The U2 Sound Library Presents

The Save The Yuppie Concert Tour Joshua Tree Date November 11, 1987 Location Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, California Streaming  Real Audio 44 minutes 50 seconds Download 6.8 Mb Setlist All Along the Watchtower / Sunday Bloody Sunday / Out of Control / People Get Ready / Trip Through Your Wires / Silver and Gold / Helter Skelter / Pride (In The Name Of Love) Source U2: Stop the Traffic: Rock 'n Roll    At the spur of the moment, U2 decide to play an impromptu convert in the middle of the financial district of San Francisco.  Some 20,000 people turned out just after lunch to see U2 play the free concert.  Legendary promoter Bill Graham helped organize the concert in less than a day's notice and borrowed the Grateful Dead's equipment for the show.  Phil Joanou operated a single camera which supplied footage of the show for the movie Rattle and Hum, and Jimmie Iovine audio taped the show (not this source, however). Bono announces, "As the business sector is having such big problems, we decided to do a 'Save the Yuppie' concert," referring to the stock market crash the day before.  Opening with a cover of Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, which they had only played once before (in London in 1981), Bono improvises "All I got is a red guitar, three chords and the truth.  All I got is a red guitar, the rest is up to you."  During Sunday Bloody Sunday, he sees someone waving an Irish flag with "SF U2" written on it.  He asks the guy of 'SF' is a girl's name or if it stands for Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing.  "I don't know how you can stand or stomach to wave that sign this week."  Bono then berates the guy about the IRA's atrocities in Enniskillen four days prior.  Though Bono's anger fuels and explosive version of the song, the general feeling among the crowd is that his outrage is misplaced, since it is so obvious that 'SF' stands for 'San Francisco.'

The incident is soon forgotten when the band continue their usual set and Bono interacts with the crowd.  "As you know, this is really a telethon," he quips before Out of Control.  "We're raising money for the business sector here - I'm wearing the hat because I'll be passing it around later."  He announces "People Get Ready" as a song God has co-written with Curtis Mayfield.  Silver and Gold is extended with a lengthy speech about what prompted Bono to write it.  During Pride (not All Along The Watchtower as appears in the move Rattle and Hum), he runs over to the nearby Vaillancourt Fountain and climbs up by a ladder to spray paint on the statue "Rock and Roll Stops the Traffic," as an acknowledgment of the power of rock and roll.

Bono's spray painting doesn't go down well with the local authorities.  San Francisco Mayor Diane Feinstein (now California Senator) has been raging war on graffiti for years, and condemns Bono's actions.  She states, "I am disappointed that a rock star who is supposed to be a role model for young people chose to vandalize the work of another artist."  San Francisco police hand Bono a misdemeanor charge for malicious mischief. Even the Mayor of Dublin offers criticism of Bono's actions.  Bono's father, Bobby Hewson, comments in Irish papers that his son "deserves anything he gets convicted of."

Bono claims that his action was an artistic expression and nothing more.  He publicly apologizes and picks up the tab for having the statue cleaned.  U2's organization try to convince the authorities that it was not a deliberate act of vandalism.  A week later, all charges are dropped when the police realize that the whole thing was blown up out of proportion.

A few days later as the band is playing in nearby Oakland at a regularly scheduled performance, Bono says to the crowd, "As you know, I've been getting into a little bit of trouble here in San Francisco....A policeman called me up in my hotel room.  He said he was collecting evidence concerning an 'act of violence' down at Vaillancourt Fountain.  They said, Mr. Hewson, we take this thing very seriously in this city.  I said I take it very seriously, too, but have you picked up a rock and roll band. I mean this is U2 -- we're the Batman and Robin of rock and roll for God's sake.  Anyway, I think it should be explained that there's a big difference because Armand Vaillancourt himself had spray painted his own sculpture a few years ago when he opened it.  I mean, we put on a free concert for the city of San Francisco, I mean..." Bono sounds distraught over the whole affair, and wants to prove his innocence.  He as invited the artist in question, Armand Vaillancourt, all the way from Quebec to explain onstage what he thought of Bono spraying his statue.  Armand, walking with crutches, declares that he is glad to be here, and that he regrets that the graffiti was washed off his work.  Just for the record, Bono apologizes to Armand and offers him to even the score.  He gives Armand a spray can to graffiti U2's stage.  He writes "Stop the Madness!"

The next night at the same venue, Bono introduces Rene Castro, the mural artist he met in San Francisco during the Amnesty International Tour.  He comes onstage accompanied with his group of 20 community artists called Placa and they are invited to spray paint the stage backdrop.  "And with any luck, we should be able to show Mayor Feinstein the difference between an act of vandalism and graffiti art," Bono says.