Vince Meets Bono!

After seeing a couple of my Facebook updates earlier this month, as well as Vince's one-liner on Twitter and FB update pertaining to him meeting Bono after their concert three weeks ago, we've received more e-mails, FB direct messages, and calls than we can respond adequately to asking about the specifics and how it came about. Ideally, we've wanted to respond on an individual basis and have succeeded with some family and friends, and Vince has felt kinda "funny" about putting this "out there" on a blog but this seems to be the best means to answer everyone's questions in the timeliest manner. So this post will give more detail and the background to this meeting for those interested.

Those of you that know Vince even a little, know that he is a true, lifelong fan of U2. The band, their music, and their message have inspired and entertained him since childhood. If you have followed this blog for a while, you know that a large group of long-time friends of Vince gave him a great ticket not far from the stage at the U2 concert in Atlanta that was a couple of weeks ago on Oct. 6. [If interested, see Wed. April 22 post for backstory on the ticket and letter he received.]

When Vince started using Twitter, he began following each of the U2 members and was able to connect with them on Facebook as well. Bono's Twitter account is set up where followers have to be approved before they can follow Bono's updates. Vince was surprised to discover that he only keeps under 3,000 followers when many other journalists and "famous" types have upwards of 18-thousand plus! Well, a few days later Bono's account approves Vince as a follower - hence, the connection begins that we never would have dreamed would evolve into the events of the past few weeks.

A little over a week before the concert, Vince had a couple of unique packages arrive in the mail a few days apart. Under the cover of their birth name initials, in the first package Bono and Edge sent him the newest version of the 160 GB iPod and with it was a note that said, "Humbling that our music has reached into your life over the years, Vince. We are aware of you from a friend of ours and from the Twitterverse. Keep dreaming out loud in your pursuit of multiplying God's love & Kingdom! Don't let anyone grind you down, friend. Please accept this with the heart-felt appreciation in which it is given. Thanks for coming to our gig in ATL in a few days-God keep you always going for the horizon!"

If you are like us, we were skeptical that they really sent him this because after all, we are talking about Bono & Edge having a nice gift and personal message sent to Vince and how does that even happen?!? Vince's initial reaction was that this some kind of major "leg-pulling" effort... from someone with some disposable income! Vince really couldn't believe it actually came from "them." Well, turns out they did indeed send this to Vince as Bono confirmed it when he met him after the concert. Apparently, one of the people who was in on the ticket for Vince also has connections that enabled them to let Bono and Edge know about Vince and his appreciation and admiration for them. They subsequently read up on Vince through his Twitter and Facebook profiles and wanted to do something to encourage Vince.

Then, a few days before the concert, he received another package full of unworn, vintage t-shirts with a short note saying, "Some of your favorites are also ours. Enjoy!" Just one of them was a U2 shirt from their 1984 "Unforgettable Fire" tour, and the rest of them included Johnny Cash, The Beatles, The Police, Coldplay, and Tom Petty.

Then, Vince went to the concert which he thought was their best... Once the show ended, one of the band's assistants came to the area where he was seated, asked for him, Vince identified himself, the man checked his I.D. then told him that somebody wanted to say hello to him as he was going to pass through a blocked off breezeway on his way out of the venue. Vince followed him to the area, and a few minutes later come two bodyguards, Bono, and two of his handlers.

He spent a few minutes with Vince before heading to a midnight meeting with a local official across the street and told Vince that he is glad to meet him not simply as a long-time listener of his music, but someone working towards a greater purpose no matter what life is throwing his way. He told Vince he first learned of him from a mutual friend, had checked up on him through Twitter and his Facebook profile, and was glad to have the chance to encourage him because its apparent he genuinely cares about making a difference in the world by loving people and having an impact in expanding the Kingdom beyond his little bubble of the earth ... that it is rare to encounter people at Vince's stage of life who 'get it' in terms of what really matters in life no matter if we're filthy rich or dog-poor and being committed to what really matters over getting caught up in climbing the corporate ladder. He also said that as much as the band members themselves like the song, they had considered replacing "Moment of Surrender" to end the shows on this tour because it is still a somewhat obscure and less recognizable song to average fans, but after seeing and hearing comments from various people on how impactful the song is on them, including mentions Vince had posted on his Twitter and Facebook pages, they decided to keep going with it and even "put it out there more" in other settings like them performing it on SNL last month.

Before this picture was taken by his manager on Vince's BlackBerry, Bono told Vince he holds up the peace sign in photos quite often. He told Vince when he happens upon this photo in the future, for the peace sign to remind him of the message in a song on their last record, "Love and Peace or Else." The premise to the song is about being perplexed and dismayed in our lives when distractions, and sometimes torpedoes, come in to torment and break us down, to ask for "love and peace" again in our spirit so we can push through and overcome.

This was truly a once in a lifetime experience!