1. Every month we put an U2 fan in the spotlights, the fan of the month April of 2014 is user u2joost. Read along for the interview we had this this U2 fan.


    Tell us something about yourself, who are you and what do you do for a living?
    My name is Joost. I’m in my ‘early fourties’, but young at heart. I live in the Netherlands in the province/region of “Zuid-Holland”, and I am married and have two wonderful kids (now 9 and 7 years old), who (luckily for their dad) also think U2 is “vet cool” (awesome). I’m a psychologist by profession and work for a HR consultancy firm in Amsterdam. That basically means I talk with people all day. People who want to develop themselves further, who want to change jobs, be promoted, or want to find out what their talents are, or how to communicate better with their boss or their colleagues. My cliënts are mainly organizations in Educational or Care, for instance doctors and managers in Hospitals, teachers in Primary Schools, teamleaders in Universities etc. I still find it interesting and satisfying to help and coach other people in their lives and professional career. A few years ago, I also studied photography at the FotoAcademie in Amsterdam, but it’s really hard to make a profession out of that nowadays. Everyone can do photography now….

    How did you become a fan of U2, tell us how it happened?
    It was in 1985, In secondary school art-class, when the teacher asked us to make a painting of an album cover we liked. (Vinyl, of course, because CD didn’t exist back then...) I chose the cover of The Unforgettable Fire, because I was intrigued by the mysterious castle…. Since I only knew ‘Pride’ from it, which I really liked (übercool videoclip) , I started listening to the rest of the album and was immediately addicted to U2’s music!
    In 1987, I met my girlfriend (now my wife) and she asked me to go with her to the U2 concert in Rotterdam (July 10th, 1987) at the Feyenoord Stadium. It was a life-changing experience; U2 performed with only a large print of the Joshua Tree as a backdrop, no fancy lightshow or special effects, but still delivered real intimacy and the earth trembled under my feet. We were GA, at perhaps 5 meters from the stage. ‘Exit’ was spectacular, and ‘Bullet’ still sounded fresh in those days…..

    Did you ever have a special U2 experience like a live concert? Can you tell us something about it?
    I went to twenty-one (21) U2 concerts so far (I’ve been very lucky) and the memories are all very special to me. I remember Bono losing his voice in Amsterdam in December 1989 (this concert was stopped halfway through because of that), I was very close to them in the arena in Ahoy Rotterdam 1992 when they covered Dancing Queen on the b-stage, and Bono’s Birthday Party in Rotterdam in 1993 was also really special. Maybe my nicest concert was in Edinburgh in 1997 (POP) Great crowd, lots of pints, and a tribute to Diana, the people’s princess, in the encore. More recently, driving up and down in 1 day to Paris for the 360 tour with a good friend or to Brussels two nights in a row, are my latest sweet, sweet memories. (God, U2 are great live, they never stop to amaze me in concert! Even now I’m writing about this I feel goosebumps)

    If you could enjoy dinner with three other people, living or dead, who would you choose and why?
    Very very hard question…… But I think Bono first, for obvious reasons. Second would be Anton Corbijn, to talk Photography and U2, and third: Sigmund Freud, to bring him up to date with the latest research findings in psycholgy and see what his reaction would be to what we know now, in comparison to what he believed to be true…

    If you could go back in time, which U2-era would you like to be in, and why?
    I loved the POP tour and would happily see that lemon and those discobal-lights over and over again, but if I could only choose one era, I think I would choose The Unforgettable Fire Tour and follow that around for some time. I think it was even more pure then the Joshua Tree Tour and I would have like to experience that.

    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?
    Come to think of it, some of my best friends have always liked U2 a lot and U2 are a big part of the reason why we are friends I guess. Going to concerts together, listening to cd’s together, searching for bootlegs in obscure recordshops, (before there was e-Bay) while I was supposed to be studying…….. My kids have played No Line On The Horizon more often than me, so they are converted.

    How did U2start (or other forums) influence your music preferences? Did U2 fans influence you liking other artists?
    On U2start I like the topics that are about top lists, rankings and favorite other artists. Always nice and interesting to read about artist you haven’t heard that much about before. U2 influenced me in musical preference through their support acts and “related”: Skunk Anansie, In Tua Nua, Snow Patrol, Gavin Friday, Maria McKee.

    How different is U2 compared to other artists that you like?
    It’s almost a cliché that is mentioned in this forum before more than once, but I strongly feel this way: “U2 made the soundtrack to my life”. It’s as simple as that. All the different periods in my life from adolescence up until now, are very much associated with a U2 song or a U2 era. At the early morning of our Wedding Day in 1993, to ease (or build up?) the tension, we opened the window of our home, put the CD with ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ in our stereo and blasted this epic song on the loudest volume possible…… (of course we had to apologize to a few neighbors later…

    What are your hobbies and interests away from U2, musical or otherwise?
    In my spare time I like Kiting (large kites on beach festivals), Photograpy, Reading Dutch, British and Irish literature. In summer I like crossing the North Sea and explore the Dutch, British and Irish coastline with my family. For years I have been practicing my guitar, which I enjoy, but I still find it hard to develop some speed and fluency, so that I get beyond playing notes and deliver some musicality…… I’m better at listening to music than making it myself. I still like collecting U2, even in this digital age I cherish my vinyl and (bootleg-) CD’s.
    Besides U2 I like Muse, Placebo, Radiohead, David Bowie, Snow patrol, Tori Amos, Starsailor, Manic Street Preachers, Maria McKee, Skunk Anansie, Editors, Talk Talk, Queen, Arctic Monkeys, Stereophonics. To name a few….




    Thanks for this interview u2joost!

    Note: Our crew members randomly pick fans of the month, you can't sign up for it.
  2. Excellent read Joost! Really interesting answers
  3. Whoa
  4. Nice one. I especially like your job, sounds very interesting !
  5. Nice read ... you gave me goosebumps too on that answer !

    21 shows !!! and great ones ! you were very lucky !!!

    I have to confess that i was surprised with the reference to the Edinburgh show when you went to many magnificent shows
  6. ^ Me too! I would have guessed the Rotterdam 93 (Bono's Bday) would be his favorite... Surprising to see Popmart there
  7. I was at a PoP mart tour show and it was awesome ...but being at many ZOO shows , JT shows , Lovetown ( i know that shows wasnt the best ) ...

    I love 15-6-92 and 18-7-97 shows
  8. Thanks guys!

    by the way, I said "maybe my nicest concert"....
    It's just too difficult to choose... But POP was fantastic and beïng in Scotland added to the magic with good spirit(s)....

  9. *bump*

    (sorry, I just could not resist. And April isn't over yet...)

    :-)
  10. Ego
  11. Ban him!
  12. Thanks for the bump! Hadnt read it yet Very cool read