I had a nice and uneventful trip home, except that I stayed up much later
(and drank much more) than I expected to on the plane. You see, the
PopMart sound and video crew was on my flight. There were about 20 in my
section (the very back of the plane). I saw one guy come on board with a
nice long sleeve PopMart golf shirt, and I smiled, knowing I hadn't
completely left PopMart yet. Then, I saw a couple PopMart crew t-shirts
and recognized some faces. This should be fun, I thought. It was. They
took up the first 2 rows across our section and some others were scattered
through out. As soon as the flight attendants started going over essential
procedures on how to buckle your seat belt, the havoc began. They were all
mimmicking all the motions and clicking their seatbelts the whole time.
The sight of about 40 arms flailing from above the seats in front of me,
pointing to the exits, was quite hilarious.
Not long after take off it became more of a party than an 8.5 hour flight
to the Cape Verde Islands to re-fuel. Several crew members got up and
congregated near the screen, drinks in hand. I got up to get some water
and passed the short video man with long, dark hair (whose name STILL
escapes me!!! I'm still a little fuzzy). Mark O'Herlihy calls him "Little
Legs" - how cute! I asked him if he was glad it was over and he sighed and
said "Oh YEAH". He is going back to New York to work on Rosie O'Donnell
shows and some more show tours. I complimented him on the quality of the
SABC footage and he said all the Larry closeups were his. Then I was
talking to Dave Gray (video) and Vern from Nashville (Sound director) for
quite a while. Some plan to work on REM's tour next year (hush, hush from
what they said). Everyone was glad it was over and to go home, but were
also sad to leave the crew. A drunk Irishman came up to talk with us and
introduced himself as Mark O'Herlihy. HEY! We love your Dad! He was very
proud and told me something of which I was not aware. Maybe I missed it on
Wire, but U2/TNA/Principle fired Joe right before the tour was scheduled to
start. They couldn't find anyone who could fill his shoes so they came
back on their knees to sign him. The firing was prompted by TNA I believe
and he doesn't think the band even knew about it. This really soured
Mark's opinion of the tour and the U2 organization. Those of whom worked
on the ZooTV tour said that was the best tour, and the U2 organization and
tour promoters really treated everyone well. Not so with PopMart,
unfortunately. Mark criticized them (not the band, but the organization)
for selling out to the promoters. Giving up control to the demons to
ensure a profit for them. He was quite a character, and disturbed quite a
few passengers trying to get some sleep, as he kept insisting that we all
have more wine, Amarula, whatever. He and Vern are the reasons I woke up
with little socks on my teeth in the morning! He was quite loud much of
the time, but hilarious. The night ended for him on his knees, face down
in his seat. Wish I had my camera for that one.
I learned that the Cape Town Velvet Dress girl was the band's personal
caterer, that Larry and Bono went to City Blue (near Longmarket St.) in
Cape Town at least one night, and that most of the guys on the crew love
the band and the music as much as we do. Most of them seemed to think that
Seattle was the best show of the tour, hands down.
I later saw Tim Lamb who was in business class. He seemed as energetic as
ever, and was probably one of the most nicely dressed people on the plane.
A stage manager who never gets dirty!
It was a nice way to end my trip and get slowly back to reality (but not
completely - never again!). I'm rambling now - I do that when I'm tired.
It was truly a wonderful experience, and I thank all of you for your
comraderie and spirit. It was great fun!
May you always keep the inspiration of U2, the music, and your dreams
close. Dream out loud.
When do they tour again? ....... ;-)
Cheers!
Signing off for now...
Karen