Conversation with Bono

from Bono by Michka Assayas.

Assayas: ...Maybe I shouldn't tell you that, but during the show [2001 Elevation Tour] I had this appalling fantasy of someone with a gun in the audience. I felt that Mark David Chapman thing could happen there. Did it ever cross your mind?

Bono: Yeah, we had that. As you know, I don't travel with security. I grew up around a low but significant level of violence. We always feel like a row or an argument or a grievance in Ireland or France could end up with a bottle smashed in your face. Guns are not pervasive. In America, any crockpot can get their hands on a gun, and we've had a fair share of crackpots over the years. At the end of the eighties, we campaigned for Martin Luther King Day. I remember, in Arizona, we got into trouble, and we had some death threats. Normally, they happen. But occasionally, you get one that the police and FBI take seriously. There was a specific threat: "Don't go ahead with the concert. And, if you do, don't sing 'Pride (In the Name of Love),' because, if you do, I am gonna blow your head off, and you won't be able to stop this from happening." Of course you go onstage and you put it out of your head. But I do remember actually, in the middle of "Pride," thinking for a second: "Gosh! What if somebody was organized, or in the rafters of the building, or somebody, here and there, just had a handgun?" I just closed my eyes and sang this middle verse, with my eyes closed, trying to concentrate and forget about this ugliness and just keep close to the beauty that's suggested in the song. I looked up, at the end of that verse, and Adam was standing in front of me. It was one of those moments where you know what it means to be in a band.

I love this. It moves me so much. To be part of a band. This band. These writers. All of you. Thank you. I stand alongside you. I wish you all the best. Keep blogging. I'll keep reading. And let's get together for godsakes. Jim, you are too far away. Kyle, Melissa, and Sara, I will come visit Frisco soon. Teresa, Sean, Thomas, and Marlowe come visit or move to Cali. Same with you Langley. Let's get the band in proximity, or, at the very least visiting, and going out to experience life standing together.

That is what I miss the most from all of you. Just your presence.

Love, Pirooz