Pay a visit to Italy, Spain, Germany or other parts of continental Europe, and there’s a good chance you will have an opportunity to see Achtung Babies, the longest serving, and arguably best U2 tribute act. They are also the only tribute band to have ever represented U2 in an official capacity. We caught up with them after their show in Bologna, Italy, to find out – what is life like for the biggest tribute band of the biggest actual band on the planet? At the end of the interview, we will throw the floor open to our members and give a chance to ask questions, and follow up with the band for additional answers.
Ordinary Love in the studio – Achtung, Babies
TalkU2: Achtung, Babies, thank you for agreeing to talk to TalkU2. As the longest serving U2 tribute act in the world, how did you come up with the idea to create a tribute act to U2?
Luca: The idea was to create a cover band (at that time, in 1993, the concept of “tribute band” didn’t really exist, especially in Italy) that would focus on the music of one band only, our favorite, U2.
Edo: …And the look! A cover band dressing up and wearing costumes surely was a big deal back in 1993, and I think it’s part of the initial success.
Achtung Babies performs Like a Song
TalkU2: Were you friends before you formed the band?
Edo: Not at all, we all joined the band in different eras, stefano and luca have been in the band since 01, chris and I joined in 2010, but we all met on stage for the first time! However, this is the most enduring line-up ever, so yes, we’ve surely become friends!
Luca: None of us was in the original line-up. The former guitarist and founder had to replace all members for different reasons at some points, until he replaced himself. So we just met when we joined the band…now, after the large amount of tour-gigs, we can say that we are good friends.
TalkU2: Did you argue over which band member would play which U2 member? Or was it obvious from day 1?
Edo: well, we all did play our current instruments even before being in a U2 tribute, so I guess it was pretty obvious, although sooner or later I’ll convince Stefano to swap roles for one gig! Lol
Luca: Ahahahah, as real brothers, we argue about a lot of things!
Anyway, we were asked to do exactly what we do now, no questioning about it, and not only for the instruments that we play: a little bit of phisical similarity, and the attitude to “live-in-tour” were fundamental assumptions.
TalkU2: Tell us about Chris, your lead vocalist, your Bono?
Luca: Total, unconditioned hearth, passion, love for U2 and their music…anyone can hear all of this, when he sings…
Edo: Chris could sing U2 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, and he’d sing his heart out at 200% no matter what.
TalkU2:And your lead guitarist is Edo. Is that a real name or is it Italian for “Edge”?
Edo: lol, no, “Edo” is the short form for Edoardo, like Eddie and Edward.
Luca: Ahahah it sounds veeery similar, never thought about it! Anyways, we think about him as our Edge mostly for his incredible ability in reproducing the Edge’s sounds / tones, as well as the backing tracks and videos we used in our show.
TalkU2: Stefano is your Larry – what’s his story?
Luca: A real, solid drummer, and an invincible entertainer!! He proposed himself, and so convincingly, that it was impossible to say no! You can always expect a joke from him!!!
He loves U2 music very much…
Edo: A great drummer, an even better comedian!! when he’s not playing drums he’s either telling jokes or playing card tricks! Once we had a gig outside and it started raining pretty bad, so the promoter decided to cancel it, but some people (probably 30-40) stayed hoping we would start the show under the rain. Stefano performed a 1+ hour solo show for them telling jokes and stuff, it was one of our best gigs ever!! lol
TalkU2: And finally there’s Luca as Adam. Tell us a little bit about him.
Edo: as the elder member of the band, he’s pretty much in charge of all the boring stuff around a band!
Luca: The elder of the band, and a sort of tour manager too…a lot of responsability on my head, even if “sometimes I go away with the wind..”
TalkU2: How did you develop such a following in Italy?
Luca: Well, we were born and live here…we love to reproduce U2 music, putting our hearts on stage: this makes people love you, not only as musicians…
Edo: U2 are pretty huge in Italy, and since they only come touring every 4-5 years, lots of U2 fans make do with U2 tribute bands, and we’ve been around for quite a long time now..
TalkU2: When did you decide, this wasn’t just fun, it was a career?
Luca: Every one of us join the band when it already represented a job opportunity.
Edo: I suppose we didn’t really decide it, it just happened
TalkU2: What do tribute acts experience that the rest of us may now know about? Do people stop you in the streets?
Edo: well, we drive thousands of miles every weekend, sometimes people recognize us at the gas station, or when we cue for U2 shows, it’s fun actually!
Luca: Ahahah yes this is funny, but it happens quite often…some people ask for autographs…the best situation is when we recognize it is not only for our job, but also for friendship, common passion for U2 and music.
TalkU2: You have the U2 sound down so well that it seems you have a method for copying the exact sound. Do you? Is Dallas Schoo sending you tips? 😁
Luca: The sound-magician / genius of the band is Edo: he does all the backing-tracks and videos too, and he has a little nerd-attitude, that makes him a strong researcher and producer. No tips from Dallas!! :DDDDD
Edo: Ironically, we don’t even rehearse.. we all live 100’s miles apart from each other, so we only meet when we play gigs! We have a quite organized routine by now: when we add new songs to the repertoire, I make the backing track and tell the other guys the reference version i picked, each member learns his part, and when we get to the venue we give it a go as an ensamble. I’m the picky guy in the band, so I’m usually the one pointing out when something doesn’t sound right.. although it doesn’t happen very often luckily!
And another big part of the credit goes to the 5th member of the band, our super talented sound engineer Cristiano who does an amazing job mixing our live show.
TalkU2: And what about Bonos voice? Is that your natural voice or do you have to work on it? I mean, it’s perfect. Also, your mannerisms are perfect, do you work on mannerisms ?
Luca: We always work on what we have to produce with our instruments, especially Christian, on his voice. We think he is a sort of super-hero with his voice: He has a record of 11 gigs in a row, with just one day off between the 6th and the 7th ones. Unbelievable, if you think that he has to sing Bono tunes for more than two hours per gig!!
Edo: Sometimes we read / hear comments from people saying “The singer sounds just like Bono” or similar.. I actually think Chris has his own thing going on, a great voice that works perfectly well within the U2 singing range.
As far as the mannerism, we don’t take it too seriously, but it’s part of the fun!
TalkU2:Have you ever met the band? What was that like?
Edo: I’ve met all band members on different occasions. I had a list of things I was gonna ask/tell the edge the day I met him, but as soon as he showed up I was so excited I couldn’t even remember my name!
Luca: We met them just as fans… It would be interesting to meet them and have a chat in front of a pint of Guinness!
Discotheque – Visuals included
TalkU2: Do you have favorite U2 music eras?
Luca: This is one of the topics we usually argue about!
Edo: probably the 90’s, AB and Pop.. although my favorite songs are Streets and Bad. Ask that tomorrow and you get a completely different answer! lol
MacChristo?
TalkU2: How do you like the new music, songs of experience?
Edo: it’s a pleasant record, it sounds mature, there are a few classic U2 gems in there.. looking forward to see how it translates live!
Luca: We love this record, totally.
Achtung, Babies performs “The Blackout”
TalkU2: Tell us a little bit about when you accepted an award on behalf of U2? How did that come about, what was the award, what did you say?
Luca: None of us was there. It was an italian music award “P.I.M”, U2 won for the “best foreign artist” category but were busy touring and could not come and receive it. The early Achtung Babies were asked to accept the award on behalf of U2 and gave their contribution, performing some songs.
Edo: yeah, I wasn’t there, but when I heard the story I thought it was pretty cool!
TalkU2: I have to ask about that Spanish TV thing, how does a tribute act get featured on prime time TV news?
Luca: …and it happened more times!! Spanish people love live music, and there is a huge U2 fan base in Spain. We love to play there: lots of sold out showa, lots of love coming from the audience.
Edo: Yeah, they have a different, enviable culture for live music. There, live music is a big deal at all levels and it deserves the spot light, whether you are an artist or a tribute! And yes, spanish people go nuts for U2!
TalkU2: And what about that time you were chased by Italian police? That’s got to be funny. What was all that about?
Luca: A little argument with the neighbors.. We and the crew were leaving the club after the gig, some fans were gathered outside the front door and so our singer decided to grab a guitar and play some more U2 songs in the street… some neighbor didn’t appreciate that improvised encore too much!!
Edo: I think it happened twice actually…(laughter)
TalkU2: I understand you flew a jet airplane over the POPmart concert in Rome in 1997. Can you give us more details?
Luca: Just rent a little plane, with an advice panel on the tail, on which was written “Ciao a tutti dagli Achtung Babies” (Hello everybody by Achtung Babies)….crazy!!!
Edo: yeah, back then there was no social networks… I don’t even know if we had internet yet!! So you had to invent something to promote the band and expose it to masses, and that seemed the perfect occasion!
TalkU2: You mostly tour continental Europe. Any plans for a EI tour of the U.K. Or USA? Maybe even down under?
Luca: Waiting for proposal!
Edo: never say never, if it depended on us, we surely would have done it already! Unfortunately it’s not easy
TalkU2: What else does the future hold for Achtung Babies?
Edo: after the Joshua Treebute Tour show we performed this past year, we’re starting to add the new songs of experience to our repertoire and are looking forward to take our E(urope) + I(taly) tour around Europe – and hopefully beyond!
TalkU2: Well we wish you the best of luck with that! We greatly appreciate you taking the time to talk to us at TalkU2 and maybe some of our members will get to see you live in Europe this summer. Thanks Edo, thanks Luca! I hope to see you all in Italy this summer!
TalkU2: We are now going to ask our forum members to submit questions. The questions will be sent to the band and responses will be added to this article and forum thread. Comment and ask Achtung Babies questions here
For more, visit their website at
