1. Every month we put a U2 fan in the spotlight. The fan of the month for December 2018 is user Jimmy93. Read along for the interview we had with this U2 fan.

    "The first time I listened to Beautiful Day it was goosebumps from shiver to spine and it blow the roof off'"

    Tell us something about yourself, who are you and what do you do for a living?

    My name is Balázs (Kevin), I'm 25 year's old and I'm living in Hungary, near of the Lake Balaton and I own with my dad a big villa there and from 50 metres away from a little "island" shore.

    How did you become a fan of U2, tell us how it happened?

    In Christmas 2002, when I was 9, my uncle introduced to me ATYCLB with bonus tracks along right in my PC.

    For the first listening was for me meh, but when my dad at the same time bought a then new Hi-Fi then I listened to Beautiful Day it was a goosebumps from shiver to my spine and blow the roof of

    Then I came listening to the other songs, but Stuck In A Moment I had very disliked, then I skipped this every time, my next favourite was then Elevation, Wild Honey, and my first second ever favourite all the time was Peace On Earth, When I Look at the World and New York, and the third ever favourite was The Ground Beneath Her Feet wow that is a rocker, the rest was okay, and at the bonus tracks also and the last song was Miss Sarajevo in full length, 4 years later became it my first beautifulest song and I wished when my grandfather died this year's 10 years ago that we playing this song at his funeral, but instead played my family to put in a by us known Hungarian song.

    And I played everyday after school for 3-4 years this album and never came out of boring, and in Nov. or Dec 2004 when I saw an TV ad from HTDAAB then I'd plead to my parents to bouging this album (that never fruited of, sadly,),

    In Sept. 2006 when the big Hungarian protests began, I played The Joshua Tree and it was miles better than ATYCLB, when I started with Streets it became my first rock hymn with a so great organ intro had I never heard and WOWY was also great, but the second favourite was In God's Country and it had such a powerful acoustic vibe that I feeled in my skin, it was very big.

    Exit had a summer feeling intro with the Crickets and good drums also
    The rest of JT was okay, but I never thought at that time that it would be an anniversary tour of it,

    (Instead I wish'd Pop's 20th remastering with bonus tracks with alternate albums a'la AB when I began to read and write here at the forums)

    What did you think of the Experience & Innocence tour and how do you think it compares to previous tours?

    I think when this tour began and JT30 ended it was enough for me, sorry to all, but I had not waited this tour in this year, I waited it instead of 2016, because thousand of rumors spread that SOE it would be come at that year, but in end we failed, the whole world failed and also the band had failed and at that point was so I would rather called it: they dreamed it all up again and start of the whole album process and it fruited with a "brush with mortality" mixed with the biggest political propaganda album I think since War came out in begin of the 80's.

    I compare this tour, just only the very end (from Copenhagen to Berlin 3) to the ZOO TV tour, because they had in the bag 9 songs of it and was such really cool tour ending with Dirty Day in it, and also I had wished I heard MW, but that was on JT30.

    What does your U2 collection look like? What kind of stuff do you have and how is it organised?

    I own only digital collections, my uncle had only 5 CD's (War (remastered), JT, AB, Zooropa and of course ATYCLB

    A classmate and a friend of mine introduced to him U2 in ca. 1987 and he's for me a casual, because i'm the opposite of his i'm a die-hard

    My stuff is unorganised it is from here to there and from there to here, but I have mostly stuff of the band.

    I had almost the all official DVD's, (Red Rocks and Paris '87 will I find in the next few days or weeks) which I find very great, but my favourite is From The Sky Down and my best part is the incarnation from Sick Puppy to One with the "dream up all again" speech to '40' drum kick outro

    What is your favorite U2 bootleg, and why? Do you often listen to bootlegs?

    My favourite bootleg is from Nantes, France 1984-10-23, because in the TUF era, especially this bootleg i'd say this was the first time that I called U2 to a New Wave band, and the performance of New Year's Day is, my all time favourite (the second is RDS '93) which has a great bass new wave intro.

    And with a very beautiful non-Wide Awake in America version of A Sort of Homecoming and a good version of TUF.(the song).
    The whole bootleg is uncomparable to the other TUF bootlegs, beacuse it has a very obscure sounding from the others
    Please we you have time download and listen to it, it is very worth

    I'll listen almost all the time bootlegs, and when it here is popping a new bootleg, then I'll listen to a few songs in it, when it has a rare performance.

    When you're forced to leave to a deserted island and you can take only one U2 album with you, which would it be?

    Of course, Pop.

    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 uncle likes U2, had liked to 2002/03 and in ca. 2010(?)...
    Back in my elementary school I have introduced to a few friends, but they hated it, because of Bono and now at the present they would, but when I moved with my family to my grandfather's house, then a pal liked Hold Me, Thrill Me and EBTTRT and years later Ordinary Love and EBW, now a few weeks ago I had introduced to him Zoo Station Milan IEM and the album version.
    Instead of the IEM he had put the original in car and it had rocked, but I'd said to him that the Milan IEM was miles better than the album version, but he doesn't care of live versions, because he said that earlier "live versions have must been only in live concerts underlived"

    If you could go back in time, which U2-era would you like to be in, and why?

    It is a difficult question, because from Lovetown to Elevation I love them all, but when this question should be answered then: ZOO TV era, it has a two Grammy winning albums with the best live versions for off them from AB to Z. (just a bit kidding )

    And I was born at my beginning of my life and Zooropa leg started and when I where at that time 18 years old, then I had to go Budapest to see the first and the last(?) home concert for U2 in Hungary.

    I should have gone to Zagreb 2009, because it's a bit nearer then Budapest and I had gone instead to Depeche Mode with my uncle and (at-then GF, now) his wife.

    Sadly and angrily I had missed Vienna 2010, because a day after I was registered at Facebook and I had missed to questioned a girl-friend of mine to I go with her, and in Oct. 2016 a wish came true and we'd go to a The Cure gig and it was an unforgettable day, but it's an another story,

    How different is U2 compared to other artists that you like?

    A simply answer: Depeche Mode, because they copied themselves.
    Dave Gahan, the lead singer of them says the DM and the U2 connection is from Anton Corbijn, that's right, but they had go off to they own gigs, like an example:
    When DM had (a session recording) recorded in Spain, Martin Gore had go to the Barcelona '92 ZOO gig and vice versa, but dunno how gig had Bono and The Edge gone.

    I read this a few years ago in a DM forum...
    See more infos further at "Home" forum, hope you can find better infos from that
    And an another example: NYD was the question of People Are People, and War is comparable to Construction Time Again, because they had both political connections etc.

    What are your hobbies and interests away from U2, musical or otherwise?

    My hobbies are gardening at home, partnership searching online (I hadn't since school not a GF), hearing all the good music stuff from the 50's to present, because I like many hits

    My favorite music era's is of course, are 80's and 90's, which was at then time created the best stuff then I ever heard and it is unbeatable from on upwards (that is my opinion) from other next era's.

    This era then we live is sorry to say musically a big downhill, but technology wise is an upgrade.

    That's will i'm saying.

    Thank you Remy and the whole U2start crew for the questions and the interview!

    Best regards,

    Jimmy

    Thanks for this interview Jimmy93!



    Note: Our crew members choose the fan of the month, you can't sign up for it.
  2. Nice one Jimmy, zoo tv is also my favourite era of the band, what I would give to be able to go back and witness one of they shows, I like that they gave us a little nod towards that in the recent tour.
  3. Originally posted by deanallison:Nice one Jimmy, zoo tv is also my favourite era of the band, what I would give to be able to go back and witness one of they shows, I like that they gave us a little nod towards that in the recent tour.
    Yeah, most of all of us is they experience era or innocence (Popmart was rather experience) and it's they're bombastic see UTEOTW and BTBS live they're heavy as hell

    But in my country the people doesn't care about the band, especially about Bono, because the hate of him is of many amongst of us...

    But Hungary likes Depeche Mode (they come since 1985 every tour (except 1998) and not U2, which i find very dissapointing and I think U2 will never come back here, of political oppositions and lack of the fanbase here with one concert here and the our stadiums was small and I heard rumours about they had come back a Vertigo and 360 which never came fruited...

    And for the Depeche Mode fanbase is very large here, we had in Budapest a hall called Petofi Hall and from 1987 to 2017 was there a clubbase, which is demolished by now and moved in smaller club to serving afterpartys outthere.
  4. Great interview!!! I liked to read it.
  5. Very good!!!