how i know bono is my friend

when it comes to u2, my friend nancy says i am a superfan. (as my pal hannah would say- no judgey judgey. i know there are far cooler musicians to etch onto your heart, but i don't care. i love them.) i don't know about the term SUPERfan- i don't have a personalized U2 license plate, or a joshua tree tattoo. i don't wear old tour t-shirts or fly to ireland to watch their concert at slane castle or save money just to fly to half of the shows on their tour. (ah, which may sound crazy but plenty of U2 superfans do...)

but, she has at least a partial point:

i have been listening to u2 since i was about 10.

the first tape i bought was a U2 tape.

i did write an english essay my freshman year of high school based on the official biography of these four musicians.

i have been to every concert U2 has played in the bay area since 1991.

i used to camp out all night in line to buy tickets outside of the music store. and yes, for the past few tours i have waited in the general admission line (for more details on that check out this post) for over 24 hours (with all of the other superfans)

you may remember, i did drive to arizona with my brothers this fall to hear them in concert.

i can tell you most trivia facts about the band members. like, if you want to know bono's birthday, or how they became a band, or the edge's daughter's name? embarrassingly enough, i'm your girl.

and just maybe, i am convinced that at some point in my life, i will have my own personal concert with my friends bono, the edge, adam clayton & larry mullen jr. i'm not kidding. (i even know where the personal concert will be held. if you're lucky, i'll invite you.)

so it didn't seem that crazy to me when last fall, about a week after i'd driven to arizona to see U2 in concert, i bought general admission tickets for the newly announced oakland show. even though my due date for ruby was 3 weeks before the concert date. even though general admission tickets involve getting to the venue at an ungodly time- preferably at least 24 hours ahead of time to wait, and then once the venue is opened up, making a mad rush to get as close to the stage as possible without being stampeded, then waiting for a few more hours smashed in with hundreds of other superfans (no bathroom breaks, no moving from your spot.) i couldn't for the life of me figure out how i could work out nursing a 3 week old, sprinting across an entire stadium to mark my territory and then waiting without needing to head to the bathroom (trust me. those last two items on the list seem impossible mere weeks after birthing a baby. let's just say i'm still healing.)

so. i tried to work out a plan involving friends passing ruby off to me in line, making friends with security guards, pumping milk while i waited for the concert with 200 of my closest friends. um, all totally ridiculous attempts that would no way work.

and then,

bono proved to me that he is my pal.

the concert, which was supposed to be tonight, in oakland....is postponed until 2011. much to the distress of many U2 fans, and to my sheer delight...bono jacked up his back a few weeks ago. so. he had emergency back surgery and physical therapy and rest (sorry about that bono) and as a result, this entire leg of the tour is postponed. which means, i can go next year without going to extreme measures. and just maybe, this will be the time i'm pulled up on stage to sing along & dance with bono. (i should clarify that i don't really have the need to dance with bono, it would just be the vehicle to have a conversation with him about how he is going to buy some of my paintings or send me to africa to work on some worthy project. i would way rather dance with my husband.)

one of the lyrics i repeated to myself while i was in labor was "always pain before the child is born" from the song yahweh. it kind of comforted me through contractions and pushing. serious. so, thanks to bono's back issues, i get to go to the concert next year. for now, i'm content to watch clips of them live.

(i love this song. you really should watch it:)