Fact #63494

Andy Phillips (photographer) : They had arrived in London with a number of gigs booked, but their manager, Paul McGuinness, made sure that everybody knew they were available if any more gigs came up. U2 were on standby the whole time. McGuinness had the sense to put them in a house in Orme Square. What that meant was that they were slap bang in the middle of London, from where they could hack off quickly in any direction to pick up gigs if they became available. There was one Sunday afternoon, we were all sitting around doing nothing and a call came from a booking agent, and it was a case of just getting in the van and off. Fifteen minutes later we arrive at the Marquee, the support band hadn’t turned up, and U2 just slotted in.

Steve Eagles (guitarist, The Photos) : Bono made a point of coming over during the soundcheck to thank me for letting them play. I explained to him that it wasn’t actually my decision to make. The Edge was soundchecking while we were chatting and I remember Bono describing him as “an intelligent guitarist”, which I took to be a reference to the way he used his FX pedals.

Having been very impressed by them the night before at in Hampstead, I was a bit disappointed by their performance at The Marquee. It seemed to lack the intensity of the show I’d seen the night before.
(Source : not known)