"After all these years, I finally went to a U2 show on October 30th 2015. It was a fantastic experience. Once People Have The Power came on over the PA, I couldn't believe that I was going to see my favourite band for the first time."
Tell us something about yourself, who are you and what do you do for a living?
Hello U2start! My name is Paul and I'm 17 years old. I am currently a student studying A-Levels in sixth form and live in Wales, UK.
How did you become a fan of U2, tell us how it happened?
My earliest memory of U2 is hearing All That You Can't Leave Behind during car journeys with my parents but it wasn't until the arrival of The Best Of 1990-2000 DVD, that my interest in U2 really took off. I remember playing that DVD to death when I was younger. I was mesmerised by the music and the videos. I was introduced to so many new songs, so many new sounds. Standout tracks from the DVD included Stay, Numb, Discotheque and Lemon, which are still favourites to this day. I don't know how many times I played those four but it was a lot! The Lemon music video is fantastic. That along with Stay's video, they're my favourites. The Live at Slane Castle DVD arrived soon after and I was completely blown away. I remember watching it a lot with my parents, truly an incredible concert. The release of How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb soon followed and I remember watching U2 play Vertigo and City Of Blinding Lights live in the BBC car park, which is coincidentally on my birthday!
I can't believe it's been 11 years since then. After listening to HTDAAB, I really enjoyed it and I still stayed interested in U2 but it's not my favourite album. Late 2006/early 2007, Window In The Skies was released and I loved that song, I still do to this day. It's a song that's really underrated. The Saitama 3 performance is really great, you should check it out, if you haven't already! No Line On The Horizon came along in early 2009 and I remember the CD coming through the post and I was excited to hear some new U2 tracks for the first time in 2 and a bit years. I have to be honest though, I felt rather underwhelmed with No Line On The Horizon at the time, there were some stand out tracks which I really liked at the time, like Get On Your Boots
and I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight but after that I became more and more distant with U2. It was only with the release of Invisible in 2014 that I became more and more interested in U2. I decided to give them another chance and I just fell in love again. I heard that there were rumours of a new album in 2014 and I keenly followed any U2 news on twitter. In late August, early September there were rumours of U2 appearing at the Apple event on the 9th September 2014, which I believe was actually confirmed via email on the day of the Apple Event? I tuned into the Apple Livestream and there was the Apple Watch, new iPhone (not important to me), just get to U2! Finally U2 got on stage and finally a new song! It sounded really good. The good news didn't end there, I'm sure many of you felt the same way when we heard the new album would be given away, free via iTunes. I couldn't believe it. Amazing. I remember the first time I listened to the new album and was completely blown away. After the release of Songs of Innocence, I found this site and I've stayed ever since. Did you ever have a special U2 experience like a live concert? Can you tell us something about it?
Yes! After all these years, I finally went to a U2 show on October 30th 2015. It was a fantastic experience. Once People Have The Power came on over the PA, I couldn't believe that I was going to see my favourite band for the first time. Only a week previous, I had conceded that I would have to wait until next year at least, to see them. I was so happy that I got tickets. As People Have The Power was drawing to a close, I finally saw Bono walking out with Brian and up onto the e stage he went, it was show time.
The Miracle, The Electric Co, Vertigo and I Will Follow were fantastic. Really, really incredible. Iris surprised me, it was superb live, especially with the Hold Me Close snippet. Cedarwood Road was epic. I love Edge's guitar solo. Raised By Wolves was great also, Bono got the registration right too.
After Desire, I saw Edge with his Strat and they went into All I Want Is You. It was really special. A man in the row in front of me went wild and got his wife on the phone as it was their wedding song. Amazing stuff. One of the best songs of the night.
The October-Bullet-Zooropa-Streets sequence is really powerful. October in October! The final note just seemed to go on and on and on. Bullet was phenomenal, not just because of the megaphone.
Edge's solo was unbelievably good. Zooropa was so beautiful, one of my favourite songs from my favourite album. I had tears in my eyes. "Hello? Hello? What do you want?!?" shouted Bono. The synth of Streets began and I was in awe. Absolutely superb. I even sang the lalala's/lololo's in Streets, which as Ali pointed out in the post show chat, are kind of odd as the majority of the audience are singing the proper line whereas Bono is just singing the lalala's/lololo's. A hell of a lot of fun though. ïPride really surprised me actually. Some people on the forums say that Pride is boring this tour but at least at London 4, it was fantastic. Everyone was singing and going wild. I loved it. With Or Without You, I was really hoping for Shine Like Stars but I knew it was a tall order since it had been ages since the last time he snippeted it. I shouted "Shine Like Stars!!!" before he did it. What an awesome coincidence! Encore time and City of Blinding Lights was good, although not as good as Beautiful Day, one of my favourite U2 songs. It was fantastic. I was hoping for maybe a Moment of Surrender snippet at best but then "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band!!!!". I went wild. I was totally not expecting that! I was so, so happy. Then Bono dropped a Blackbird snippet as well!! Amazing. To close the show, One, which was pretty good, I don't mind a sing along!! It was all over too quickly.It was great to meet Tim and Ali after the show, although that Periscope was quite embarrassing. I don't have any plans to watch it.
A fantastic show. One of the best nights of my life. I hope to do more shows next year.
What does your U2 collection look like? What kind of stuff do you have and how is it organised?
My collection isn't as impressive as some of the others that you see on the forum but I am slowly expanding it. I have all the albums on CD and recently my father gave me October, War and The Unforgettable Fire on vinyl, that he bought back in the day!
I also have the Joshua Tree Deluxe Edition boxset, U218 singles, Stuck In A Moment single
the Slane, Chicago and Rose Bowl live DVD's and The Best Of 1990-2000 CD and DVD, U2ie tour program and the Across The Bridge of Hope cassette, which was in aid of the Omagh Fund, it has the single version of Please on it.When you're forced to leave to a deserted island and you can take only one U2 album with you, which would it be?
Zooropa. It's my favourite album. I don't think I'd be able to go without Zooropa, Lemon, Numb, Stay, The First Time, Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car, Dirty Day, even Some Days Are Better Than Others. I love the experimental vibe of the album. It's a masterpiece in my eyes.
Does anyone in your family or one of your friends like U2? If so, did they introduce you to U2, or did you "convert" them?
My parents are casual U2 fans, they went to ZOO TV in Cardiff, 1993. They thought that it was crap. They would've much preferred the band to have just played the songs. I am very, very thankful that they introduced me to U2. I don't think music would play such a big role in my life if it I wasn't introduced to U2/the band never existed.
I am a much bigger fan than parents though!
A lot of my friends became overly negative towards the band after the Apple release last year but I bet that they didn't even listen to a single song on the album. Before that, only a few liked certain songs.
What is your favorite U2 bootleg, and why? Do you often listen to bootlegs?
I listen to a lot of bootlegs and there are so many great shows. I do have a soft spot for Popmart though and Sarajevo 1997 is the definitive Popmart show and is my favourite of that tour. There was just so much emotion and raw passion from the band on that night in September 1997. I especially love the performance of Last Night On Earth, with Bono saying "Last night I dreamed, I dreamed of Sarajevo... and now I see, I see Sarajevo." A superb concert, even if Bono's voice is shot!
What do you think of U2's Innocence & Experience tour, how do you experience and follow this tour?
This tour has been great so far, especially after seeing it in person, I have a whole new perspective on the tour. The new songs really work well live, especially Cedarwood Road, Iris and Raised By Wolves. On the forums we say that we want more setlist variation but when you're actually there at the concert, you completely forget about the setlist (well, I did), you'll have fun no matter the setlist. I am also very grateful that my favourite band is still together, producing new material and touring together after nearly 40 years. It's incredible when you think about it. To be able to listen to shows that are happening across the pond in New York or Boston via Mixlr or Periscope streams is an incredible feat of technology that many of us on the forums now take for granted.
How different is U2 compared to other artists that you like?
To be honest, U2 is one of the only rock bands that I really, really love. I do like ambient, post-rock and electronic artists such as Brian Eno, Ulrich Schnauss, Hammock and Helios to name a few. These are artists are often the complete opposite of U2.
What are your hobbies and interests away from U2, musical or otherwise?
I am a big fan of Formula One and motorsport in general. I have been following F1 religiously since the end of 2010. Motorsport and cars are my biggest passion outside of U2/music. I have been fortunate enough to have gone to two F1 races. The British Grand Prix in 2012 and 2013. The 2013 race was the best, in my opinion. All of the tyre failures really spiced things up. And there was some great overtakes too. Mark Webber overtaking Kimi Raikonnen through Copse corner happened right in front of me and was a superb move. I also met Sir Jackie Stewart (3 time World Champion) in the Porsche Experience car park whilst heading to Copse on the morning of the race! The sound that the V8 engined cars produce is incredible. They're up there as one of the loudest things I've ever heard, perhaps on par with a Tornado/Typhoon fighter jet taking off with full afterburners. One car is loud enough, 20-22 cars roaring past at the start is an incredible, unforgettable experience. I'm glad that I was able to experience the V8's at a race, before they were consigned to the history books. I also have an interest in Aviation, although it used to be my biggest passion, before I got into Formula One. I also play guitar, although very badly!
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for this interview Welsh_Edge!
Note: Our crew members randomly pick fans of the month, you can't sign up for it.
So glad you got to attend your first show. The first you never forget! 
