I ask Bono if the journey away from his marriage is what's been

[154]

motivating Edge to keep working. "I don't know," Bono says uncom­fortably. "I think he's trying to figure out what he wants. And I can't imagine what it's like to ..." Bono pauses and looks at my tape recorder. Then he says, "This is a hard thing to say to a civilian, and to the great outdoors. I hate this idea of hard work. If you asked Edge or any of the others, we don't think we work hard, really. Not compared to a lot of people. But we have a kind of tenacity. We'll hold on to the ankle of something, we won't give in.

"But let's say for the sake of this that it is hard work. To do all that stuff and not have support at home is unfathomable. I don't know how, with the relationship ending, Edge managed to find any energy. And it's fair to say that there were times when he certainly didn't and that wasn't easy for us either. There's definitely periods when people go AWOL and it can last a year. It can last a long time. But by and large I think he managed to keep it together."

One evening Dick Evans, visiting from London where he's finishing his Ph.D., stops by the Factory to collect his brother Edge for dinner and runs into Gavin and Guggi, who are there with Bono. The Virgin Prunes' reunion does not elicit any hugs or handstands. Watching them make small talk it's hard to imagine that this long-haired artist, confi­dent nightclub performer, and quiet academic were ever in a rock band together—but then that's what the folks in Liverpool might be saying today about John, Paul, and George if Brian Epstein hadn't come along.

The reminiscences they share are not of the Prunes or the fledgling U2, but of the colorful characters they recall hanging around the Dublin club scene in the 1970s. They all tell awestruck tales of a tough character we'll call "F," who took the boys under his wing. Described by different witnesses here as a "poet" and an "actor," "F" also looms large in these legends for settling arguments by throwing tables through restaurant windows. Bono and Edge say he won their friendship in the early days when a punk band called the Black Catholics who used to throw bottles at U2 tried to break up a U2 show at the Project Arts Centre. "F" was working the door, and fought to keep the troublemak­ers out as they tried to push in. Finally from the stage U2 saw "F" vanish outside with the Black Catholics, and heard the sounds of screaming and smashing. (How did they hear the sounds over their amps? I've heard this anecdote more than once and each time the details become more vivid.) Then "F" walked back in happy as a lark. U2 asked

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him what happened and he produced a long knife and explained, "I acquainted them with the reality of violence."

I ask if this was the same "F" with whom Bono, Edge, and Gavin studied mime. "It was." Edge laughs. " 'F' in tights was something to see.

Dick says he's seen "F" more recently. According to this story Dick and some friends ran into "F," who invited them to drop by his room at the posh Shelbourne Hotel on St. Stephen's Green. They got upstairs and were amazed to see that "F" had a grand penthouse suite on the top floor. The poet must have either sold a sonnet or won the sweepstakes. "F" implored his guests to stay and enjoy some room service. Then he started sending down for champagne. When, after hours of celebration, the guests were tired and tipsy, "F" insisted they all sleep there, plenty of room. Dick woke up the next day feeling a little shaky and went into the bathroom. On the mirror "F" had written, "I'll see you before you see me—'F.' " Dick realized he'd been set up. "F" had left the hotel and told the desk the gentlemen upstairs would settle the bill. Dick and his friends had to sneak out through the service elevator.

"It's funny," Edge's father says. "About twice a year you read in the papers, 'U2 are about to split up.' This makes me laugh, because the people who write that obviously know nothing about them. They did grow up together. They have their differences sometimes, sure, just like any family would. But the rough edges have rubbed off against each other. They are an extended family to each other now and I must say they've stuck to it very well. And they're easy guys to get on with too. They're not all the same; they complement each other. They're a good team."

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