'I didn't sleep but it was worth it...'

24 Sep 2006
Let's hear it for those who queued up overnight and slept in the rain - all to get the band to sign their books. We talked to some of them.. and here's what they had to say.

'I've seen them in Mexico and Chile and Argentina on PopMart when I was only 15. I've seen them in Santiago, in Sao Paolo and Argentina on the Vertigo Tour but I only met Bono once, at the airport in Santiago. Now I am a student in London so when I heard yesterday they were doing a book signing I left my work in Notting Hill and came straight here to Waterstones and started queuing. I stayed out in the rain all night. I didn't sleep, it was cold, I felt like a dog but it is worth it to be here. I like this band so much, it is a strange but strong feeling, when you love their music it is such a strong feeling.'

Anna Karina, 23, from Chile, a student in London and a guitarist, writing songs, hoping to start a band.

'My boyfriend started in the queue before I got here and then he gave me his place so I was at the front. There was eight of us to start with overnight then more and more came along. It was pretty rainy but there was a good group of us, and I managed to get about half an hour's kip which was more than anyone else got. I've loved U2 since I was 12, not just the music, everything about them. In 2001 Bono pulled me up on stage at the Manchester Evening News Arena, it was August 12th, the Elevation tour, about 10.30 in the evening. What a memory! I can't believe I'm here.'

Sunny Kang, 26, from London, with her friends at the front of the queue.

'It's weird, this fascination I have with the band. Compared to some of the really obsessive fans actually I am only in division one - they are in the premiership - but still I am always checking U2.Com in case there is news. I knew the book was coming out, and the DVD too, and I knew they were in Abbey Road so I thought I'd check yesterday and I read about the signing so I came down here and I've been queueing in all night. I said to my wife if there's more than 500 there when we arrive let's not bother but we decided to stay and I've made some great mates too - friends that we'll keep for life. Still, I can't help wondering if Bono will be queuing up to sign my book when it's published. That's how weird I am.'

Al Pitcher, 34, stand-up comedian, from New Zealand, living in UK.

'It was Edge who got me into playing the guitar when I was a kid and to be able to meet him today was something else. I told him that he got me into music and he said that was the highest compliment anyone could pay him. I asked Bono about when the band are coming to India to play and he said more and more people have been asking about this....'

Kirti Amin, 32

'I came down from Northampton, got here in the small hours and was number 47 in the queue. I've seen them at Earls Court on Elevation and at Twickenham and Cardiff on Vertigo. There's something about them, this passion that you can feel. I've liked them for a long, long time, since I was a kid - they were the first band I was into. You hear Bono singing a song and you think it is just for you and then you realise there is 30,000 other people around you who feel just the same about themselves. There's nothing like that.'

Steve Cann, 24, From Liverpool

'I found out at 3pm yesterday afternoon and at 3.30pm I came down with an illness and had to go home from work. I got here by early evening and I had the laptop with me and someone bought the new ZOO TV DVD so we all watched it in the queue. During the night someone pulled a car up to entertain us with some crap music but we managed to persuade them to put some U2 on instead. It got pretty wet in the night but our spirits were high, we didn't have sleeping bags or anything, just some black binliners. But it's been worth it!'

Vikram Mehta, from Wolverhampton

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