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.

Bono Speaks Out Against Terrorism

Paris, France:  In response to the attacks in Paris as well as a government issued request U2 along with other concert events have all canceled their Friday Night and Saturday night shows. Saturday's nights show was to be the HBO special which industry insiders stated this would be the return of HBO's live event programming to compete against the slew of online entertainment choices. 

 Bono/U2/Mark Peterson/U2tourfans 2015

As the events unfolded Brian Murphy Head of U2 security already alerted the band and crew and safely marshaled everyone back to the hotel safely. The city was closed with no airport access, no ground transportation moving in or around the city. The band and crew remained at the hotel to watch in horror as the events unfolded on TV.

Bono spoke out on Dave Fanning's broadcast "This is the first direct hit on music that we've had in this so-called 'War on Terror' or whatever it's called," continued the singer, known for his left-leaning political views. "It's very upsetting. These are our people. This could be me at a show. You at a show, in that venue. It's a very recognizable situation for you and for me and the coldblooded aspect of this slaughter is deeply disturbing and that's what I can't get out of my head."

The band laid bouquets of flowers on a makeshift candlelight memorial on the pavement next to the scene of the deadliest incident, a shooting attack inside the Bataclan Theatre.

Gunmen shot dead at least 110 people watching the American band Eagles of Death Metal perform at the concert hall. The musicians survived, while Nick Alexander, 36, who worked at their merchandise table during the group's our, was killed, his family said in a statement to Rolling Stone.

At least 129 people were killed in all six attacks, the deadliest to take place in Paris since World War II. The terrorist group ISIS has claimed responsibility.

HBO, Live Nation and U2 are "are fully resolved to go ahead with this show at an appropriate time,"

Our crew will be heading to Belfast and Dublin to capture the final shows for 2015. This has been an interesting year for the band one filled with grief, sorrow, loss and as well as many outstanding memorable times. No word has been given yet for 2016/2017 dates however knowing U2 we would expect the boys to head out on the next leg around the world.