A Fetish for Poetry

It was May 1993 when I got a phone call from my brother telling me he just got called by the Dutch U2 fanzine if he wanted to be a volunteer for the Irish theatre group Macnas and if he knew 3 other people as well who wanted to this. As big U2 fans we were already going to all the gigs in the Feijenoord Stadium in Rotterdam and this sounded like something that will only comes one on your path in a life time. So the answer my brother gave was a big YES.

When we arrived at the Feijenoord Stadium we went to the meeting spot and met the other volunteers. There were 100 of us and we were all excited. Excited for the U2 shows and excited for what we will be experiencing as volunteers for Macnas.
We were suppose to be at the stadium quite early so Macnas could instruct us. It all didn’t go by plan. I believe we waited several hours to go inside, but the Irish were very anxious about letting 100 U2 fans loose in the restricted area. And to honest, I can’t blame them.

Then came the big break for us all.
A car came driving our way and wanted to go into the restricted area. When it was next to us we could clearly see who was in the car. BONO. Our energy went pumping up to the roof as was our anxiety.
The restricted area was only guarded by 2 men. They opened up the gate and would close them. That was their job.
The gates open, the car drives in and before the gates were closed it stops and the little man with the big presenta comes out. Chaos ruled. 100 fans wanted to touch him, talk to him, get his autograph and photograph him. The guards couldn’t possibly stop all these people and were freaking out. But Bono remain calm and tried to spend as much time as he could to fulfil the needs of 100 volunteers.

When finally also we, the volunteers, could enter the restricted area we were instructed by the people of Macnas. It would be a theatre show that would make us think about the upcoming of fascism in Europe, the ethnic wars in former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda.
We would show the public a ethnic cleansing. A terrible thought and not quite the usual opening for a Rock concert.

The group would be split in half. You would have 50 people (with massive heads) who wouldn’t fit the supreme race and 50 people being soldiers of “Captain Chickenhead”. The group of my brother and I were all soldiers.
You had a massive vacuum cleaner or so on the stage where the massive heads would go in and where there heads would become ‘pure’ again. Each of those massive heads would be put on the top of a big pole with a banner on carried by the soldiers who were lined up in front of the stage.
In the end ‘Captain Chickenhead’ would finally concurred and be thrown in the vacuum cleaner and the world would be free again.

We did all the shows in The Netherlands. 3 of them were in the Feijenoord Stadium, Rotterdam and one in Goffert Park, Nijmegen.

All by all this was a major experience for me and got me thinking big time about the world and politics. I was a youngster in those days, 16 years old. All of a sudden the world wasn’t that innocent anymore and it was time to grow up.

For more info about Macnas please visit their website: www.macnas.com