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!”

"Hope Your Journey Ends Well"

The Edge  came to the aid of some tourists from San Francisco when he reunited them with their lost passports and luggage this week. The father and his two children were shocked to find that a rucksack that contained their passports was missing when they arrived at Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel in Killiney. "It was their last night in Ireland and they were supposed to be flying home the next day so the father was panicked," explained hotel reception manager Luighsighe Kenny to the Irish Daily Star.

A spokesperson for U2 said she believed the Edge was walking past Killiney DART Station with a friend and found the luggage. A contact number was left by the pair at the station for the owners of the luggage to contact them. The luggage was then delivered to the American visitors' hotel... With a special gift.

"The Edge left a souvenir U2 CD in the bag which was signed and had the message, 'hope your journey ends well'," explained Luighsighe.

Larry Mullen Jr & Juliette Binoche

Larry Mullen Jr and Irish actress Maria Doyle Kennedy (Downtown Abbey) have joined the cast of Erik Poppe’s ‘A Thousand Times Good Night’, which began shooting in Dublin last week.

They join a previously announced cast that includes French actress Juliette Binoche and Danish ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Young Irish actress Lauryn Canny has also been cast as Binoche’s daughter Steph.

The role is the second acting job for U2 drummer Mullen, whose first film role was in Irish director Mary McGuckian’s ‘Man on the Train’ with Donald Sutherland in 2011.

‘A Thousand Times Good Night’ is inspired by Poppe’s own experiences as a war photographer. It tells the story of a photographer, Rebekka, who is torn between the job and the family she loves.

Binoche and Coster-Waldau play the photographer and her husband, while Mullen Jr and Kennedy play their best friends in the drama, which will move to Morrocco following a five-week shoot in Dublin.

‘A Thousand Times Goodnight’ has been written by Harald Rosenløw Eeg and is a co-production between Ireland’s Newgrange Pictures, Paradox in Norway and Zentropa International Sweden.

Jackie Larkin and Lesley McKimm will produce for Newgrange alongside Norwegian-based Finn Gjerdrum and Stein Kave for Paradox.

The feature’s budget is reportedly around €5m with the project having been offered €300,000 from the Irish Film Board in the last round of funding. The Norwegian Film Institute is also supporting the feature.

U2 Voted best Irish Musicians

The Future Needs A Big Kiss ! Rock Giants

Rock giants U2 have pledged to nurture and inspire more of Ireland’s young musicians with the rolling-out of a tutoring programme.

The Music Generation scheme will invest 1.7 million euro to help children and young people in Cork city, Laois and Wicklow get access to vocal and instrumental tuition in their local area.

The Edge said: “Access to music for children and young people is something that is very close to our hearts. We believe that every child should have the choice to get involved in music, irrespective of their background.

“Music Generation is addressing the gap in individual and group vocal and instrumental music tuition in our education system, and we are delighted to be playing a part in nurturing and inspiring Ireland’s young musicians of the future.”

Music Generation was launched in 2009 after a five million euro donation from U2 along with another two million euro raised by the Ireland Funds. The donation was the largest-ever single philanthropic gift to music education in Ireland in the history of the state.

The programme, which last year ran in Louth, Mayo and Sligo, is expected to create substantial job opportunities for local musicians over the next five years.

Music Generation chairman Dr Tony O Dalaigh said: “Music Generation would not be happening without the contributions made by U2 and the Ireland Funds.

“In practical terms it means that Music Generation can provide access to music education which is currently unavailable to the majority of children, as well as employment for musicians in their locality.”

Bono Tax WTF?

Bono Tax WTF?

Ireland’s Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has introduced new measures that will hit the Irish rich where they live, literally. Major figures such as Bono and others members of U2, as well as many leading businessmen, are essentially tax exiles from Ireland despite being citizens.

Now however, if you hold an Irish passport and have extensive holdings in Ireland, Lenihan said he will introduce a $300,000-per-year  levy on “all Irish nationals and persons domiciled here who earn more than $1.5 million in income worldwide, and who have capital located here worth more than $7.4 million.”



2009 Our Year

Irish rock band and international phenomenon U2 will return to the concert-in-the-round format for a new leg of 360° Tour dates in 2010. The trek will launch in North American with a slate of shows from June 6 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA, through July 19 at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.

A dozen dates have been inked for the six-week summer trek at this point. Highlights include performances on June 20 at Qwest Field in Seattle, WA; July 6 at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL; and July 12 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.

Touring behind the 2009 studio album “No Line on the Horizon,” U2 will also strike north of the border for at least three shows. The Canadian dates are set for June 23 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, AB; July 3 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON; and July 16 in Montreal, QC, though a venue has not yet been announced for this performance.

The first on sales for the tour have already begun November 2 in Oakland, Edmonton and Toronto. Presales started in those cities October 27 and closing October 29; Additional on sales for the U.S. and Canada will follow later in November.

U2 has ended its first leg of its fast-selling 360° Tour, which concludes October 28 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, BC. The 2009 round of North American dates launched with two shows on September 12 and 13 at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL.

The Irish band’s 2010 calendar will also see a return to the European tour circuit, where the band is booked from August through October next year. Most presales and public on sales for those dates have already concluded, and nine performances have already sold out.

Most fans will agree this has been U2’s year.

U2's 360 Tour Rolls Forward

Having played two nights in Boston, NYC is on the horizon.

Irish eyes smiled upon the boys from Ireland Monday night as they played their final show in Boston. Their tour moves forward to NYC. 

U2 used Monday night to change up the set a bit starting off with “Magnificent” as the open instead of “Breathe” (Considered to be the first major change of the tour).  Breathe was skipped all together. However “Your Blue Room” and “Stay” “Mofo” and “Stories for Boys” found their way into the show as snippets.

Wednesday night the band hits Giants Stadium for a two-night stand. Will the weather hold up? We will have to wait and see. Expected evening showers on Wednesday and a little rain on Thursday afternoon we will have just to wait and see.

Remember that the boys will be on SNL this weekend with Megan Fox. This should be an amazing short set.

Back to Giant Stadium, we have not heard the rules yet. Nor do we expect to hear anything about tailgating rules. NYC/NJ can handle the crowd. However we will keep you posted.