Unforgettable In Every Way (That MatterS)—By PJ
All photos by PJ, 2025.
Unforgettable In Every Way (That Matters)
PJ DeGenaro
On the evening of March 8, I took the train into Manhattan to see celebrated U2 tribute band Unforgettable Fire. I have a strategy for parking at my local Metro North Station that I won’t get into here, but after some circling I found a good spot, which turned out to be number 510. “Bono’s birthday,” I muttered, though I was completely alone. “That’s a good sign.” Classic U2 fan nonsense: I got some.
I’d been following Unforgettable Fire on social media for a while. I don’t know how that happened, because I’ve always felt tribute bands were just a little bit silly. Yes, I’m a jerk. Let’s get that out of the way right now. I think a lot of perfectly enjoyable and acceptable things are silly. I’m not a good person. I admit it. If you follow me on social media you know I can be: [A] Obstreperous [B] Confrontational [C] Opinionated [D] All of the above.
But, well, without going into detail, I’ve had a tough winter. Let’s just say the stretch between early December and late February contained a series of unfortunate events that left me wiped out. At some point – January, I think – I saw that Unforgettable Fire would be playing in New York on March 8. Given the current lack of real U2 and the cold, blustery, seemingly endless winter, I decided to buy a ticket.
As I told my husband, “I know they’re just a tribute band, but I’m really looking forward to this.”
And as I told Kelly, “THIS IS THE ONLY THING I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO AND NOTHING BAD IS ALLOWED TO HAPPEN BETWEEN NOW AND MARCH 8 TO FUCK IT UP.”
No pressure, Unforgettable Fire dudes.
Fortunately, March 8 came along without a hitch. I met my friend Deirdre in the swanky hotel bar above the SONY Hall theater so we could get caught up on our mutually lousy winters. Then we did some strategizing.
“We need to resist the urge to shove our way up front, because after all, it’s not really U2,” said Deirdre.
Sage advice. And we stuck to it! We did not shove at all. We merely sidled our way up front.
Right off the bat, I recognized 10 or 15 faces from New York area U2 gigs. I never remember names, and I didn’t say hello or anything because (as previously stated) I am a jerk, but it was cool to see them. They all seemed to know each other, and the band members seemed to know them!
And now I understand something: This is how U2 fans in the northeastern U.S. survive the harsh climate of the current U2 desert. They go to Unforgettable Fire shows. Because while Unforgettable Fire are not really U2, they are quite an amazing simulation. (The buzzing sound you hear is my brain struggling not to say anything about “the real thing.”)
The band walked onstage to the accompaniment of the “Lemon” remix from Popmart, and the first song they played was “Discotheque.” And I was all:
I mean, who plays “Discotheque?” Certainly not U2.
From that moment on, Deirdre and I knew we were in good hands. And while the band did play a fair number of hits (which was NOT a problem) their version of “The Electric Co” had me jumping so hard that my feet may never fully recover.
Okay, look: If you actually read this website you know how I feel about Bono. So let’s talk about Pretend Bono.
The photos you see online don’t do him justice, but Pretend Bono (Anthony Russo) is extremely convincing in real life, right down to the smallest gestures – even that fluttery-finger thing Bono does with his non-microphone hand. He has a powerful voice, he sounds a lot like Bono, and after 30 years, he probably has an honorary PhD in Bono. He’s also blessed with a combination of neck, nose and jaw that helps him strike such classic Happy Bono poses as the one Kelly calls the NEUG, or Neck Enhancing Upward Gaze.
In true Bono style, he is skilled at connecting with people in the audience via eye contact and hand grabs, and by somehow making you feel he’s singing right at you. But he doesn’t overdo it. For example, he breaks character for the patter between songs. He knows he isn’t Bono and he’s not trying to put anything over on anyone. He sings “One” with just the right amount of feeling, but doesn’t mimic Real Bono’s tendency to get overwhelmed or teary. And this is wise.
Behave yourself, sir.
As for the others (Mick Normoyle as Edge, George Levesanos as Larry and Craig Kiell as Adam), I suspect they are way better musicians than they even need to be. I’m not a musician and I don’t really understand how the musical sausage is made, but their skill is obvious, and they could probably play anything they wanted. And yet, as stated on the UF website, “The members of UF are [...] very dedicated fans of U2, and will not settle for anything less than complete authenticity.”
How cu2te is this? I’m very sorry I couldn’t get a decent shot of Mr. Levesanos, the drummer and apparent founder(!) of Unforgettable Fire.
This dedication shines through in their performance. We were on the Edge side of the stage, so we got to see Pretend Edge moving nimbly between guitar and keyboard for “New Year’s Day,” just like the real thing. Pretend Adam is clearly a great bassist in a way that even I can recognize, and he has Adam’s stance and attitude down to a science. Fake Larry is – look, I don’t even know how to compliment a drummer, but if Real Larry can recover enough to do half of what this guy can do, it will be wonderful to experience.
But here’s the really important thing: Unforgettable Fire recreated perfectly the feeling of a U2 GA floor experience, with all the warmth, jostling, bumping, dancing, jumping and singing you would expect from the real thing. They gave us a fun, raucous singalong on a cold New York City night — just what I needed and was hoping for. People were grinning and hugging each other. A woman on my right seemed to completely transcend this earthly realm, and more power to her. But I think it’s fair to say that most of us, for the space of a couple of hours, felt safe, protected and uplifted from our own problems and the problems of an increasingly scary world. Very few artists can create that kind of atmosphere, and a tribute band shouldn’t even have to. But they did. They really did. And I thank them.
Note to Real Edge and Real Adam: do this.
Our esteemed colleagues here at Achtoon Tower, Fake Bono and Fake Edge, had better step up their game.
Highly professional iPhone photos by PJ. Unforgettable Fire can be found here, here and here. Tell ‘em PJ sent you.