went and so did my on-line subscription. I let it lapse. Then somewhere in 2004 I got wind of a new album being produced, so I quickly resubscribed. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was released and a forthcoming tour promised.
Knowing that fan club tickets would be limited in number to each subscriber I encouraged two of my closest friends, Peter and Kent, also to subscribe. You see, this way we could pool the tickets. Almost a year passed. Our subscriptions were about to expire and the Vertigo tour was set to close in December 2005 in the US (where else!) with no assurance of any Australian leg.
The web-silence was unbearable. The tour had begun in March and we had to wait until November 2005 for the much-anticipated announcement. But that wasn't the end of our concerns. Next we had to wait anxiously to see if they would remember and honour our subscriptions for they would expire by the time the tickets went on sale to the fan club. Did I mention U2's integrity? They didn't forget.
Codes were sent out to each subscriber and on a certain day we all had to log on and purchase tickets, entering our codes through the Internet. It was the most nerve-racking 5 minutes of my life. I was in Perth, so first of all I had to allow for the time difference. Here's how it went"
Its 7am.
Actually its 6:55am. I'm at a computer with very fast broadband. I have a mobile phone with me. I am in constant communication with my wife, Heather using a landline. Heather is on the other end of the phone at a second computer with broad band in case my one crashes. Watches synchronised? Check.
6:58am: The mobile rings. Its one of my mates from Sydney who I encouraged to subscribe as well. I'm buying tickets for him using his codes too because he's on the road and can't get to the Internet. He says: "Are you ready to go?' Of course I am. Get off the line. I need to focus.
6:59am: I keep pressing "refresh'. Still no "buy tickets now' button.
7:00am: Mobile again! Who on earth" ?! It's the other mate. He's at work in Sydney and isn't sure about how to enter his code! And you left it until now?! Still no "buy now' signs.
7:01 Landline (Heather): "I'm buying, it's up!'
Me: What? Where? Nothing's happening here. There's no "buy now' button!
7:02: Reluctantly I go back to the Home Page " but it won't let me go to the "fan club only' ticket purchase page without re-entering all my details! Ahhhhhhhhhhh! nter details. Ok press: "buy now'. Next screen. Wait, I can't select how many tickets I want!? It's not working. There's no button to select the number of tickets!??
Heather: Mine's working do you want me to buy?
Me: Go, go, go "
And now on the eve of the tour actually happening, I'm experiencing a little vertigo.
The Rev Stephen Shearsby, children's minister at St Paul's, Menai, is attending each of the seven U2 concerts that the band will be performing in Australia. He will share his experiences of the concerts and the people he meets in a series of blogs in the coming weeks.
Read the news story and Stephen’s next blog.
