Sundance Film Festival 2008
January 20th, 2008
Bono & The Edge: U2 3D
Benjamin Wagner: What do you notice in yourselves and each other in 3D that you didn’t before?
The Edge: I was struck by the separateness really yunno we’re up there quite individual and quite separate something about the 3D the depth of field you really feel that
Bono: Are you saying you felt lonely up there, The Edge?
The Edge: Nah, I felt lonely for Larry.
Bono: He likes being by himself.
The Edge: I was moved.
Bono: Did you go and bring him a bottle of water?
The Edge: I would go visit him.
BW: I’m surprised to hear you say that. I was struck by your proximity. And by your smiles. There’s a lot of joy up there that I don’t see from the nosebleeds.
Bono: You gotta get better seats from MTV. You deserve better seats.
The Edge: Definitely.
BW: So why 3D? And why now?
The Edge: Well because the technology is only become available now. 3D is just about gone digital and that means you can use high definition cameras that are that size instead of film cameras that are that size. So you could actually do it for the first time. And as all our people will tell you, we always ask the same question when we’re thinking of something to do and its, “What has never been done?” And this was another thing that’s never been done. So we were immediately up for it.
Bono: Also U2 tickets are a bit expensive. And hopefully this’ll be a cheaper ticket. I’m just thinking people who are going to high school or going to college and don’t have the cash. We fight to have the tickets that are reasonably priced, at least 50-60% of them, but you know how it goes; tickets get sold and so on, and there’s not enough of them. So my hope for people who are thinking, “Well, I’m kind of into that band,” is that they’ll give us a shot and see what we’ve got.
BW: So you’ve reteamed with Joshua Tree co-producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno again. What do you guys have up your sleeve for the next record?
Bono: A reason to be still here is the only reason to play for now. If U2 doesn’t make a truly great rock ‘n roll album, somebody should come after us.
The Edge: Danny’s playing a lot of banjo on this one. Banjo! He won’t give it up.
Bono: Are you taking banjo lessons behind my back?
The Edge: The didjereedoo as well.
BW: He recently said he’s been listening to a lot of Jimmi Hendrix with you guys.
The Edge: When we’re with Brian and Danny it’s such a thrill because we have a very special rapport, and they bring out the best in us. And one of the fun things to do is to listen to other people’s music. And we all have our particular bent. Like we’re going to be playing them some new stuff they’ve probably never heard. But Danny is always going to play us something that we may have heard, but maybe haven’t fully appreciated. He’s always got a different thing for us.
Bono: Daniel Lanois in a certain sense is about the ancient. And Brian Eno is about the modern, the future, the things that haven’t happened. And where they join, where somethign feels like it’s always existed but you’ve never heard before? That’s what those two seem to bring out in us. Daniel Lanois has this tradition and respect for folk music and respect for black music and gospel and blues. And brian is still trying to make music for if the band had formed on Venus. Somewhere between that is our next album.
BW: Well, I for one can’t wait.
Bono: Thanks.
BW: Thank you.
Sundance 2008: Faraway (So Close)
There was nothing between The Edge, Bono and me except Jerry Penacoli.
Incidentally, the Xtra correspondent is not a small man. I’m gonna’ wager 6′ 4″, 225. Nor was he very happy with me at the moment.
The “U23D” red carpet was the single most crowded press line I’ve seen in the last four years of an ever-escalating Sundance Film Festival. And not surprisingly: The World’s Best Band was running it through. This place (heck, this planet) craves celebrity, but this was something else. It was the most-talked about event of the weekend. The paparazzi and television crews were stacked four deep, all jostling and jockeying for position.
Mr. Penacoli spied my mic flag (aka The MTV News Cube), then expressed his displeasure with our proximity to his operation.
“I don’t mean to be a dick,” he said (often an indication to the contrary), “but this just isn’t going to work.”
U2’s publicist, sensing the potential conflagration, bumped WireImage, then placed us fourth in the queue: CNN, E!, Xtra, and me.
Take that, Mr. PM Philadelphia! (Afterwards, when he cordially apologized, I had to resist saying, “I grew up watching you!” instead opting for “No problem; I’m a big fan.”)
Bono and The Edge stepped in front of me. I reintroduced myself to Edge (I’m sure he distinctly recalls the scintillating conversation we shared here in 2006), then shook Bono’s hand.
The proceeding four minutes did, in fact, unfold in some sort of strange, slow motion time warp. I managed to string together a few cohesive questions about the film, stammering through just one fumbled inquiry about the band’s bold stage graphics. Bono and The Edge, though, were unflappable. They offered their sound bites in numerous flavors, sometimes answering the question they knew I meant to ask. They were silly but evasive, substantive but broad, faraway but so close.
The most meaningful exchange, I think, came when I asked them about comments their producers, Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, had made regarding their forthcoming album.
“Danny is really something of an ancient,” Bono said, launching into an awesome explanation of the virtues of both collaborators.
I felt the corners of my mouth slip into a smile, and — triggered, I think, by his choice of the word “ancients,” and all of the semiotic associations it connotes — thought about the conversation I’d really like to be having with him: God, life, music, meaning. Cameras, microphones, publicists, paparazzi and bodyguards were swirling on the edge of my vision. I stared though his purple Lennon glasses, deep into his gray eyes, and thought to myself, “This man has brought you immeasurable peace and joy.” For a moment, it dawned on me that I was talking with my hero, and the moment was slipping away.
Now, I’ve had the good fortune and luck to interview a fair share of my heroes. Michael Stipe, Aimee Mann, Cameron Crowe, Douglas Coupland. And now Bono and The Edge.
Red carpets, press junkets and even the increasingly rare sit-down interview are really just simple transactions. There is no time for life, truth or beauty. There is no time to connect. We’re not friends. We’re simply executing the business at hand: a new album, a new movie, or a new book.
When I was younger, I promised myself that my heroes would know me as a peer and a contemporary. I would sing with Michael, diagram sentences with Douglas, and talk film with Cameron.
Moments like these, then — no matter how magical — beg the same questions. Who am I? What do I do? What am I here for? Because I’m pretty sure God didn’t put me on this Earth to be a media executive.
Before the flashbulb frenzy of the band’s arrival, the film’s producers walked the carpet. Years ago, I had dinner with one of them, Peter Shapiro, who’s wife, Rebecca, was best friends with an ex-girlfriend of mine. He spotted me tonight and walked over.
“Benjamin Wagner,” I said. “I used to date Gigi.”
“Right!” he replied. “The musician!”
In some ways, Peter’s choice of words was the highlight of my night.
