U2 “Vertigo” Rehearsals, March 2005
When it was announced in February of 2005 that U2 would be rehearsing for their Vertigo tour in Vancouver, BC, my friend Teresa and I made fast plans to get there.
Rumor had it that BC Place would become home for the band, at least for a few weeks, so we quickly booked a room at the hotel across the street and set out for an adventure.
We drove up early the first Saturday of March, armed with old-school portable tape recorders, pens and paper, and point-and-shoot (film) cameras. We also became very familiar with the business center at the hotel—filing reports on the @U2 blog frequently (though neither of us were formal staff members just yet).
When we saw the trucks with the “Vertigo” signs in the windshield outside the venue, we knew we were in the right place. We walked the perimeter of the building looking for signs of the four stars (and even went IN the building at one point, thinking we were undetected).
We didn’t find Bono, Larry, The Edge or Adam, but we did see many familiar crew members (note to non-fans: U2 has had the same crew for decades, with few exceptions).
After watching them build pieces of the stage through an open door, we grew tired and decided to plant ourselves on the water side of the venue, where there were plenty of places to sit.
Food was something we were smart enough to pack in advance—granola bars and chips, if I remember right. But what we didn’t consider was the cold. Our layers of clothes were not heavy enough and soon we were shivering in the overcast, windy weather.
Seeing our updates on @U2, a thoughtful reader named Scott in Abbotsford responded by bringing us both hot cups of coffee. He had driven half an hour to meet us, then promptly locked his keys in his car after handing us the warm cups.
I felt so awful for him, with no way to help him out of his predicament. I’m not sure who finally did rescue him, but I do remember enjoying his company while he waited (and thankfully, this would not be the last time we would see Scott on the tour).
This next portion is taken directly from our blog that night.
Braving the cold, we started conversations with every tour employee that walked by. I’m pleased to report that each one of them was polite enough to speak to us (if not amused by our dedication). What we were told was that the band wasn’t going to be there that evening, and the crew wasn’t even sure when they would arrive, as the stage was still being built. Duran Duran, who had performed the night before, had only vacated the space early that morning, so the venue needed to be prepared fully for U2.
Believing this to be true, and not wanting to catch pneumonia from the cold, we hung around only a few hours longer, chatted with some fellow fans who had the same idea (or had heard our first blog on the website) and decided to retreat to a local establishment for some socializing. To our delight, the place was filled with Vertigo crew members. What we witnessed there (aside from awful, hilarious karaoke) was nothing short of heartwarming. Personnel just arriving in town were greeted by existing staff with hugs and smiles as chairs were brought in to make room for each new addition. Stories of former tours were exchanged, updates about family and pets were shared and an overall sense of joy permeated the room. In short, we felt like we stumbled upon a family reunion. The vibe was great and the camaraderie lasted well into the night. When we left we couldn’t help but feel like we’d just stepped out of a Willie Williams tour diary.
The next morning, we rushed to the window of our hotel like kids on Christmas morning to see if any “presents” had been left at the venue. Realizing that a second garage door had opened, and somehow thinking Bono and the boys may be hiding like stocking stuffers in one of them, we rushed through breakfast, grabbed our gear and headed back to our familiar spot … only to find that most of the crew from the prior day were hard at work like little elves, again doing what they do best.
And though they were genuinely busy, if we didn’t know better we would never have guessed that these were folks working against a serious deadline for the biggest band in the world, who were set to start their tour in a mere three weeks. They all just seemed too calm!
With nothing left to lose, and the clock ticking away, we spoke informally with more staff members and learned that the band had still not arrived. We also figured out that the heavy drum sounds we thought may be Larry warming up were actually large vehicles thumping across the overpass that loops the venue. We were actually hallucinating drum sounds.
Next we learned that we had been the stars of our own James Bond-like film on the GM Place surveillance cameras! The security guard who blew our cover said that the place is saturated with safety cameras that span the circumference of the structure and beyond, and that their team had been keeping an eye on us the whole time. Although we were disappointed that our 007 skills weren’t what we’d hoped, it’s good to know that our boys will truly be safe if they ever arrive to rehearse.
Deciding that our day jobs were probably more important than risking another night of no-show band members, Teresa and I gracefully gave up, snatching one last picture of the reader board flashing “U2″ and saying a sweet goodbye to the cool and collected crew responsible for igniting the tour magic.
So for those of you who have asked how my gig with @U2 began, that was really the turning point. Though I had written a Beatles/U2 feature for the site almost a year prior, I was only considered a casual contributor.
When I began my at-large reporting (truly what I enjoyed—and still enjoy—most), that’s when I got the attention of the boss and the other staff members that would soon have to vote me in to their exclusive team.
I’ve always been grateful they said “yes.”