Vancouver, BC, Canada, April 2005

Hamish Hamilton is an acclaimed director, known for his work on several awards shows (including the Oscars).

I became a fan of his after seeing the U2: Elevation 2001 Live From Boston DVD, which I played every day for about three months after I bought it. Aside from watching the concert itself, the bonus material that shows Hamish directing it is my favorite part. He gets so incredibly excited about the show and even wears a “lucky shirt” in hopes the production will go smoothly.

The last week of April in 2005 I count among the best in my life because I used all of my vacation time to follow U2 up the west coast. Many of my fellow @U2 staffers came to town for the Seattle show, so I met online friends in person for the first time, and had a blast at every show.

The concert that happened on this night was the last I would attend in North America until that fall, so it was extra special. I was sunburned (only the third time I’ve ever burned in my life) from laying on the sunny sidewalk outside of GM Place, sleep deprived from excitement and hungry because I’d lived on Slurpees and Subway sandwiches for as many days as we’d been in Canada. My adrenaline was keeping me going and my voice was shot from all the singing and screaming. I loved every minute of it.

We weren’t fortunate enough to get into the coveted “ellipse” portion of the stage that night (a random ticket scan determined entry), so we secured a spot on the outer rim, which was really just as good for viewing.

Waiting for the show was fun as always, chatting with other fans and talking with the Vancouver security team, who had treated us all so well at each event. I was beginning to get wistful about the long gap between concerts when we all spotted a man with red hair walking past our section of the stage.

Teresa said, “Is that Hamish Hamilton?!”

I replied that there was one way to find out.

“Hamish!” I screamed. His head whipped around to search for where my voice came from.

Waving my hands wildly, I motioned for him to come over to us. He kindly obliged.

Turns out he was blocking shots for the upcoming DVD he would shoot in Chicago. I told him we were fans of his work and asked if we could have a photo with him. He said “sure,” and I handed my camera to a security guard to take the shot, since Teresa and I couldn’t pass the barricade. He leaned back against both of us, who were giggling the whole time and took the shot you see above.

Our expressions? Priceless.