Larry and I were installing the credenza- the studio control room centerpiece with the patch bay spot and the cabinets for the fixed gear (which I had just lacquered the hell out of in my stepmom's garage while I was painting her place)- when Jerry came in and said "Bono is coming by to pick me up and take me over to Sean Penn's."
"Bullshit" was what came out of my mouth.
Ten minutes later, a limo pulled up to the front of the Toe and in walked Bono, with his freaking blue sunglasses and his leather jacket, looking like he had just gotten offstage.
Larry's jaw pretty much dropped to the floor.
"Hey man, nice to meet you…. check out the new credenza we just popped in" was what somehow came out of my own mouth. After he admired that for about 3 seconds, I then heard myself saying "we just redid the bathroom, wanna check it out?"
We gave Bono the tour of Jerry's little studio, which hadn't even seen one session yet; and then they were out the door.
As they were getting into the limo, I said "hey, have a good gig tonight". U2 was playing at the Oakland Coliseum, and No Doubt was opening up.
"Would you like to go?" asked Bono, coming back towards the door where Larry was still standing in silence with me.
"Hmmmm, I dunno……. I've got a gig myself tonight"- my band Jimmy 2 Times was playing a long-since-gone place called iMusicast in Oakland, funny enough-……. "but maybe I can swing by after I'm done; I will be in the vicinity, after all..."
He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the name and number of his personal assistant and told me to call her and she would arrange things. Larry asked if he could bring his future wife, Avi.
Then, they were off.
I played my gig that night, and decided maybe it would be a cool thing to go to see U2; Sasha and I were kind of "in limbo" at that point after about 5 years of being together (that's a whole other story) and I thought that she might be going to the gig anyway as her friend's aunt had married the drummer of No Doubt, but I wasn't sure. So, after our gig, I told our singer Dan Baker that he was coming with me and we were going to see U2, as guests of Bono. Of course he didn't believe me. Why should he?
We went to the Coliseum, called the assistant, and she told us to meet her at the tunnel entrance at the rear of the venue in the parking lot. After a few minutes, this woman comes out swinging a couple of laminates and finds me and Dan and said to follow her.
She led us down the tunnel, through the rear of the Coliseum past locker rooms and machine rooms and loading docks, under the stage and basically right out onto the floor while No Doubt was playing right above us……… and straight to a "VIP" area…… and who did I see there? Sasha and her friend Rebecca! She was watching the show there, along with Jerry and his wife Carol, and some other people we knew.
Needless to say, I felt pretty VIP. The show was good, and of course Dan and I opted out of going backstage and doing the band/fan thing and instead ended up hanging with the ladies after the show at some restaurant in SF- and having a way better time than I would have if………. I had told Bono, "No, but thanks anyway, man…"