U2 & The Locals

With tens of thousands of U2 fans swarming into Dublin over the weekend, it must be a challenging time for those Dubliners not interested in the band. One of the local papers advised: if you don’t like U2, it’s probably best to head out of town this weekend. That’s exactly what many people did according to other articles, and rightly so. Right after yesterday’s show, the streets were completely clogged with U2 fans heading to Temple Bar for some drinks - it was just a sea of people from Croke Park all the way to O’Connell Street.

The Bed & Breakfast I’m staying in is on Clonliffe Road, very close to the stadium - you can see the upper stands and the tip of the Claw from there. It’s amazing how well you can hear the sound from the stadium when walking that road: I was heading there on Friday when Damien Dempsey was already playing, and you could hear every word. That makes it a bit easier to understand the complaints about the noise from local residents. The staff at the B&B told me that you can hear the sound (but not the crowd) very well, so essentially the locals can hear the gigs right from their gardens, and some do sit outside and listen and enjoy the shows. It was a good thing that at the Friday concert, Bono thanked the neighbourhood for putting up with them - the locals that were at home at the time must certainly have heard him.

Another guest at my B&B told a story how he and his friend were in a taxi from the airport to the B&B and the driver took them past Mount Temple Comprehensive to show it to them. At the same time he told them how he disliked the fact that U2 moved their main company to The Netherlands to avoid high taxes here. Even though U2 still have other business activities in Dublin, it’s obviously something that stings the Irish.

And then there was an old lady we met, she really tops the bill.

On Friday I did a walking tour of U2′s Dublin, hosted by Davey G. from the @U2 forum, and naturally we went to the studios to have a look. We were checking out Windmill Lane when an old lady came by and started talking about how she hated Bono. Pointing at all the graffiti, she said: “Look at the state o’ the place! Don’t tell me you’ve come all the way out here to see him! Oh, I wanna kill him!” She also ranted about his long “dirty” hair in the 1980s and how she had always felt the urge to pull it out of his head.

We stood there listening, bemused. Then the guard working there came up to us and tried to explain a few things to the lady, but to no avail. She went on her way, obviously not in the best of moods. Then the guard told us that she was no stranger to him — she comes by there practically every day to rant about Bono.

He explained that there would usually be several people every week coming to see the place, but in the past week there had been as many visitors as there would normally be in a whole year. So for that, he could just about kill Bono too right now.

But at least he said it with a smile.

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One Response to “U2 & The Locals”

  1. Melanie Kramer 26 July 2009 at 8:26 pm permalink

    We went to Ireland on holiday for the first time. I had purchased tickets to U2 for July 24th show, but as we left for Dublin from Chicago I had still not received them or word to as to when/where they were to be sent. We were staying at the Clontarf Castle Hotel at the end of our holiday so I emailed the online ticket agency to send them to my hotel. We went to Cork, Kilarney, and Doolin which were all very lovely counties and the most friendliest of people. We especially liked McDermott’s Pub and the Cliffs on the Atlantic were breathtaking. Still, in the back of my mind, I was thinking about my tickets to U2. I’m a big fan and was excited to see their concert in Dublin. We arrived Clontarf July 20th and still no tickets. The concierge tried emailing and calling the online ticket agency and was unable to get through to them. I was getting a little anxious because the last email that I received from the online ticket agency was that they would take care of me. We had taken tours of Dublin by bus and boat, listened to traditional Irish music and watched Irish dancers, visited Malahide and Howth…had a great time, but still was thinking about tickets to U2. Thursday morning, the day before the concert, the concierge told me that he did some research and said that the online ticket agency was a scam and that he could still get me tickets to U2. I was numb with disbelief…but grateful that he was able to get tickets for me. Later that day I bursted out crying at Thunderroad in Temple Bar (They were very kind and assured me that I would get a ticket). I just want everyone to know that I don’t ever want this to happen to them. Make sure that you know who you are buying your tickets from and no matter how much you like the band or want to see them, don’t jump into any online service until you do research. I don’t think I’ll ever purchase tickets online again. Thanks to the concierge, Ronan, at the Clontarf and all the other concierges’ that helped, I was able to see my favorite band, U2. They were awesome and I am so grateful that I was able to see them in Dublin.