N.B. man gets up close and personal with Bono during U2 concert

Jesse Little of Blacks Harbour, N.B., has been a fan of U2 since 2004 when he was first introduced to the band by his dad. Flash forward 20 years later, and his love for the musicians has only grown, especially after his latest concert experience in Las Vegas.

“Bono was singing the song ‘Until The End of the World’ and he comes up to me and he yells into the camera, ‘Come On’ and he sits directly on the rail in front of me and I had to hold him up,” said Little.

“His body guard is off to the right worrying that anything could go wrong and I’m sitting there holding onto him while he’s singing.”

Currently, the Sphere venue has a check-in system for concerts where people sign their name to line up and check in every few hours to keep their spot.

U2 performs at the Sphere venue in Las Vegas. (Courtesy: Jesse Little)

Little said this process lasted two days ahead of the concert on January 26.

“I stayed there for like two days in the cold, because Vegas is cold right now, and I ended up being basically front row because I was number 1 in line,” he said.

His time commitment paid off.

“Then [Bono] reaches his arm around me and grabs onto me and starts singing as well and it was just… that’s a once and a life time experience. I’ve been going to U2 for over 18 years and having that happen… nothing compares to that,” he said.

In his 20 years of fandom, Little has seen 18 performances including all their recent tours and Bono’s book tour.

He was also at their opening-night concert at the Sphere back on September 29 and their performance on September 30.

“I hadn’t been on a plane since 2010 for a trip to Europe and I just dropped everything and decided to go to this,” he said.

“Fast forward to the second trip, I had to go again. I just couldn’t get away from Vegas and I went back.”

His up-close-and-personal experience with Bono happened on January 26, and the next day he was actually given the drum sticks from the bands current drummer, Bram van den Berg who is standing in for Larry Mullen Jr.

U2 lead singer, Bono, at the concert at the Sphere venue in Las Vegas. (Courtesy: Jesse Little)

Ever since his first concert back in 2005, Little says he’s met most of the band, seen over a dozen performances and was actually apart of Bono’s book tour show that should be coming out in the next year or so.

However, despite all of his experiences over the years, January 26 tops it all for him.

“Everybody would die for that experience to be honest,” he said.

“I still can’t believe it happened where I’ve been to 18 shows, you never really get that connection with the artist usually […], but having that happen to me after being around them for so long, listening to their music, going to countless concerts and book tours and travelling far to get to them, it made it all worth it in the end.”

Little also caught the entire experience on video.

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