They Are The People We Were Waiting For

By
Jo D.

12 June 2021

Yesterday.

Yesterday was a weird day guys. And the sudden abundance of U2 memes popping up left and right on twitter definitely tells me it was not just me.

Yesterday was June 11, the launch of the much anticipated Euro 2020 – I mean so anticipated that they even decided to pretend a whole year didn’t exist.

For those of you who have no idea what that is – No it’s not that European singing contest won by smoldering hot italian people – but the European Football competition – No, not that football either. The real one. You know with foot. Feet. You get it.

Anyways, that’s not really what I want to write about, just stuff this in your mental general culture drawer and bear with me while I take you for a wild ride in my own mind. Warning though, it’s pretty exhausting.

Yesterday was also a much anticipated day for the whole U2 fandom because it marked the first post pandemic ‘live’ performance by Bono and The Edge. And holy bananas we were waiting for that like crazy – people that we are.

If you remember, there’s been a whole debate when that song came out – is it a good song? Is it a bad song? Is it even a song?

You know. Usual stuff that happens when fans get bored.

I, for one, love it very much (like very much)(and even a bit more than that), and as I’ve previously written, I think it’s absolutely perfect for the Euro hymn, so maybe … just maybe… My expectations were a bit high about that performance.

But yesterday was weird. And it got weirder. Let’s rewind a bit.

The first news of the day was that the performance wouldn’t be “live” per se as it was pre recorded in May – *insert kinda sad aw here*. Aw indeed. But eh, it’s fine, it’s actually more than fine because this pandemic is still happening, and even though those dudes are prob vaccinated by now, i’d rather know that they’re still staying safe. *avoid thoughts about recent italian restaurants*

Anxiety 0 – Reason 1

The second news of the day was their post on instagram, and that sweet vid of Martin getting wrestled by Bono – that kid is living the dream #lifegoals – and an even sweeter message from Bono and Edge. Well at least til I read this sentence “though we’re very sure we’re not the people anybody’s waiting for”.

Alright. Let’s pause here for a second. And think. THINK HARD HALF-OF-U2.

That might have sent me into a little fit of colorful ranting about shutting the hell up, everything THEY know is wrong and slight urge to kick some rockstars arses. How could they ever think that? HOW COULD THEY? OF COURSE THEY ARE THE PEOPLE WE’RE ALWAYS WAITING FOR – that’s usually when my family sneakily takes off all the U2 frames on the walls to make sure I calm down, because a U2 fan angry at her band is never a good sight.

HA !

Ha…

Wait a minute.

Brain activated.

That’s not for us. That’s a general statement about the Euro thing. It’s about football. Footballers. Okay, okay fine, it makes sense now – even though Larry doesn’t seem to be too shabby at it.

You can put back my U2 frames now, crisis averted.

Anxiety 1…

*Reason counterattack*

Anxiety 0 – Reason 1

The third news of the day wasn’t really a news, it was just me overthinking about details in the course of a conversation about the teaser released the day before. I was a bit suspicious about the fact that Bono didn’t appear in it. And I literally said it :

I knooooooooow! Plus they didn’t included Bono in the teaser and now I’m anxious he’s gonna be some weird hologram again 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Sd7zgSVcCG

— Jo D. (@madfl3a) June 11, 2021

There. Blame me. I jinxed the whole thing.

Anxiety 10000 – no. NO. Come on now. They wouldn’t go for this again after the 2018 Blue Bonogram debacle would they? Of course they wouldn’t. Right?

RIGHT BONO?

*Sigh*

Anxiety wavering 0 – Reason 1 …. No. Yes. Definite 1.

The rest of the day went undisturbed, other than my rising excitement and that feeling of anticipation we know so well – even though they wouldn’t be there, they wouldn’t be there (and spoiler alert : they weren’t there). Crazy U2 fans getting all happy over the non presence of certain rockstars. Ha.

I don’t watch much TV – Sorry 90s Bono – so I had to plug everything back just for this very moment, being much less #EuroHyped than #BAEHyped. TV ready, Beer ready, and the moment came….

Now… Before I go any further, please hold my fan card for a minute, because I’m probably gonna sound like one of those terrible whiny bitchy fans in those next lines – and sorry but no, those former lines don’t count, I overcame all those thoughts ! – so yeah, hold it. Don’t crush it just yet, I want it back.

First of all, I want to stress the fact that this video looks STUNNING. The technology used is just mind blowing and seriously the overall result is absolutely beautiful. A perfect message of hope for the football community and that month ahead of us.

Martin looked like he was having the time of his life – and he’s pretty darn cute for a DJ oi – and Edge.

Ha.

Edgiiiiie.

He was #EuroHyped alright, bouncing around like a happy bunny with that bright smile on his face. That truly made me happy to see that his legs seem as restless as ours and I’m pretty sure we’re not the only ones missing live events when I see that. I mean, he even did his little 360 signature jump. Ha. Love it. Love him. Love Martin for bringing them in. Love being a fan. Love music. Love….

Wait. We’re missing something right? Ugh.

Let’s go back step by step then. Again, my mind is exhausting.

*Video starts*

OMG OMG OMG LET’S GOOOOOO

*bounce bounce bounce*

Woooow this looks amazing! The stadium looks so real!

Who are these people?

Darn that’s a nice logo. Would make a great tattoo.

HI EDGIE.

HI MARTIN.

…Okay, where’s Bono?

Anxiety +10

I’m so HYPED

But seriously where’s Bono?

Anxiety +20

Oooooh, voice over. Smart.

Sing B! SING!

*dances around a bit*

Haha Edgie is so happy. I love him.

Right. Bono? When are you showing up?

Anxiety +50

*Sing along badly*

WE ARE THE PEOPLE WE’VE….

*ice bucket challenge memories resurfacing*

*blank stare at TV*

They didn’t…. THEY DIDN’T. WHY?!

*Massive Bono head floating on screen*

ANXIETY +100000

THE BONOGRAM IS BACK AND I HATE WHEN I’M RIGHT

*Jump on twitter to see reactions*

C’mon C’mon… COME ON.

*starts humming Bad softly*

Desperation….

*keep an eye on TV in case Bono rematerialise to 3D state*

And…

Nope.

The end.

*Takes down U2 frames around the house*

Now I won’t lie. “What the actual fck was that” was my very first reaction.

Well “That was CRAZY good but WHAT THE ACTUAL FCK WAS THAT” is probably more accurate. I felt so very conflicted when I finished watching this performance. Part of me felt like screaming WHY into the void for the rest of eternity, and part of me felt so mad at myself for feeling disappointed. Because eh, that was Bono and Edge right there, performing, nailing it musically in that beautifully gorgeous atmosphere. And that never disappoints. So why was I so bummed about it? And suddenly all I felt like was screaming WHY at myself – thank you stupid anxiety.

I don’t fare well with conflict, and yes, even with the ones happening in my head with people who are not even aware of my insignificant existence. And those close to me know that I can get very mad at this band sometimes but that it also never lasts very long. So I had to figure it out. I wasn’t gonna let that weird day win over me. Them. Us.

Not even you… man?

Now let me tell you something. There’s a LOT of talk about that hologram floating head on social medias, even now 24 hours later.

But do you know who talks about that?

Do you know who is complaining about that performance ?

Us.

U2 Fans.

(And obviously the Bono haters gang but eh at least they’ll maybe shut up about SOI still being on their phones because duh stupid people)

Damn guys, I swear, the rest of the world is perfectly okay with it, and I even had texts from friends who are no U2 fans at all telling me that they thought it was brilliant. So what the hell is happening to us folks?

I’ll tell you what happened guys.

A fckin pandemic, that’s what happened. And I truly believe that we were SO excited about seeing those two lads perform again, and expecting SO much from it that we forgot the whole goal.

That wasn’t U2 performing. That was Martin Garrix Feat Bono and Edge. That was the Euro opening ceremony. That was NOT our big post pandemic reunion with the band of our lives. We just weren’t the targeted audience and we totally forgot about that. And maybe we’re just spoilt brats on that matter, because those guys always give us 100% of themselves when it comes to our fandom and that’s probably what we were expecting last night. Not just 10% of our hero’s body. But he was still “there”, kinda, doing what he does best aka singing his heart out so… why did that holobono bothered us so much? Are we such bad fans?

You had one job, Edgie.

Nah. I think not. I think we’re just only human.

We miss those dudes. Especially after such a rough couple of years we’ve all had, and I guess it feels good to actually see them, know that they’re okay – it’s just… comforting. And we haven’t had that many opportunities to see them so… Yeah. It would have been nice to see a full bodied Bono.

And if I have to take this even further, and obviously I will because I don’t go for half measures *AHEM* – we’ve just spent a year and a half seeing our family, our friends, and pretty much every other human being we care about in that format. A head bobbing on a Zoom window. So yeah, maybe that’s just a very 2021 human feeling to want to see someone from head to toes y’know. Ha. Maybe I’m just saying a lot of shite again…

The other thing that bothered me about the whole hologram thing is that this technology in the musical world is so very anchored with… deceased artists. And dammit UEFA, Paul might be dead but Sir Fckin Bono is very much alive – and praise the Holo Head we just had confirmation of that a few days earlier.

So I don’t know if the rest of you had that thought in the back of your mind, but all I know is that the words that came up the most yesterday were “Tad Bit Creepy”. And it kinda was. And I get the whole light imagery and all but… I personally don’t like it. Stop hologramming living breathing people. That’s all. Don’t send us to that place. That’s just not cool.

For real. No.

I’ve rewatched the video a few times since last night, just watching it as it actually is, the Euro Hymn. And frankly… It’s effing brilliant. And I’ll say it again, it looks amazing and the message it carries is absolutely on point.

I still feel sorry that it didn’t fully work for the U2 fans but eh… We love you B. We’re just silly crazy complicated little humans who love you dearly and that’s probably exactly why we reacted this way. And I’m also sorry about the million jokes we might think of at your expense for the weeks to come – I swear, there is a light will never sound the same ever again – but it’s just our (hopefully harmless) way to cope with the fact that we miss the band of our lives, and to patiently wait to meet you down the road some time soon.