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When Emmett Grundberg went to the U2 concert for his 10th birthday on Sept. 13, he certainly did not expect lead singer Bono to ask him personally if he was having a good time.

"Then he asked if I wanted to go for a run," Emmett said. Bono and Emmett circled the massive stage at the concert, drawing cheers and applause from the tens of thousands of people at Soldier Field that night.

This would be an unbelievable story for Emmett's friends and classmates and even for Emmett's family were videos not posted on You Tube as well as on Flickr.

And, it's a good thing that there's proof because Scott Grundberg -- Emmett's dad, the purchaser of the concert tickets and Emmett's "chaperone" for the evening -- suddenly found himself at the concert alone. Without a bird's eye view of the stage he was unable to follow the whereabouts of his son after Bono led him away.

"Emmett's on stage with Bono," Scott texted his wife, Jane. Back home in Clarendon Hills and confused by the message, Jane tried texting and even phoning Scott to no avail. It wouldn't be until 1:30 a.m. with Scott and Emmett safely home that she would find out that the text was serious.

Meanwhile, back at the concert, Scott said he was thinking: "Okay. Bono just stole my kid. How cool is that?" After Emmett traveled the perimeter of the stage with Bono, a security guard got Emmett back to his dad where he and his dad and everyone around them exchanged high-fives.

"It was a pretty surreal experience when I think back on it," Scott said. "Just to be there was fantastic."

Emmett loves music, especially rock and he plays the piano and the guitar and can do a couple of U2 songs. Scott grew up playing music and was in a band until his 30s.

Concerning Emmett, Scott said, "He's taken to (music) more than anything else." The concert was his 10th birthday present, and Emmett was having the time of his life before Bono pulled him out of the crowd.

Emmett and Scott were positioned at an outer ring of the stage which was connected to the larger stage by a bridge. Their vantage point was great. They had seen guitarist The Edge up close a couple of times. But it was when Bono was singing "City of Blinding Light" that he walked out on the bridge and surveyed the audience below. Scott was holding Emmett up in front of him so Emmett could see, and Bono looked down at them and made eye contact with Emmett. Bono motioned for Emmett to come up, and with the help of the crowd -- the bridge was pretty high overhead -- Emmett was hoisted up and over the railing where he high fived Bono.

All Scott had at that point was his iPhone, and the few shots he took were blurry, naturally enough as the dad was a little flustered. Shortly thereafter, Bono and Emmett were out of Scott's range of vision. This was all recorded and photographed on hundreds of devices at the concert. Later Scott gave out his e-mail address and requested photos from all those standing next to and surrounding him who were recording the event.

While on stage, Bono gave Emmett a copy of his play list for the show as well as a page of new lyrics he'd added to a song he sang that night. Then, he passed Emmett on to a security guard who made sure that Emmett got back to his dad.

"What was so strange was that when he was up there, I didn't even know what was happening," Scott said.

Monday was a school day, and naturally enough Emmett had a story or two for his classmates.

"A lot of them didn't believe me at first so I had to bring some visual proof," Emmett said.

Scott was having a similar experience.

"It was just hard to focus on work," he said, not to mention he was receiving lots of the pictures and video electronically. Even speaking about it more than a week later, awe and excitement tinged his voice.

Scott is not alone. "I can't believe this happened to me," Emmett said. "It was an amazing experience."

To view Bono helping Emmett join him on the bridge and run around the stage, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4vTgJB-NiI. To see Emmett on stage, visit www.flickr.com/photos/adamspain/3921348472/.

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@U2 Calendar

3/22 - 5/10/2010 8th Annual "Build a Well for Bono's Birthday" Drive Begins The goal is $50,000. April 4 2010 08:00 PM - 11:00 PM - Easter with Hollywood U2 No, there won't be an egg hunt. Full Calendar