I Can See Those Fighter Planes

The latest U2 news this week is that the band is in Vancouver for rehearsals, as it was confirmed that U2 rented out the Coliseum venue for a full month for tour rehearsals. What’s not confirmed is whether the video of the Coliseum door that is circulating around social media, with grainy audio of “Volcano,” “California” and other songs faintly emitting through, is really U2 playing them live — or as some have speculated, just audio recordings of the songs designed for sound testing before the real rehearsals begin. For all we know, the band could be getting massages and facials (you know Adam’s getting his facials) this week, and starting rehearsals next week. Anything’s possible, though.

Here’s what I do know: We’re supposed to be a family! There’s been a bit of infighting in the U2 community in the past week, and over some pretty silly stuff. The social media disputes include:

The legitimacy of the #U2Request movement: Was it worth it, should it be likened unto “complaining” about the setlist and should it go on until the tour? My answers are yes, NO and yes. It’s a fun U2 fan community movement, and we’ve waited for four years so we deserve it. In my book, anything that brings U2 fans together is a good thing (and that includes the public caning of Sharon Osborne proposed here).

Who’s not a big enough fan: Okay, now I’m guilty of this one. I’m always complaining, as you will see if you read some of my past entries, that there are too many fake U2 fans attending shows. But let’s make a distinction here: There are fake fans who go to the shows because they think of U2 the way most people think of the Rolling Stones (PS, in 10 years the Red Hot Chili Peppers will assume that mantle, and 10 years after that, Foofighters) – and then, there are real U2 fans who just didn’t like NLOTH and didn’t listen to it all that much. I disagree with them, but still respect them if they cared about U2 enough to give SOI a chance.

Who’s too big of a fan: Now this one really eludes me. Right now, someone in my circle of U2 friends is being accused of “stalking” the band simply because she has the means to attend shows in multiple cities on every tour and has met the band. Personally, I’m pretty jealous – and I think anyone being rude about another fan’s great opportunities is even more jealous. Many of us are near-secretive about the extent of our devotion to U2 in our personal lives because we fear being criticized by people who think we’re “obsessed”; I wrote about my own experience with that here. We don’t need to get that same negative feedback from fellow fans! Come on now…we get to carry each other.

Am I buggin’ you? I dont’ mean to bug ya.