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B.B. King's death scuttles filmmaker's dream U2 gig

Few people at the second concert of U2’s worldwide tour on Friday in Vancouver had any idea how close a complete unknown came to joining the band on stage for a song.

Patrick Stark has been working on a documentary about stage fright and facing your fear for six years. His connection to U2 is tangential; he told Breakfast Television in Vancouver that he first discovered he could sing, somewhat, listening to U2’s seminal live EP "Under a Blood Red Sky" in his car.

U2 fandom intact, Stark set his sights on one auspicious goal to provide the perfect ending for his film: to sing with U2. So two weeks ago, when he heard that U2 was in Chambar, a trendy restaurant in Vancouver’s Gastown district, Stark walked over, summoned up some courage, and walked up to the band with his pitch:

“I envision myself on a stage in a stadium filled with people, singing one song with the biggest band in the world,” he said.

“About half a second later, Bono goes ‘sure’.”

Stark said he and the band quickly discussed doing the deed at the band's Friday, May 15 show.
Stark already had tickets to the show, so all he could do was wait.

Unfortunately, on Friday, blues legend B.B. King died. King and U2 had collaborated famously on “When Love Comes to Town" for the band’s “Rattle and Hum” album, so it seemed like a no-brainer to insert the song into Friday’s performance. That song came at Stark’s expense; he was bumped from the show.

Still, Stark said coming so close and then missing out hasn’t negated the work he’s put into his film.

“It’s not really about U2; it’s about fear and what we do and don’t do in our lives,” he said.

While Stark says he felt like he was ready to sing to the stadium on Friday, and maybe that’s a good-enough finale for his documentary, he’s also holding out hope for that million-dollar moment.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.

“It is the start of the tour; I am a little hopeful.”