Bond star lets his Irish roots show at Moncton U2 concert
Published Monday August 1st, 2011
James Bond.
At the end of the day, Pierce Brosnan, who has played 007 in three films, was the biggest star to attend Saturday's U2 concert at Magnetic Hill.
Forget about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
And those rumours about Oprah, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Bruce Springsteen and Justin Bieber turned out to be nothing but.
They all may like Bono and the boys, but none of them travelled to New Brunswick for the final show of the two-year, 360º Tour.
An accomplished actor whose credits include the television program Remington Steele and a number of other motion pictures, including Mrs. Doubtfire and The Matador, created quite a stir around the VIP tent, however.
Not because he has a direct connection to the band, which wrote the theme song to GoldenEye, but because of his portrayals of the dashing secret agent in that movie, Die Another Day and The World Is Not Enough.
Brosnan was swarmed by guests seeking his autograph, a handshake or a quick snapshot.
David Alward, New Brunswick's premier, was among them.
"I'll never wash this hand again,'' Alward said, joking.
Alward was one of two premiers in attendance - Robert Ghiz of Prince Edward Island was the other. Shawn Graham, the former premier, and his wife, Roxanne Reeves, also took in the show, along with a list of MLAs and MPs that included Bruce Fitch, Paul Robichaud, Sue Stoltz, Marie-Claude Blais, Robert Goguen, Victor Boudreau, Dominic LeBlanc and Trevor Holder.
But there was no sign of Sidney Crosby, who was also alleged to be among the more notable guests.
Believe me, if Sid the Kid or Oprah was there, somebody would have actually seen them.
Bubbles (Mike Smith) and Julian (John Paul Tremblay)from The Trailer Park Boys were also there, in the crowd to the right of the stage as U2 played, and they even posed for pictures. But Brosnan and them were it.
In previous years, the rumour mill also ran rampant. Despite what you may have heard, Johnny Depp was not at the Stones' concert at Magnetic Hill in 2005. And neither was tennis star Maria Sharapova, who was said to be dating a member of Maroon 5 at the time.
As for Bieber, the teenage crooner and heart throb, he was said to be seen in Moncton earlier in the day, setting off an alert among concert-goers.
Supposedly, a friend of a friend of a friend's friend took a picture of him in Shoppers Drug Mart, which then got circulated through social media.
"To me, it looks like a cardboard cutout," Stephanie Tower of Sackville said, displaying the dark picture on her cellphone.
So that's it, until at least next year: Pierce Brosnan and a couple of Trailer Park Boys.
But wait a minute.
Wasn't that guy to the left of the stage Elvis?
