U2 to headline UK's Glastonbury music festival

U2 to headline UK’s Glastonbury music festival

(AP) – 31 minutes ago

LONDON — Organizers say U2 will headline Glastonbury, Britain’s leading summer music festival.

Festival boss Michael Eavis said Monday that the Irish rockers will play the festival’s main stage on June 25.

It will be U2’s first appearance at the event, and comes as Glastonbury celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Eavis said he was delighted to have “the biggest band in the world” in the lineup and promised “more surprises in the pipeline.”

Glastonbury was founded in 1970 and is held on Eavis’ farm in southwest England. It is famous for its eclectic lineup — and the mud that overwhelms the site in rainy years.

Tickets for this year’s festival have sold out even though much of the lineup has yet to be announced. The festival runs June 23 to 27.

 

U2: The Journey Toward Ascension (Part IV)

Three Chords and the Truth (Part IV)

By  Nikki Vanasse

Blackstone, MA

 

In this final trilogy of records, we find our quartet stripping back down.  Imagine the excitement of the fans!  They’ve been waiting for this since Achtung Baby.  All the buzz words and phrases were making their appearances in publications everywhere:  “back to basics”, “strip it down”, “four guys just playing music”.  Essentially, to “dream it all up again”.

All That You Can’t Leave Behind - At home, there was much going on in Bono’s life.  That can only mean one thing:  it’s all here in the record.  You’ll remember that Bono’s dad took ill and passed during this time and again, if you’ve read the accounts, you know it was hard on Bono growing up in a house full of men, without his mother.  Things were particularly hard with his dad and Bono tirelessly sought his approval throughout both of their lives.  In the studio, Flood is out, Eno and Lanois are back in, Anton Corbijn is commissioned for photos…feels like The Joshua Tree all over again…only we’re all a bit older.

Ok, first things first.  Right off the bat, you don’t even have to open the package.  Some of the albums released had a special enhancement in which the original notation of flight and gate numbers on the upper left part of the cover were airbrushed to read:  Jeremiah 33.3 (which incidentally, comes back again in the latest album No Line on the Horizon, “It was 3:33 when the numbers fell off the clock face…” from “Unknown Caller”).  The biblical reference states, “Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known.”  Bono calls this “God’s phone number” so it seems that the line is open again.

Bono“When I Look At the World” is the one I’d like to highlight only because it’s really speaking to me at the moment.  Without God…without God in you, you can’t see the world the way God sees the world, “I see an expression/So clear and so true/That changes the atmosphere/When you walk (in)to the room/So I try to be like you/Try to feel it like you do/But without you it’s no use/I can’t see what you see/When I look at the world”.  

The only way we can change the world and bring about peace is to truly be the peace you want to see in the world, as Mahatma Ghandi so famously stated.  Without God in your life, you can’t see what God sees, when you look at the world.  Change your thoughts, change your life.

How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - At last, we are allowed a taste of the punk revival scene that served as incubator for this band back in the 70’s.  And it hits you square in the nose in the opening track, “Vertigo”:  “You give me something I can feel.”

However, three years after Bob Hewson died, Bono was still feeling the effects of the event.  The rumor is that Bono and Noel Gallagher were having a conversation as Bono’s father’s illness progressed and Bono wondered aloud if his father ever did believe in God.  Gallagher remarked that he was one step closer to knowing.

The lyrics of this song seem to illustrate various crossroads in which we are on the brink of being “one step closer to knowing” about God.  “I’m ‘round the corner from anything that’s real/I’m across the road from hope/I’m under a bridge in a rip tide/That’s taken everything I call my own”.  

LarryWhile the song echos Bono’s contemplation of his statement to Gallagher, we are reminded that life is precious and we are all “one step closer to knowing.”

I’d like to also talk about “Yaweh”, since this is probably the most transparent of prayers on any of U2’s work.  In this song, Bono prays to Yaweh (i.e. God) to help us turn this worldly existence around.  “Take these hands/Teach them what to carry/Take these hands/Don’t make a fist no/Take this mouth/So quick to criticize/Take this mouth/Give it a kiss”.  

In other words, show me the way, teach me the ways of non-violence, and help me find other ways to communicate that come from the heart; from love.  Bono hints at the endless supply of love that God has and that it is found everywhere, “the sun is coming up/The sun is coming up on the ocean/His love is like a drop in the ocean”.

No Line on the Horizon - Ok think about this.  This band has survived three decades intact.  Same core of folks since the 70’s people.  Sure the organization has grown, but all the same people have been around.  How do you think they do that?  Do you think they don’t face problems?  You couldn’t be further from the truth.  Do you think there is a higher power at work here?  Does God have something to do with it?  

My answer is, “Ya’ think?”  Now don’t misunderstand me on this; I’m not saying other bands didn’t last because they didn’t have heart, didn’t love each other as mates.  Didn’t have God in their lives.  But you have to admit there is something missing.  U2 is more alchemy than chemistry.

I’m not setting them high on the pedestal here, but you can’t deny that this band has been through some very trying times and again, if you’ve read the books, you know the stories.  Just because any one individual or any band has more money or more notoriety, doesn’t mean they don’t feel pain, despair, fear.  The difference is how you deal with it.  U2 chose to meet that challenge head-on, each and every time.  They were committed to each other like bride and groom.

When you look at the U2 body of work, you can see a complete cycle of learning.  As boys, they begin as normal adolescents with the usual problems, their worlds get clouded by a veil of organized religion that is heavy enough to split the band for a time.  

The EdgeThey sort out their faith and continue on and experience life, all the way while keeping that faith.  Then you run into a time that I’m sure some of us can relate to, being angry at God, and then surrendering to God allowing life to happen.  Essentially, letting go and letting God.  So we’ve come full circle here and there is no better testament to that letting go in “Moment of Surrender”.  Let’s look at a verse:

“I’ve been in every black hole/At the alter of the Dark star/My body’s now a begging bowl/That’s begging to get back/Begging to get back /To my heart/To the rhythm of my soul/To the rhythm of my consciousness/To the rhythm that yearns/To be released from control”  Uh…WOW.  Coming back around to what really matters.  

Allow me to suggest a way of looking at that lyric.  Bono seems to be saying, “We’ve had some dark times when we didn’t get along and now I want to get back to my faith and in believing and feeling the energy of God flow to my soul, my consciousness…

I want to think like God, and I want to be released from the ties that keep me from doing that.”  

If I wasn’t sitting down when I first heard this song, I would’ve dropped to my knees.  It brought tears to my eyes as it closed the show.  I thought, “what a FANTASTIC message to leave with”.  I found that I was in the minority of that sentiment.  But I got it.  

AdamAnd that’s what U2 has done.  If you’ve been paying attention, you can hear the messages of being one with each other.  We all want the same things, happiness and prosperity, so let’s make that happen for each other.  Let’s help each other out.  

People balk at Bono’s “self-righteous, megalomanic” existence, but perhaps that’s because they know deep down that he’s got the right stuff and they recognize that they don’t, but would like to.  I’ve always said that the people who knock this band, just aren’t giving them a chance.  

They’re minds aren’t yet open enough; open to the possibilities of love, peace, charity, compassion.  U2 is on message and if they asked me what I thought, I’d tell them to do more!  Let your spirituality fly and do a record of hope for these times.  Inspire us.

You can read the whole series from start to finish here.

Editor Note:  We hope you enjoyed the 4 part story. As you begin to think about the story and have interests in learning more we invite you to our book store to check out some of the most interesting U2 books available today. All proceeds from any sales goes to supporting keeping the website up and our crew out during tour season So we thank you for the consideration.

Of course you can always follow us via twitter, facebook, youtube or right here.

Next up: We have another guest writer that we think you will enjoy. Starting on Monday 

 

 

U2: The Journey Toward Ascension (Part III)

Editors Note: Nikki has taken us this week on a journey back to the start of U2, for many of us this has been a chance to slow down, listen and read about the boys from Ireland in a different light, away from the tour, ticket and “how large is that stage” to have us focus on the music, lyrics and for many of us the reasons why we are U2 fans. We invite you to sit back and enjoy the third installment as we continue down the road with Nikki. As a writer nothing is more important than to know your audience has digested the piece. As you read please think about providing some feedback at the end, either here, on twitter, or the Facebook fan page. Support our guest writers as we begin think about should we invite Nikki back for another topic. Cheers Read More

U2: The Journey Toward Ascension (Part II)

Three Chords and the Truth (Part II)

By  Nikki Vanasse

Blackstone, MA

 

The Joshua Tree - Lo and behold, three years later the union of U2 and producers Eno and Lanois produce a work that to this day, defines the band.  U2 fans, young and old, diehard and casual, can’t seem to stop comparing the new music to this one album.  It’s quite controversial in that sense.  Hardcore fans never deny the power of The Joshua Tree, yet many more casual fans can’t stop hoping for a new version to drop each time something new is released by the band.  

This is U2 at their most serious, before embarking on a journey of self-parody.  Of course the obvious one to cite from this album is “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, and I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t broach the obvious.  Let’s look at “Where the Streets Have No Name”, often interpreted to be a song about being on the road.  In churches throughout the country, it’s no doubt about heaven (“The city’s aflood/And our love turns to rust/We’re beaten and blown by the wind/Trampled in dust/I’ll show you a place/High on a desert plain/Where the streets have no name”).

This is the song that began the movement known as “U2-charist”, which sprinkled certain U2 songs throughout the service, mainly in an effort to keep the interest of the younger members, according to Deacon Charles Cannon of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Palm Beach County, Florida.  Now, U2-charist happens all over the USA, UK, and Ireland.  

Rattle and Hum - On the heels of The Joshua Tree, Americana roots start to grow deep.  This is U2’s most obvious demonstration of Christianity.  Bono’s lyrics are much more explicit as opposed to the challenges of metaphor.  The word “love” could certainly be a placeholder for “God”.  “Love rescue me/come forth and speak to me/raise me up and don’t let me fall/no man is my enemy/my own hands imprison me/love, rescue me”.  

I see myself as part of an arm-waving congregation on a beautiful Sunday morning, looking for the answers.  Salvation is at hand with the Dylan-esque song that Bono says he didn’t really write, but “remembered” the song from a dream he had in which Bob Dylan sang it.  He believed it to be a Dylan song to the extent that he asked the man himself if it was indeed his (Into The Heart: The stories behind every U2 Song, Niall Stokes).  

It should also be noted that when Bono had this dream, it was sleep induced by plenty of drink, and ended in a massive hangover. Of course after The Joshua Tree, U2 couldn’t seem to get away from the constant scrutiny of when they would put out another “Joshua Tree”.  It is also around this time, shortly after Rattle and Hum, that the boys had to “just go away and dream it all up again.

Achtung Baby - Enter Achtung Baby.  Arguably celebrated as “the second coming”.  And not alot of people liked it when it was first released.  The people who were stuck on The Joshua Tree, are now stuck on Achtung Baby.  Except me.  But I should also tell you that I’m in the minority of fans who flipped over POP and think No Line on the Horizon is right up there with The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.  For me, those three albums form sort of a “holy Trinity” of U2, if you will.  

This is historic on a couple of different levels:  the band reinvents themselves in a MAJOR way, and the Berlin Wall falls while U2 is in-state recording.  They’re in Berlin recording this album to give them a little inspiration.  Well, it worked.  Turns out the crumbling of the wall is very symbolic of U2 at this time.  It was the toughest period in the band’s life since October, only now they’re struggling with just how relevant they may or may not be.  Marital discord and other types of friction are right in front of our eyes, but again, the lyrical construction gives way to many different meanings.  Oh yeah.  And there’s a lot of sex here, too.  

Betrayal, love, morality, spirituality, and faith are all ingredients you’ll find in the Holy Scriptures, but oddly enough most of these songs could also tell a tale of infidelity, sex, and the guilt that goes with it.  It’s what I find most fascinating about Bono’s lyrics.

I hear God in every one of these songs.  Let’s choose one.  “Until the End of the World” finds Judas and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  BAM!  Betrayal.  Only this time Bono uses the illustration of the most well known case of betrayal to sum up what’s going on in the band, which is why I find it most interesting.  “We were as close together as a bride and groom/We ate the food, we drank the wine/Everybody having a good time/Except you/You were talking about the end of the world”.

Growing up Catholic, the “bride and groom” references always illustrated the connection between God and people, priest and church.  As I mentioned earlier on, the word “love” is often a substitute for God.

Look, I gotta go, I’m runnin’ outta change.  Up next, humanity gets lost in the blur of life with Zooropa.

 

U2: The Journey Toward Ascension

Editor Comments: Over the last couple of weeks we have been talking about our guest writer program. We have been reviewing story ideas from everyone around the world. This week we have selected Nikki’s (SeagirlX) story titled Three Cords and the Truth. We know you will find this story as interesting as we have. Many have written about U2’s religion,christian beliefs which Bono has said many times he does not endorse any uniformed region. Although of the members of U2 where born Catholic. Nikki will take us on a tour of some U2’s most interesting times. So who is Nikki(Seagirl)? A Dog owner; animal lover; in love with my kayak; anti-corporate rebel; Liberal, with a capital L; U2 diehard; entrepreneur-in-training; coach; truth seeker. Please join us as we welcome Nikki as our guest writer of the week. Drop some comments here or on Facebook and or twitter. Please share the story on twitter with hash marks #U2TOURFANS to give Nikki a big guest welcome. Read More

Bono performs with Wyclef Jean

Today, the Robert F. Kennedy Center For Justice And Human Rights has honoured Bono with the 2009 Ripple Of Hope Award for his human rights advocacy. Wyclef Jean was also a recipient of this year’s award, in acknowledgement of his work for his native Haiti. The ceremony was held at Chelsea Piers in New York.

Bono and Wyclef have collaborated musically before, and it should come as little surprise that after the award-giving and speech-making, the two performed together at the end of the night’s ceremony.

Bono and Geldof laud Queen's speech

Bono He may have been showered with accusations of electioneering from opposition parties and a mixed bag of reactions from the unions, but Gordon Brown managed to get the thumbs up from Bono and Bob Geldof for including a “wonderful thing” in his last batch of bills before the general election – the enshrinement in law of a funding promise to the world’s poorest people.

International aid campaigners welcomed the prime minister’s decision to include in his legislative agenda the international development spending draft bill, which will put the government’s commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on development from 2013 on to the statute books.

But opposition parties accused the prime minister of watering down a promise to enshrine the commitment in law by reducing the bill to draft status only.

Bono, the lead singer of U2 and co-founder of the campaign group One, hailed the decision and urged parliament to ensure the bill is pushed through.

“The proposal to make the 0.7% pledge legally binding is not just a great announcement, it is transformative of real lives, by a government that has led the world in keeping its promises to the world’s poorest people,” Bono said. “The next step is making sure this becomes law as soon as possible, in 2010.”

Bob GeldofFellow One campaigner Geldof said the legislation could be “a rare but wonderful thing” if political parties allow the bill to go through.

“The gains African countries have made over the past decade are under threat from two crises not of their making: global recession and climate change. It’s good to see the British government taking steps to mitigate the impacts of these predicaments, which is why it is important that this legislation is enacted sooner rather than later.”

In principle such a bill should have little problem being pushed through as the Conservative party has also pledged to meet the UN target of 0.7% of national income spent on international aid, though a spokesman for Douglas Alexander, the international development secretary, claimed that the Tories would not back the draft bill.

“Andrew Mitchell has repeatedly refused to back legislation to enshrine our commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on international development from 2013,” he said. “Only Labour has committed to legislate for this promise.”

However, a spokesman for the Tories said the party “would support a bill on 0.7% but clearly the government have stopped well short of doing this themselves”.

The Liberal Democrats pointed to the bill’s draft status, which reduces its chances of becoming law in this session.

Michael Moore, the Lib Dems’ spokesman for international development, accused Brown of stepping back from a promise made at the Labour conference in September to push this piece of legislation through.

“Gordon Brown made a firm commitment to enshrine the 0.7% target for aid spending in statute, but just seven weeks on he has abandoned that promise,” Moore said.

“With a general election only months away, and the Tories’ commitment to development issues far from certain, this Queen’s speech is nothing but another broken promise to the world’s poorest people.”

 

U2 to visit Freebird

Herald, November 17, 2009

By: Lorna Nolan

U2 are hoping to pay one final visit to their favourite haunt in Temple Bar before it shuts.

The group are currently enjoying a well-deserved break after a hectic schedule of concert dates as part of their sell-out 360° tour throughout Europe and the U.S.

But before they take to the stage once more, the Dublin foursome are hoping to pay homage to Freebird Records, the store that helped progress their music interest back in the 1980s.

The record store, which is one of Dublin’s oldest music shops, has become the latest victim of the recession and will shut this month.

U2 and other musicians, including Oscar winner Glen Hansard, were regular visitors to the city centre haunt. Owner Brian Foley, who opened in 1978, says sales have decreased so much that he was left with no option but to close.

Music Lovers Unite

The record shop, which is well-known to underground music lovers, will close on Saturday week.

Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. are currently spending time with their families, but are hoping to return to Dublin for a visit before Christmas.

“I’ve no doubt the U2 guys will be disappointed,” a close pal of Bono said. “They’ve never forgotten their roots and always look after those who were good to them on their way up.

“I’m sure they will try and go in for one last visit before it closes — if they are back in Dublin before then.

Shop assistant Jack Patella said Dublin is losing a special venue.

“There’s just not enough business. Temple Bar is dead during the winter,” he said.

© Herald.ie 2009.

 

Starbucks and U2

With the holidays just around the corner, Starbucks has just made your next coffee run about more than just a Grande Gingerbread Latte. The coffee giant has teamed up with (RED) — the movement to help eradicate AIDS in Africa — and released a limited-edition album titled ‘All You Need is Love.’

Starting Nov. 17, customers who spend $15 at participating Starbucks throughout the US or Canada will receive a free copy of the four-track CD while supplies last. The album features special recordings by longtime (RED) advocates U2, Dave Matthews Band, John Legend and Playing for Change, who give the Beatles’ ‘All You Need is Love’ a reggae makeover.

Starbucks will also be donating $1 to support the Global Fund for each CD that is given away. To preview the songs on ‘All You Need is Love’ and find out more information, visit the Starbucks Love Project.

2010 Tour shapes up

2010 North American tour continues to take shape, with the Irish rock icons unveiling a new stop in the Midwest and locking in a venue for a previously announced Montreal stop.

The tour—which, as previously reported, gets underway with an early June two-night stand in Southern California—now includes a June 27 engagement at Minneapolis’ TCF Bank Stadium, and the July 16 stop in Montreal will officially take place at that city’s Hippodrome stadium. The full itinerary is included below.

Tickets for the Minneapolis and Montreal performances go on sale Saturday (11/21), and ticket pre-sales for both—as well as for the tour’s June 30 stop in East Lansing, MI—(11/17). Details are posted at U2’s website.

In addition to its ever-growing North American run, U2 will embark on a new leg of European shows next year, beginning in August and extending through early October. Those dates can be found at U2’s website.

The 2010 shows—which also will include a late-summer/early fall European trek—will continue to feature the massive stage set the band has been using over this year, designed by long-time U2 associate Willie Williams in collaboration with architect Mark Fisher, an “in-the-round” design that seeks to afford every fan in attendance an unobstructed view of the band on stage.

In late October, TheWrap.com reported that the “170-ton, $40 million, four-pronged stage [is] so enormous, its overhead so costly,” that the band still hadn’t broken even on the tour, even after four months on the road in the US and elsewhere.

With shows so far this year in 44 cities, the band has already played before more than three million fans in 2009, according to a press release.

U2 is touring behind its 12th studio album, “No Line on the Horizon,” which surfaced in February. The set debuted at No. 1 in 30 countries, including the US, where it posted first-week sales of about 484,000 copies.

 

U2 to play a dry concert

U2 will be playing in the first concert at the TCF Bank Stadium in late June. However, if it’s a cocktail you’re looking for at the U2 concert, you’ll never find it.

U2TOURFANS 2009Live Nation and U2 are OK with that. We think it’s the right thing to do as we first move into this new venture here at the TCF Bank Stadium so there will not be alcohol served there,” said University of Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi.

University of Minnesota administration said the band and promoters approached them about staging the concert at the new stadium. They will be playing at the stadium June 27.

However, the University has no problem selling alcohol at Northrop auditorium in the heart of campus.

“This is something run by the University but controlled by intercollegiate athletics. We’ve made a decision not to sell at the football games. I think we are trying to be consistent in regards to that,” said Maturi

They have decided to not allow alcohol even though the rock concert is not an official university event.

“It seems a little incongruous,” said U2 fan Matti Smith. “I guess that’s up to the U of M. If they’re trying to keep the students safe that’s one thing but it’s an unfortunate loss of revenue.”

However, even a booze ban won’t keep true fans away.

“People who are U2 fans are die hard U2 fans. They will go. As Bono says: ‘Walk away, I will follow.’”

Gophers football season ticket holders and University students will get a chance to purchase U2 tickets before they go on sale to the general public Nov. 21.

U2 Alert: Spartan Stadium Tickets

Ticket Alerts:  We have not be able to get an answer back as to why double messages are going out on ticket alerts and why the short notices on pre-ticket sales. All we can suggest is that you sign up for updates, from either U2.com, Facebook, Twitter or Youtube to stay current.

U2 concert at Spartan Stadium will go on sale today for some of the band’s most dedicated fans.

The band’s promoter, Live­Nation, said in a statement that tickets for the general public go on sale Monday. But a sale through U2’s Web site (www.u2.com) starts today, giving fans who subscribe to the band’s site first crack at tickets for the June 30, 2010, show.

Tickets also will be on sale for one day only at the Breslin Center ticket office on Michigan State University’s campus — from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday.

The Irish rock band is stopping in East Lansing as part of its 360° Tour that started this year.

There are four price levels for the MSU show: $30, $55, $95 and $250. At least 85 percent of the tickets at Spartan Stadium will cost less than $95, with at least 10,000 tickets priced at $30.

 People who have subscribed at U2’s Web site the longest will get the earliest opportunity to buy, starting at 10 a.m. today. Those who joined the site more recently — including this week — can buy tickets Wednesday.

 Starting Monday, tickets may be bought at Livenation.com, at Ticketmaster outlets or by calling (800) 745-3000.

Spartan Stadium can seat as many as 75,000 for football games. The U2 show will be the first rock concert since the Rolling Stones played there in 1994.

U2 builds stadium to play

MONTREAL – It’s confirmed. U2 will play Montreal on July 16, 2010. The band will perform on the polo field at the Montreal Hippodrome, kicking in $3 million for the construction of a temporary open-air stadium to fit between 60,000 to 80,000 people.

It is the only date for which U2 is not performing in a pre-existing stadium. The fact that the band is fronting the costs of building the venue for this event is a testament to its love of Montreal, according to Jacques Aubé, vice-president and general manager of promoter Gillett Entertainment Group.

“It’s unprecedented,” Aubé said Monday. “It’s historic. It will be the biggest paid show in an open-air stadium in Montreal.

“After the concert, the stadium will be demolished and (the site) will become a real-estate project.”

It’s also a testament to the grand scale on which a monolithic rock band such as U2 can afford to operate. Tossing in $3 million to build a stadium for a night (or maybe two - don’t discount the possibility that a second show could be added once the first one sells out) is the privilege of the mighty, and wealthy.

Aubé attributed U2’s gesture to its love of Montreal and its fans here, but you can bet the band is also getting bang for its buck.

Do the math and it’s not hard to see that this is a money-making enterprise. Tickets for the show cost from $30 to $250. Average that out to, say, $100 per ticket, with 70,000 tickets sold, and you’ve got a cool $7 million.

That’s not counting beer and food sales, merchandise, and spinoff CD sales for the band. Aubé said the event would inject $10 million into the Montreal economy, not counting revenues from the concert itself.

But while nobody’s working for free, here, U2 is apparently doing its best to make this affordable to everyone - 55 per cent of the tickets cost less than $55, Gillett proudly announced Monday.

Gillett and tour promoter Live Nation have been working on the possibility of a Montreal date for months. The biggest problem was finding a venue big enough to host the show (including the 150-foot-wide stage, featuring a massive, steel spider-like structure) and comply with U2’s request for an open-air stadium.

The Olympic Stadium’s roof is not retractable; Jean Drapeau Park is too small; even the Hippodrome wasn’t big enough originally, which led to talks of constructing a venue specifically for the event.

“C’est assez flyé comme idée,” Aubé said. (Rough translation: “It’s a pretty wild idea.”) The last time U2 was in town was in November, 2005. The band performed two sold-out nights at the Bell Centre, with opening act the Arcade Fire.

This is U2’s first North American stadium tour since 1997’s Popmart tour. Apparently Bono and his boys still have something prove.

U2 performs July 16 at the Hippodrome. Tickets cost $30 to $250 and go on sale Saturday at noon

U2 Rumors, Fines and News

he New York Times has published Bono’s column on the 14th. What interesting was that we just completed a five part series on “One” Bono’s NY Times article takes us thru a five scene tour of Germany between 1990 and the show at Brandenburg Gate. Giving us a view into the meeting of the owns of the German house he slept in during the Achtung Baby sessions as well as the conversations with his b andmates. He talks about “One” and how that song came about.  

Bono, U2 360 Tour 2009 (U2TOURFANS)
The camera cranes over a crowd of thousands gathered in Pariser Platz.

An Irish band plays its song “One” in the city where it was written nearly 20 years earlier. The band is here for an MTV broadcast celebrating the anniversary of the wall’s falling. A helicopter shot glides like a ghost through the architecture of this most modern of cities: the avant-garde Chancellery, the glass dome at the top of the Reichstag, the refurbished Brandenburg Gate. Images of East and West Berlin dancing to the music are projected on the gate, turning this monument to peace into a graffiti wall of the same….

Now the rest of the news from around the globe.

Fined: Bono some might argue U2’s been responsible for noise pollution in the past, be it parts of 1997’s ‘Pop’ or even this year’s ‘No Line on the Horizon.’ But now the city of Dublin has made that notion official, taking its hometown heroes to task for breaching noise levels during their Croke Park concerts last July.

Concert promoters MCD were fined €36,000 (approximately $53,000) for Bono and the boys’ offense, according to Ireland’s Evening Herald. Dublin City Council levied the penalties against the firm for allowing U2 to exceed allowed noise limits on a number of occasions during the shows.

2010 Shows: Montreal is one step closer to seeing U2 perform on July 16, 2010. Promoter Gillett Entertainment Group has called a press conference for Monday morning concerning the band’s 360 stadium tour. The band’s web site has had Montreal listed next to the July 16 date for several weeks, with venue TBA. It is expected that the venue will be revealed on Monday, along with ticket information. Likely venue candidates include Jean Drapeau Park, Blue Bonnets or perhaps the Olympic Stadium.

What do you think?:  Ever wonder what people think of your website, you or your music, this one comes from @U2 (Sherry Lawrence) Somewhere over the rainbow, where people conpare notes about sites this tool give you the answer. According the site 100% postive was the answer for U2TOURFANS, now did we expect anything less?

Top Story of the past week:  Amazing you would think tour news was the top story, or tickets for 2010, or rumors about new concerts. Not a chance against Bono’s salt in take.

Holiday Gift Ideas:  We have been asked many times via twitter, where can we find some great gifts for a U2 fan. We are not sure if that was a setup question or not. However if you look around our site you will see that we have a book store and gift shop, as well as some great sponsors that have U2 items. Check them out and let us know if you agree.

Guest writers:  We have been collecting names, reading interesting articles and we think we have collected some interesting new writers that we will have writing for you the fan. Remember if your interested drop anote to us and lets see what we can create. 

Where are we ?: We have been working on our communications tool. Currently you can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. All of them offer a way to follow us. Please check into them. We are looking for a tool or some way to have them all collected on one page.

References: @u2, U2.com, NY Times, U2gigs.com -

 

One Series IV: Fans Feel One

After the release of Achtung Baby, “One” received praise from critics. In its review of the album, Rolling Stone called the song a “radiant ballad”, noting that “Few bands can marshal such sublime power, but it’s just one of the many moments on Achtung Baby when we’re reminded why, before these guys were the butt of cynical jokes, they were rock & roll heroes – as they still are.” Q called Bono’s singing on the song a “quieter moment” that has “never been so persuasively tender”. The song was released as the album’s third single in March 1992, and it subsequently reached #7 in the UK charts, #10 in the US charts, and #1 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks and the US Modern Rock Tracks charts. Read More

Twin City Annoucement Expected

U2’s 360 tour is expected to spin into the TCF Bank Stadium sometime next summer.

“June 27th, ” said Cities 97 radio personality Brian Turner.  “With tickets going on sale November 21st as it’s looking right now.”

It’s a stop music industry experts agree wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t for the new outdoor stadium.

Turner said fans—like the bands—enjoy playing outdoors and until recently the Twin Cities didn’t have a legitimate stadium venue, now there are two.

Target Field and TCF Bank Stadiums will open up opportunities the state hasn’t seen in decades.

The University of Minnesota could potentially earn nearly $2-million in ticket sales alone for a U2 concert.

Concession sales will also bring in a few bucks.

Unlike school-sanctioned events, alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase during concerts at the stadium.

More information about the show and an official date for the concert is expected Monday.

 

One Series Part III: Creative Thoughts

Part III of a four part series on “One” Looking for inspiration following the falling of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent German reunification, U2 began the recording sessions to Achtung Baby in Berlin’s Hansa Tonstudio in late 1990. However, the mood was bleak, as the studios, in addition to the hotel the band were staying at were run-down. Conflict arose within the band over their musical direction and the quality of their material. Read More

One series part II: The Videos

There were three videos made for the song which adds to the discussions. One of them suggests that “One” is about a gay son confessing to his father that he is HIV-positive—largely assumed because of the content of director Anton Corbijn’s video, in which the band dressed in drag and Bono sings the song to his own father. It is filmed in Berlin and has footage of the band driving in Trabant cars. Also, a large amount of sales from the single went to AIDS charities. Another video, directed by Mark Pellington, has footage of blooming flowers and buffaloes, interspersed with numerous black title cards featuring the word “one” in white lettering, depicted in numerous languages. The buffaloes in the video originate from a photo by David Wojnarowicz, a gay artist who died of AIDS The photo is on the cover of the single. This video has also been used during live performances during the Zoo TV, Elevation, and Vertigo tours. Yet another version of the video, directed by Phil Joanou, shows Bono in a bar, smoking a cheroot and drinking beer combined with snippets of the band performing in concert. Read More

Bono Snorts Salt To Hit High Notes

Bono regularly sniffs salty water as it acts as an antiseptic for his throat and helps ensure he can hit high notes, according to The Script frontman Danny O’Donoghue.

Danny told Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper: “Snorting salts - it’s actually a singing technique.”

“Myself and Bono share a vocal coach. Whenever the high notes aren’t feeling that high or in the morning you’re groggy, you snort salt water up your nose.”

“It cleans out cavities, it’s a natural antiseptic for your throat.”

 We did not know that

One Series

This week our four part series will be focusing on “One” is a song by Irish rock band U2 and the third track from their 1991 album, Achtung Baby.

It was released as the album’s third single in March 1992. While recording Achtung Baby, conflict arose between band members over the direction of the U2’s sound. Tensions almost prompted the band to break up, until they rallied around the improvised writing of “One” Lyrically, the song describes lead singer Bono’s struggles to maintain relationships with others, but it has been interpreted in other ways.

The song reached #7 in the UK charts and #10 in the US pop chart, and reached the top of the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. It peaked at #10 on the Dutch Top 40.

The song is widely considered to be one of the band’s greatest songs and is consistently featured in lists of the greatest songs of all-time. Rolling Stone ranked the song #36 on their list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, and Q ranked the song at #1 on its list of the “1001 Greatest Songs of All-Time”.The song has been played by U2 at every one of their concerts since the song’s live debut in 1992, and it has appeared on many of the band’s concert films. In a live setting, “One” is often used by the band to promote human rights or social justice causes, and the song lends its namesake to Bono’s charitable organization, the ONE Campaign. In 2006, U2 re-recorded the song as part of a duet with contemporary R&B singer Mary J. Blige.

At the instant we were recording it, I got a very strong sense of its power. We were all playing together in the big recording room, a huge, eerie ballroom full of ghosts of the war, and everything fell into place. It was a reassuring moment, when everyone finally went, ‘oh great, this album has started.’ It’s the reason you’re in a band - when the spirit descends upon you and you create something truly affecting. ‘One’ is an incredibly moving piece. It hits straight into the heart.

—The Edge, on the recording of “One

This is a a very touching story of music, family, friends. We are one share your life and enjoy the story over the next three days. Tomorrow, we cover the video part of the story and can you tell us which Ameircan bank has made a name for its self with the song “One”?