I wish I was there to hear this comment in person:

""The answer to that is yes," said lead singer Bono. "This might be time to kiss some Salt Lake (butt). It is well known that Salt Lake City is a sophisticated place for music." This comment was greeted with some laughing from the audience, but the Irishman seemed sincere and continued, "There are some great radio stations here, and we will be back."

I'm going to give Bono the benefit of the doubt, believe he was sincere, and assume it was the media who were elitist, bigotted, and ignorant.

I admire Bono, and look forward to seeing the movie, and given my admiration, will even forgive him if he was mocking Salt Lake and Utah.

(Besides, one would have to be pretty classless to mock the state that is hosting the event, and I'm hoping Bono is above that.)

A few years ago, I checked the concert schedule for the obscure German band, Camouflage. It included a lot of European cities and - shocker - Salt Lake City, Utah.

There's more going on in SLC than people sometimes realize.

Why? Hard to say. Is it because the LDS church sends kids around the world on missions? Is it because we have two large Universities on the Wasatch front? Is it because we draw some many new residents from California? Or so many tourists to ski?

I was there and first of all the show was amazing and seeing U2 was great. But yes when the audience member asked the "infamous" question relating to the Beatles, Bono's response was priceless.

Bono...i love you!! Your responses are always priceless!

xox

To Anonymous:

And don't forget the once revered band (though I always throught they were dribble) "A Perfect Circle" started their tour at the E Center some years ago. My favorite metal band In Flames comes occasionally, SLC is quite respected by many bands... maybe it's our cult-like love for them! :) Either way that is definitely an aspect of Utah that few can dismiss.

when Bono commented that Salt Lake City has a sophisticated music scene but most of them must have been ignorant out of towners. Salt Lake was one of the first cities in the early 80's to have a dedicated alternative music station back when bands like U2 were just really to start what is now considered the now more mainstream alternative sound. Back then it was anything but mainstream and much larger cities didn't have such stations until years later.

U2 even played here before they became the huge band they are now in the early 80's. Apparently, they were quite political even when they were younger and weren't shy about sharing their political views. This is a rumor I heard several times years ago but they were apparently booed by the audience for expressing some of their views at that concert and vowed not to return to SLC, a promise they kept until '97 when the Popmart tour played at Rice-Eccles.

Having worked for Sony Music, I know firsthand that Salt Lake City does indeed have a reputation for being a very sophisticated city in music circles. Bands love to play here because Salt Lakers know more about music than their counterparts in many other cities in America.

It is true that U2 was booed off stage in 1983. Part of the reason was they were the opening band (it was right about the time that the album Unforgettable Fire came out). Really, before that album though, they weren't great. That album was only moderately good, but does have some of their more memorable songs on it.

They became great with the Joshua Tree, and have continued to provide great music. Although I don't agree with them politically on most things, they still provide something that is so lost with other artists today.

An urban legend if you ask me. Can it be documented? Can local papers vouch for it? Were there any headlines? What act did U2 open for? Can that band vouch for it? Can someone who was present go on record?

Did you also know that Paul McCartney is DEAD!?

People, go out and see the local music scene, and I'm not talking the cover bands. It is shockingly diverse. Some world-class stuff up here and down in Provo. I'm a musician, so I get to meet many INREDIBLE musicians as I ply my trade. Believe it, there is a "Salt Lake" sound and it's one of teh most interesting scenes in the country. Now if we could just get the locals out more. The real weakness is the lack of local enthusiasm.

Pure urban legend.

The booing is an urban legend. First it was because they opened for a band of another genre and so the crowd was anxious to get them off the stage, and now it is because of their politics. Nonsense!

Several years ago when U2 came to Utah after the significant drought (I believe it was for the POP tour), a newspaper article researched the rumor and found it to be false. I don't recall if it was the news or trib but I remember reading it as I had heard the rumor. The truth is, the additions to Rice_Eccles made it possible to seat a crowd big enough to draw them to SLC.

So it is not true; they were never booed off the stage in Utah. Amazing how easy it is for false rumors to stick around!

U2 is often touted as the biggest rock band in the world but this is incorrect. This title will only ever belong to one band, The Rolling Stones, who have outsold any band at any time and have been seen by more people than any body in the history of mankind. The Stones have always been well received in SLC and hopefully will return again some day.

Unforgettable fire was only moderately good? You obviously don't know what you're talking about. All their albums were good even from the start. Some of their first songs written were brilliant and difficult to re-create. The reason most people don't clamor over their pre-Joshua Tree albums was because they weren't played on mainstreem radio and anything that wasn't mainstream was seen as "odd" or "strange". It didn't get much play on the radio. Their first albums are better than most bands' best albums. Adam was the weak spot in the band but did end up learning how to play a very good bass.

Listen to the early stuff again before you criticize.

I look forward to U2 coming in concert. My wife introduced me to their music back in the late 80's. A side benefit of the great concerts and music is that I get to hear my wife "sing," something she will NOT do on Sundays. :)

Although Bono is passionate about his world political views, I'm able to tolerate that part of the U2 performances. Yes, the music is THAT good!

Biggest band in the world? Maybe. But, NICKLEBACK is the biggest band in the US!! (Even though they're Canadian!) Yeah!!! Haha... Yeah!!!!

The music scene here is just as good anywere else. When I want to see a jazz artist like Tierney Sutton or Dave Brubeck, I can (both of which I personally heard praising Salt Lake for their intuitive knowledge of music). When I want to hear trance or club music I can see Paul Oakenfold or Tiesto. When I want to hear rock I can hear the most prominent bands like RUSH, Van Halen, U2, 311, Rage Against the Maching, Muse, Radiohead, etc. I can also hear the up-and-comings, such as the Bravery (they were in town on Saturday).

I've looked at a lot of national and world tours, and they usually include Salt Lake along with Vegas and the other "big scenes". Those who complain just simply don't watch what goes on here and don't get out enough.

Bono's comments about the sophistication of SLC's radio audiences are spot-on, and that's due to the folks at X96 and TheEnd--some of whom are alums of KCGL, who started it all for SLC audiences back in the 1980s. More than a few bands have been shocked to learn that tunes they recorded in the 80s and considered long-since forgotten--like Freur's classic "Doot Doot"--still receive regular airplay in SLC. I travel quite a bit for work, and am usually disappointed by the poor quality of radio stations around the country relative to what we have in SLC--and for that we have people like Mike Summers, Todd "Nukem" Noker and Bruce "Biff" Raffe to thank.

Nickleback! Oh my dear. If they're the biggest band in America, we have some serious problems in the U.S....with our hearing. That band is worht about as much as their name?

I dislike entertainers who get on their soapbox as much as anyone, but Bono really is someone we can admire. From all that I've heard, he's all about helping out poor, disadvantaged countries (with debt relief, etc.), and is willing to spend a lot of his own time and money - talking to any politician who'll listen - to get it done.

There are at least one or two continents that are lucky to have him on their side.

Uh, dear DesNews, sorry, but I don't think Bono really "hailed" SLC. I LOVE Salt Lake, don't get me wrong. But to say Bono "HAILED" it is overly optimistic. "Complimented" might be a more suitable word. Thanks.

Nickleback? Really? Wow, who'da thunk it?

Nicleback isn't even in the same neighborhood as U2. The poster that implied that was either joking or has highly questionable taste in music.

As for the rumor about U2, I'm pretty sure they were the warm up band for the Alarm in that early 80's concert. The Alarm was also an alternative genre band so the poster that implied they were booed because their music was different then the band they warmed up for or was off (assuming I remember correctly). Whether the booing actually occured or not may be urban legend but the fact they even played here at all that early in their career during the beginning of the new wave/alternative speak movement speaks to the fact SLC had a thriving alternative music scene long before most major cities in the US.

This is evidenced by the fact that KCGL, a dedicated alternative station, was on the airwaves in SLC since the early 80's. The remnants of that station as an earlier poster mentioned are the current stations, 101.9 & 96.3.

U2 played in 1997 in Rice Stadium before the expansion that gave the stadium the name Rice-Eccles Stadium.

I live in NYC and never listen to the radio here because it's quite horrible in my opinion. There are no true alternative radio stations here like in Salt Lake where I grew up. Bono is correct in his statement about Utah's sophisticated music scene. Maybe you just need a large concentration of white people like you have in Utah that like 80's and alternative rock music in order to get that, lol.

When traveling in other states, my 12 year old son is always commenting on how disappointed he is in the radio stations. X-96, 101.9 ...Summers and the guys at KCGL really started something special back in the early 80's. What ever happened to Modified Music?

Urban legend that U2 was booed off of the stage is false. I was at the show in 1983 in the Salt Palace Exibition Center along with about 1500 other lucky people. U2 was the headliner and The Alarm opened for them. The people in attendance were there to see U2 and did not want them off the stage. The crowd danced and enjoyed the show, during the song "War" Bono waved the white flag and then climbed about 20 feet to the top of the speaker stack. I went to the show with a friend who liked the band and left diehard U2 fan.