Achtung Baby - The Ultimate U2 Experience

- - tribute to justin - -

To form a successful U2 tribute show, you need four primary ingredients:

Firstly, you need a suitably bigmouthed Bono to be the singer. We are very fortunate in that not only can our Sasha handle the vocal duties with aplomb, but he also bears more than a passing resemblance to the famous rock star. Indeed, many people swear he could be Bono’s doppelganger. In the interests of balance, I like to think that Bono is Sasha’s doppelganger. Secondly, a drummer who is capable of replicating the often-intricate drumming patterns employed by Larry Mullen Junior is a necessity. In Peter, we are again blessed as he is able to perform this task effortlessly and comes replete with an authentic Irish accent to boot! I can, with a modicum of competency, lurk in the shadows, playing bass guitar - all the while hoping to God that no one realises I look absolutely nothing like Adam Clayton.

A key ingredient for this sonic stew is that of a nimble-fingered guitarist to all play those memorable riffs as composed by David Evans (known better as to us all as The Edge). To remedy our not having one of our own, we decided to place an advertisement in one of the local trade magazines, requesting the services of an Edge-type guitarist to complete our combo. There, in said magazine the following week, was an advertisement serendipitously placed adjacent to ours bearing the eye-catching headline ‘Ultimate Edge Guitarist Seeks Band’. With such a brazen display of self-promotion, we’d have been fools not to dial telephone number written and organise an audition!

By the end of the week, in addition to this ‘Ultimate Edge Guitarist’ (whose name it transpires, was Justin), we had some more guitarists answer our advertisement. Sash very kindly offered to audition the prospective musicians himself. The idea was to devote fifteen minutes to each guitarist so Sash could get a general impression of every applicant and their abilities. Each guitarist dutifully utilised the allotted time given to them with varying degrees of success – Justin took over two hours! Apparently Justin not only played the portions of the four songs requested, but also went on to play and additional dozen or so U2 compositions, give Sash an extensive tour of each and every piece of hardware that comprised his guitar rig, demonstrated how each piece functioned and then proceeded to follow that up with an extensive and erudite lecture on The Edge’s revolutionary guitar playing technique and how it applied to U2 and modern music in general. “He’s a big U2 fan and he’s certainly got all the gear.” came Sash’s report the following morning. As it turns out, Sasha is a master of understatement. We decided we’d all convene the next week for our first rehearsal with Justin.

Upon entering the rehearsal room, my immediate impression was that I had inadvertently walked into a music store in the midst of its
End Of Year Everything Must Go Sale. Before me was a fleet of guitars all bearing the major brand names of Fender, Gibson and
Rickenbacker respectively. These were flanked by a keyboard, an ominous looking Vox AC30 amplifier and, on the floor; what could only be described as something that looked like a surfboard to which was affixed, every conceivable effects pedal known to the fraternity of guitarists worldwide. This entire collection of hardware was strung together with a veritable cornucopia of leads, cables, plugs and, curiously, a little fan perched atop the mountain of pedals buzzing away franticly. In the midst of this mass stood our new guitarist looking a lot like the proud parent of a newborn child. “Hi I’m Justin!” he said as he shook my hand enthusiastically.

In short order, we were all set up and ready to commence playing. Justin nonchalantly went to his Vox amplifier and turned the volume dial up to eleven (‘coz that’s one louder innit?). I was just about to comment that there was a very real possibility that the volume might be a tad excessive when KERRRANG!!!!, Justin started playing. By Crikey it was deafening! There it all was however, the chiming chords of ‘Pride’, the intricate arpeggios of ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, the bludgeon- riffola of ‘Zoo Station’ and the funky strut of ‘Mysterious Ways’. Indeed if one closed their eyes, you’d swear you were being serenaded by The Edge himself. To go one better, Justin even employed the keyboard to great authentic effect in “New Year’s Day’. We were all suitably impressed – if not deaf.

As it turned out, volume (and plenty of it) was to become something of a hallmark to Justin’s style regardless of the venue. Be it a massive amphitheatre seating thousands or a small pub catering to… err… tens of people, every booking was treated not only to the same volume but also, the same high quality sound and production values afforded by his exacting standards and formidable rig. To Justin, every show was Wembley Stadium.

Sadly, fate had other plans and Justin was taken away from us all far too soon. To this day, Sash still frequently dedicates U2’s most beloved and beautiful of songs; ‘One’ at our performances and that’s how I best like to remember him – standing stage-right, playing that song, amp wailing at full volume and with that big smile he’d get when everything was sounding perfect.

I have no doubt in my mind that Justin is out there somewhere in the firmament rocking the cosmos, guitar in hand… and amplifier cranked to eleven!

So long Justin. We’ll all miss you.

Written by Chris Troyer, Achtung Baby Bass Guitarist

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