iNNOCENCE & eXPERIENCE Tour Adds More Dates

A fifth show at London's O2 will take place on November 2nd, with the previous four nights sold out. Tickets will go on general sale this Friday, February 6th.

A third show at Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi will take place on October 9th - the previous two nights sold out. Tickets will go on general  sale next Tuesday, February 10th.

U2.com subscribers who have not yet used their unique pre-sale access code - or new subscribers - can take part in a ticket pre-sale for these additional two shows from tomorrow, Tuesday February 3rd  at 10am (for eXPERIENCE subscribers) and from Wednesday, February 4th at 10am (for iNNOCENCE  subscribers). The pre-sale ends this Thursday, Feb 5th, at 5pm. All times are local venue time.  Tickets will be general admission on the floor and reserved seating in the stands.

U2 iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour 2015

NORTH AMERICA 2015
May 14th, Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena
May 15th, Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena
May 18th, San Jose, CA, SAP Center at San Jose
May 19th, San Jose, CA, SAP Center at San Jose
May 22nd, Phoenix, AZ, US Airways Center
May 23rd, Phoenix, AZ, US Airways Center
May 26th, Los Angeles, CA, Forum
May 27th, Los Angeles, CA, Forum
May 30th, Los Angeles, CA, Forum
May 31st, Los Angeles, CA, Forum
June 3rd, Los Angeles, CA, Forum - On Sale Friday, January 30th
June 12th, Montreal, QC, Bell Centre
June 13th, Montreal, QC, Bell Centre
June 16th, Montreal, QC, Bell Centre
June 17th, Montreal, QC, Bell Centre
June 24th, Chicago, IL, United Center
June 25th, Chicago, IL, United Center
June 28th, Chicago, IL, United Center
June 29th, Chicago, IL, United Center

July 6th, Toronto, ON, Air Canada Centre
July 7th, Toronto, ON, Air Canada Centre
July 10th, Boston, MA, TD Garden
July 11th, Boston, MA, TD Garden
July 14th, Boston, MA, TD Garden
July 15th, Boston, MA, TD Garden
July 18th, New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
July 19th, New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
July 22nd, New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
July 23rd, New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
July 26th, New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
July 27th, New York, NY, Madison Square Garden

EUROPE / UK 2015
Sept. 4th, Turin, Italy , Pala Alpitour
Sept. 5th, Turin, Italy, Pala Alpitour
Sept. 8th, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Ziggo Dome
Sept. 9th, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Ziggo Dome
Sept. 12th, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Ziggo Dome
Sept. 13th, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Ziggo Dome
Sept. 16th, Stockholm, Sweden, Globe
Sept. 17th, Stockholm, Sweden, Globe
Sept. 20th, Stockholm, Sweden, Globe
Sept. 21th, Stockholm, Sweden, Globe
Sept. 24th, Berlin, Germany, O2 World
Sept. 25th, Berlin, Germany, O2 World
Sept. 28th, Berlin, Germany, O2 World
Sept. 29th, Berlin, Germany, O2 World

Oct. 5th, Barcelona, Spain, Palau Sant Jordi
Oct. 6th, Barcelona, Spain, Palau Sant Jordi
Oct. 9th, Barcelona, Spain, Palau Sant Jordi - On Sale Tuesday, February 10th
Oct. 13th, Antwerp, Belgium, Sportpaleis
Oct. 14th, Antwerp, Belgium, Sportpaleis
Oct. 17th, Koln, Germany, Lanxess Arena
Oct. 18th Koln, Germany, Lanxess Arena
Oct. 25th, London, UK, O2
Oct. 26th, London, UK, O2
Oct. 29th, London, UK, O2
Oct. 30th, London, UK, O2

Nov. 2nd, London, UK, O2 - On Sale Friday, February 6th
Nov. 6th, Glasgow, UK, The SSE Hydro
Nov. 7th, Glasgow, UK, The SSE Hydro
Nov. 10th, Paris, France, Bercy
Nov. 11th, Paris, France, Bercy
Nov. 14th, Paris, France, Bercy
Nov. 15th, Paris, France, Bercy

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On The Edge, Alone

There’s a time and a place for everything, they say. And in my humble opinion, for whatever that may mean, there’s an end coming. I know I upset a lot of people when I say this but my impression is this will likely be U2’s last tour. I could be hopelessly wrong about that. I would not be surprised if I wasn’t. Especially if Bono keeps hurting himself!

Given that probability, I think it’s time to explore something that I would have loved to see long ago. Edge, striking out on his own as a recording artist. Context is important and, for a man with so much talent, we do not know what he’s capable of outside the context of U2.

We’ve seen the odd collaboration over the years. We’ve seen songs like “Numb”. But we’ve never seen what he could do all on his own. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to see him explore his own musical inspirations? From the beginnings with Television-inspired riffs to the electronic resonance of industrial to the culture madness that is New Orleans to home and his Irish roots. Without the need to be U2, the possibilities are endless.
I don’t think it would take him long escape the structure he has spent most of his life in and spread his wings much further afield. What sounds and song ideas were long left in the dust because they didn’t work with U2? Having Brian Eno in his camp for so long, he could surely expand and innovate well past any boundaries we’ve seen to date.

The man can surely sing but I’d love to see both vocals and instrumentals as he would see fit. Perhaps he could do an album of collaborations like Santana did. How cool would it be to see him record a song with Dave Grohl or Tom Morello? After watching It Might Get Loud I would die to see him record something with Jack White. Can you imagine? I’d also love to see something with Chris Cornell (feel free to comment on any artists you think might be interesting co-creators for Edge).

Given the changing musical landscape these days, he could simply record a song and put it out there periodically. There truly is no need to limit himself with finding some definition for an album. Fully exploring his creativity on a song by song basis would be, well, magnificent!!
He wouldn’t even need to tour unless he wanted to do so. I think seeing him do a small number of small shows in smaller venues would be the greatest way to provide an intimate environment so people could really get to know him, as him alone.

It would be fantastic to see this man show the world what he looks like on his own. Unencumbered by the boys club of U2. Able to stretch his wings and truly explore and innovate and put it all out there. He deserves that opportunity. I’m curious if he wants that opportunity. I hope we get to see it sooner than later.

U2 Fans Meet Ups

U2 fans have always had meet ups during the tour. Those dedicated U2 fans that share interests that include music, family and of course concerts have always found away to pick a location within any tour city stop to have a gathering.

This tour is no different plans are underway for several different meet up locations everything from bars to just around the venue. U2 TOUR FANS has created the ultimate fan meet up tool within its new mobile app.

Fans can communicate directly with other fans within their given city. Also fans will be able to find out all of the specials we have been working on for each city. Yes deals from hotels, food and yes bars. The best is its all available to you live 24 hours a day and in real time. We launched the mobile app this week and so far we have had outstanding support. Downloading the app for your Idevice will allow you to be apart of the the fun.  

U2 Residence Tour

U2 is about to embark on what will be deemed as the the residency tour of 2015. Looking at this up coming tour from the prospective of the band and crew this will turn out to be the best dam tour of them all.

Think about this the band rolls into a city and sets up the show for three to seven nights and boom they are locked in. The crew really does not have much to do but run the show nightly and of course maybe some promotional work during the day and that's about it. For the most part this is a dream tour for the crew.  The band well the older the band gets and lets remember Bono is not as young as he once was. 

This is the best of both worlds, they get to stay put for a few days, play the best of sets mix in some new stuff and basically have some fun with their audience. Its perfect until you look at the fans.  Yup those punters that expect that the management and touring company would offer pre-sales codes for every show. Those dedicated fans that as we speak having been saving their money to be able to afford one show.  Of course we know that some fans will try to attend every single night in a city however we ask, why ? Yes, why blend the experience of every night into that one single experience.

Fans blame the new management for lots of things. In the end fans need to take a step back and consider the fact that U2 might be at the end of their touring days. That Bono's number one wish has always go out with a BANG and not a whimper.  Sure its easy to blame management, because its hard to blame our super hero's for wanting to make a enjoyable experience for everyone. 

We invite you to start the conversation share your thoughts on the whole ticket process. God knows we have heard a hell of a lot about it.  Most of you are pretty upset that the band has not extended more pre-sales codes and the fact is that you can still sign up for membership to the fan club and get a new pre-sale code.  Heck we don't know if you will be able to use it on the next round of dates announced.  What are your thoughts ? 

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U2 fans to preview and buy any of U2 albums released, access tour information; post concert videos, photos and receive band-related news feeds.  Two features that stand out are the U2 radio and the U2 mobile image. U2 Radio allows U2 fans to enjoy 24 hour U2 music not only albums the station includes concert audio from recorded past shows.  The mobile image allows U2 fans to send their photos directly to U2TOURFANS servers for posting within the shared community. 

U2 Fans Mobile Radio Station

We have been talking all week about our new application and highlighting some of the features of the application.

We partnered with U2RADIO.com to connect more fans around the world to this world class online radio station that allows fans to stream U2 music to any device in any location 24 hours a day. The feature has been added to the U2 TOUR FANS Connected Community to allow fans to listen to music while they connect with other fans around the world and share their images, videos and of course the daily U2 news.  Download the app today from the ITunes store or click the link below.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/u2tourfans/id351632801?mt=8

U2TOURFANS is dedicated to providing U2 fans around the world the best possible U2 fan experience and connecting fans from around the world with other fans from around the world.

U2: The Relevancy of Relevancy

I realize this may upset a few of the hardcore fans of U2. I happen to be one of them. Bono has talked extensively on the subject of whether U2 is still relevant. Sadly, the answer appears to be a resounding ‘no’.

From the negative reception to U2’s ‘gift’ of Songs of Innocence to what basically amounts to minimal radio play of “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)”, is there a way to think anything less? A brief look at YouTube statistics tells the same story. U2’s “Miracle” has under two million plays. By comparison, Foo Fighter’s recent “Something From Nothing” (a song that was not huge for them) had 5.5 million views. And as much as any band would love to have a couple of million views, where U2 is concerned, that basically qualifies as being completely ignored.

Many fans will point to the upcoming Innocence + Experience tour. If they are so irrelevant, how come they selling out dates all over the world? I can point to The Rolling Stones who tour and fill major venues as a prime example. What’s the last new Stones song you can think of that made the charts? That’s right, you can’t (they haven’t had a U.S. chart single since the remix of “Sympathy For The Devil” in 2003 and that only got as high as number 97)!

Towards the end of last year the band started playing a beautiful version of “Every Breaking Wave” on their various show appearances. It was far more powerful live than the version that was released on Songs of Innocence. This week they’ve released the song as a single with a re-recorded version that is much closer to what we saw live. Hear it here. You can tell this is a reaction to the lack of resonance the album has received to date. Will this version hit the mark? I think it’s a beautiful song. I think it will be a killer live. But even this new recording is lacking. It doesn’t have the power of the performances we’ve seen. It is controlled where the live version appears more raw. Where’s the cracking in Bono’s voice? I am not sure why they seem so afraid to release something that isn’t perfect. Perfect and clean does not equal power and connection.

I’ve seen a lot of fans screaming for them to loosen up their live performances. People want less pre-recorded and time-limited and more raw, real, less rehearsed and more open and flexible shows. It is no different for their releases. I’d rather hear Bono fall apart, lose it for a moment in a recording than be perfectly controlled. And for a band that has been so high and decided that perfection, as in 5+ years to release an album, was required, maybe they’ve missed the point. Their early albums were full of those moments where they don’t get it perfect. They cared less about the sound quality and more about the performance. As the later years transpire, it seems they’ve tried to do both. That translates to well-written, well-played and well-recorded. What I think has been missing for many years now in their records is raw emotion. And when I say that I mean that both musically and vocally. It comes out more live but their albums, while interesting, often innovative, lack the oomph.

Where’s the pain of “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”? Where’s the truth that lies within “With or Without You”? Where’s the political anger underneath “Mothers of the Disappeared”? We live in an increasingly desperate time. We see rights taken away bit by bit while the bricks of democracy get removed without anyone caring. We the growing distance between the ‘haves’ who want it all and the rest of us who haven’t made significant progress in years. We see angry young men blowing themselves up for a questionable cause. We see education being diminished at home and abroad. We see hatred and racism and sexism and genderism every day. So let me ask you this: Is the fact that the band is so very rich, so very comfortable, taken the edge off? No matter how hard they work and rework their songs, does the lack of boiling blood at the state of world take them a step back from the masses? Is corporate U2 now the enemy? For all Bono’s declarations of them still being ‘punk rock’, does anyone believe that?

Unless Songs of Experience is something of a surprise that provides both anger and raw passion, I wouldn’t expect much to change. How many times has Bono said in the last few releases how ‘angry’ Edge is and how it is coming out in his playing? I haven’t seen that, have you? I see a band in full control. I see a band that has decided for years that ‘perfect’ is their goal. And I think if you ask anyone who cares, they’d really prefer out of control…

Catch more U2 News and stories updated daily via our mobile app.

The author: Larry Lootsteen Music is life and I love to write about all things music. Independent music blogger. Writer in general. I am a big fan of alternative and indie music but there's no genre I haven't found something to life.

Feedback Kitchen with The Edge

Feedback Kitchen - Mario Batali with The Edge... by FeedbackKitchen

U2 guitarist The Edge sits down with Feedback Kitchen host Mario Batali to explore creativity, creation and the similarities between food and music.  Feedback Kitchen premiered yesterday, right out of the box Chef Batali started off with The Edge. Blending music and food has always had a connection. Chef blends the two and fuses them into a meal that's outstanding to share.

The show flows as a conversational interview of friends and provides some insights to Edges thoughts on "Desire" and how the whole process comes about.  We suggest you sit down and enjoy something different.

Catch all of the most current U2 news and more on our mobile app.

U2 Connected Community

U2 fan site launched a new application over the weekend that allows U2 fans around the world to interact before, during and after the show.

The concept was created out of U2TOURFANS 360 interactive lab which was designed to create a social  community for U2 fans to engage with other U2 fans.

The site shares videos, music, photos and news from around the world that relates to U2.  The new mobile app offers a unique way to connect with other U2 fans via their device.

U2 announced their upcoming tour cities the app offers a community within the community for each city to create meet ups, ticket exchanges and just chat with other fans.   Over the next few days U2TOURFANS will show off more features of the interactive community.