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Posted from Mexico City, Mexico at 1:22 AM local timeBradley Meets Bono!Among the biggest U2 fans on the planet is a nine-year-old friend named Bradley (otherwise known simply as "B"). He can mouth the words to nearly every song the band has ever written and generally knows their durations down to the second. When it was discovered that U2 would be playing in Mexico at the same time I'd be studying Spanish in the country, Bradley's mother Molly and mutual friend Pat decided to make the trip south for the concert. It seemed a great way to celebrate B's birthday - and would give him a taste of Mexican culture as well. Despite the fact that tickets to the two Mexico City concerts sold out in several hours, we (thanks to Pat's membership in the U2 fan club) managed to reserve four tickets and began planning for a brief Mexico City excursion. To celebrate Halloween last year, B's Aunt Karen, Uncle Gordon, and friend Steve created the ultimate "rock star" costume. Covering pants and jacket with eight cans (!) of rubberized spray-paint and hundreds of shiny sequins, they transformed Bradley into a miniature Bono. With U2 emblazoned in small letters on the front of the jacket and giant block letters on the back, there was no mistaking his loyalties. The costume was a miniature version of the one Bono wore in the Pop tour a few years back. So of course we figured B should bring it to Mexico for the concert. When I saw him before leaving Seattle myself, I joked that if he wore his Bono getup, he just might have a shot at getting spotted and meeting someone in the band. Little did I know... After wrapping up my morning Spanish class in Puebla last Wednesday, I hopped on a bus and headed to Mexico City. While my lengthy excursions and limited budget generally keep me in hostels and guest houses with names such as "OK Posada" and "Casa Limpia" ("Clean House" - which was false advertising if you ask me), Pat was in charge of reservations for the four days we'd be together in Mexico City. Accommodations would be rather upscale (i.e., safe, clean, and perhaps including complementary toilet paper and hotel towels). She'd flubbed the first reservation (or perhaps it was the hotel's fault - somehow the dates had been confused) and had to settle on another option near the west end of Mexico City's grandest boulevard, Paseo de la Reforma. The location wasn't as convenient as her first choice, but it worked out in our favor. Just across Reforma was the Four Seasons - temporary home, it turned out, to Bono and company. So after a comfortable ride on the bus from Puebla, I navigated the metro to Chapultepec and met my friends at their hotel. Of course, by 4:00 that afternoon, the three of them had been together for some time - and as any seasoned traveler knows, long flights and the stresses of travel can make even best friends prickly. Molly and Pat were, let's say, giving each other a little space. When I arrived, Molly and B headed out for a quick snack while I caught up with Pat. Molly had been tipped off that the band was staying in the hotel across the street (she has a way of obtaining such information), so she and Bradley opted to visit the Four Seasons for food. B, naturally, was decked out in his Bono duds. Molly and B mingled with a group of people waiting outside the lobby. She described it as a small and relaxed group (which wouldn't be the case the next day, as word of the band's location apparently spread). Chatting for a few minutes with someone who knew U2's manager, Molly waited with her son until - you guessed it - Bono and the band's drummer, Larry Mullen, walked out. Somehow, little B was pushed out into the open and approached his favorite star. Bono paused, looked at his young fan's getup, and stated succinctly, "Nice costume." (Bradley may never be the same.) After getting autographs from Bono and Larry, Molly and B rushed back to our hotel to meet up with Pat and me. Little B was, to say the least, ecstatic. He called his father, grandmother, and of course - Aunt Karen - to share the exciting news. Here's a shot of B posing with his autographs. Seen better in this enlargement, Bono included a self-portrait with his signature. Bradley indeed hit the jackpot. Autographs secured away in the hotel safe, we headed out to the concert. With a seating capacity of nearly 115,000 people, Mexico City's Estadio Azteca is among the largest stadiums in the world. While the trip had already been made for Bradley, I was still looking forward to seeing the band in this mammoth open-air stadium. While I have been to dozens of concerts in recent years, I had never seen U2 live. (U2's Joshua Tree was, along with Journey's Raised on Radio, among the very first albums I owned as a kid.) We arrived at the stadium and split up since Pat and I hadn't eaten. After downing a half-dozen taquitos from a busy taco stand - definitely different from concert fare back home in the States - we entered the stadium and quickly discovered that our "reserved seats" weren't in fact reserved. It was open seating, and while we were guaranteed seats, the section/seat numbers we'd been given were used merely for tracking purposes. A stadium worker (I hesitate to use the word "usher" - they seemed to be lacking throughout) explained that people had been camped out in the best seats for hours. Worse than our poor prospects of finding great seats was the improbable likelihood of reconnecting with Molly and Bradley. If the lights went down before we could find 'em, we might never reconnect. Pat claimed seats while I set out to find the others. Fortunately, within minutes I spotted Molly a section or two away. We settled in for the concert, with Bradley receiving plenty of attention from the fans around us. (His costume, once again, was a hit.) The concert itself lived up to my expectations. While we were planted some distance from the stage, the setting was still amazing. The crisp Mexico City night was alive with the buzz of fans. Amidst an array of lights and thousands of popping flash bulbs, the band opened appropriately with "City of Blinding Lights" and worked its way through hits from albums present and past. Unlike many upstart bands, often lacking the number of hits required to plow through a two-hour concert, U2 has been around for decades. They have enough quality (and well-known) material to keep a crowd engaged for several hours. We fans were so fervent in our requests for more that we forced a real (i.e., second) encore. For those not in the know, U2 - particularly lead singer Bono - is a bit unusual in the music world. U2 is bold about sharing political messages. Bono was named Time's "Person of the Year" in 2005, along with Bill and Melinda Gates. He lobbies politicians, runs a foundation working to alleviate poverty in Africa, and works to spread a message of cooperation among the world's nations and people. Though not without his critics - the line between inspiring dreamer and Pollyanna being generally hazy - Bono is working to impact the world in a positive fashion. He is occasionally lumped in with other movie and music superstars pushing political agendas, but Bono is a little different. He diligently explores the issues and often speaks with as much knowledge as an elected politician. In addition, his words and actions generally coincide. His alliance with the Gates Foundation has been innovative and seemingly effective, though long-term impacts obviously remain to be seen. Watching the Mexico City concert last week, I marveled a bit at the effect this Irish rock star had on the (mostly) Mexican audience. Like it or not, the ideas and feelings of our youngest generations are more likely shaped by the Office of Popular Culture than the Vatican or White House. Bono is not unique in shouting out messages of unity and peace during concerts - but his ability to do so without seeming hollow or self-serving is refreshing. Sprinkling in a few Spanish phrases and breaking into a rendition of folk song "Cielito Lindo", he easily connected with the 80,000 Mexicans in attendance. When it came time for the "political" messages - some of them tailored for Mexico, others with universal appeal (e.g., the word COEXISTA displayed on the giant screen during "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" - the "C" replaced by Islam's crescent moon, "X" by the Star of David, and "T" by a cross) - the crowd alternated between applause and quiet reflection. As usual, the band connected and likely made people think. Following that initial evening of U2 fun, we managed to give Bradley a brief introduction to Mexico City. We wandered the city's Centro Histórico and visited several museums and parks. It turns out B has an eye for art. His fascination with Rodin's The Thinker and this Diego Rivera mural surprised me. (Much more on the art of Rivera to come in a future slideshow - in this mural, that's Frida Kahlo next to the Caterina skeleton; Diego, as a youngster, stands in front of her; Benito Juárez and several other famous figures are also in the mix.) While we had little time for exploration further afield, we did make a quick trip to Teotihuacán. Here's young Bono atop the Pirámide del Sol (with the Pirámide de la Luna in the background). Still, more than anything else, what B will surely remember about his first visit to Mexico was his brief encounter with Bono. Bradley, it was fun traveling with ya, buddy. Don't even think about selling that autograph!
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