Amanda Brunker on U2

“Bono went to the same church as us in Finglas, and the same school as my older brother and sister. When his mother died, my parents would occasionally bring him to school. I can remember him being around the house – the bad hair, the winkle-pickers, and the racket emanating from my brother’s room when they’d bring the guitars up and make an awful noise."
"I remember shortly after October came out, Bono pulled up outside in his Fiat Bambino – the tiniest white rustbucket, held together with sticky tape. I guess the money wasn’t quite coming in yet! He said, ‘I have a gift for you’, and gave me an album, a t-shirt, a mug, a poster... I was about 7 or 8, and just thought my brother’s friend was full of it. I promptly threw most of it in the bin, which I regret now, but he was just my brother’s mate – he wasn’t important!"
“If I’m honest, the person I had a crush on was Gavin Friday. Bono was just... there! But Gavin was the coolest thing ever, and I’d be hiding behind the curtains to see what he was wearing on a given day. It’s great to see them now, still great pals and still the same as they always were. It’s excellent that Gavin has so much input, too. There’s a lot of yes-men out there, so having one of your oldest mates as a sounding board is brilliant."
“Their team is amazing – they never fail to produce a mindblowing show. My husband is a huge fan, and he’s pulled up every YouTube clip he can find. Because of that, I feel like I already know the show, even though I haven’t seen it live! This one is going to be strange though, because so much of it is familiar to me. A few weeks ago I was at my mum’s, walking down Cedarwood Road. I took a photo of the kid putting up his Halloween decorations at No. 10 – it’ll be really odd to see that house on the big screen.”
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