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<\/p>\nIt was 35 years ago last month \u2013 November 11, 1987 \u2013 when U2 staged a free and seemingly impromptu concert at Justin Herman Plaza (now Embarcadero Plaza). When it was announced on local radio, word quickly spread; an estimated 20,000 people showed up. What they witnessed was part rock concert, part staged photo-op, part vandalism.<\/p>\n
By 1987, U2 was no stranger to the Bay Area. Between 1981 and December 1984, the band performed in San Francisco at least six times, with shows at the Old Waldorf, Warfield Theatre and the Civic Auditorium. For two nights in 1985 and one again in April 1987, U2 staged concerts at the Cow Palace. And then in November \u201887 \u2013 midway through its tour in support of The Joshua Tree<\/i> \u2013 the band turned up in downtown San Francisco for an unscheduled midday performance, just a few days ahead of a two-night engagement at the Oakland Coliseum.<\/p>\n
The most memorable moment of the covers-heavy set would come near its end. For the last song of that 45-minute \u201cSave the Yuppies\u201d show in Justin Herman Plaza, U2 played \u201cPride (In the Name of Love).\u201d Mid-song, Bono disappeared from the stage, leaving the other musicians to vamp somewhat listlessly. Seconds later, he reappeared atop a nearby and conveniently-placed ladder. He climbed onto the modernist Vaillancourt Fountain, whipped out a can of spray paint, and \u2013 presumably striking a blow for edginess and\/or freedom of expression \u2013 defaced the public art installation with the slogan \u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Stops the Traffic.\u201d (Sources differ as to whether Bono knew of a 1971 graffiti incident at the Vaillancourt Fountain in which a political slogan, \u201cQuebec libre,\u201d was spray painted on the structure.)<\/p>\n
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Standing back to behold the fruits of his vandalism, Bono retrieved a microphone, emitted a self-satisfied \u201cYep\u201d and proceeded to lead the crowd in a \u201cwhoa-oh-a-ho\u201d singalong. Only then did he climb back down his ladder and rejoin the band onstage. After a couple more self-congratulatory remarks, the rock messiah\/graffiti artist thanked the audience and returned to singing about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/p>\n
Not at all coincidentally, a documentary film crew happened to be on hand to capture Bono\u2019s grandstanding on celluloid; the scene would be immortalized in the band\u2019s 1988 concert film\/hagiography Rattle and Hum<\/i>. Notwithstanding all of U2\u2019s undeniable musical appeal, that film helped fuel the (unforgettable) fire of a U2 backlash, one asserting that the band \u2013 and its vocalist in particular \u2013 took itself far too seriously. (This was even before Bono became a ubiquitous talking head in music documentaries, holding forth in his presumed role as spokesman for a generation).<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no denying that the crowd loved the Justin Herman Plaza set, though. Meanwhile, Bono\u2019s act of vandalism set off a predictable furor, one that figured prominently in local news headlines, talk radio discourse and watercooler chit-chat. Though the singer was cited for \u201cmalicious mischief,\u201d San Francisco D.A. Arlo Smith declined to press charges. Bono apologized: \u201cIt was dumb,\u201d he admitted at a press conference. But that didn\u2019t stop U2 from featuring the footage prominently in Rattle and Hum<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Watch the entire show at this link (Bono\u2019s stunt begins around the 40-minute mark)<\/p>\n