SONGS OF EXPERIENCE

New York City:

New song, new album, new tour... and the launch of the Verified Fan initiative to keep tickets out of the hands of scalpers and bots. There’s a lot of breaking U2 news today - read on for the complete lowdown. #U2eiTour #U2SongsofExperience

Songs of Experience, the band’s hotly anticipated 14th studio album, will arrive on December 1st on CD, vinyl, digital download and across streaming platforms. Pre-order and see the complete standard and deluxe album tracklistings below.

In May the band are back out on the road, taking the new songs across North America on the eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour. Here are the dates.

Today the band also revealed the artwork for Songs of Experience, shot by Dutch photographer, film director and longtime collaborator Anton Corbijn, of band-members' teenage children Eli Hewson and Sian Evans.

Recorded in Dublin, New York and Los Angeles, Songs of Experience was completed earlier this year with its subject matter influenced by Irish poet, novelist and Trinity College, Dublin Professor Emeritus Brendan Kennelly’s advice to Bono to 'write as if you’re dead'. The result is a collection of songs in the form of intimate letters to places and people close to the singer’s heart: family, friends, fans, himself.

Songs of Experience is the companion release to 2014’s Songs Of Innocence - the two titles drawing inspiration from a collection of poems, Songs of Innocence and Experience, by the 18th century English mystic and poet William Blake - and was produced by Jacknife Lee and Ryan Tedder, with Steve Lillywhite, Andy Barlow and Jolyon Thomas.

Pre-order Songs of Experience from today and receive three instant grat songs: the previously unreleased new song ‘Get Out of Your Own Way', first single ‘You’re the Best Thing About Me’ and the album version of 'The Blackout', previously released as a performance video in August. All three songs are available now to stream across all platforms.

Pre-order the deluxe version of the album and you also receive the Kygo remix of 'You're The Best Thing About Me'.

O Canada

Toronto Canada was greeting to a celebration with U2's 22 songs set list that included tributes to Leonard Cohen, 150th anniversary of Canada and Pride Toronto weekend. A change in lyrics with“Bullet The Blue Sky” ended with “They run into the arms of North America.” Instead, Bono celebrated Canada’s openness: “Oh Canada, when others build walls, you open doors! When others divide into tribes, you make a beautiful mosaic.”

Bono dedicated “One Tree Hill” to Leonard Cohen. Bono recollected being at Cohen’s 79th birthday party. He asked Cohen how he’d celebrate his 80th, and Cohen told Bono he’d like to have one cigarette. Earlier in the set, Bono sang Cohen’s “Suzanne” during “Bad,” ending with a flurry of “Hallelujah’s.”

Setlist:

1.     Sunday Bloody Sunday
2.     New Year's Day
3.     Bad / Suzanne (snippet) / Hallelujah (snippet)
4.     Pride (In The Name Of Love)
5.     Where The Streets Have No Name
6.     I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
7.     With Or Without You
8.     Bullet The Blue Sky / Black Dog (snippet) / America (West Side Story) (snippet)
9.     Running To Stand Still
10.     Red Hill Mining Town
11.     In God's Country
12.     Trip Through Your Wires
13.     One Tree Hill
14.     Exit / Wise Blood (snippet) / Eeny Meeny Miny Moe (snippet)
15.     Mothers Of The Disappeared

    Encore(s):

1.     Miss Sarajevo
2.     Beautiful Day / O Canada (snippet)
3.     Elevation
4.     Vertigo / It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) (snippet)
5.     Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
6.     One / Hear Us Coming (snippet)
7.     I Will Follow

*Snippets provided by U2gigs

U2 Summer Night In Tampa

Howling the women and children
Who run into the arms
Of America.  

U2 rolled into Tampa has one of the hottest summer concert tickets, and then the sky darkened as to say hold on mother nature has a few words for you.  A rainbow appeared over the stadium as to say tonight will be magical, spiritual and will take you back to that place in time.  Many wondered why dust off Joshua Tree for a tour; was it because of the new album still in the works and not ready for release, was it to stay relevant as core U2 fans had heard many times before. Or was it simply the perfect time to remind us to take care of each other? 

The night opened the center stage with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and ended with "Vertigo"  The set list was a roller coaster of visuals and emotions that had fans dancing and with a flip of a switch standing still and staring at the screen filled with images of women, children, hope, and possibility. "Red Hill Mining Town" featured the Salvation Army Band in perfect timing with the performance. Bono had a few words for the politics of America as well as praise. "Thank you for giving us safety for many many many years - this was a promised land for the Irish for years." - Bono  

U2 Welcome to Our House

TAMPA, Fla. As U2 fans from around the world continue to converge on Tampa Bay, one thing is for sure. Tampa knows how to handle the big shows. U2 has performed in Tampa before, a few times in fact, nor is this Tampa's first time handling major events.

Most of the core U2 fans that have attended other shows have experiences about the entry process to the entire GA Golden Book to know how to get up close and personal with their favorite band member. In 2009 U2 packed more than 70,000 dedicated fans into the new Tampa stadium at the time making it the largest concert event ever.

So what can you expect? Well, security will be tight, very tight. Fans leave your selfie stick, and pretty much everything else at home.  Bring that credit card you used to buy your ticket and be sure that all of your group is together.  Smile, enjoy the process because if you do not enjoy the process; well the rest of the evening will SUCK. Yea we said SUCK. It could rain, and yes the band will perform.  They have experience in the rain.

What else do you need to know?

Use only a clear bag. No large bags, umbrellas. Remember we have told you this on every North American stadium show. Its an NFL rule not the venue, not the promoter or the band. If don't bring it to a game don't bring it to this concert.

Pay attention to drop off points for ride sharing in this town professional car services have the prime spots which mean you can expect to see tons of town cars, limos, party buses and your's looks like ours so pay attention.

One thing we can for sure tell you. Your about to have the experience of a lifetime. U2 has perfected the stadium show. Just relax and enjoy it.

For us this is bittersweet, this is home for our owner and his family, and while he and his wife will be attending the show, he is fully expecting our team to be even more on point. So wait to see some live video on social media and heck he might even throw a few shout outs back to us. ( one can hope )

Millennials dont give a shit about U2

Zach Schlein who writes for Miami New times just slammed the mic on the ground when it comes to U2.  All of the concerns of U2's relevance made abundantly clear from this writer perspective.

U2 has been working on their new album for some time, and yes we have all heard about the band's desire to be relevant. Zach provides a clear picture of millennial wants and music tastes. Zach writes" They love avocados and the dog Snapchat filter. They reject the concept of napkins and are reluctant to buy homes, possibly because their budgets are only big enough to account for avocados. They love sharing about politics on social media, whether it be expressing their profound distaste for the commander-in-chief or posting poorly drawn frogs."  The article goes on and on about the errors of the band in the view of today's music fans.  Questions how much longer must this go on.  Most dedicated U2 fans are well over 40 and pretty much consider millennial pikers or punters when it comes to musical understanding Zach does have some insights to what millennial music fans want today.  Now it takes balls to put it out on the table for all to read. For that, sure makes for an interesting article. Save the hate comments and bashing this is not the first writer to throw some shade at the boys from Dublin and frankly, Zach is not the last.  You can read all Zach's comments on Miami New Times

Bonnaroo and U

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

U2 had one of their best weekends in a pretty long time.  The Bonnaroo appearance on Friday night by all accounts was the first appearance for U2 at Roo, and the boys did not disappoint fans, scheduled for a 90-minute performance the came in and handled business with an abbreviated Joshua Tree Tour and played for about 1.45. Bono said, Thanks for "getting out of your tents and caravans and giving us a night we'll never, ever forget!" He also joked, "What an extraordinary thing Bonnaroo is, thank you for naming it after me."

Pittsburgh Dedicated Fans

Pittsburgh:  This was the lowest attendance so far on tour. However, this worked out well for dedicated U2 fans.  Tonight the boys played their only Pittsburgh show since July 2011. Bono was in full energy and with a couple of shout outs to the Steelers, fans cheered right back.   Bono also said “Here we still are, here you still are,” Bono said. “What a blessing.”  Truly the fans embrace the boys from Dublin and have been a dedicated group of fans for well over 30 years.

The setlist was as follows:

    Sunday Bloody Sunday
    New Year's Day
    Bad / America (snippet)
    Pride (In The Name Of Love)
    Where The Streets Have No Name
    I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
    With Or Without You
    Bullet The Blue Sky / Black Dog (snippet)
    Running To Stand Still
    Red Hill Mining Town
    In God's Country
    Trip Through Your Wires
    One Tree Hill
    Exit / Wise Blood (snippet) / Eeny Meeny Miny Moe (snippet)
    Mothers Of The Disappeared
   
   Encore(s):
    Miss Sarajevo / The New Colossus (snippet)
    Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
    One
    Beautiful Day
    Elevation
    Happy Birthday
    The Little Things That Give You Away
    
*Snips provided by U2gigs.com 

Scott Mervis from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. They could have filled a couple more hours with beloved songs but wrapped it up with a joyously explosive “Beautiful Day,” followed by an even louder, wilder “Elevation,” and then a softer new song “The Little Things That Give You Away” rather than “I Will Follow.”

It was a bit of a flat ending to a very high-energy show. I’ve never heard The Edge so super-charged, and anyone who entered with doubts about U2 still being one of the most influential and relevant stadium bands in the world was put straight in a monstrously big way.

Now the boys head off to the farm and not the farm that most crew members hate ( in the industry if the band goes to the farm that means their off the road to get cleaned up, not a good thing when you earn your check on the road)  Our boys are off to Roo! Which should be an experience to remember.

#U2TheJoshuaTree2017 #U2 #Bonnaroo #TheFarm #MudFest #WhoWhereWhat #SoHighInTheSky

Mexico ! South America ! More US Dates

New York: The must see tour of the year !  Now heads to Mexico and South America before swinging back around to some U.S Stadiums.  Fans have speculated for weeks of a possible Mexican, South American leg. Today U2 announced more North American dates and Mexico City and some South American dates. 

In Mexico and South America, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have been confirmed as special guest for all dates. Tickets will go on sale Wed. June 14th in Mexico City, June 15th in Bogota, Buenos Aires and Santiago and Friday June 16th in Sao Paulo.

There will be an exclusive priority presale for U2 Subscribers at U2.com starting Thursday, June 8th (10am) through Saturday, June 10th (5pm) local times for U2.com.

Sun Sep 3 - Detroit, MI Ford Field
Tue Sep 5 - Buffalo, NY New Era Field
Fri Sep 8 - Minneapolis, MN US Bank Stadium
Sun Sep 10 - Indianapolis, IN Lucas Oil Stadium
Tue Sep 12 - Kansas City, MO Arrowhead Stadium
Sat Sep 16 - St. Louis, MO The Dome At America’s Center
Fri Sep 22 - San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium

Tue Oct 3 - Mexico City, Mexico Foro Sol
Sat Oct 7 - Bogota, Columbia, Estadio El Campin
Tue Oct 10 - Buenos Aires, Argentina La Plata
Sat Oct 14 - Santiago, Chile Estadio Nacional
Thur Oct 19 - Sao Paulo, Brazil Morumbi Stadium

What about U2 subscribers? Well check your email for some presales information or visit the band page tour page for more information.