I like some U2, but not a huge fan though.
Their last couple albums or so haven't done much for me, but I like the stuff before that! I have to admit I've never been to a live show.
One reason people have strong feelings is down to Bono being all up in everyone's face with his social and political activities. I suspect some folks just got tired of him and by extension, them.
However, that's just some folks.. on the other hand, he has brought so many social issues to the forefront of pop culture, be it apartheid in south africa or world debt and poverty or arizona's lack of celebrating martin luther king day. The band single handedly introduced millions of young college students to amnesty international and greenpeace by giving the organizations free ad space on every one of their records. ah, those records...
Reminds me of an old story, where the band's doing one of their big dramatic buildups, and they've brought the music to a slow burn... Bono steps to the mic and claps his hands purposefully, then steps away. About 15 seconds later, he steps back up and does it again.
After a few minutes of this he intones, "Every time I clap my hands... a child in Africa dies."
A guy in the audience yells "Well stop f**king clapping then!!"