"My dad saw U2 live seven times, but the emotion and a sort of legacy that he transmitted to me was his experience of seeing them for the first time, Rome on the 1987 Joshua Tree Tour."
Tell us something about yourself, who are you and what do you do for a living?
I'm from southern Italy, I currently frequent high school so I still live with my parents.
How did you become a fan of U2, tell us how it happened?
Well, my dad loves U2 and he always tried to get me into them, but when I was 4 or 5 I used to play DVD’s and imitate Bono, my favorite DVD at the time was Mexico 1997, probably for the colored atmosphere that PopMart had.
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 dad saw U2 live seven times, but the emotion and a sort of legacy that he transmitted to me was his experience of seeing them for the first time, Rome 27/05/1987 Joshua Tree Tour. He was right in front of The Edge, front row. It’s hard to explain what does this concert means for me and my dad. He told me that when Streets started playing it was one of the best moments of his life, when Larry started hitting the drumsticks and the hi-hat it felt like heaven. But the maximum moment was the lights turning on during Streets. On another note he saw U2 at Milan in 1992, where Bono “played” So Cruel for the first time. He also saw them in Rome 1993, 1997, Turin 2001 and Milan 2005. My first U2 memory was seeing the One video with Mary J. Blige that my parents bought in iTunes (2008), from there my father when he drove me to school in the car U2 was always playing, his favorite songs are Walk On and Streets.
Did you ever have a special U2 experience like a live concert? Can you tell us something about it?
I still didn’t see U2 live.
What does your U2 collection look like? What kind of stuff do you have and how is it organised?
My U2 collection is huge, well, it’s “not mine” since like everything was of my father and now I “stole” it from him. He used to buy everything about U2, he has every album and singles in CD, he used to buy them until 2004, since then he downloaded music digitally. One of my favorite U2 items is an original pressing of Achtung Baby 1991 Europe vinyl in Mint conditions. I’ve also got an Unofficial Boxset from Miami 1992 called “The Total Thing” which costed him at the time 60 €! My other favorite items are the All I Want Is U2 bootleg and the Stay Maxi Single Live Version. I’ve got every official DVD that U2 released except for Berlin 2018.
What is your favorite U2 videoclip, and why?
My favorite U2 videoclip is Anton Corbjin One, I love that video, it represents One perfectly, same for Stay.
What are your expectations for U2's upcoming album of reworked and acoustic songs?
For this new “Songs Of Surrender” well, I have mixed feelings about this, idk if it could possibly be a good or a bad really bad move. Bono’s voce is obviously not as great as it was 30 years ago and that’s completely fine but their idea of rearranging old songs acoustically doesn’t get that excited and hyped.
What kind of musical direction would you like U2 to take for any new music? Do you think this next album is their last?
Yes and I hope it is, I hope that the next U2 album is their last, I dream about a Stadium, Parks tour with a final date at Slane as the last U2 concert before retiring. I think that in their new album they’re gonna approach pop even more than they did in SOE.
How different is U2 compared to other artists that you like?
My second favorite artist/band after U2 is blink-182 which are as important as U2 are to my life.
What are your hobbies and interests away from U2, musical or otherwise?
I love vinyl and the whole audiophile’s world, i’m a Star Wars addict.
Thanks for this interview thalloween!
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