Even better than the real thing?

************FOR THE RECORD: A July 23 story, “Even better than the real thing?”, incorrectly spelled the name of drummer Michael Knutson.********************

What does a band do when it reaches its goal?

Relax, and enjoy the ride.

Local U2 tribute band The Joshua Tree’s biggest dream was to play at the House of Blues, or in Las Vegas.

Known for its spot-on take of the boys from Dublin, from costume to attitude to sound, The Joshua Tree has well surpassed that goal — yet its members are content to enjoy their fan base and regular gigs.

The Joshua Tree will perform in an arena at the Orange County Fair Friday night, followed by a smaller show at the Blue Café in Huntington Beach in August.

The idea for the band first came in 2003, when singer Jason Thiesen and guitarist Chas Alm were playing in a band that performed original music together. They got into a conversation about U2’s music, and soon found themselves doing covers of “Kite” and other popular U2 tunes.

The response to the music was shocking, Alm said. Thiesen already sounded and looked like Bono naturally; he had been told so his entire career.

“I learned to sing from listening to Bono,” Thiesen said.

So they began to take the idea a little more seriously. Very seriously.

They brought their drummer friend Mike Kuntson into a practice, and were amazed at the sound. Practicing began in earnest. Eventually, after one of the bandmates’ wives had a child, the timing was right, and The Joshua Tree was born at a first gig in a church.

Following early performances, like one in a wrestling ring (“Don’t ask,” Alm says), The Joshua Tree has graduated to shows at the Los Angeles County Fair, Las Vegas resorts and many, many other venues.

One of Thiesen’s favorite memories was performing on a flatbed truck in San Diego for several hours before a real U2 concert that evening. The spectacle caused severe traffic in the area, as drivers craned their necks at what they thought was the “real” U2. The group then went into the “real” concert together.

“We wanted to try to be as authentic as possible,” Alm said.

Authenticity, for a tribute band, isn’t just in the sound, they said. Thiesen has collected everything from the same microphone stand Bono uses to one of his tour jackets, purchased from a collector on eBay.

He even carries around a crate of designer sunglasses, paired to match each stage of Bono’s touring career, which famously started with the “Anti-Bono” Fly character in the Zoo TV tour.

“My kids all see Bono on TV and think it’s me,” Thiesen said.

The band brought in bassist Scott Jones, who portrays Adam Clayton, two years ago.

“When I joined this band, I joined a family,” Jones said. “I felt like the Prodigal Son coming home, being welcomed by everyone who follows these guys.”

The guitarists wield many of the same guitars and rigs as their would-be dopplegangers; each has more guitars than fingers, and all of the bells and whistles necessary to create a complicated, Edge- or Adam-like sound.

The entire band devoured live show DVDs, from Slane Castle to Red Rocks, rewinding and going over them note by note, in order to create the perfect mimic.

The investment was well worth it.

“When we all had the right equipment, sonically it all came together,” Kuntson said.

The apparent smoothness with which they now perform together has raised eyebrows, though.

“My wife said to me once, ‘You guys make it look so easy,’” Thiesen said.

“From the outside looking in, it’s hard to tell that there’s a lot more to it than you think,” Jones said.

All of the band members work as a team, listening for errors or additions that, while they may sound good on their own, don’t duplicate the true sound of U2.

“Collectively, we make each other better,” Alm said.

Their family and friends also help with photography, marketing and other ancillary tasks.

Three of the band members live in Orange County, and one lives in Ventura County. The band enjoys playing in Orange County because its fans are relaxed and ready to dive into the fantasy that they’re attending a U2 show, they said.

Some tribute acts have said publicly that their “job” provides an easy vehicle to ready cash and quick fame, which take priority over love of the music.

Not so for The Joshua Tree.

“For us, we did it because we’re U2 fans,” Thiesen said. “Not for the money, or the places to play.”

Their collective fandom shows, with bandmates meeting future wives at gigs or naming children after U2 members.

Thiesen said he still gets a chill up his spine every time he hears the beginning of “Where the Streets Have No Name,” and the band members said they aren’t reluctant to spend top dollar to obtain U2’s own albums and attend their shows, because U2, unknowingly, has been so good to them.

The band’s repertoire is extensive, including popular favorites like “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” as well as B-sides like “Hallelujah, Here She Comes.”

Their set list, accordingly, depends on which audience they expect: a large general crowd gets all of the barnstorming hits, while a group of known die-hard fans might expect more rarities.

They’ve already begun performing several hits off the new album, “No Line on the Horizon,” including the title track, “Magnificent,” “Get on Your Boots” and “Breathe.”

“People don’t realize how big the U2 catalog is,” Jones said. “We can play 30 songs, and people realize they’ve heard them all.”

The bandmates are often asked whether they would prefer to do their own original music again, but they demur at the idea.

“We’ve all done the original band thing for many years,” Kuntson said. “It’s more gratifying and satisfying now. We don’t have to prove anything.”

The guys have day jobs and families, so they don’t see themselves turning their hobby into a full-time job; if it ever felt like work, they would leave it in an instant, they said. One of the biggest insights Kuntson got into the band’s greater meaning was bestowed by a fan outside a gig in San Clemente.

“They said, ‘You’ve really got to understand what you do for people,’” Kuntson said — offering fans an escape from their outside lives that, especially now, is still financially possible.

“We really feel blessed with all this,” Jones said.

If You Go

Who: The Joshua Tree

When: 8 p.m. Aug. 8

Where: The Blue Café, 17208 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach

Info: (562) 592-1302, thebluecafe.com

?

The Band’s Favorite Songs To Play

?Michael Kuntson/Larry Mullen Jr.: “Until the End of the World”

?Jason Thiesen/Bono: “Where the Streets Have No Name”

?Chas Alm/Edge: “Bad”

?Scott Jones/Adam Clayton: “Gone”