Fan sites and Fans

What is next for U2? The world has been a different place since the start of U2. Fans, most of them are now in their 50s plus, and life moves on—kids, wives, husbands, jobs, retirement, and covid. It's a different time for all of us. The music was considered an anthem for all that we wanted to say. Sure, Bono is a bit more political than the rest of the group; thus, we embraced the differences of each member of the band. It's been a while since we heard from the boys, management, or anyone related to U2.

Social media site has been pushing out content. Frankly, any staffer can do that. Now comes the extended fans sites. Have you noticed a few of them have already gone dark? Yes, off-line and wrapped up. Sure we have been thinking about it. We have other projects and now a busy tour season. We harken back to the days of fans connecting and sharing, and we think we could all use a reconnecting. Sure some fans have acted very childishly and as if they are the protectors of all that is U2. Heck, the world needs punters; yes, I said PUNTERS when you act a fool, the word fits. Fans are no different from the real world—anyway, enough of that—the question we face. Is it time for us to go dark as well? Wrap it up and call it a day. We have thousands of hours of concert videos, photos, and content. What should we do with all of that? What is next for us? Frankly, I have not a clue. I miss the connection, and I miss engagements, yet I know we are all moving in a different direction. Spring arrives in New York in a few weeks, and the world is opening up again. Maybe the next chapter is under development, and all we need to do is have faith. Meantime let's turn up some tunes and remember those great times when life was full of all that we loved. U2!

The Joshua Tree Tour 2019 band return to New Zealand and Australia

The Joshua Tree Tour 2019 will see the band return to New Zealand and Australia for the first time since the record-shattering 360° Tour in 2010; as well as the first Tokyo shows since the Vertigo Tour in 2006; plus what promises to be some very special concerts with the band's first ever visit to Singapore and Seoul. All tour dates on our Tour Page.

Ticket presales to U2.com subscribers begin on Tuesday 4 June and run till Thursday 6 June. There will be a 4 ticket limit for subscribers. (See FAQ’s). Information on Japan and South Korea shows below (date and venue information for Singapore coming soon).

The Joshua Tree Tour 2019 kicks off in Auckland on 8 November and will visit Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, before moving on to Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul. Tickets for the New Zealand /Australia shows go on sale starting Tuesday 4 June 2019. U2.com  subscribers will have first opportunity to purchase tickets starting Tuesday 4 June through Thursday 6 June. In a first for any artist performing in New Zealand and Australia, and to ensure fans have the best access, stadium floor tickets for all the band's NZ/AU shows will be paperless with delivery via mobile devices 72 hours prior to the applicable show. There will be a 4 ticket limit for subscribers.

In Japan reservations for U2.com subscribers will begin on Tuesday 4 June. The pre-orders for PIA and ePLUS begin Friday 14 June with final tickets for both performances on sale Saturday 20 July.

In Seoul, tickets for U2.com subscribers will be available starting Monday 10 June with tickets on sale Wednesday 12 June.

Experience Power, Anger and Bravery U2 Wakens Tulsa

Tulsa:  U2 heads out on the road again leaving behind Joshua Tree as the past breaks free from the future. Bono, The Edge, Adam, and Larry opened the BOK Center in Tulsa Oklahoma with a few surprises. Bono was not as outspoken as we have come to know if fact some might say he approached the stage with a rage that was ready to burst.  

Photo credit : Danny North

The show was filled with images to spark the mind to think about how mankind has been treated. Going all the way back to 1984, Pride defined the evening, on the screen images of Charlottesville, KKK, and White Nationalists The U2 message was clear HATE is WRONG, Love Is BETTER. The screens filled with messages of Equality, #METOO, empower women.

The core U2 fans remember MacPhisto who made his appearance last night on the big screen, with a speech on the nature of evil and rolling into Acrobat. Bono singing: “If you just close your eyes/You can feel the enemy."

Quickly we move on to You're The Best Thing with was a very scaled back acoustic set, driving us right into Pride.  

The Experience "Get Out Of Own Way" leads us into "American Soul" and the set-closing out with "City of Blinding Lights"

The venue was packed to 19,000 (estimate) Ending the evening with "There is A Light" which as the emotions flood over the crowd it was clear that U2 came to give you an experience that brings you forward. 

As Bono walked down the stage and within seconds he was gone.

Show Time ! U2 Kicks Off Experience + Innocence World Tour

Tulsa:  U2 about the launch the Experience part of the Experience + Innocence world tour tonight in Tulsa. What can the core U2 fan expect? What will be different from Innocence tour? Will songs from Joshua Tree appear on the set list? What's Bono's political thoughts as the band ready for another summer tour season?

So as you head into the show initially it will seem very familiar to the fans that saw the Innocence tour. The stage pretty much is the same, of course, new features have been added and as the evening progresses those features will emerge.  

AR! Augmented-Reality will be a part of the show. At one point the idea was floated that people should put their phones away and enjoy the show. It's about the music and connected with people. The people in the audience.  The band starts off the evening with you and your phone. Be sure to download the application prior to your arrival.

The music. The band has been rehearsing the following albums

• Boy

• October  

• War  

• The Unforgettable Fire

• Rattle & Hum  

• Achtung Baby  

• Pop  

• All That You Can't Leave Behind

• How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb  

• Songs of Innocence  

• Songs of Experience

 

 

 

Streets has been left off the list and so far it looks like this song will not be making an appearance this tour.  As far as the list goes it's a gift to those hardcore U2 fans. Sit back and enjoy the music. Tonight the show will be streamed by some fans so that the rest of the world can take a few minutes to enjoy the experience. We will be posting updates and concert photos as well as videos as soon as possible. Meantime. Welcome Back U2 fans. Enjoy the evening .

VENUE DETAILS

The concert starts at 8:00 Wednesday night but doors open at 6:30 p.m. The BOK Center urges anyone going to the show to leave plenty of time to get to the venue, saying it make take a little longer than normal to get there due to construction.

There is no opener for the show and the BOK Center said U2 will take the stage right at start time. No tablets, selfie sticks or professional cameras are allowed inside, only small cameras.

Small, collapsible umbrellas will be allowed in the area as severe weather could develop. And, if the weather does get dangerous, the staff and on-site security personnel are trained to shelter guests.

Tulsa without Streets

When the tour begins in Tulsa tomorrow, they will break a streak that has run 28 years, 5 months and 14 days. There will not be a performance of “Where the Streets Have No Name.” could it be true ?

David Kavanagh Passes Away

U2’s first booking agent David Kavanagh, who went on to manage Clannad and Celtic Woman to global success, has died at the age of 62.

Mr. Kavanagh died at the Blackrock Clinic on Friday morning after a long illness. He had been diagnosed with cancer in 2009.

Mr. Kavanagh started out as the entertainment officer at UCD in 1975 and his Road Runner Agency represented U2, The Boomtown Rats, Christy Moore, Planxty and Thin Lizzy.

He had further success after setting up the Celtic Heartbeat label in 1993 with U2 manager Paul McGuinness.

Postive Vibes New U2 Album Arrives

"People who can't stand U2's earnest, heal-the-world side may want to turn elsewhere right now. The word "love," unironic and high-minded, recurs all over "Songs of Experience," the band's long-gestating sequel to its 2014 album, "Songs of Innocence." Where "Songs of Innocence" was full of youthful biographical specifics, both euphoric and grim, from the group's lead singer and main lyricist, Bono, "Songs of Experience" has an adult's broader, more general perspective. It favors lessons and archetypes, not stories…"
Jon Pareles, NEW YORK TIMES, 'U2 Releases 'Songs of Experience. Cynicism Not Included.'

"Songs of Experience will likely go down as a late-career classic. Unlike its predecessors, it carries some memorable, stadium-ready tunes, initially signposted by You're The Best Thing About me - their best comeback single since 2000's Beautiful Day…. U2 have dug deep, yet they remain both postmodern and unpredictable. Able to assume many sounds and voices; to invoke their early-80's innocence but also none-more-experienced, masters of every inch of their game…. from here, U2 can rebuild with confidence."
Andrew Perry, Q MAGAZINE, Bringing It All Back Home ****

"Textbook anthem Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way… is plainly a parent-to-child letter of reassurance; an important unburdening for someone recently spooked, and another key component in U2's strongest album this century."
James McNair, MOJO, 'The Letters of Paul' ****
 
 "As the title makes plain, Songs of Experience is not the work of young men. It showcases U2 at their most mature and assured, playing songs of passion and purpose, shot through and enlivened with a piercing bolt of desperation. "The Showman gives you front row to his heart / Making a spectacle of falling apart," Bono sings with defiant humor on The Showman, and it is this spectacle that makes Experience so compelling. A little battered by time and bloodied by events, U2 remain defiantly unbowed, as determined as ever to make mass market music that really matters."
Neil McCormick, DAILY TELEGRAPH, 'U2's Songs of Experience is full of desperation and meaty hooks in equal measure' ****

"Behind those tinted shades…there is still a superb blue-eyed soul singer. And next to him, The Edge is several guitarists in one: if he's not murmuring in your ear, he's roaring like Jimmy Page or taking a step back to join Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton, the most resolute of rhythm sections. After 41 years, U2's secret is their unity, just about the greatest strength a band can have. They're like an old friend now - you take them warts and all, you ride out their midlife crisis, and after spending time with them, you feel uplifted."
Tim De Lisle, MAIL ON SUNDAY, Album of the Week, '…the melodic, punchy tunes soon get under your skin.' ****

"Like its 2014 predecessor, U2's "Songs of Experience" is the product of a difficult and drawn-out recording process. Much more so than "Songs of Innocence," however, U2 has made an exciting, stage-ready album that doesn't blush or blink in its use of the band's signature sounds — The Edge's chiming guitar, Adam Clayton's trebly, adhesive bass, Larry Mullen Jr.'s sharp and responsive drums and Bono's heart-on-his-vocal-cords singing…"
Pablo Gordini, ASSOCIATED PRESS, 'U2's 'Songs of Experience' is a thrilling listen'
  
"...The penultimate track is 'Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way' another multi-layered beauty of a ballad. Sounds like a choir doing harmonies to Bono's soaring vocals and yet another strong grower.  This is truly a cracker of an album on first, second and third listens. Living with it for an extended spell will determine whether it hits the heights of a Joshua Tree, an Achtung Baby or the cruelly underrated Pop."
Eric Lalor, JOE.ie, 'Songs of Experience by U2 ranks alongside the band's greatest work.'

Published / U2.com/ Press Clips/