Many fans were disappointed last weekend when major concerts from U2 and Ed Sheeran were cancelled after police said they were spread too thin by protests to provide security for the events. But no fans were more disappointed than those who traveled hundreds of miles to St. Louis to catch the shows.
One of those U2 fans, Beth from Atlanta, said she was disappointed the concert was cancelled, but made the most of her time in STL nonetheless. Her open letter to the people of St. Louis has since gone viral.
Here's what she said:
To the People of St. Louis:
First off, let me say thank you.
I am one of the visitors who arrived this past weekend to attend the U2 show with two friends of mine. We all flew in from Atlanta, fired up beyond words for the experience of watching U2 perform The Joshua Tree cover to cover from the floor of the arena. It was not to be.
This is where my thank you to the city begins. At every turn, no matter where we went in the city, people were friendly, apologetic, and helpful. Everyone offered a kind word, suggestions, and sympathy for our plight. We, in turn, felt concern for the hotel and restaurant workers who were also hurt by the weekend's turn of events, and did our best to drink and eat at many of your fine restaurants and bars — Rooster, McGurk's, BB's — where we experienced excellent food and even better service than we could have hoped for. The Hyatt Regency at The Arch was very accommodating, and we heard of instances where they allowed late cancellations to accommodate U2 fans. We tried to take advantage of some sightseeing, but it seems that things closed in response to the anticipated threat of protesters.
We ended our day by going to see a local U2 cover band, Elevation, at the Chase Park Plaza. We had a blast and ended the evening with smiles and some new friends.
I'm the mother of a young child so random trips out of state are almost impossible to pull off, so I'm disappointed. But I am grateful for the time to catch up with friends and greatly appreciate the hospitality of a friendly city that fell circumstance to the biggest disappointment of last weekend, an unjust verdict.
Thank you, St. Louis. I will be back someday!
Beth Radtke
Radtke said she decided to write the letter after she received such a warm welcome in an unfamiliar city.
“We just felt the empathy from everybody and you could tell everyone felt bad for what was going on and we heard from the workers how business felt slow and things were hard for them,” Radtke said.
Her group decided to tip a little extra, spend money in downtown businesses and enjoy the city as much as possible.
“We ended up having a lot of fun and we crammed a lot in our short visit there,” she added.
Radtke said she is already planning on visiting St. Louis again and has been offered a place to stay already.