Italians have great taste in music

They love U2! (And Bruce, apparently)

Imagine my surprise. I land in Italy with my U2 iPod poised for action. Suddenly, for no reason, it gets culture shock and won't play a single U2 song of the 418 that are loaded on that iPod. I was left with Bruce Springsteen and Sting (I have limited musical taste). And while those heavy hitters do satisfy, there is something about U2 in Europe that feels like the right choice, the right mood, tone, something. I was devastated. I wouldn't get to jog to "City of Blinding Lights" like I'd imagined it.

I feared the U2 DTs might endanger my joy in the trip...

How wrong I was! There is no escape from U2 in Italy. Italians are insane for this band.

Early in the trip, my son and I were walking on the "passagiatta" (the big boardwalk in Viareggio where locals promenade every evening) when he spotted a great little music store. As we entered the shop, what did we see? A huge tile cemented into the floor across the threshhold: U2 1990-2000 Greatest Hits (with the buffalos and everything). Right there! I knew these people were my kind of Italians.

We looked at the U2 selection of CDs and found that this shop had it all and more. In fact, there were all kinds of Live Concert CDs I had never seen before including a recording of the most recent Chicago show (three nights after I saw them in Chicago). Godfather Records... maybe. The recording is from the audience side so the quality isn't great. But hey! It's the concert and it rocks!

Everywhere we went (supermarkets, train stations, trips in the car with the radio) we heard U2 playing. I saw pictures of Bono and the boys too. And MTV in Italy played their music videos constantly.

At the end of our trip, sick of pizza and stuffed with pasta, we entered the "Italian food free-zone" called the Hard Rock Cafe (in Rome) kissing the ground as we entered - hamburgers! free refills on Coke! Heinz ketchup! waiters and menus in English! And what did my ears hear but the sweet strains of U2 filling the room! First rock video on the big screens all over the place. I melted.

HRC played U2 twice (and Bruce and Sting back to back as well - it was a night made for me). The Hard Rock Cafe has an illustrious history. It all began in London when two Americans created such a cool cafe that Eric Clapton asked them to hold him a special seat every time he came. In return, they asked him for a guitar. He handed it over to them and they mounted it on the wall.

The next week, another guitar arrived... from Pete Townsend. He included a note that said: "Mine is just as good as his." And so was born an international rock museum with 140 locations. Rock paraphenalia has been streaming in ever since.

Well guess what they have in Rome?

As we left, I noticed a glass case holding the following:



Yes, those are the famous Zoo TV flyglasses. I knelt, kissed the ground and shouted "Woo-hoo!"

As I stood, I noticed that right below this spectacular case, the Boss had created a special edition T-shirt with his signature and the all-important HRC logo (and Rome) on the back... Yes Bruce and Bono together in the HRC creating beautiful music. (I bought the T-shirt, naturally. Store clerks stopped me from prying the glasses out of the case and off the wall... those Italians are so irrational!)

On the back wall, Bono's visage acted as wallpaper, larger than life, with a mirror ball flashing squares of red across his face.

::Sigh::

We made our purchases as Bono crooned "Walk On." And we exited as the Boss reminded us that we were "Born to Run."

So today I heard that U2 plans to video tape one of their Italy concerts (they'll be in Rome on Saturday night...) because Italians are such fanatics for the band. But of course. I already knew that.

U2 will record footage for a live DVD in Italy this evening, after the band decided the fans there were amongst their most fanatical.

The Irish rock heroes, who have been on their "Vertigo" world tour since March, filmed two shows at the Chicago United Center earlier this year.

Now they have confirmed that tonight's gig at the San Siro in Milan will also be shot, presumably to be cut with the other footage for a future live release.

Director Hamish Hamilton, who filmed U2's shows at Slane Castle on their "Elevation" world tour, will again be behind the lens for tonight's concert, alongside long-term video producer Ned O'Hanlon.

O'Hanlon told U2.com: "The San Siro is an incredible place; it's just so dramatic from a filming point of view.

"One of the main reasons for coming to Milan is the Italian audience. Italian U2 fans are among the noisiest and most passionate U2 fans anywhere in the world."

He concluded: "We're expecting that they'll lift the roof of the stadium tonight!"

(c) Dotmusic, 2005.

We packed our bags our last night in Rome with MTV blaring in the background... You guessed it. They were playing a U2 video marathon.

Italy was great.

P.S. The Roman gods joined us for the trip home. My iPod suddenly recovered and I was able to access all my U2 for the return flight... Jet lag never sounded so good.