U2 Singapore, U2 Holidays and 2017

New York City:  In a strange way, sort of me too statement U2 also will be on their way to Singapore next year (2017) for a possible stadium tour. Coldplay announced their 2017 tour dates with a stop over in Singapore National Stadium. 

Some noise around the boys from Dublin suggests that the long-awaited "Songs Of Experience" may be released in 2017 with a massive global stadium tour.  The Singapore stop would the first time that U2 has performed in Singapore.  Don't start packing as of yet. The boys have not confirmed anything, and sources inside the band have not commented.

We know everyone has been waiting for the next release even talks of a release before Grammy voting season dashed by not releasing anything before October the boys have effectively knocked themselves right off the list of contenders for 2016 which could have been a solid showing for the boys. 

Now it surely looks to be a 2017 release. Which as we stated before this is a big album for U2. The release needs a solid entry on the Billboard charts, not just one hit, a couple of solid placements within the top 10 Rock charts to remain relevant and bring along those new fans from the previous album. 

Now long-time U2 fans will say that they would rather have a solid album and not care too much about the business side. However, this is a business, and the band has been acutely aware that the machine needs to be treated and fed with a successful release.  We hear from U2 fans often that say the business side does not concern them, which our view frankly states that the music has a hard time getting exposure without a solid business plan. In other news, the holidays just around the corner and we have been busy with restructuring the operations side of our community. 

Totally not ready for any major announcements however we can say we plan to scale up in some parts of our social communities and scale down within some.  The bottom line is that we are looking to streamline our communities to reduce our costs and provide a better experience.  Hiring will start in 2017 early for some key members which we will announce shortly.

Holidays !

Yea this is the time of the year we all gather around our friends and family to enjoy some holiday cheer.  We have been working with Mark Peterson to produce a couple of exclusive items for this holiday.

Watch for a release in a few days for Holiday Cards that you can personalize, Calendars and two brand new U2 Photo books and as a bonus a digital access key to the picture vault to download some very exclusive items.  Yea we thought this was a pretty cool way to finish out the year. All proceeds go directly to Mark's touring budget which if you have been following we had Mark around a few cities during the last tour.  Cheers and Be well U2 fans 2017 is right around the corner.

U2's Return to Paris

Paris, France:  Over the last few days new rumors have started to surface that the band may be returning to France after the Dublin shows.

However this has yet to be to confirmed. The French authorities will decide when U2 returns to Paris according to Bono's comments during earlier interview.  

The band is currently in Ireland playing a total of 6 shows will continue to finish out this leg of the tour and return to the studio to finish up the next album which is due to be released early 2016. 

Mean time Bono reflected back on the MSG shows; The feeling of Madison Square Garden was just unbelievable. ... The feeling was just "this is who we are; you can't change us,"

Bono said" 'You're not going to turn us into haters, or you're not going to turn us around in the way we go about our lives.' That was the feeling of Madison Square Garden back then, and I hope that will be the feeling at Bercy (the arena in Paris) when we get back there."

Mark Peterson our lead photographer captured the complete MSG residency and has created one of the best U2 concert photo collection available this tour for fans.   Your can purchase this limited edition book directly from the website and the book will be shipped worldwide.

Belfast and Dublin Shows Sold Out

Tickets for U2's "homecoming" gigs in Belfast and Dublin sold out around 30 minutes after they went on special on Monday morning.

The Irish rock band will complete their current European visit with two shows in Belfast on 18 and 19 November, trailed by four dates at Dublin's 3Arena.

Tickets went at a bargain at 09:00 BST on Monday, however a few fans lined overnight outside the show venues.

As expected, there was a scramble this morning to buy tickets for U2's Irish concerts, with 40,000 tickets for the Dublin dates selling out in 35 minutes and 17,000 tickets for the Belfast dates snapped up within hours of going on sale. The band will play four gigs in Dublin and two in Belfast in November, and tickets were only available from the venue box offices, Dublin's 3Arena and Belfast's SSE Arena, and Ticketmaster online. Tickets were limited to two per person and were priced from €30 to €185 for Dublin and from £30 to £165 for Belfast.

People started queuing outside Dublin's 3Arena on Sunday afternoon. Fans were later allowed to wait inside overnight. It is estimated that there were a couple of hundred fans queuing at the venue this morning.

U2 To Will Tour Ireland

Lisa Heinzel/ U2TOURFANS 2015

Bono has confirmed that U2 will be playing “Innocence and Experience” shows in Ireland at the end of November.

“We are coming home... it was really hard to figure out a way of doing it, but we just had to make it happen,” he told The Irish Times after coming off stage on Saturday night in Turin following the band’s second show in the city.

The city or cities they will play in, the exact dates and venue names will be made public soon as well as information about ticketing for the shows.

The difficulty for the band in playing Ireland was that the stage configuration of the current tour is simply too big to fit into any Irish venue.

“We found a way to reformat the show, to literally rebuild it for the Irish shows,” says Bono.

“It got to the stage where we just had to tell our people “You have to make this happen, you have to make this work, this is where we are from and we have to bring the tour home.”

“I am so happy we are bringing this home,” adds Bono. “These Irish shows will be like an Irish wedding. It is always tricky planning a wedding – who sits besides who could ruin it!”

Reports in U2 to play in Dublin in December

It is believed that U2 are planning five Dublin concerts this December to mark the end of their Innocence and Experience tour.

According to a report in The Sunday World more than 72,000 tickets are due to go on sale for the shows at the 3Arena in the coming weeks. This will be the first time U2 have played the venue since December 1989, when it was known as The Point. 

U2 Raw, Naked and Intimate

A throw back to the eighties with new album images offers a rare view into Larry’s shy world. U2 say the album cover reflects "the new songs and their inspiration in the early years of U2 as teenagers in Dublin."

According to a statement on U2.com, the artwork by British fashion photographer and film director Glen Luchford, "resonates with the band's iconic 1980 debut album Boy - and the album War, three years later." 

Both of those albums featured the face of Peter Rowen, the younger brother of Guggi, Bono's childhood friend growing up on Cedarwood Road in Dublin.

Their music has always been about community, family, faith and friends this new project reflects a very intimate side that should stand on its own. Bono said, “With this record we were looking for the raw, naked and personal, to strip everything back” and the images on the album reflect the innocence and the unique relationship of a parent and child.

The photo shoot with Larry and his son was really an experiment however; everyone loved it because of its visual metaphor and thought this was a prefect image to use on the album.

"If you know the album, you will see the themes in the visual language, how 'holding on to your own innocence is a lot harder than holding on to someone else's" said Bono.

The release date has been set for October13th  and will be available in three formats, with exclusive bonus material including two new studio tracks, two alternative versions, and a 6-song acoustic session. 

The Boys in Dublin

LZuni

The boys happen to be in Dublin for a Rolling Stones cover shoot.  We are not sure if they stopped in for a few pints at the Guinness Storehouse however we do know that they borrowed a couple of boxer dogs from folks passing by.

Its just over a week ago that the largest album release ever which soon will be available to 119 countries was released.  The blow back was a bit much, some of the younger apple device owners had no clue who U2 was nor did they want to even check it out.  

During Bono’s Radio 2 interview, he said he was happy with the results of the number of listeners and that its pretty cool to have a 38 million people to get your music all at once.

LZuni

Bono also went on to say no one has deleted more U2 songs than U2 as well as pointed out  "All I can say is that there's a lot of blood, sweat and tears which went into your junk mail."

U2's marketing machine continues to promote this album and is looking to have a big release in a few weeks.

We know that the announcement of tour dates will follow shortly and we even have a few locations that the boys are sure to be putting on a brand new show.

Why do we want another U2 album ?

Before we all get up into a fight about what we should talk about and write about when it comes to U2. Lets all remember we are fans and that our love for the music really has created a community.

Lots of emotions are flowing around the future of U2. We all feel the same way. 

I thought about my personal views on the idea and while I was never really one to share my thoughts on the future of U2 and wondered why not.

Why not share what I thought about the whole matter. 

However before we venture down that path here's the comments that have been flying around about the band and their future.

A source commented that: “They never wanted to be the kind of band who just toured over and over again without new material.

“Bono would rather pack it in if it got to that stage.

“At the earliest they will hit the road at the end of this year and after that it’s hard to see how they could carry on.

“Bono is always getting offers to go solo and write his own album. That’s looking like a very likely option in the coming years.”

Earlier this year Bono admitted the band were living in fear of becoming irrelevant.

He said: “We were trying to figure out why would anyone want another U2 album?

“And then we said ‘Why would we want one?’ There was some unfinished business.

“We felt like we were on the verge of irrelevance a lot in our lives.”

The idea of irrelevance really bugs the crap out of me. I think that I have a voice and that sometimes U2 music speaks well for me. I think that the future does belong to be as much as it belongs to that snot nosed little pisser of a kid that comes up behind me.

The music is more about beliefs in something greater than me. A higher place, a freedom from what holds me back. Yet I know that in order to grow I must let go of yesterday and look towards the future.

U2 has give us a great collection of music that can stand the test of time. The themes still hold true today. While some say that God has no place in music others delight in the idea that that you can be a bad boy or girl and be saved daily by grace.

Sure I would love for U2 to grow older with me and carry me into those remaining years.  U2 does not owe me the fan anything, the music was made for me to enjoy.

The shows  allowed me to breathe life into a community of friends. I am not mad nor upset if this really is the end. I know others will not agree. However that's what makes the whole idea of being a U2 fan beautiful.

And love, it's not the easy thing
The only baggage, that you can bring
Not the easy thing, the only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind

Maybe hidden in those words was the message that you can't leave U2 behind that that U2 will forever be within your hearts and isn't that the place you would want them to be most often. So ask yourself why do you want another U2 album ? How would another U2 album change the course of your musical experience ? Why could we not just let U2 drift off into the summer afternoon with the thought that we have all been apart of musical history.