Unforgettable Fire Leg 4: 1985, North America

Winnipeg.  Rehearsal day.

I came into the theatre early as I’d been asked if I’d do an interview with the documentary crew, which I was happy to do. On arrival, I noticed that the line of U2 fans outside the stage door seemed unusually large for that time of day and that many of them seemed… well, a tad atypical in their appearance.  And they were carrying placards.  It seems we were being picketed by a local union for what crimes I know not. They let me in without incident however (the accent usually helps) and I plunged into the darkness of the theatre for another day.

It was another long one and we emerged at the end of it not entirely resolved on the whole plan.  A power outage during the day threw us for a loop and we’re all a bit tired and cranky but we found our inner professionalism and just kept plugging away until we got a result.  We certainly have a strategy for the Glastonbury festival set but I suspect that with the details the boat hasn’t quite stopped rocking yet.

Despite the lateness of the hour a group of us headed out to dinner, which evolved into taking over half of a restaurant in town. The Fray guys were there with their team, so it turned into quite a party.  By 2am the speeches had started (it always ends in speeches) and a good time was had by all.  It was fun & very welcome after an intense few weeks.  I slipped away at 3am and was by no means the last man out of the door.