Dreams Do Come True in Toronto "Acrobat" and Mark Baker

Toronto, Ontario:  U2 has always been dedicated to the fan experience. Mark Baker (@U2BROTHR) has been what some would deem a fan for many years. Even produced a movie of his experience which was entered into 2014 American Online Film Awards Festival.

Mark is a super fan, totally dedicated to the U2 experience to the point that is is a member of the tribute band known as "Acrobat"  Mark is a 39 year old Toronto teacher that had the spot light turned on him last night at the show.

Bono welcomed the boys the the stage to perform Desire.  We have reported on Mark a couple of times. To us Mark is the ultimate fan very dedicated and most of all very supportive of other fans. Mark proves that you have to believe in your dreams to achieve them , we tip our glass to him and the rest of the band "Acrobat' for a wonderful experience for rest of us. 

U2 will be in Toronto for two shows. The show had a couple of surprises, "Out Of Control" jumped back into the 2nd position. "Stuck In A Moment" and "Bad" The show ending was a bit different with "Stand By Me" which could be considered a song and part of the set list or a snip.

Venue: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON, CA July 6 2015

Setlist

1. The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)
2. Out Of Control
3. Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (snippet) / Vertigo / God Save The Queen (Sex Pistols) (snippet)
4. I Will Follow
5. Iris (Hold Me Close)
6. Cedarwood Road
7. Song For Someone
8. Sunday Bloody Sunday
9. Raised By Wolves / Psalm 23 (snippet)
10. Until The End Of The World / Love And Peace Or Else (snippet)

(Intermission)

1. Invisible
2. Even Better Than The Real Thing
3. Mysterious Ways / Burning Down The House (snippet)
4. Elevation
5. Desire
6. Stuck In A Moment
7. Every Breaking Wave
8. Bullet The Blue Sky / 19 (snippet)
9. The Hands That Built America (snippet) / Pride (In The Name Of Love) / Give Peace A Chance (snippet)
10. Beautiful Day / Instant Karma! (snippet) / Give Peace A Chance (snippet)
11. Bad / Moment Of Surrender (snippet)
12. With Or Without You

Encore(s):

1. City Of Blinding Lights
2. Mother And Child Reunion (snippet) / Where The Streets Have No Name / California (There Is No End To Love) (snippet)
3. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
4. Stand By Me

*snips provided by U2GIGS

U2 bring the cover band Acrobat starting U2Brother for playing Desire #U2ietour Toronto July 6th, night#1

U2 Confessional Time !

“My U2 sin: Sometimes I will purposely set up my favorite part of a specific U2 song on my car cd, so that whomever goes into my car will get to hear me belt out my favorite line every time they enter my car. Needless to say, my entire family is so sick of hearing the lines, “Cymbals crashing, Bibles smashing,” that they are ready to shove Leviticus up my a**. For you Bible readers, that last statement is so ironic, it hurts. 😉”

— U2 Radio

Our friends over at U2RADIO.com have a great promotion that has relaunched. We wanted to be sure you had a chance to jump in or frankly get on your knees and confess your U2 sin. Tell your sin and make sure you follow the rules.

Win a copy of the U2 fan club North Side Story 

Register at U2radio.com & post your confession, the best confession wins a very limited U2 fan club North Side Story book.

You must be a register member of U2radio.com & post your original confession in the comment/forum area to be entered to win the North Side Story book.  Only one book will be awarded.  The best confession wins. The winning confession will be chosen by the U2 Radio staff.

All confessions must be posted no later than 12:00am EST Wednesday May 6th 2015.

*Posting your confession to Twitter or Facebook will not be considered.*

Download today U2TOURFANS app and listen to U2RADIO all day at work or where ever you are.

Nearly 1/4 Of iTunes Users are Listening to U2

“This is fantastic news. If these figures suggest that these songs still matter to people, then we’re knocked out. That’s all any songwriter wants. ”

— Bono

An independent study has concluded that U2 accounted for 23% of all music listened on iOS devices throughout January 2015.

The study, conducted by the Kantar Group, found that not only was U2 the most-listened-to act on the iOS platform, but that more users were listening to U2 than the second (Taylor Swift at 11%) and third (Katy Perry at 8%) runners-up combined. Additionally, Kantar found that 95% of the U2 listeners listened to one or more tracks from the band’s current album, 

Annoyed as some Apple customers may have been over being "force-fed" U2's new album last fall, the impact of the free release is still visible five months later. Twenty-three percent of all music users on Apple's operating system listened to at least one U2 track in January-more than twice the percentage who listened to the second-placing artist, Taylor Swift (11%).

Key Numbers

• 23% of iOS-device music users listened to U2 in January
• 11% listened to Taylor Swift
• 8% listened to Katy Perry

“It’s nice to know that 5 months on so many people have discovered Songs of Innocence. In the end we just wanted people to hear the album. We took a big risk but today we can say that the experiment worked. ”

— The Edge

Apple teamed up with the powerhouse rock group to make its latest album, "Songs of Innocence," available to iOS users for free in the month following the smash debut of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

In the face of user complaints about not wanting the album, the amount of memory it consumed, etc.,

U2 publicly apologized and Apple posted instructions for how to remove the album from a user's device.

Loud as the complaints may have been, however, Kantar determined that nearly every iOS device user who listened to U2 in January - 95% of them - listened to at least one track from the new album.

Following U2 at 23% and Taylor Swift at 11%, 8% of music users on iOS listened to at least one Katy Perry song in January, 8% also listened to at least one Maroon 5 song, and 7% listened to Rihanna.

Source: Kantar

Keep up to date on U2 news via our new mobile app. Download today directly from Itunes.

Annoucements Coming Monday

@Eric Shivers 2015

We know that one announcement will be coming for sure this Monday ! 

However we have been hearing and of course reading some other possible announcements coming this Monday. 

One thing is for sure U2 Fans we are about to embark on an amazing journey of sight and sound.

Whats Your Ultimate U2 List

A couple of weeks ago we published a play list of what we thought was the ultimate playlist of U2 music and  most U2 fans agreed with our list, however not everyone agreed.

The task was daunting and controversial. U2 of course is the most beloved bands in the world and of course, this playlist would spark endless conversation and debate.

However, we are always up to a challenge. We created our list of what we deemed to be the best selection of U2’s work across all of the albums.

We knew that some of the rarely heard U2 songs should be placed upon the list. We knew the challenging task would be to pick songs that evoke an emotion that would spark some creativity from the fans. 

We thought about the tempered with classic guitar riffs by The Edge.

Songs such as Desire and When Love Comes to Town with BB King as a guest are great songs yet they did not make our list.  Some songs like “One” are just misunderstood. It is not a wedding song by any means yet so many times you hear this song about breaking up at a wedding. U2 songs range from political statements to sheer unadulterated, joyful youth.

U2 knows how to bring a concert crowd through a rollercoaster of emotions and send them away with an experience of a lifetime. We thought about this and we want to hear from you.

What would your top ten U2 Songs be and why? Share your thoughts and we might pick your story and list to share with the world. 

More U2 Dates yet to be Annouced

Live Nation’s Arthur Fogel, promoter-producer of all of U2’s tours since PopMart in 1997 and 1998, noting that he would have liked to make a splashier announcement tied to a high-profile TV play, no doubt in reference to U2’s planned (and scrapped) five-night residency on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. But “given all factors, we’re OK.”

Only stops in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe were announced, and Fogel is tight-lipped on future plans, but it wouldn’t be out of the question for the tour to run as long as three years, returning to North America and Europe, along with visits to Asia, South America, Australia and other territories.  

Now checking around the globe we have sources that have informed us that some venues have "blocked" availability dates for their arena use. It's possible those slots have been put on block as Live Nation Global Touring and U2 work out the routing schedule around the world. This is the part of the business that has to be done right. Routing a band the size of U2 does not come easy logistics has to be worked out all the way down to the pre concert day and post concert day. 

We expect that U2 will be announcing more dates within the next couple of weeks.  The boys will tour this current album and the upcoming eXPERIENCE album yet to be released. For U2 to be touring for the next 3 years is not impossible.  Now the final show will be Dublin and those dates have not been announced

2015 is Starting to Shape up for U2 Fans

U2 Fan club fans get ready for an exclusive offer from the boys. U2 has been working on releasing a vinyl only release of their club performance back in the 80’s. This was recorded in a pretty small club with a hundred dedicated U2 fans.

We heard that the release would include ‘The Electric Co,’ ‘I Will Follow’ and ‘Out of Control’ on the road across Ireland and the UK. The full track list and the collection’s title and cover will be revealed in the next few weeks, with the album expected to ship in the spring of 2015.

Recorded in a small club, with just a few hundred passionate fans, this vintage live set captures a time when the band were taking songs like The Electric Co, I Will Follow and Out of Control on the road across Ireland and the UK .

There was no internet or digital downloading in 1980 - even the CD was still to arrive - the band's debut LP Boy was released on vinyl. In keeping with that history, and in tribute to the return of vinyl, as a U2.com subscriber you'll receive this limited edition live set on two 10" vinyl albums in a bespoke gatefold sleeve.

Like it's companion piece North Side Story, this limited edition release will not be on sale online or in store.

New subscribers have the option of choosing the double vinyl OR North Side Stories, which also comes with the poster, 'Wandering In U2's Dublin', charting the band's connection to their home city over 35 years.

As well as this limited edition gift, subscribers to U2.com gain access to distinct content on the site and are first in line for ticket presales when the band head out on tour.

Win Your Own Copy !

We are in beta testing right now for our brand new forum application. We would like you to sign in and answer the following question.

We want to hear from you. Tell us in 500 words (not less than 300 please) what impact does U2 have on rock music today.

Now is your chance to share you thoughts on U2 and win your very own copy of ‘From the Sky Down” You can include for bonus how U2 has affected your life ?

Our forum is designed to allow you to share your passion of U2 music and the band. Sign in and under promotions you will see the contest for U2 Rock Music Impacts -