OCTOBER 21: brawl out the show / 1st ever performance of "Slow Dancing" / "Bad" - "Old Man" / "October" lyrics return to Bono in Portland / Bono speaks in Philadelphia / U2 frontman BONO admires Italian designer Giorgio Armani!

"October" tour - october 21, 1981. U2 perform in Hemel Hempstead, England at the Pavilion. Like the night before in Leeds, a brawl breaks out during the show.

"LoveTown" tour - october 21, 1989. U2 perform in Sydney, Australia at the Entertainment Center. This second night is hampered by Bono's viral infection, originally diagnosed as a simple fever. Support for both shows is "Weddings Parties Anything" and B.B. King. After the show, the band travel to Triple-M studios for an interview on "The Midnight Show". During the interview, Bono mentions that Peter Garrett of "Midnight Oil" is one of the great voices in Australian music, while Jason Donovan makes him "want to throw up". For the first time, U2 perform "Slow Dancing" on the air--they dedicate it to the person they wrote it for--Willie Nelson. "I think he's a great singer," Bono says, "and I want to write a great song for him. It's just been written recently, so I thought it might be nice to plya it for people." Bono only sings the first verse of the song, stops and admits he hasn't finished the song yet. Nelson would finally record it with U2 some 8 years later in Dublin. Returning to the hotel, Bono suffers from what is eventually diagnosed as severe laryngitis. The doctors examining him order him to take a weeks rest, which results in the rescheduling of the Sydney, Australia shows planned for October 22, 24, and 25, 1989. While being interviewed on MTV Australia, Adam assures their fans that "if there's any way that Bono can sing, he will. It's very frustrating for him to be struck down by an illness."

"ZOOTV" tour - october 21, 1992. U2 perform in Denver, Colorado at Mile High Stadium. Another sell out for U2 in Denver is recorded as 54,450 fans buy tickets for the show. During Larry's performance of "Dirty Old Town", the microphone cuts out and he is forced to start over. Bono adds a few lines of John Denver's "Annie's Song" to the end of "Angel of Harlem". "Bad" includes a few lines of Neil Young's "Old Man". Bono rants at the end of "Desire", "I believe in love, I believe in love, love and money! I believe in poetry, electricity and cheap cosmetics! I believe in the sky over my head, and my silver shoes on my feet! I believe in you! I believe for you! I have a vision! I have a vision - now and forever, big time, primetime, all the time, I have a vision - television! That's all folks!" Support is B.P. Fallon, "The Sugarcubes", and "Public Enemy".

"Bono speaks in Portland and gets back his October lyrics" - october 20, 2004. Bono speaks at the Rose Garden tonight in an appearance for the World Affairs Council-Oregon's International Speaker Series. The main topic is AIDS, debt, and third world poverty, but Bono begins his speech by telling the crowd of more than 4,000 that earlier in the day two females had returned to him the contents of a briefcase that was stolen when U2 first played Portland in 1981. The briefcase itself wasn't returned, but numerous personal items such as photos, letters to and from Ali, a passport, and perhaps most importantly in terms of the band, his unfinished lyrics for the October album. During the speech, Bono refers to the return of his belonging as "an act of grace," and adds "You will never know how much that means to me."

Bono speaks in Philadelphia - october 21, 2005 - With the band on a day off, Bono travels from Washington, DC, to Philadelphia to speak tonight at an event hosted by the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. When the helicopter he had planned to take becomes unavailable, Bono hops on an Amtrak train for the trip north. During the evening, the council gives Bono its International Statesman Award.

U2 frontman BONO admires Italian designer Giorgio Armani - October 21, 2006 - Because he's "in control of his own destiny". The Irish rocker has admitted a fondness for expensive clothing, including Armani's signature ranges and denim brand Rogan - who also happen to make jeans for wife ALI HEWSON's ethical clothing range, Edun. He says, "Giorgio Armani is my favourite designer, and I like the fact he is not owned by anyone else. He's a 70-year-old man in control of his own destiny. "The other thing I can't do without is Rogan jeans - they're about GBP300 a pair, but they're DAVID BECKHAM's favourite."