U2 Filmed A Video In Highland Park, Michigan

Ken Settle is one of the most well-known concert photographers in Detroit. Ken not only takes top-shelf concert pictures, but he also has fantastic memories and stories from his photo shoots.  In this piece, Ken recounts his all-night shoot when U2 filmed a video in Highland Park, Michigan for "If God Will Send Us His Angels." The following story is written by Ken. Many Thanks to Ken Settle for sharing his pictures and memories. -Doni

This portrait of Bono of U2 was taken on November 1, 1997, in the inner-urban enclave of Highland Park, Michigan. I had photographed U2 the night before on Halloween at The Pontiac Silverdome on the band's Pop Mart Tour. After I got home from the show at around midnight, I got a call from the band's on-tour publicist, Caren Bell. I had gotten to know her a little bit in her days as The Rolling Stones tour publicist. Gary Graff also suggested to her that she give me a call. She told me that at the last minute, Bono had found the perfect location for a video that the band wanted to do for their song "If God Will Send His Angels." She wanted to know if I would be interested in coming out and shooting stills at the video shoot.

I have no idea how Bono found this location! It was a ramshackle and abandoned old diner called The Hi-Liter in Highland Park, Michigan, on Manchester Street off Woodward Avenue. It was in a bit of a rough neighborhood.

All at the last minute, the band was able to pull together the video shoot, which entailed bringing in huge generators to supply electricity, as power had been shut off to that location years earlier. They also got together a lighting crew, a video crew, a pyro guy with a stunt car that would be parked in the adjacent vacant parking lot and set on fire, and they got the band's longtime video director, Phil Joanou, to come out to produce and direct. They even got a bunch of people, many from the neighborhood, to come out as "extras" on the video set! I am still amazed that they were able to pull all of that off in such short order!

The Hi-Liter Diner as a location was something to see. ALL of the lighting was supplied by the lighting crew as there was no electricity. The seats in the booths at the diner were precariously propped up on cinder blocks. There was an area for me to work between two video cameras in front of the dusty remnants of what used to be the cook's window. But when the lighting crew got done and the "extras" were brought in, the place looked like a fully operational diner!

One really interesting thing was that Bono and Phil Joanou wanted Bono and the band to appear at normal speed while everything around them flashed by in a sped-up way. In the pre-digital days, I learned, the way they accomplished that was to have Bono lip-syncing to a very slowed-down track. Meanwhile, "patrons" and waitresses" happened in and out of the frame. Then they would speed the film up so that Bono and the band appeared at normal speed. Everything else around them appeared to be flying by at a faster rate of speed! Bono managed to pull that off perfectly!

The band's show at The Silverdome the night before was incredible. I was so excited to be shooting stills on set for this video. But I was nervous about a few things. The lighting was going to be a crazy mix of tungsten lighting, daylight-balanced lighting, and "lighting of unknown color temperature!" In those days, before digital, you had to be very careful to match your film color temperature to the light source. It was impossible to adjust white balance in post as is common in today's digital world. I had to bring with me a variety of different color film stocks as well as black & white so I would be prepared for anything.

Despite the band's mega-success, I found Bono and the band to be really easy-going and approachable, normal guys. Bono always loved the singing of Detroit R&B legend, the late Jackie Wilson, and he was visibly excited when I told him that Jackie had grown up right there in Highland Park, and went to school a few blocks away at the old Highland Park High! At one point while we were talking, Bono said, "You wouldn't happen to have a Camel"? I said, "No".....but I kept wondering, why on earth would he think that I might have a camel? Huh?!!! It wasn't until I was driving home that night that I realized that Bono was trying to bum a Camel cigarette! I also had fun chatting with The Edge about guitars and amps. For the first time, I learned that he loved the 1950s-era small tweed Fender Deluxe amplifiers!

I enjoyed shooting Bono between takes. The lighting was very dim for still photography. Since it was on a video set, there was no flash allowed. But what I noticed was that at those times, Bono would always arrange himself, perhaps, subconsciously, so that he would become "Rock Star Bono." And I wanted to get something that showed a bit of a different side of the man. Finally, between takes, I watched Bono listening VERY intently to the instructions that Phil Joanou was giving him. For a brief moment, he seemed oblivious to the intrusion of my camera. Finally, I was able to get some photos that showed a bit of a different side of Bono. For one of the shots, a car came around the corner off Woodward Avenue. I caught the headlights shining through the window pane behind Bono. Here's my favorite:

The video shoot went on and on and on! They did take after take after take! I got to the location at probably 7 PM, and by 3 AM, they were still going strong! At about 3:30, Caren Bell saw that I was looking a little tired. She said, "These video shoots DO go on a long time!" She asked if I thought I got everything I needed and I said that I was confident that I had. She kindly let me know that I could head home if I wanted!

Thanks again to Ken Settle for another amazing and personal point story about Detroit's rock and roll history. Scroll down to check out more of Ken Settle's photos.

Ken Settle is a Detroit-area music photographer who began his career while barely in his teens, photographing rock legend Bob Seger in his early years around the Motor City. Through the years, Ken's photos have been published worldwide in magazines such as Guitar Player, Premier Guitar; Rolling Stone, the original Creem Magazine, People, Playboy, Guitar World, Japan's Player, France's Guitarist, and England's Kerrang!

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Stevie Ray Vaughan - 1989 Cobo Arena ken settle

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