Transcript: U2 Dishes to Chris Cuomo

Sept. 14, 2009 — -- "Good Morning America" news anchor Chris Cuomo sat down with the international superstar band members of U2.

Read the transcript of the interview below. This transcript has been edited for clarity.

CHRIS CUOMO: So last night. Here we are in Chicago. And it is amazing how U2 literally changes this place. ... And it was almost like a cultural festival last night as well. Everybody wanted to be a little Irish last night. Is that a common experience for you all?

LARRY MULLEN JR.: I think, in general, the whole -- whole idea of U2 is to, like, engage with, like, our audience. ... So we had to figure out how to do it and how to really engage with (INAUDIBLE). That's what's special about this show. It's in 360. And the audience is such a big part of what we do. And I think last night, you -- you -- see that. But Italians are welcome. (CHUCKLE).

CUOMO: Thank you. I -- I felt like that, although I was playing a little to the Irish side, according to me... You're trying to find a way to make things more special. Well, the stage alone is just one of the most fascinating things ever to happen. Were you surprised when the concept became the reality, when -- what -- what it actually is?

BONO: Dangerously, being a rockstar bec sometimes people give you what you ask for. (CHUCKLE) And -- it's a (UNINTEL) make the crowd center of the show. By playing -- that's what happened. But how do you do that? How do you lift all that gear up and out of the way of the crowd? That was the engineering trick. Started off at -- the dinner table with forks and knives, you know, tryin' to imagine what this thing looked like that we hang all the gear off(UNINTEL). And it turned into the space junk you see behind you.

CUOMO: (CHUCKLE) No, it's really fascinating. And also, before it could start off here in Chicago -- Adam, when you think about it, you guys were touring here 20 years ago in such a different way. And now to be back in such grand fashion.

ADAM CLAYTON: Well, Chicago has just be -- always been a great music town, hasn't it? You know -- you know, there was always that -- the blues musicians comin' up in the '50s. And there's always something goingoff here. And I think it's very musician-friendly. So it's good to be back. And we've always had great audience and a great reaction. I think on the PopMart tour, we did -- we did three nights here -- which was, like, unusual compared to the rest of them.

CUOMO: People were screaming and loving it. But what is -- what is it like for you. Edge, you know, you did this -- your first show. You know, you're tryin' to get going, get into a rhythm with it. What was it like to have the first show?

THE EDGE: Well -- it was very exciting to bring this (UNINTEL) the show to America. We've been touring in Europe for the last -- month and a half. Those shows were AMAZING. But, we're very proud to bring it here because, you know, we -- we're used to playing indoors in America where in Europe we play outside alot. And on this tour, I think we really worked hard to try and put together a production that made it -- made sense in the stadium ...

You know, we really wanted to make sense of the scale of the stadium venues. And our production, I have to say -- has -- has kind of -- it now looks like a piece of architecture designed to fit into this kind of venue. And weirdly enough, it creates a kind of intimacy which we never could have achieved in a stadium before because we're so kind of in the -- in the middle. We're so exposed. And -- and -- and when the four of us come together, there's this clear view for everybody. They can really see the interaction -- the chemistry.

CUOMO: Let me ask you, on the road, which of you -- what is the consensus? Who's the most fun on the road of you four guys?

THE EDGE: I think we all have our good nights and our -- our bad nights. It -- it changes. You know, the the baton gets passedLarry, I have to say, on this tour is -- is comin' up, comin' through on the fun stakes (UNINTEL). Adam obviously (CHUCKLE) -- Adam obviously was, early on. (CHUCKLE) But Adam's -- Adam's passed on the buck.

CUOMO: It's fun -- now, Larry, you started the band.

You know, there's this obviously famous mythical story, now about you putting up the ad saying, "I want to start a band." Do you ever regret about who you picked? You know, just to lay it out there? (CHUCKLE) You ever think, "Man -- "

MULLEN: No, no, I would -- I would like to say this. No... I didn't choose these guys. It (UNINTEL) turns out they chose me. AAAH.. I -- I -- so I didn't -- I didn't have much say in -- in how -- in how it worked. It's like -- it's like -- it's a little like -- (CHUCKLE)

CUOMO: Do you regret not sticking with the name Larry Mullen Jr. Band?

MULLEN: I do. As a matter of fact, that is one of my big regrets. I think we could've (UNINTEL) this --

THE EDGE: It would've been more popular -- U2 is such a crap name...