New Zealand Ticket Alert

Tickets to New Zealand’s one and only U2 360 concert are already appearing on TradeMe, two days before they go on sale to the public.

U2.com subscribers had until yesterday to purchase tickets to the November concert, before they go on sale to the public this Friday.

Tickets are already appearing on auction website Trade Me for inflated prices - some have a ‘buy now’ of $1000 for two.

U2 360 organisers would not comment on scalping but the band website www.U2.com states: “We reserve the right to block access to or cancel a ticket order of any user that we believe, in our sole and absolute discretion is or is associated with any ticket broker or scalper.”

Wellingtonian Shelly Mackey subscribed for $50 just to ensure she could get tickets after almost missing out four years ago when U2 last performed in New Zealand.

“The main reason why I did it was because I wanted to get tickets. Last time they had a concert I lived in Hamilton and we broke up into groups, I lined up at the stadium, others were in town and another was online,” she says.

She missed out on tickets which were being sold at Waikato Stadium and at the ticket store in town, but did get them online.

“We almost missed out, so this time I thought ‘stuff it’ and paid the $50.”

She says it was worth paying the extra money because the previous concert was so good.

“Their concert was awesome last time.”

Miss Mackey says she purchased four of the $39.90 tickets, which ended up costing about $62 each after the subscription fee and postage.

New Zealand U2 360 spokeswoman Bridget de Launay says the U2.com subscribers allocation for $349.50 Red Zone tickets sold out, but could not comment on how many were sold.

She says there are still Red Zone tickets available to the public.

Miss Mackey says it is tempting to sell her spare two tickets.

“I am definitely considering it but I would feel a little greedy doing it.”

She says she might just sell them to friends for the amount she paid for them.

“I will just see what happens.”

The Irish superband will be joined by Jay-Z at Mt Smart Stadium on Thursday, November 25, exactly four years after U2 last performed in New Zealand.

About 54 percent of tickets are priced under $100, starting at $39.90.

The low prices are due to the specially built 50m-high stage with rotating bridges and a giant video system.

“The extra capacity U2 360 gives us means that there are a large number, several thousand in fact, of low priced tickets at every show,” says U2 tour producer/promoter Arthur Fogel, chief executive of Live Nation Global Touring.

Bringing the U2 360 production to New Zealand is no small feat. Six 747 freighters are required to fly the production to New Zealand.

The stage weighs 590 tonnes with all of the production gear hanging from it, and covers 6000 square metres.

‘The Claw’ itself stands 30.53m high, and with the pylon it’s 51.8m. That means it’s higher than most stadium roofs. Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium roof will have to be “cracked” and stay open to allow the pylon to be installed.



Bono in Pain, Adam Farts, Flying School Bus, Not the Best Show

The “crown” presented on Monday evening, the best band in the world live in the Ernst-Happel-Stadion. U2 enthusiasts with a spectacular show of the “360 °-Tour” and the largest round stage, the stages of this world have seen so far, some 70,000 fans.


 We knew that sooner or later we had to have one show that may not be consider the best of the group. This may go down as one of them. Bono is very talkative, suggestions that the pain meds may be the cause of it. Sure that could be possible. The techincal issues after a long sound check may be in question. The issues left long breaks between songs, great for the recording of the show, not so great for the audience. The Edge seemed to have most of the issues.

Traveling family on this show. three women and six children flew in on the private 360 AIR jet of course a police escore and a tight security detail. This show was considered to be a “runner” band came in, band played, band flew out. Adam flew in solo as reported.

Bono with wife Ali and sons Elijah and John. The Edge with children Ava and Ezra and wife Morleigh Steinberg. Larry is accompanied by time girlfriend Ann Acheson and the sons of Levi and Sian.

At the Vienna program includes the concert and a short sound check a platinum award and an exclusive backstage dinner. At midnight, we then jetting back home.

We are a family band: John is here, Elijah, Ava, Ezra, Levi, Sian. “In his address to the mega hit I Still Have not Found What I’m Looking For is Bono (50) on Monday in Vienna Stadium are very personal.  Bono made it a point to say that the family was in attendance.

After the show, the band flew home to Nice, and its on to Athens.

 

Thanks Vienna, On to Athens

 

Today’s show marks the only show to be performed in Austria. Vienna was a bit cold as some fans tweeted earlier today. This show was to be on the 2009 tour but due to a scheduling conflict was not able to happen.  The crew warmed up and had a pretty long sound check that included City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo and Moment of Surrender.  So this was interesting, the press had published the setlist thinking that was the “current” list, however just before the show started a new set list appeared. The new song “Every Breaking Wave” was played again, this being the second time. The new set seems to be working well, starting the show off with Beautiful Day gets the crowd off and running. So far reviews are coming very postive and upbeat. Bring back Ultra Violet has been a crowd pleaser. The boys move on to Athens.

 

U2 Vienna Fans Ripped Off

U2 arrives into Ernst-Happel Stadium on their world 360 tour. For some fans there will be no show for them. U2 Vienna fans that have tickets from an English Internet ticket provider have yet to ship the tickets. The credit card transaction company has closed up shop and now of course the course is sold out.

Salzburg fan who has purchased the tickets last October now will have to listen from outside the stadium and know that they did everything that could to get their tickets of course now the credit card company will refund her the money but that’s not going to solve the lost tickets.

Peter Niedermayr is responsible for consumer protection in the Chamber of Labour. He confirmed that ticket sales for the consumer is often not transparent. “There is no office in the sense that we would have to inquire directly with the organizers, who may sell official tickets,” he explains. When it comes to coveted concert tickets, the time for a comprehensive search is often not available.

How will the police acted in Internet fraud, said Hermann Rechberger of the Security Directorate Salzburg. From a certain amount of damage a data exchange with Europol. Depending on the situation in that country would then pried open account and IP addresses. But the efforts often ran in the sand as well, sometimes wrong server identities were created. “The fraudsters are clever forever,” says Rechberger. Even if the perpetrators can be pried, a compensation for the damage is often not possible. The money is often already landed on other accounts. Nevertheless advises Reichenberger not entirely off from shopping on the Internet. Passwords can be protected by his credit card on the Internet well. 

We here at U2TOURFANS can suggest the Ticketmaster company TicketsNow as a real option for ticket purchases. Yes in full disclosure we earn a commission from all the tickets sold. However beyond that the money we earn we have comfirmed that all purchases have been completed with tickets arriving to the purchaser home on time.

Get Premium Tickets at TicketsNow

U2 and NASA Collaboration Video

NASA and U2 released a commemorative video highlighting a year’s worth of collaboration in space and on the Irish rock band’s 360 Degree tour.

U2 approached NASA in 2009 with an idea to include a dialogue between the band and the crew of the International Space Station during U2’s world tour. The astronauts of Expedition 20, the crew then living aboard the space station, agreed to participate and spoke with U2 several times before recording a video segment the band incorporated into its concerts.

The space station crew members were Michael Barratt of NASA, Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency, Bob Thirsk of the Canadian Space Agency, Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Gennady Padalka and Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency.

“Working with U2 is atypical for NASA,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for Space Operations. “By combining their world tour with the space station’s out-of-this-world mission, more people — and different people than our normal target audiences — learned about the International Space Station and the important work we are doing in orbit.”

Speaking onstage in Houston last year, Bono said, “These are the very best people in the world — dedicated to figuring how our little planet exists in this cosmos we call home.” De Winne and Romanenko attended U2’s performance in Moscow on Wednesday and met with the band before the show.

U2.com created the video and presented it to NASA to document the collaboration between the band and the space agency.



Next Stop Vienna from A to Z

u2 360 Stage 2010/

75 thousand spectators are expected on 30 August concert. The stadium with a capacity of 50 thousand events are usually determined by head count. This requirement has so far only a few times, such as the Rolling Stones, AC / DC or “the three tenors (Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti) concert made an exception. 

The Vienna news tells the story of Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton from A to Z Achtung Baby Zoo TV. What we found interesting is the bits of U2 and social awarness that streams thru the story that does not translate well into English. So view it as just a small look into what the people from Vienna think of U2……….

Baby Completed in Berlin during the post-Fall-year period, published in 1991 “Achtung Baby”, the seventh album by the band, as their experimental and darkest work. The cover is adorned with a GDR Trabant, six copies of the colorfully painted plastic car used on the next tour as a stage decoration.

Batman for the soundtrack of “Batman Forever” in 1995 to control the U2 song “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” at. For the current “360 Tour”, the song was put back on the setlist.

Conversation  U2 are also not immune to musical missteps, as evidenced by the new recordings of “Helter Skelter” and “All Along The Watchtower. Successful because already the Skids cover of “The Saints Are Coming” with Green Day. All proceeds were donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

D isco U2 at the disco? Sounds funny, is it that way. Available for listening on the rather botched the 1997 album “Pop”. Later, the band for a greatest hits album a few songs a new, because Bono and The Edge are dissatisfied with the original mixes.

E Bono in 1982 he married his childhood sweetheart, Ali, the couple has four children. After the failure of his marriage to Aislinn (1983-1996) The Edge marries his Morleigh 2002, he meets during the 1992 tour. Larry Mullen and his partner Ann are in the late 70s a couple without being married (three children). Bassist Adam Clayton is single.

F ilm The idea for the film “The Million Dollar Hotel” by Wim Wenders about a flophouse in LA is from Bono himself. Soundtrack-tip: the Salman Rushdie written and set to music by U2 “The Ground Beneath Her Feet”.

G itarre so striking even the voice of Bono, U2 is the trademark of the guitar by The Edge. His guitar style is characterized by short, terse sound sequences, opulent, he rarely plays solos.

On the website there is a travel guide for Dublin, which allows fans to travel to important stages in the life of U2. Of the parents’ homes by Bono and Larry about the first gigs in pubs, down to the Hanover Quay Studios. (u2tour.de)

IDENTITY repeatedly Bono slips into different stages identities of the hard leather Rocker (aka “The Fly”) to the disco-styled Feschak. During the Zoo TV tour, he came even as Macphisto teufelsbehörnter “on. Finally, he showed his true nature unken, critic.

Johnny Cash On “The Wanderer” from the album “Zooropa” (1993) Country superstar Johnny Cash acting as guest singers. Less then starts the forgotten cash a furious comeback.

“South Park” is derided as an egomaniac singer of U2-gooders and at the end to the “second biggest pile of shit in the world” appointed. Bono takes the matter with humor.

Live album recorded in 1983, “Under A Blood Red Sky” is - apart from the 4-parts-EP “Wide Awake In America” and the live / studio hybrid “Rattle & Hum” - so far the only official live album by band.

Musical On 21 December 2010 is celebrating “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark” in New York premiere. Music and lyrics are by Bono and The Edge. $ 50 million production costs, it is considered the most expensive Broadway musical ever.

With “Sunday Boody Sunday” U2 deliver in 1983 a radical and highly controversial statement on the fighting from their homes.

O peration this May, Bono must undergo emergency surgery in Munich on the back. A North American tour is canceled.

Whether P has olitics U.S. presidents, popes or UN secretaries-general - not made any political or religious world-class player in the Bono as part of its commitment to the debt the Third World. For the 50-year-old is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Q uality about the musical quality of U2 disagreement. While some praise the Irishman as the best band in the world, others complain too much pathos, formulaic songs and assume the front man a Messiah complex. “U2’s songs are like furniture from IKEA,” wrote the “Star”. “They are the illusion of chic in the functional design of our time, with a hint of subversive, nonchalance, youthful standard denial.”

R eligion In early songs like “Gloria,” and “I Still Have not Found What I’m Looking For” U2 cancel their Christian faith clearly. Today, the volume is dedicated more to spirituality than religion practiced (see “Yahweh”). Bono always stressed that his faith was the motivation for doing his political

S U2 published a soundtrack 1995 under the pseudonym “Passengers” on the album Original Soundtracks 1 “. An album full of experiments, mostly instrumental. With “Miss Sarajevo” there is even a duet with Luciano Pavarotti on the odd secondary work.

The 360 Tour “is one of the most successful in the history of music. Between June 2009 and June 2010 the band made $ 130,000,000 in sales.

U 2 To the name “U2” is shrouded in the most varied rumors. For one, he, phonetically, a word game. To German: “You too”. On the other hand were called including the U.S. spy planes in the 60’s.

V erkäufe With 160 million albums sold, the Dubliner among the most successful acts in the charts history.

 U2 for the fifth time in the Federal Capital (May 24, 1992 Danube island, 26-27. Stadthalle July 2001, July 2, 2005 Happel-Stadion). The setlist will include 23 songs, including the previously unreleased songs “Glastonbury” and “North Star”.

XY … Document number are unresolved Where do the artists name? Bono Vox in civil life goes by the name Paul Hewson, his nickname is derived from the Latin “vox bona” (“good voice” her). About the nickname of Dave Evans (The Edge), there are two theories: his sharp (“edgy”), the angular head and mind are available.

Z oo-TV, the ‘93 tour is the oddest of all concert tours: in the intro is a drumming Nazi-boy from the film “Triumph of the Will” by Leni shown Riefenstahl, the band climbs out of a giant lemon and the phone through a live circuit with various celebrities.

Remember Barcelona ?

Well its seems they remember U2. City hall says rock band U2 has paid a fine of euro18,000 ($22,000) for playing too long and too loudly during rehearsals in the Spanish city last year.

A spokeswoman said the Irish group was penalized for rehearsing until midnight: two hours over the scheduled time and at sound levels above those set by authorities prior to a concert in Barcelona in June 2009.

The fine followed a complaint by residents near Barcelona soccer club’s Camp Nou stadium, where the concert was staged.

The spokeswoman said the city was now studying fining Colombian singer Shakira for recording a video in the city without a permit, dancing in a fountain and riding a motorbike without a helmet.

The official was speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with city hall policy.

Ah hello Barcelona its Rock and Roll what did you expect ? Face it its a little late to pass a fine forward.

Can Social Media Sway U2 360 Tour?

An avid Christchurch U2 fan has launched an online crusade to bring her favourite band to the city.

The Irish supergroup will play one concert at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadiumon November 25 but Ilam mother Chelsea Daly has created a Facebook page she hopes will encourage Bono and company to perform in Christchurch.

The online approach worked for Metallica fans earlier this year when thousands of people joined en masse to convince that band to schedule a Garden City gig.

Daly said she could see no reason why the same method could not work again.

As of noon today, the Facebook page had attracted 109 supporters and Daly was aiming for 2500.

“I think we can do this … support is growing very fast,” she told The Press.

Daly, who hoped to buy tickets to the Auckland concert, hoped tour promoters would take notice of the page and bring the massive U2 tour south.

She was using Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites to spread the word.


More U2 from Moscow

MOSCOW, August 26 (Itar-Tass) - The legendary Irish U2 rock group brought the house down on Wednesday during their first guest performance in Moscow. More than 40,000 rock lovers gathered at the Luzhniki stadium despite rain to watch three hours of rock extravaganza. All the tickets to the show had been sold out.

The Snow Patrol opener band played as a warm-up. The audience gave them a very warm welcome. But the house burst into applause to greet the U2 leader Bono when he appeared on the stage. The U2 musicians started their concert with the “Beautiful Day” hit. For the next three hours they performed their most famous hits and songs from their new CD “No Line on the Horizon”.

Addressing the audience from the stage, Bono said that he was very pleased to be in Moscow where U2 had never been before. He told the audience that he had met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev who produced a very good impression on him. In the end, Bono wished everybody peace on Earth.

Torrential rain didn’t spoil the show. The audience paid no attention to the whims of nature. They enthusiastically sang along to their favourite tunes and danced to the U2 hits. They had waited for U2 for so many years.

The appearance of Yuri Shevchuk, the leader of the Russian DDT rock group, was a surprise. Together with Bono, they sang a song titled “Don’t Come Knocking.” The Irish musician thanked those who had bought tickets to the ‘red zone’. All the proceeds gained from the sale of tickets to those places will be transferred for the treatment of children ill with AIDS.

Activists Detained at Moscow U2 Concert

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Rights group Amnesty said five of its activists were detained while distributing flyers at a U2 concert in Moscow on Wednesday, which ended with a celebrated Kremlin critic joining the Irish rock stars on stage.

Police detained the five volunteers who were distributing leaflets and displaying banners for holding an unsanctioned protest at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, the head of Amnesty International in Russia Sergei Nikitin told the Interfax news agency.

“I am very sorry about what happened … it overshadowed the concert,” Nikitin said. He said the activists were later released without charge. Interfax quoted an unnamed police official as saying two activists were detained.

At the end of their concert, U2 invited Russian rock star turned Kremlin critic Yury Shevchuk to join them on stage for a rendition of “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.”

 

Shevchuk has become a significant figure in Russia’s opposition movement since he delivered a rare public rebuke to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in May.

Shevchuk’s appearance with a guitar at an opposition protest at the weekend attracted 2,000 people, making it one of Moscow’s biggest protests in years.

U2 frontman Bono met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday to try to convince him to support his efforts to combat AIDS. He did not make any public criticism of the Russian leadership during his trip.

A spokeswoman for U2 said the band did not yet have the details of the detentions and could not immediately comment. An Amnesty spokesman said he could not immediately comment.



U2 Rocks Moscow !

A day after he traveled to Sochi on the Black Sea to meet President Dmitry Medvedev, Bono joined the rest of the band onstage at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium. The show was U2’s first-ever in Russia; the group had been one of the few major international acts who hadn’t played in the country, where Western music is hugely popular.

As the band took the stage, the skies opened with torrential rain - especially ironic since “Beautiful Day” was among the first songs. Most of the 50,000-plus crowd stayed dry, though, since the seating area at the stadium - used primarily for soccer - is covered by a roof. The band, as well as the throngs of fans in the dance-floor area, weren’t so lucky. Only the drum kit seemed reliably protected from the rain, while Bono, Edge and bassist Adam Clayton played under the raindrops and got soaked in the process.

Bono treated the crowd to an a capella version of “Singing in the Rain,” though most fans seemed more familiar with the words to U2’s own hits like “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “One” and “With or Without You,” which brought virtually the entire house to its feet.

Bono, at first, directed the political references for which he’s known to places located far from Russia. At one point, the band played “Walk On,” a song dedicated to jailed Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi. Between songs, he thanked President Medvedev for his “gracious” reception.

But Bono gave his warmest shout-out (subtitled into Russian on the giant screen above the stage) to former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, whom he said was at the show (the two have known each other for about a decade). The crowd’s response was less enthusiastic - though credited with ending communism, Gorbachev is deeply unpopular in Russia for bringing about the end of the Soviet Union.

The band followed the praise of Gorbachev with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” - which could be interpreted as a veiled reference to Russia’s interrupted move to democracy since Gorbachev left office in 1991. In case anyone missed the point, Bono later led the crowd in a chorus of Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up” during a break in “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”

The Russian politics got heavier in the encores, when Bono, playing acoustic guitar, invited Russian rocker Yuri Shevchuk onstage to join him for a version of Bob Dylan’s classic, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Shevchuk, whose band DDT started out in the underground under the Soviets, has been one of the very few Russian musicians to publicly criticize the Kremlin for rolling back democratic freedoms. Shevchuk confronted Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about the issue at a meeting with artists and writers earlier this year. He’d signed an appeal with several other activists this week calling on Bono to raise the issues in his meeting with President Medvedev. It wasn’t clear from official Kremlin accounts if Russian domestic policies came up in that session, however. Bono started that meeting saying he hoped to bridge the musical gap between himself, a Led Zeppelin fan, and Medvedev, who is known for his love of Deep Purple (a group Bono and the rest of U2 had jokingly belittled in interviews with the Russian press this week). Medvedev resolved the issue by saying that he likes Led Zeppelin, too.

As the show headed into its third hour Wednesday and the group played its last encore (”Moment of Surrender”) dedicated to the victims of the wildfires that swept Russia this summer), the rain let up, releasing the crowd into a cool August evening.



U2 Vs Madonna

 

The Irish rock band U2 and its vocalist Bono brought a bonus of some millions of euros to Helsinki’s tourism and restaurant entrepreneurs. The capital could not accommodate all fans, which is why hotel rooms were sought as far away as in Riihimäki and Lahti. On Monday, the wind was blowing plastic mugs, cigarette stubs, and earplugs around Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium. Workers were unfastening the screws from the aluminium coatings which had been covering the stadium surface.

Apart from impressed fans and two days’ dismantling work, the megaband U2 left behind them in Finland millions of euros. Thanks to a total of roughly 100,000 visitors to the two concerts, especially hotel and restaurant entrepreneurs were all smiles. Even the ferry traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn as well as the demand for taxi rides picked up.
     
What this means in euros for Helsinki’s economy, nobody is willing to calculate accurately.

”The share of tourism will inevitably be millions of euros. How many millions, I cannot tell”, says Veli-Matti Aittoniemi, the Executive Vice President of Matkailu- ja ravintolapalvelut MaRa (“Tourism and Restaurant Services”).

The number of foreign visitors to the two concerts was roughly 6,000 to 8,000 per gig: Estonians had bought 5,000 tickets for Saturday’s concert, while a total o f 10,000 tickets had been sold to Russia and Sweden. Half of the Finnish fans came from outside Helsinki.

The 12,000 hotel rooms in the Greater Helsinki area were all sold out. Those visitors who were looking for accommodation had to search for lodging in Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Riihimäki, and even in Lahti, nearly 100km away.
     
”Top performers like U2 are such a draw that they are bound to attract tourists. Those who come from outside Helsinki go to restaurants and shops. They easily spend the same amount of money per day for other things as they pay for hotel accommodation”, says Aittoniemi.
     
The sales of the hotel chains, including the Stockholm-based Scandic, the Finnish Sokos Hotels, and the Restel hotels, increased by 15 to 30 per cent compared with a regular weekend in August.

The 2,400 rooms in the Scandic hotels in Helsinki and Tuusula were fully booked aleady a week prior to the two gigs.”The demand was exceptionally high and the impact of the concerts was wide. One could feel already outside the confines of the ring roads that something was happening in Helsinki”, describes Scandic director Christian Borg.

According to Borg, the demand was equal to that of Madonna’s gig in Helsinki in August 2009, but this boom continued one day longer. The first rooms were booked in October, when the tickets to the gigs came on sale.”A second peak occurred in July during the summer holidays, when people began to plan their trips”, says Borg.
     
The sales of the restaurants in the immediate vicinity of the Olympic Stadium and those in the city centre doubled or tripled, reports Jouko Heinonen, Divisional Manager at HOK-Elanto, the largest regional cooperative retail chain in Finland.

Drinks accounted for some 80 per cent of the chain’s restaurant sales. When we calculated the amount of sales, we noticed that Bono was 1.5 times more profitable than Madonna. Large crowds of people were out and about and they were in high spirits. Large numbers of out-of-own people had also come to attend the concerts”, Heinonen notes.

In Helsinki’s Royal Restaurants sales were up by 10 to 15 per cent.”It naturally has an effect on everything, when 50,000 people are moving in the city before and after the gig. The weekend was excellent”, Kasperi Saari, Managing Director of Royal Restaurants, says happily. 

 

Security for U2 show in Moscow

Moscow, Aug 25 (PTI) Russia will provide unprecedented security for the maiden show of the legendary Irish rock band U2 in the country at a stadium here by deploying over 2,000-strong police force.

Under their 360 degrees global tour, U2 is visiting Russia for the first time.

“Some 2,100 policemen and Interior Ministry”s troops will be providing security at the Luzhniki Stadium. Officers of the canine team and their dogs will inspect the stadium several hours prior to the concert,” Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

About 85,000 spectators would have to pass metal detectors installed at the entrance to the stadium, where the group will perform tonight.

Extra security arrangements are being made at Moscow metro”s oldest Red Line passing through the stadium area and for six hours tonight transfer to the key transit station for the Ring Line ”Park Kultury” route will be closed.

Biryukov said such security measures are ”unprecedented” for a rock concerts in Moscow.

This is the first ever concert of famous U2 in Russia and the musicians arrived in the country three days prior to their performance, which according to organisers is unusual for this band.

Yesterday, U2 leader Bono met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

Besides music, they discussed various social and charity activities that Bono and his musicians are involved in.

Bono, who actively works in fighting AIDS around the world, requested Medvedev to recommend some Russian company, which could market his Red items, proceeds from which could go to charity fund for HIV infected people, Moscow Times reported.

U2.com Announces New Membership

A bit early by a couple of months U2.com has announced its new membership package for 2011 ( or the marketing wizards call it 2010-2011) will include a new CD titled DUALS

 

Over the years a unique community of artists have shared a recording studio with U2. From folk to punk, from country to blues and soul, these extraordinary collaborations have spanned musical genres… but until now they’ve never been collected together. U2:DUALS is a specially commissioned collection capturing U2 in collaboration with other artists over three decades.

The track list has not been made available in the announcement. Expect it to be released in the FALL/Winter of 2010.

'Songs of Ascent' lead single live on tour

 

on August 21, U2 performed a never-before-heard track called “Every Breaking Wave” in concert in Helsinki, Finland. That song - which can now be heard online - is reportedly the lead single from the band’s upcoming album Songs of Ascent.

U2 has already played three new songs on the current European leg of its 360° Tour: “Glastonbury,” “North Star,” and “Return of the Stingray Guitar,” all premiered during the opening concert in Turin.

After performing “Every Breaking Wave,” a slow-tempo acoustic song, lead singer Bono told the crowd, “No one has heard that before - not even us.”

Bono talked about the song to music magazine Rolling Stone in March 2009, saying it had originally been intended for the band’s 2009 studio album No Line on the Horizon but would instead serve as the lead single for forthcoming LP Songs of Ascent, which may be out by the end of 2010.

Bono recently told Rolling Stone that the band has three additional albums worth of material in the works: a rock album, a “club-sounding” album, and the band’s music for the Broadway play Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

 Editor Note

Watch U2’s performance of “Every Breaking Wave”:Video from U2GIGS * We have fan videos too however this really is the best one from the show - Cheers to Matt and Ax -

Aviv Geffen to open for U2

Israeli rock musician chosen to warm up legendary Irish band during mega concert in Athens’ Olympic stadium

Israeli musician Aviv Geffen will be the opening act for legendary Irish rock band U2, which will perform at the Olympic stadium in Athens, Greece on September 3.

Geffen will join forces with acclaimed band SnowPatrol, and the two acts will warm up the crowd before Bono and his friends take the stage.

 

On Thursday, Geffen published a confirmation on his MySpace page. “We are proud to announce Aviv Geffen will open for U2 on September 3, 2010 on their ‘360’ Tour at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece! Doors will open 5.15 pm, please find more info, directions and ticket links on the event page,” read the statement.

 

This is probably Geffen’s biggest career move in the international arena. The artist released his first album in English last year, and began touring Europe as a solo artist, and not as part of the Blackfield Duo, which Geffen started along with British musician Steven Wilson –lead singer of Porcupine Tree. 

Bono jokes, President Medvedev

U2 will fly down to Sochi to meet President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday, a day before their first concert in Russia.

The group is set to discuss their anti-poverty campaign Red with the president, although frontman Bono joked about canceling the meeting after hearing that Medvedev was a Deep Purple fan.

“What kind of music does he like? They say he is a Beatle-maniac … Is that true?” Bono asked at a news conference late Sunday, national newspapers reported.

“That’s it. I’m gone,” Bono said, pretending to stand up and go when told by journalists that the president was a big Deep Purple fan. “I’m canceling the meeting.”

At the same time, the rest of the group started humming the riff to “Smoke on the Water,” the veteran rock group’s most famous song, Kommersant reported.

“No, we prefer The Beatles,” Bono said. “I think even Deep Purple prefers The Beatles.”

When asked about U2’s constant campaigning on various issues and the public’s sometimes limited appetite for the group’s causes, Bono said, “I understand the people who respond with, ‘Shut up.’”

“I’m really good at rescuing cats from trees,” bassist Adam Clayton noted at the time.

The group flew into Vnukovo-3, the state airport usually reserved for the government and official foreign guests, on Sunday evening together with their families.

“We want to go shopping, go to the popular places and the war memorials,” Bono said in an interview on Ren-TV. “You’re the lads who saved Europe. And I am proud that we are performing in front of such people. I have always liked the bravery of the Russian people.”

The group headed for a news conference at the Kamin restaurant at Chistiye Prudy, where Bono tried to order a local beer. But when told the place had none, he drank a Guinness and flattered the home audience with the words, “We pretend that we are a great rock group, but as long as we had not played in Russia, that is not true.”

Bono said his wife and children had gone to see the ballet, “Sleeping Beauty.” Organizers said the group planned to visit the Tretyakov Gallery, Red Square, the Kremlin and Dasha Zhukova’s modern art center, Garazh.

The U2 concert, part of their “360” tour, involves a circular stage that looks like a giant alien spider robot — and one of the largest sets in rock history. More than 200 trucks are needed to transport the set.

Part of the concert, Bono promised, will involved a linkup with the international space station and in particular with cosmonaut Roman Romanenko. The group previously spoke to him at a concert last year.

“He had such an amazing haircut,” Bono said.

During the live linkup, Romanenko said: “I want to ask you see something. If you see David Gahan from Depeche Mode, say a big hello from me.”

Local U2 fans who have been waiting for the group to come for more than two decades have prepared a green welcome for the group. “I bet all of us know that the green color and the shamrock are international symbols of Ireland. We in Russia want to welcome our favorite Irish band with these symbols and create a green shamrock field at the stadium for the opening U2 song,” fan organizers wrote on the U2 fan site, U2.ru. “If you have seats or aren’t planning to stand close, you are encouraged to just take something green with you and wave it from the moment [drummer] Larry [Mullen Jr.] appears on stage till the end of the first song.”

Fans will have a party at Radio City near the Mayakovskaya metro station to night, the eve of the concert.

Jay Z and Bono in New Zealand

Hip hop star Jay Z is to join U2 for the band’s tour of Australia and New Zealand later this year.

One of the most successful artists of all time, Jay Z last played in Australia in 2006 and has never played in New Zealand.

U2 and Jay Z will be playing in Auckland on November 25 at Mt Smart Stadium.

Marketing manager Patrick Smith says it’s taken the last four months to secure the show.

He says at least two planes will be needed to bring the equipment to New Zealand.

From there he says around 250 people and 120 trucks will have the task of arranging the set, a 50m-high, four-legged stage with rotating bridges and a giant video system.

Following the show in Auckland, the band will travel to Australia for shows in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.

The band has visited New Zealand five times before. The last in 2006.

A special deal will see some tickets start at $40. However, most people will pay $100 for general admission tickets.

Following the show in Auckland, the band will travel to Australia for shows in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.

Tickets are on sale from September 3.



U2 360 Tour arrives into Moscow

They’ve Rattled and Hummed their way around the world and dialed up presidents live on stage during their concerts – and at last the U2 roadshow has arrived in Russia.

Bono and his cohorts landed at Vnukovo airport on Sunday evening to face a barrage of questions – and explain exactly what they planned to do when they meet president Dmitry Medvedev in Sochi, Kommersant reported.

“Bono wants to get some practical advice on the new album from him,” joked guitarist The Edge. “Where do we go from here?”

But on hearing that Medvedev was a Deep Purple fan, Bono threatened to abandon the meeting.

Joking apart, the musicians want to discuss their charity work, especially the (RED) organisation.

 

Human rights

With the band’s long-standing links to groups like Amnesty International and Greenpeace, it had long been rumoured that U2 would refuse to play in Russia on moral grounds, due to the country’s poor ratings on human rights and corruption.

That particular issue was not raised at the press conference when the band landed, but Bono admitted the group’s activist stance could be wearisome at times.

“I understand people who tell us to shut up,” the singer told reporters. “I don’t want any trade-off otherwise we would all become a travelling festival – ‘Rock against everything bad’, as our manager says.

“Sometimes I fear that the image of retired superheroes may become a reality. Let’s remember that the main work of the band is not to be boring.”

But drummer Larry Mullen added: “Activism is an integral part of this group, whether you like it or not.”

 

The scale is vital

U2’s concert is scheduled for the cavernous Luzhniki stadium, better known for hosting Olympic-sized sporting events and a far cry from the intimate clubs where the band started out.

“Scale is vital to the music of U2,” Bono added. “We’re like Francis Ford Coppola – he loves an operatic scale.

“Maybe we shouldn’t try to appear in a club. It’s better to perform to 50,000 people who might not see common ground on any subject, except that this evening they need to meet at this place.

“This is a tremendous energy.”