August 9, 2012

RATTLE AND HUM



Okay, I have to admit it hurt just a bit when I read on SFGate this morning that U2's landmark album, The Joshua Tree, is 25 years old.

Actually, it hurt quite a bit.

Anyway, it was an amusing little blurb, because it revisited the infamous November 11, 1987 surprise concert in Justin Herman Plaza, when lead singer Bono spray-painted "Stop's The Traffic" on the Vaillancourt Fountain. Then-mayor Dianne Feinstein was in the middle of a pretty fierce battle against graffiti, so the D.A. went after Bono with great vengeance and furious anger, charging the singer/activist with defacing the public sculpture.

Yeah, because there weren't other more serious crimes to be dealt with.

If I remember correctly, Bono paid to have the graffiti removed, and all charges were dropped.

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