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  1. Of all the stories you read about fans of U2, the most interesting ones to read is how you found U2 or how U2 found you.

    Here's mine:

    I've had several flirtations with U2 at various points in my life, liking several of their songs and having stints where I'll listen to one of their albums. I even wrote a very positive review for "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" three years before. So that's how I felt about them until November 2006, when I was emotionally spurred. I had seen my brother magnificently perform as George Gibbs in the brilliant play Our Town by Thornton Wilder. If you know the play, it makes you do a bit of soul searching. In that time, I thought about how U2 has that sort of vibe. The eternal questioning. So I starting picking up where I left off and began listening to them again. My obsession grew deeper the more I listened and thought about the music. Frequently, it couples with my already passionate love for the show Avatar: The Last Airbender. I was in pretty deep, but that's only part one.

    In late December of that same year, my grandma's health was deteriorating. We had to do an emergency drive to see her and the rest of our family. I had a great discussion with her about the things that tie you to the world like fear, guilt, shame, grief, lies, illusion & earthly attachment, inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender. She was truly prepared to leave the world, and she even gave her deep thanks to me for the time I spent with her. Throughout that time I was listening to Rattle and Hum & songs like "Stay," "Please," "Lemon," "Kite," "Gone" and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" heavily. We went home after a while, but on late New Year's Eve 2006, my grandma passed away. Inspired by the song "Kite," I wrote a speech, which I presented at her two funerals in the days afterwards.

    U2 became the musical guidance in me through a difficult time in my family and I became the pillar of strength with my guidance for which I given immense praise and gratitude by my family and relatives.

    It was then I knew that U2 became a true part of my being and I'll never let that go.


    (Signature I use on the forums of AvatarSpirit.net)
  2. Wow man, that's a very moving story.

    Mine's much more boring.

    Desire was played heavily on a school trip I was on in '89. I loved it and got it on cassette. I missed the Fly on the radio but picked up when I heard Who's Gonna Ride... I was blown away.
    I borrowed Achtung Baby of a mate and gave it back to him 4 weeks later having listened to it every day. I bought that and then Zooropa when it came out.
    I jsut thought it was new stuff, I didn't really realise that they had a past (:N terrible of me, I know).
    Then I listened to RDS Dublin '93. Then I spent all my pocket money and made my wallet much lighter as I bought Boy, War, Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum.

    The deal was sealed in '97 when I saw them live the first time (having been stoppe from going to ZooTV Cardiff by my Mum (too much school work apparently....). They were my favourite and I liked them a lot before that. As I drove away from the concert I knew I was hooked and that I loved this band.
  3. Thanks for the great stories so far, here is mine:

    I came across U2 by a mistake. In 1991, there were 2 bands wearing nearly identical names, the letter U and a number after it: U2 and U96, which was a german techno outfit of Alex Christensen. I only knew the latter one, as their hit 'Das Boot' was on heavy rotation on MTV. One day our home television channel , had a music show called 'Traffic Jam'. In this programme the host introduced several clips from bands, mentioning a group named U2. I wanted to wait for that as I thought it will be U96 with 'Das Boot' again, and was quite surprised to see 4 young people running up and down in a strange building and performing a...rock song (it was 'A Celebration'). My first thought was 'It's not very Das Boot-ish'. But I liked the track nevertheless, and a few days later I found out that it was another band, U2. The rest is history...
  4. when i was a kid i just took my older brother's cd "u2- the best of 1980-1990", the first mintue i listend to it i just knew it was love form first site. i realized im listening to best band ever.
  5. Nice stories everyone...
    I have mentioned my story before in the forums, but here it goes again!
    The first time I ever heard Bono's voice was listening to Perfect Day...(around 99-2000) the BBC charity thing and wondering who this weird-named guy is, "he has a good voice tho" I thought! But I didn't go after it...later came Gangs of NY and "Hands That Built America"...I was watching the movie and in the end when the song started I was like " "...I thought :"this sounds great!", so I went after it this time and it was U2 and the singer was, Bono, the same guy I had heard before. I started collecting their music (I wasn't a real rock fan at that time, so I just thought "It's probably just a coincidence, I won't like the rest of their songs"...but...I was proved wrong that day!
    I'm Persian of course, and many Persians care a lot about the lyrics of songs - they must have deeper meanings (it's probably because we have had great poets, such as Rumi and many others whose poetry have different layers of meanings) and I actually found that in U2 (of course they don't reach Rumi, but who does these days?!)...that's what has kept me a fan!
  6. My parents are big fans since the Joshua Tree era.
    I am a big fan since I was born.

    No more story
  7. my mum saw them twice at Slane during the Elevation tour and tried to get me into the band afterwards. I played the first 3 tracks of the Joshua Tree on repeat and here I am
  8. I heard Beautiful Day on the radio when I was a sophomore in high school and really enjoyed it. When I found out who sang it, I only knew of three other songs they sang--With or Without You, Streets, and Still Haven't Found. I mentioned how much I liked all four of these songs to my mom one day, and she lent me her Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum cassette tapes (yes...cassette tapes. Damn, remember those?). I listened to Exit over and over and remember asking my mom, "Who's making all that noise?" referring to the guitar sounds. She replied it was one guy, the Edge, and right then I knew I was hooked. I had no idea about the band's history or any of their other albums, so I went to stores looking for any CDs that had any other songs I knew on them. I think I bought Achtung Baby next, because I had heard One and Mysterious Ways, and I was absolutely blown away. I bought the Best of 1980-1990 next, and continued on from there. I remember buying the Best of 1990-2000 the day it came out in 2002, the edition with the B-Sides and DVD. The last two official albums I bought were Pop and The Unforgettable Fire, up in Canada when we took a family trip in 2003. After that I got the Slane DVD for Christmas, and then there was no turning back.
  9. Originally posted by germcevoymy mum saw them twice at Slane during the Elevation tour


  10. Originally posted by Ali709[..]




    I know. Both shows. Amazing
  11. Originally posted by Ali709
    I'm Persian of course, and many Persians care a lot about the lyrics of songs - they must have deeper meanings


    ^^ I'm in total agreeance! That was also the thing that really deeply hooked me on them...

    ---
    I became a real fan after I downloaded some bootlegs from spiral_staircase's blog in April this year.

    Before April I was only a 'moderate' listener/appreciator of their music and didn't really bother to find out more about them as a band respectively their live qualitites. Well, songs that I knew were some of the 80s-greatest hits basically and then the 2000+ stuff - I can't believe I never got into "Achuntg Baby" before although I had it for years in my CD collection (I bought it in 1997 after I read an article which listed it among the 'albums your music collection needs to include' or smth like that...but didn't really listen to it I have to admit).
    So before April I considered them to be a great rock band that just isn't as 'political' and 'deep' as they used to be when thinking of TJT's "I Still Haven' Found" or "Running To Stand Still" (stupid me I know ).

    Anyway, to come to an end: as I'm a fan of concert bootlegs, and as I found Spiral's blog by sheer coincidence I decided to give them a shot (if you can say it like this ?) and downloaded 2-3 cocnerts. While I listened I was like "Oh My God!!!! These guys are really cool, and they are not just another rock band at all!" then I found u2start.com and its massive bootleg collection + the gorgeous forums with lots of uploads...and then I got more and more interested and found out that they are "THE" band for me
  12. It was August 1997..i was watching my favorite music tv show..One month before U2 come to Greece for their unique show in my country..
    That day the tv show called "Jammin" was dedicated to U2..They played the videos of:
    1) Desire...
    2) Sunday Bloody Sunday (Live from Red Rocks)...
    3) Where the Streets Have No Name...
    4) The Unforgettable Fire...
    The rest is history guys!
    I'm a U2 fan since that day!