Tuesday, December 20, 2005

No more U2!

This is the longest I had ever spent with any one band - 79 amazing nights. Words really can't express what it was like to get to take part with a campaign like ONE, working on so many amazing tours this year. In particular, my time with U2 stands out above all - incredible fans night after night, a vocal supporter from the stage, and one of the funnest crews I've ever worked with. I'll definately miss this experience!



U2 Crew
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Feels a bit like the day after the last day of school this morning: just sent off Carlos and Dan to the airport with Christmas gifts and other year end wrap up; truck is loaded, last show done, goodbyes to crew members all day yesterday. And now, though there is still a mountain of work ahead – wrap up from this year, reports, bookkeeping, thank you’s, blog updates, and then once that is done, we start planning 2006! - it feels good to sit here, 184 concert dates later, and know that we accomplished something remarkable.

Hung out with Paul for a bit on the floor last night – a very appropriate full circle ending of the year for me. It was Paul and I who worked together devising the initial plans for this tour at this exact time last year, he’s been incredibly supportive throughout the year. In many ways, he’s also the person who could most relate to our experience of going from joining the huge massive operation that is known as the Vertigo Tour without really knowing what to expect or even really what to do back in March – the Campaign was still so new - to ending up with nearly a quarter of a million signatures from concert tours and 184 combined dates at the end of the year. “Well, I guess you pretty much doubled that initial goal we thought was crazy” he said, referencing the fact that a few weeks into Vertigo Spring – when we had maybe 10,000 sign ups at most – I announced that we were going to get the campaign 100,000 names, or account for 10% of the goal of one million sign ups that year. I had all but forgotten about this proclomation I had made, but was glad that he had remember, because at that moment, standing on the floor in the middle of ‘Pride’ watching this band that has come to define our year, it really put everything into perspective for me. “But, so did we, so it evens out, huh?” he joked, as the campaign I now at nearly 2 million. “This year has been insane, but in the best possible way” was all I could think of in reply.

Thanks to everyone that helped to make that happen.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

U2 goes to Salt Lake City!


Volunteer training in SLC
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
One of our best nights of the tour thus far – lots and lots of sign ups and even more white bands going out into the world. I am writing this sitting at the Southwest terminal at SLC airport, waiting to board my flight to Portland (my turn not to drive! and I have to drive the truck home to LA from Portland while everyone flies home…so fair is fair, right?) and I see all sorts of people wearing the white bands and their Vertigo shirts. It’s so cool that the white band has become ubiquitous with going to the show for so many fans, I love seeing them in the most random places, and with more and more frequency, and the conversation that starts up around them.



ONE volunteer and U2 fans
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Our volunteers last night included several veterans – Laura who has been with us at several U2 shows over the year and trekked up from New Mexico to help us (she has previously traveled to join us in Arizona, Denver and Las Vegas as well – a shout and thank you for all of your help, Laura!), as well as Melani and Toe’umu, both of whom sweated with us at the Warped Tour date in SLC back in July. We were short on volunteers however, so I placed a call to Melani early in the day who assured me she could round up some more top notch volunteers. A hour later, she called to announce that she had five more, so along with Kristina, a SLC based volunteer who also has helped in NYC (we found out we had film school in common – she is moving to LA to go to UCLA film, I went to USC Cinema) we had a great crew.



Crew of cousins
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
At some point during the training, we found out that Melani’s crew of people were in fact related – they quickly became known as ‘the cousins’ team. Turns out, her family was having a reunion, so she got her cousins who were involved with the campaign to come out and join us. At one point, her brother, roommate and I am convinced great grandmother on her uncles side twice removed were all at the show as well, so clearly Melani knows pretty much three fourths of Salt Lake City. They had a friendly family competition to see who could get the most people to join, and by the end of the night, our combined efforts had yielded almost 1800 sign ups, putting SLC in the top five list of shows for this leg of the tour.



U2
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Met a lot of cool people last night and today – wearing my ONE hoodie and working on a laptop plastered with old U2 working passes sort of gives me away at the airport – it's unbelievable to watch support for this campaign continue to grow and expand and take off in the way that it has. Talking to fans at the airport today also helps to remind me what a cool job I get to have – going on tour with amazing bands, working with their very cool and supportive crews, and getting to do work on an amazing campaign in the process. It’s been an amazing year for all of us – U2 crew members have been asking me at the last few shows about our totals, about how well we have done on this leg. It’s pretty incredible to sit back and look at those numbers – nearly a quarter of a million fans, 115,000 U2 fans alone – and know that each one is a face that we talked to, a mind and a heart that hopefully has been inspired and lifted to take this message, this idea, this hope that is the ONE Campaign and make it their own.


Feels weird to have the tour wind down and come to an end – for one, it’s hard to believe time has gone by this fast, that we have somehow done another 50 dates with this band (and 184 concert dates in total for the year!) so fast, but at the same time, you also get so tired and wiped out that you look forward to going home. Alison probably summed it up best as she harassed my crew and I during our training on her mega phone (my goal now, btw, is to get to use the mega phone with the GA line in Portland, just to get to do it once…) “Go ONE! You guys listen to Brande! She’s good! Two more dates left! I’m going to go home but I'm going to miss you all!” Volunteers looked to me - 'who was that person yelling at us and what was she doing?'- but it made perfect sense to me…

Friday, December 16, 2005

U2 in Omaha


ONE Omaha volunteer crew
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Omaha is cold, and with all do respect, Council Bluffs is not a happening place to stay. Overnight drives are never fun either – Carlos and I left the St. Louis show at about 1am, hit the road and drove straight to Omaha. Roadies with a cause is what we are for sure this week…



Kanye West
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Had a great volunteer crew – Mary and Alex have been doing much work on the campaign, and they brought with them a great team of volunteers. Our crew helped us have a great night, got to meet lots of supportive Nebreskan’s, including several people who joined the campaign with Josh and Arron when the guys were here with DMB a few weeks back.



U2 fans signing up
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Another long day of driving today to Salt Lake City lays ahead, but at least we slept in a bed last night and not the uncomfortable passengers seat of a Toyota Tundra…

Thursday, December 15, 2005

St. Louis U2


ONE Volunteer and U2 fans
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
I got to ride in the bus yesterday – one of the things my crew and I most look forward to! ETS is the company that handles the tour packages for u2 and other artists – they have a bus for their crew and allow us to claim a spot (and on a side note, a big thanks to Don, Richard, Robin, Dave and the rest of the gang for being so helpful and supportive of our work all year!). So, yesterday was my turn to get to spend the 11 plus hour drive out of our cramped and somewhat uncomfortable truck and sitting upright working or laying stretched out or just walking around. Got into St. Louis late – around 11pm or so – ate pizza and watched South Park with Dan and Carlos who had already made it in and got ready for the show the next day.



U2 fans sign the banner
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
St. Louis had a couple of things I was looking forward to: one was working with a kick ass crew of volunteers from Washington University. These students are part of an on campus Make Trade Fair chapter headed up by a fellow classmate – they have helped us at Warped Tour and Coldplay shows in the past. I also got to work with Rory again – she’s a senior at Washington and the daughter of Pam, my grad school advisor (also known as the incredibly patient person who seems somewhat un-phased by the fact that it has taken me nearly six years to finish my masters since I keep taking off years at a time to do this work…) – both Pam and Rory came out to help us at the Coldplay show in Irvine, so it was fun to get to work together again. The Washington U crew did a great job – getting 1600 people to join the campaign.



ONE volunteer and U2 fans
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
The other cool thing about St. Louis was having Kanye West join the tour. ‘Late Registration’ has been the most frequently played album in our driving this leg of the tour, and Carlos, Dan and I were way excited to hear him perform. The U2 crowd was into it as well, and he gave an amazing performance. Really looking forward to having him on for our final three shows.



ONE Volunteer Crew
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
I met a lot of people tonight that were really committed to doing more – so many people asking about wanting to volunteer, to start up activities locally for the campaign. It’s amazing to see the level of interest and support for this movement continue to grow and grow. It’s one thing to see the numbers, and the numbers are amazing and phenomenal, but for me, a lot of times it boils down to the one on one interactions with that college kid that you helped have an ‘aha’ moment. Or the mom that asks you to help explain to her 12 year old what wearing that white band means (years spent working with elementary aged kids makes me really good at this!), the guy that buys forty bands for his co-workers, or the couples that tell me what they are doing with their church, the volunteer that joins us for a show and in our introduction section tells me that they first learned about the campaign by talking to me and my crew at another U2 show in the spring – I love that this campaign is growing and helping people that live millions of miles away, and I love that it is getting people in this country active again. And in some ways, I feel like I have one of the best spots on the campaign right now, because I get to see and hear every night how this has impacted people and made them want to make a difference.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

U2 in Charlotte...with a NASCAR

Tonight was unusual in that we had a race car in our booth. And not just a race car that happened to be there, but a real life car built just for the ONE Campaign by the Dale Earnhardt Foundation. We had quite a little crowd gathered when the guys unloaded it from the trailer – and admittedly, it was pretty cool!



Carlos and ONE car
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
The Earnhardt Foundation works to sustain Dale’s lifelong commitment to youth, the environment and education. Teresa Earnhardt feels that ONE is a campaign that Dale would have been very much so supported, and Bono had asked her a while back to be an ambassador of sorts for the Campaign to the NASCAR community.


She and the Foundation have embraced this role, and the car was a great feature tour our normal outreach – definitely a highlight of the tour for us! We got to meet Teresa, and work with Dick Baker, the Executive Director of the organization, and his wife and staff as they helped us sign up people for the ONE Campaign all night as well as gather signatures for the hood of the car. I learned a lot about racing and the NASCAR scene and am hoping we can help the Foundation do some outreach at races next year, and was able to tell them about the sort of outreach we have been doing on tours this year.


Couldn’t convince the guys to let me try to do doughnuts with the car in the parking lot, but they did let us pose inside for some photos. Apparently, I am a natural at climbing into cars Dukes of Hazard style, but my racing career might be limited by my need for a pillow of some sort to see over the wheel or reach the pedals…

Sunday, December 11, 2005

U2 in Cleveland


U2 fans and ONE volunteer
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Saw Vertigo Air from the highway as we were driving in. Sometimes, I still have these moments where I realize how surreal my life has become. Seeing a giant jet on the runway with the Vertigo logo and ‘U2’ painted on the side and remembering I have become a part of that this year was one of those moments.



U2 fans joining ONE
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Cleveland…seems like I spend an awful lot of time in Ohio – we have done shows here and in Cinci and Columbus on all of our other tours, and I probably dive across this state more than any other, but this was our first jaunt through the state with U2. We had a really fun and diverse crew of volunteers tonight – people that have been in the peace corp or work for relief organizations, and people like Sheri, a long time AIDS advocate who told me in an email that she was ’60 something years young and wanted to be sure I would fit in with the U2 crowd!’ Meeting people like Sheri and so many of our volunteers is incredibly inspiring, and really makes one appreciate how many people there are in the world that choose to devote their lives to the noble goal of ‘making things better’. This amazing team helped us sign up over 1500 Clevelanders for the campaign. People are really nice here too – like every now and then you’ll work in a city and really notice how polite and nice everyone is; venue staff, fans, everyone was really cool.


Special thanks to U2 merch guy Joe who found our shipment of bands buried in some secret closet at the venue at about 12am as well. He came rolling them up to us, looking kinda apprehensive as we were loading out. ‘You didn’t sell out tonight did you?” I had been looking for them all day, literally tearing apart every nook and cranny backstage ("someone check Edge's dressing room, I bet they are hidden in there!"), and even though we had sold out, it was late at night and I was way excited to have bands for the next show on Monday. Joe is sort of the 'Horse Whisperer of Boxes' – he can sense them, feel them and find them anywhere for you…

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Buffalo U2


Our snow covered truck
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
We had to scrape ice off our car this afternoon to leave for the venue. There are a few things I never though I would have to say, and a few things I thought I would never have to own. “I had to scrape ice off the car’ being one thing I figured I would never say, an ice scraper being something I never thought I’d buy. I am not sure what to do with it once I am back in Long Beach, I am thinking I might use it as some sort of gardening tool…

The venue we were at was really nice - a great layout. We got to set up on both sides of this big entrance. The GA line was below us – Alison had apparently arranged it so that the GA people wouldn’t have to stay out in the million degree below zero weather in Buffalo – and the regular entrance on the opposite side, so pretty much everyone that came in went by our booths.



ONE Volunteer crew Buffalo
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Our volunteers this evening had been coordinated by Joe, a youth pastor in the area. A great mix of college students and even Joe’s high school aged son – who rocked, as a side note! – they helped us get a ton of people signed up and on board with the campaign, and they were a lot of fun to talk with.



Signing the Declaration
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.

Met a very interesting range of fans tonight – a lot of Canadians, a lot of people new to the campaign since not as much outreach has been done in the Buffalo area as other parts of the country, as well as a lot of people excited about taking ONE back to their own community.



U2 fans joining ONE
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.

John Lennon was featured prominently again this evening – U2 was in Buffalo 25 years ago when they found out Lennon had died, and like Hartford, Bono was pretty emotional when talking about it, but then launched into one of the most joyful versions of ‘Instant Karma’ they have done yet. I really love that part of the show – it seems to bring a whole new life to Lennon’s lyrics, and makes you appreciate them that much more.

We drove back to our hotel out by the airport post show, and topped off the night with a quick trip to Denny’s and what might have been the first official tour snowball fight as of yet. Only we didn’t have gloves on, so it didn’t last very long. We did win a Christmas reindeer from the arcade game thing for our growing stuffed animal collection we keep in our truck. You have to amuse yourself somehow at 2am at the Denny’s by the Buffalo airport, even if it means playing the game where you try to claw a cheesy stuffed animal…

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Hartford U2 show


ONE Volunteer Crew
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Harford presented us with a whole new version of cold. I’m not a certified meteorologist or anything, but it was insanely cold. Painfully cold.

Yet our volunteers toughed it out and joined us. Hartford had just been declared a City of One, like Boston, so our volunteers were eager to get to work and let people know. Our crew in Hartford was nothing short of AMAZING – several of them had driven hours to join us, they were well organized and excited to be there, Dan and I really, really enjoyed working with them all!



ONE Volunteer
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
It was soooo cold in side of the venue though – poor Carlos got the colder booth of the two tonight, but he had his new ear muffs to protect him! Definitely an older building – really narrow halls and apparently no heat! That didn’t phase fans though – they joined the ONE Campaign AND proved to be notable U2 fans, as they were LOUD! I was also really moved when Bono spoke about John Lennon and his voice cracked and the sincerity of his emotion came through. He came back though with an amazing version of Instant Karma that had the crowd on it’s feet, screaming along.



ONE Volunteers
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.

I also wanted to thank the fan in the backwards Yankee’s hat that walked by the table in a crowd, waving something at me. When I stuck my hand out towards him, he crammed something in it and walked away, smiling and giving me a thumbs up. I looked down to see a $100 dollar bill. I’m bummed he didn’t wait long enough to at least be thanked for his support, but we very much so appreciate it! Every night we get to meet people like this – those that are giving their time and their voice to this campaign, expecting nothing in return, and becoming empowered in the process. I have the best job on the planet…

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Back to Boston...again!


ONE Volunteer and U2 fans
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
By my rough estimations, this is about our six or seventh time through Boston in less than six months this year! Everytime I come here, I think I have it finally navigated, all figured out, but low and behold, construction has changed something else...



Bono
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.

I like working the Fleet Center/Boston Garden a lot as well - I was horrified the first time we came here in May, having images of the DNC and Boston's infamous 'Big Dig' and us having to lug our stuff for miles and miles to load it in, but the venue has proved to be very workable and one of our best spots, and the staff here - especially our man JR who helps us out - is very hospitable AND into the campaign, they seem to all have white bands, probably due to our frequent visits!



ONE Volunteers Boston U2
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
No matter how many times we come through this town, we seem to sign up more and more people. This last leg of the year with U2 proved to be the same: we got over 3000 people signed up during our two nights in town, and got to work with yet another awesome crew of volunteers, many of whom work at Oxfam, which is headquartered here, and/or are involved with a very active local ONE chapter.


The chapter is so active, in fact, that Boston has recently been made a City of ONE, part of a growing trend around the country that has local cities and even some states aligning themselves formally with the ONE Campaign. Local ONE volunteer Erin Saif has been active with this, and brought a great blown up poster of the Declaration that we were able to proudly display at our table.



U2 fans and ONE supporters
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Our volunteer crew also consisted of several people that once again had become involved with the campaign after meeting us at another concert earlier this year - once again speaking to the power of this sort of outreach!



Boston volunteer crew
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
I'm going to miss Boston - it's one of my favorite tour cities, and I can't wait to get back here doing more ONE Campaign work in 2006.

Boston also represents the 'beggining of the end' of the U2 tour for us; this was our last city of 'two night stands' - from here on out, we go into a city, load in, do the show, and load out the same night - sometimes driving to the next town after load out. Typical touring schedule for most tours, but U2 has spoiled us with a slightly easier touring schedule in regards to doing the same venue for more than one night. It also means we are down to our last 7 or 8 shows for the tour and year - none of us can believe the year has gone by so fast, and that we are nearing the end of an entire year spent on the road with U2, Coldplay, Dave Matthews and others!

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Detroit with the Dave Matthews Band


Joining as ONE
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.

Last night was our first real taste of loading in and out in the snow, luckily we have a smaller set up for this tour than U2, so loading in and out is down to a finally tuned, fast moving science. Nonetheless, doing it with snow blowing in your face while trying to go faster than the merch semi that is also trying to back into where you are parked is an exciting challenge, even for experienced pro's like ourselves.



DMB Fans
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Detroit has proven to be a very supportive town – we had a great response when we were here a little over a month ago with U2 – and it proved that again, with lots of DMB fans signing up to join.



Joining as ONE
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Had another great crew of volunteers as well, including the Grimmer sisters, who are quickly becoming our concert regulars, having helped us out at the Warped Tour and U2 earlier this year, and Shawn who was also with us at the Detroit U2 shows some six weeks back. En route to catch a plane to Boston right now, U2 show tonight – our third stop at the Fleet Center with the band this year, looking forward to joining back up with them!

Friday, December 02, 2005

I may hate snow and cold weather but...


Chicago
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
...Chicago IS pretty amazing at Christmas time. Few days of no shows before the next DMB show in Detroit on Saturday (after which I'll be flying to Boston to rejoin U2), so we are spending our days in Chicago, getting the truck fixed, catching up on work and enjoying the artic temperatures. I figure it's making me tougher...



Chicago
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Few days of no shows before the next DMB show in Detroit on Saturday (after which I'll be flying to Boston to rejoin U2), so we are spending our days in Chicago, getting the truck fixed, catching up on work and enjoying the artic temperatures. I figure it's making me tougher...

Thursday, December 01, 2005

DMB in Champaign, Ill


ONE Volunteers
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
I hung out working at Starbucks today – needed a change of scenery from Kinko’s. Working on the road can be challenging – the hotel kicks you out by noon, you still have work to do before the show, it never ends…

Driving into Champaign, I was listening to a faith based radio show – they were interviewing a doctor from Walter Reed Medical Center in DC who also has done a lot of work in Africa. He was really interesting – I wish I had gotten his name – talking about steps he felt the faith community could make to better approach the crisis of AIDS and poverty. He also made two points that really, really struck me – it’s funny, you do this work full time, all the time, talking to people every single day about these issues, but every now and then you’ll hear how someone else approaches it and you find yourself really moved and impacted all over again.



Michigan
Originally uploaded by Brande Jackson.
Anyway, he pointed out that while the life expectancy for most of the world has lengthened over the last several decades, in Africa, its been nearly cut in half because of AIDS over the last 20 years, the only place where that has happened. He also said something that really crystallized what is at the heart of this movement for me: “20 years ago, if you were diagnosed at Walter Reed in DC where I am a doctor, you had a year to live. If you were diagnosed with AIDS in Africa 20 years ago you had a year to live. Now, if you are diagnosed with AIDS or HIV at Walter Reed, you can expect to live well for a very long time. If you are diagnosed in Africa, you can still only expect to live a year”. I was really struck by this analogy, as obvious as it may seem. It really drives home what is at the root of this campaign, at least for me: our common humanity, equality, what is right and wrong - this campaign, as Bob Geldolf has put it, is about justice. I think of the U2 line I was thinking about a lot when were planning our first tour for ONE this year – U2’s spring leg – “where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die’. Simple but also incredibly complex, for me it really hits on the concept of justice that is at the root of this all.


Champaign is a small college town – lots of support for the campaign though, and fun to work in an area where the campaign is still pretty fresh and new, it reminded me of when we first brought ONE out with U2. Lots of sign ups and support, importantly, we are really building up our network of potential volunteers…