April 30, 2009

Lego U2

U2Image by Dunechaser via Flickr

Here are the boys, as Lego's from their 2000 ATYCLB airport look.....


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U2: The NU Declaration

From Music Picks:


May 7, 2009 – From pyramids to molded mountains, it has been a global custom for the human race to go the distance to express their honorary sentiments for the beings and people that deserve their utmost respect. Encompassing their long line of hits, albums, sold out shows and accolades, it is high time for U2 to have their mark in the land of the rising sun.

There is no better place to do this than on the walls of the hub that houses the greatest rock hits that did not only infiltrate a cluster of those who cater to this genre, it also created a whole new lifestyle that molded followers into leaders and discovered the greatest rock acts of our time.

U2 declares The Home of NU Rock as the official site of U2! In line with U2’s newest album, No Line on the Horizon, the royal, black-blooded icons of rock music come together as they unveil the magnificent and most innovative expression of commemoration the Filipino rock industry has ever seen.

On May 7, 2009, 9:00 p.m. at NU Rock 107 FM station along Emerald, MCA Music Inc. together with SMART, NU Rock 107, Jim Beam and Papaya Grillery located in Ortigas, Trinoma and Glorietta holds the U2: The NU Declaration! A legendary gathering of the biggest names in the rock industry – the band members, influencers, and head honcho’s of rock groups. All of them will come together in a night of music, rock culture and drinking, all in honor of the rocking foursome in the persona of Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam – U2!

This rock event is also to formally announce the newest single of U2 from No Line on the Horizon, Magnificent. The song veers from the out of the box efforts placed on Get On Your Boots. It starts off with a catchy entrance that inspires feelings of anticipation to the highest level that by the time it hits the chorus, the listener wakes up to an ambient worthy tune, reflective and nostalgic of the original sound that U2 has been known for over the years.

Get a chance to be part of this legendary gathering and rub shoulders with the biggest names in rock, and also get the chance to win limited edition U2 loot by staying tuned to NUROCK 107 from April 20 – May 7, 2009.

U2: THE NU DECLARATION is brought to you by MCA Music, NU Rock 107, SMART, Jim Beam and TGIF. The new album of U2, No Line on the Horizon is available in Odyssey, Astrovision, and in all formats in Music One and Fullybooked stores. Text U2 to 234 and get menu of U2 downloads. P2.50 per text. Also visit wapsite m.smart.com.ph/U2 for everything U2! All downloads available exclusively for SMART subscribers only. The new album of U2, No Line on the Horizon, brought to you by MCA Music Inc.

April 28, 2009

Bono Interviews Clooney - Video!



Hear the U2 Opening Acts

Wanna hear what these bands sound like?

POP OUT THE PLAYER TO GET FULL CONTROL AND SEE ALL THE SONGS AVAILABLE


I've created a playlist of music from every opening act on the announced U2360 Tour.

Enjoy!


Get a playlist! Standalone player Get Ringtones

The Claw is being built right now

From U2france.com. Click here to see the article on its original page, or read below.


Online Exclusive: U2 Behind The Scenes Sneak Preview

Tuesday 28 April 2009, by Corinne/Dead

By Marian Sandberg

Designer Willie Williams shared with Live Design this behind-the scenes look at the building of the set for the upcoming U2 360° tour. This shot from April 15 shows an inverted section of the main support structure, currently under construction at StageCo in Wechter, Belgium. Williams notes that test builds of the structure commence May 12, while simultaneous test builds of the video screen, designed by Chuck Hoberman and Frederic Opsomer, take place in the Antwerp Sportpalais, while the main stage is being built at Tait Towers in Lititz, PA. “And it’s all very big,” says Williams.

April 27, 2009

Bono at Salma Hayek's wedding in Italy

Click Me.

Or, read below. From BBC News.

Hollywood actress Salma Hayek has renewed her marriage vows just months after her wedding to businessman Francois-Henri Pinault.


The celebration was a weekend-long affair at Venice's La Fenice opera house with guests including U2's Bono, Penelope Cruz and Charlize Theron.

The pair originally got married in a civil ceremony in Paris on 14 February.

The festivities began with a cocktail party at an art gallery owned by the groom's father, Francois Pinault.

Other guests included actress Ashley Judd, Vogue editor Anna Wintour and former French President Jaques Chirac.

Rocky romance

Hayek and Pinault got engaged in 2007 and their daughter Valentina was born later that year.

But they called off their engagement in July 2008 - before coming back together later in the year, reportedly after a series of romantic trips to Paris.

Hayek, 42, was Oscar-nominated for portraying artist Frida Kahlo on the big screen and is an executive producer of hit US TV show Ugly Betty.

Pinault, 46, is chief executive of the French luxury and retail group PPR SA, which owns high-end labels such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga.

Great U2 link

From a blog I follow (A Reflection on The Water)...always well-written, and this is no exception. I enjoy great writing, because mine is just okay...lol, and when it is packaged with a U2 theme...you can't go wrong!

Click Me to read the article.

Bono - First Person UTEOTW

Bono - Saved By Grace

Found this on Worldmag.com

Click here to see it on worldmag.com, or read below:

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Bono gives an explicit confession of being saved by Grace, not Karma | Gene Edward Veith

Is Bono, the lead singer and songwriter for the rock group U2, a Christian? He says he is and writes about Christianity in his lyrics. Yet many people question whether Bono is "really" a Christian, due to his notoriously bad language, liberal politics, and rock star antics (though he has been faithfully married for 23 years). But in a new book of interviews, Bono in Conversation by Michka Assayas, Bono, though using some salty language, makes an explicit confession of faith.

The interviewer, Mr. Assayas, begins by asking Bono, Doesn't he think "appalling things" happen when people become religious? Bono counters, "It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma."

The interviewer asks, What's that? "At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one," explains Bono. "And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that. . . . Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff."

The interviewer asks, Like what? "That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge," says Bono. "It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity."

Then the interviewer marvels, "The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that."

"The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death," replies Bono. "It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven."

The interviewer marvels some more: "That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has His rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?"

Bono comes back, "Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.' . . . So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. . . . The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched."

What is most interesting in this exchange is the reaction of the interviewer, to whom Bono is, in effect, witnessing. This hip rock journalist starts by scorning what he thinks is Christianity. But it is as if he had never heard of grace, the atonement, the deity of Christ, the gospel. And he probably hadn't. But when he hears what Christianity is actually all about, he is amazed.

-------

end of article from worldmag.com

Magnificent - Loud

The weather is finally cooperating here in Detroit, and I gotta tell ya, U2's Magnificent is the perfect song (besides Beautiful Day) to drive with the windows down to. It's interesting how the music sounds different when the sun is out and the world around me is alive with activity.

Just a quick thought....waiting on sources for more U2 news. As always, your comments are welcome. Let me know what you think of this little blog about the Greatest Rock Band In The World!

April 25, 2009

Magnificent

Official release notes on Magnificent:


‘Magnificent’, the second single taken from ‘No Line On The Horizon’, will be released in the UK on the 4th May. The new single will be released on 7″ single and will also be available digitally.The 7″ will be a limited edition, which features on the a-side ‘Magnificent’ (Edit), and on the b-side, ‘Breathe’, taken from a recent live show recorded at the Somerville Theatre in Boston, USA.

April 24, 2009

Bono Interviews Clooney on CNN

From CNN:

Rock star Bono interviews George Clooney for a Time 100/Anderson Cooper 360 special airing May 1 at 11:00 p.m. ET.

Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

My days are never boring as a producer at AC 360’ but my latest assignment definitely goes down in the annals of producer history: shoot Bono interviewing George Clooney. Clooney is being honored by Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people and Time asked Bono to write the profile. As Time’s partner, we shot the interview and other famous pairings for an upcoming Time 100/Anderson Cooper 360’ Special aptly titled “The World’s Most Influential People.”

While Bono and Clooney are acutely aware of their own fame, it seems to be inversely proportional to the fanfare surrounding both of them. Clooney showed up to the interview solo: no security, no entourage, just a guy in combat boots and a leather jacket. I met him on the street in New York outside of our interview location and joked with him as I lead him to a green room that Bono was looking forward to getting him in the hot seat. I didn’t know it at the time but that was truer than I could have ever imagined.

Bono trailed him by a few minutes in a separate car and while I tried to keep things professional on the outside, on the inside I felt like the 10 year old kid who wore out his tape of U2’s “The Joshua Tree.”
The two stars are good friends and when I showed Bono to the same green room, he began to belt out the Beatles “Hey Jude” on a piano but changed the lyrics to butter up Clooney for the interview: “Hey George, don’t make it bad …”

I left them to catch up and ran out to be sure our crew was ready. As far as productions go, for this one we went all out and were shooting the interview at Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Ten minutes later, Bono and Clooney walked into the theater, introduced themselves to the entire crew and Bono had the closest he came to a diva moment during the entire afternoon. “Could I get a clipboard so we can make this interview official?!” he said with a smile and a wink.

With clipboard in hand, he sat down, I called for quiet on the set and Bono began.

“You recently slept with someone that I have a crush on … tell me about that?” was one of his first questions to George Clooney and it set the tone of their nearly 40 minute interview: although they’re good friends, Bono would leave no stone unturned.

The special airs next Friday at 11 pm ET.

Bono at Sir Clement Freud Funeral

From telegraph.uk:

Sir Clement Freud, the broadcaster and raconteur, was laid to rest in a laughter-filled funeral which honoured his three greatest loves: family, food and a flutter on the horses.

Sir Clements Freud's coffin: Gordon Brown joins mourners at funeral of Clement Freud
The coffin of broadcaster, writer and former Liberal MP, Sir Clement Freud is carried to St Bride's Church in Fleet Street, London Photo: PA

For a man with a passion for the sport of kings, the service at St Bride's church in London was a fitting send-off. The choir sang Fugue for Tinhorns from the musical Guys and Dolls, otherwise known as I've Got The Horse Right Here, and Sir Clement's son, Matthew Freud, spoke of his father's final trip to the races only days before he died: "We are grateful for the honesty of the undertakers who returned the £2,000 found in his suit pocket."

Sir Clement died last week aged 84, and the famous faces who attended the funeral reflected a career which encompassed the worlds of politics, gastronomy, arts and show business.

Gordon Brown sat beside Bono, the singer with rock band U2. George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, mingled with Graham Norton and Claudia Winkleman, the television presenters, and Nicholas Parsons, Paul Merton and Stephen Fry, who appeared with Sir Clement on the Radio 4 panel show Just A Minute. A jazz quartet played in the spring sunshine on the pavement outside.

Four hundred mourners packed the church off Fleet Street to hear the Prime Minister hail Sir Clement as "not only a national treasure but a national institution". Their friendship stretched back to 1974, when both were rectors of Scottish universities. Mr Brown gave the first reading, the story of the wedding at Cana, noting with a smile that its subject - food and wine - was an apt choice.

Sir Clement's culinary flair received special mention. "If words were his craft, then eating was his purpose," said Mr Freud, who spoke of his father with great affection. "I think my dad would have wanted me to talk about his family. He celebrated our successes and he mitigated our failures with the love of a father and the pride of a patriarch... to me and my family he was the most important person in the whole world and for all that he was we will miss him."

The jokes came thick and fast. The order of service carried not a date of death, but a "Best Before" notice. An assortment of Sir Clement's 17 grandchildren regaled the mourners with anecdotes, including one taken from a letter to the Racing Post. The correspondent recalled dining with Sir Clement, who was tucking into the sausage rolls with gusto. "I thought you were trying to get in shape," said the friend. "I am," Sir Clement replied. "And the shape I have chosen is a triangle."

After the ceremony, Fry said: "That was far and away the most wonderful funeral service I have ever attended, if a funeral service can be wonderful. It was touching, elegant, funny and beautifully organised. It was really remarkable. I couldn't sing, partly because I was standing next to Bono, which would have rather put my voice to shame, but also because one was so choked by it all. The whole thing was wonderful and I was proud to be there."

The service ended with the theme tune to Just A Minute, the programme which Sir Clement made his own for more than 30 years. His coffin was carried out of the church as the Minute Waltz faded away.

April 23, 2009

U2 for Infants

Found this online, at worldofwonder.net:

Click here to get right to the CD

youngU2.jpg



U2, the most grandiose band in the world, has been brought down to more manageable size on Rockabye Baby!, a collection of the band's greatest hits made simple for the nursery. The collection's arranger Marc Chait performs on the glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron, and other plucked and struck instruments, the result of which, says the package copy, "will lull your baby into a sweet slumber," – and you too if you stand too close to the speakers. Check out "Sunday Bloody Sunday" here. Rockabye Baby! Lullabye Renditions of U2 is available from Rockaye Baby Music. And, yes, they've adapted Bjork, which is usually baby's first word.

Music Player added to the bottom of this blog

If you hear U2 play when you came to the site, it's because I've added 53 U2 songs to a playlist at the bottom of this page. Those not up for hearing the music can just hit pause and it will stop. Otherwise, enjoy the music. It's shuffled, but you can also hand-pick any song you want to listen to.

Comments welcome!

Need a punchline

So, Bono, Bill Clinton, and Jon Bon Jovi walk into a bar.....

April 21, 2009

African Well Fund

Found this interesting article on U2.com.

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21 April 2009
The folk at the African Well Fund are underway with their annual campaign to mark Bono's birthday next month.

This year fundraising will benefit a water, health and hygiene project in Liberia, a scheme administered by Africare, which will increase access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation and hygiene for up to 7,000 people.

A registered nonprofit, The African Well Fund was founded by an energetic bunch of U2 fans in 2002 and has now donated more than $143,000 to projects in Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

To find out about this year's '70 Days To Change the World' campaign - or to make a donation - catch this video.

All donations to the African Well Fund go directly to Africare, one of the leading private,
non-profit, charitable organizations assisting Africa. The African Well Fund believes that
access to water is not merely a basic human need but a basic human right.

Bono for President?

From irishcentral.com:

Pasted the article below, or click here to read it on it's original site.


Ireland needs a President who can draw new lines in the horizon


Ali Hewson and her husband Bono
Ali Hewson and her husband Bono

There is much talk of Mrs Bono, Ali Hewson for president of Ireland when the job becomes available in 2010.

I have a much better idea. Why not her husband?

I write after reading his superb op-ed piece in The New York Times this weekend. At a time when politicians worldwide are trying to explain unsuccessfully what has happened to all of us in these trying times Bono does it simply and clearly.

Give him the bully pulpit of the presidency of Ireland and he could transform it into a wondrous thing -- even match Barack Obama in terms of his world stature and influence.

"So much of the discussion today is about value not values," he writes simply. Got it.

Simply put, he's wasting his time as a rock singer. Give him a political platform and he will energize the world the same way his music has energized the masses.

He can speak in true sentences, direct them at our hearts and succeed. Rather like his lyrics, the simplicity is all.

"Lent is upon us whether we asked for it or not" he says referring to the Catholic period of fast,observance and questioning of our souls.

Indeed it is, the soul-baring and breast-beating in the wake of this dreadful recession is everywhere to be seen. We are bound for the darkness of Good Friday and Easter, the redemption time, may or may not happen this year or next year either.

He talks about hearing a preacher preach at Easter. "The preacher said ' what good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?" Hearing this he writes: "every one of the pilgrims gathered in the room asked 'Is it me Lord?" In America, in Europe people are asking ,'is it us?'"

Then come his killer line.

"Well yes, it is us."

Thank you Bono for telling us straight that we all bear responsibility, that we all got too greedy, that we all felt that value -- not values -- was where life was at.

"The carnival is over," he says. The circus animals have left town.

But there is hope, like all great politicians he plants the seed of how change might occur.

He notes that Americans are taking up public service in record numbers. He notes that the debt forgiveness drive he harnessed in Africa has resulted in 34 million more kids going to school and that Congress has recently restored budgets for the needy cut by the previous administration.

Most of all he says we are all in this together, whether in Mumbai or Manchester or Massachusetts. He draws the global arc around all our troubles and shows how together we might address them. "Capitalism is on trial, globalization is again in the dock," he notes.

Then he thinks of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet,the two richest men on the globe who are giving it all away, and of Nelson Mandela, the greatest inspirational figure still living. All he notes are either agnostic in the case of Buffett and Gates, and spiritual, rather than religious, in the case of Mandela.

His point is that goodness can come from other sources outside of religion, but that religion has a powerful role to play too. "Religion is where I soul search," he says.

We all need to soul-search and we need this quality of insight and clarity far more than we ever had. We need Bono not as rock star, but as an elected politician ready and willing to speak truth to power. We need him as president of Ireland in 2010.

For Bono too, as he approaches his 50th birthday and the dreaded title of "aging rock star," the change to political office would be emboldening and refreshing. We have yet to see the best of this remarkable man and the political arena should be his next destination. President of Ireland would give him that.

Win U2 tickets in Hoboken!

From The Hudson Reporter:

Click Me to go to the site with info about the U2 package you can win!

Bono: You're not a friend, you're family

Found this really well-written account of a radio programmer's relationship with U2.

I've pasted it below. The original can be found by clicking here.

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interview by Frank Andrick

first published in Komsomolskaya Pravda, Moscow, Russia

U2 in Concert
U2 in Concert
Art Print—Masse, Bob
Buy at AllPosters.com




My first face-to-face encounter with U2 came on the eighteenth day of March in 1981. But through their music—their debut album
Boy and the series of singles (that had only been released in their homeland of Ireland, but which I had because of my work as a radio program producer)—I felt as though I already knew them.

U2's emotive slice of life and their impassioned observations of a senseless world around them, coupled with the ability to describe the inner and empty dialogues of the self had already touched many people, but had yet to touch the bank accounts of corporate America and its reflective, self-serving mouthpiece, the electronic media (i.e. radio).

This particular day in '81, as I started to say earlier, they arrived at the radio station KSJO in San Jose, California, an area of suburban conformity about 50 miles south of San Francisco. At the time, I held the position of Research and Music Director at the station, and one of my duties was the adding of new songs to the lists from which the disc jockeys picked their plays. In those days, the disk jockeys were still able to program their own shows and to pick out the music that they wanted to play. Now, the music on radio stations and the news on television stations are determined by a few professional "programmers," who send their "program lists" and news out via computer to all their "customers" around the country. The disk jockey has no control anymore over what is played or not played—except on "college radio," which is free of commercial concerns because it is funded by the university and has nothing to do with corporate America, short of gratefully receiving free records from the record industry.

Since meeting the disk jockeys (DJs) still made a difference in getting your record played, U2 was on a "radio press tour" across America. And that's why U2 was at KSJO. The four members, Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullin Jr, all 20 years old at the time, were interviewed on the air, did a tour of the station and had pictures taken with the DJs, executives and fans who had shown up to meet their current favorite band. The band was polite, soft spoken and earnest. The passions that governed their music were evident in their conversations. They made points without resorting to clichés. They had the strength of the truth as they saw it, and the forum to share it in various forms of personal dialogue with their fans. Their next stop was at San Jose State University, where U2 would play their San Francisco Bay Area debut show at a free concert in the cafeteria sponsored by KSJO and my "Modern Humans" radio program, and radio station KFJC, an avant-progressive college station in nearby Los Altos Hills.

The show was triumphant! U2 stormed through their set, proving their points with the power and immediacy of the live performance. Every song on their debut album, Boy, was presented in a rough-hewn, madness-driven frenzy that drove their studio perfection into the wind. Songs like "Stories For Boys" and "Electric Co." took on a new, blinding shine while the band's improvisational masterpiece, "The Black Cat," wound out to an 18-minute, glorious cacophony of feedback punctuated by stabs of light in the shape of drums and bass. After the concert, Larry Mullin, the drummer, and I walked about the campus area and got lost. Larry missed his ride back to the hotel in San Francisco where the band was to play the next day. We eventually went to my home, which was nearby, to call the managers when they arrived. In the meantime, we talked— about the concert, about his astonishment at the size of the audience (1,500 people), and we laughed at the remembrance of the cafeteria floor jumping up and down in waves, literally in time with the beat of the crowd and the drums. The floor, because of California's strict earthquake-resistant building code—is spring-loaded on a massive suspension system, and the new-wave pogoing of the capacity crowd caused the floor to surge and retreat slowly in 6" waves!

Over the years, I'd see U2 whenever they came to town, but it wasn't until the Joshua Tree tour that I spent a lot of time with them again. This time, I journeyed to Las Vegas, Nevada, where the band shot the video for "Where The Streets Have No Name," and themselves attended a gambling casino show of the master of the big band croon, Mr. Frank Sinatra. It was an odd study in contrasts—from the barren desert to the opulent ballroom with its crowd of unmindful gamblers set against a backdrop of broken dreams.

Later, the band was to join an all-night vigil for reduced arms and nuclear testing at a desert atomic test site somewhere close to Las Vegas. Ah, Las Vegas: opulent palaces dedicated to gambling as a way for the jaded to entertain themselves; the town where over-the-hill entertainers go to make big bucks playing to little old ladies—from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley, they all come here when they no longer look young enough for Hollywood or MTV. Las Vegas. Not a socially-conscious U2 kind of town.

Then, it's on to San Diego and three nights back home (for me) in San Francisco. My laminated security pass, marked with a large letter "M" for management, opened doors that led to long corridors that led to other long corridors and finally to the "Hospitality Room" with about 150 people wearing the non-exclusive triangle "after show" pass. Most of these people had won their passes at one of the many Bay Area radio station promotions. They thought they were going to meet U2. They didn't even get close. We moved on toward two armed guards who blocked the entrance to the next long corridor. After displaying our passes, we were allowed to pass through the corridor and into another room. A beautiful, efficient woman appeared, calling herself Suzanne. We gave our names, she spoke into a walkie-talkie radio, got a confirmation from somewhere deep in security command central, and walked us to another beautiful woman.

Sheila Roche is part of U2's management team, and she took us personally through the last door, past the last guard, into the backstage dressing room area, where we suddenly left the real world behind and entered a dimly lit room hung with curtains to soften the walls. Large, comfortable couches that one could sink into gratefully after all the standing and waiting and walking down brightly-lit corridors, being challenged every two minutes to prove your right to be there, this was heaven. There was a table set with breads, wonderful cheeses and fresh fruits. Another table was loaded down with all types of beer from all over the world, including of course the Irish staple, "Guinness," a dark strong beer highly prized for its creamy froth. Another table held whisky, brandy, gin and plenty of Stolichnaya vodka.

I hadn't seen U2 for five years, though when Larry Mullin entered the room he strode up to me right away, "Well, this is a blast from the past. I'm glad to see your face!" And when Larry and Bono both took the time to take me aside to tell me how much they appreciated my efforts over a decade ago to help them and support their music, I felt both humbled and overjoyed. These were not the all-too-common "rock stars," filled with an overwhelming sense of self-importance. These guys, in spite of their superstar status ("The Band of the Eighties"), are still living, loving, normal human beings whom fame, money, adulation and the game had not corrupted.

What is a "zoo television," you might well ask, and so I did. Guitarist the Edge explained, "It's a video instrument. It's immense, the control center is like Cape Canaveral." It came about, he continued, because "We asked if we could put something together that we could use live—a video instrument—not just images, but something we could actually use.... Something so flexible that we could change it on any given song. It's a whole new way of doing a show."

Bono/U2

Multimedia artist cum record producer Brian Eno, who also worked behind the mixing board on their Achtung Baby album, helped design U2's staging lights, video monitor complex and the input of images used in the Zoo TV tour's onslaught of multi-staged, multimedia information blitz. "There are times when the imagery overwhelms the group," asserts Eno. And the implication is that this is as it should be. "It's getting away from the idea of the video helping people to see the band more easily. We are using video as a way to obscure them or lose them in a network of material."

As for the band's performance, it was almost a parody of their image of an excessive, pompous groupfrom the exaggerated entrance of a black leather and sunglasses-clad Bono to the clanging intro to "Zoo Station," the concert ending of Bono in a gold spangled suit hugging his own reflection in a gold-framed, full-length mirror. They must have spent some time watching their documentary-style movie, Rattle and Hum, and some time reflecting on their image to the outside world. So when I chided Bono backstage for his "rock star" entrance and exit, he replied: "Yeah, it's funny, I finally get to act like the asshole that I once thought I wanted to be."

Success is a funny thing; it's very difficult to handle. It changes people, usually for the worse. The Bad Brains once wrote and recorded a song called "Money Changes Everything." The song later became a hit for Cyndi Lauper. "Money Changes Everything" could almost be a truism about success. But there are a few who can become successful and still remember what is important and what is not. Among U2 (the band) and the people who run U2 (the business), "Money doesn't mean a thing." For U2, humanity means everything. Their last statement to me before we went back to living our separate lives was very telling: "You are not a friend, you're family."

U2 Charity Night

From fingal-independent.ie



Wednesday April 22 2009

SKERRIES residents have turned out in force at a fundraising event to ensure that it will be a beautiful day for the disadvantaged in the African country of Malawi. The poignant fundraiser was held in memory of the late Peadar Keane who died a few years back. One of U2's most fanatical fans, Peadar misses the supergroup's concerts at Slane and so to overcome his disappointment, he planned a special 'U2 Night'.

Unfortunately Peadar passed away before his dream for his special night came to pass and so earlier this month, friends and family got together to organise the event with all proceeds going to Peadar's mother Marie's charity trip to Malawi.

Marie is involved in the Billy's Malawi Project, set up by Margaret Riordan following the tragic drowning of her only son Billy in Lake Malawi, aged just 25, and helps local communities there.

Tickets for the night sold out quicker than U2's Croke Park gigs and an unbelievable € 13,000 was raised as a result of ticket sales, a raffle and an end of night auction.

Speaking on the night Marie Keane said: 'I am completely overwhelmed by the success of the event but given the enthusiasm of all the people that planned and organised the event, I can't say that I am surprised.'

Marie was presented with the cheque lat Thursday Ollie's Place.


U2 Wallpapers, Avatars and more

Found this site with tons of U2 wallpapers, buddy icons and more....

Click here to visit the site.

Bono Favors Performance Rights Act

From FMQB.com.

Below is the article pasted from FMQB. I don't know who wrote it.


Bono Favors Performance Rights Act

April 20, 2009
U2's Bono is the latest artist to speak out in favor of the Performance Rights Act, which would call for radio stations to pay roylaties to artists for playing their music. Bono joins other supporters such as Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan, will.i.am, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock and Emmylou Harris, who have all joined the musicFIRST Coalition on Capitol Hill to lobby in favor of the Performance Rights Act.

Bono released a statement on the matter via musicFIRST, which is an advocacy group for artist rights. "While we have many friends at radio, and appreciate the many things that radio has done for our band over the years, we believe it’s only fair that when radio makes money by playing a recording artist's music and selling advertising, the recording artist should be compensated just as songwriters are already," said Bono. "This is a principle accepted by radio broadcasters in virtually every country in the world. The music business is in a state of freefall at the moment, and while, thankfully, this no longer really affects us - there are many young recording artists out there who can no longer earn a living from the sale of their music, or from touring or selling merchandise... yet they remain a vital part of radio playlists throughout the USA. They should not be denied their fair share. In this time of so much positive change coming from Washington, we hope this bill will be embraced and become the law."

In response to Bono's statement, NAB EVP Dennis Wharton commented, "The irony is that it will be the less-established performers who will be hurt most by a performance tax. If radio stations are forced to pay to play music, program directors will be less likely to take a chance playing unknown artists and will instead stick with established musicians like Bono. New artists and niche formats will suffer, and Bono and Britney Spears will become wealthier."

The House Judiciary Committee has been holding hearings on the legislation, and numerous broadcasters have testified that radio is facing an extremely difficult time in this economy as it is, and enacting a performance royalty would be devastating to the industry.

Bono signs deal with NY Times

Found this on onedayblog.com:

I've copied and pasted it here for you to read. To see it on its original page, click here.

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Bono, lead singer for U2, has been asked by the old Gray Lady of the newspaper business, the New York Times, to become a regular contributor to its widely read and liberal leaning editorial page, said a Times spokeswoman last week.

“We have asked Bono to write an occasional column for the paper next year covering a range of subjects, but are still finalizing the details,” said the spokeswoman.

Bono, who has made a regular practice of embracing such political hot topics as global warming, presidential elections, and humanitarian crises, and a second career of twitting the noses of the high-minded and powerful, offered no immediate comment.

Long known for its coverage of the arts and sciences, business, real estate and economics, the New York Times, the worlds largest and most powerful newspaper, has a long-standing practice of inviting the well-known and well regarded to grace the columns of its editorial page. Along the highlight of its storied career was its role, during the Vietnam War, of publishing the Pentagon Papers, pursuing president Nixon and his band of Whitewater cohorts and, in 1988, being among the first to declare Madonna’s acting in Speed-The-Plow, the play by screenwriter David Mamet, to be one-dimensional and wooden.

The Times has experienced deep troubles of late, recording on the same day it announced its pursuit of U2 lead singer Bono, that its third-quarter profits dropped a staggering 51%.

The New York Times Co.’s credit rating was consequently lowered by Standard & Poor’s, an announcement that will likely make it more expensive for the New York Times to borrow money in the future.

On a more positive note, the New York Times online and Internet business ventures, including well-known site at about.com, saw revenues increase 16% despite the current economic downturn and pending recession.

April 20, 2009

The Edge Vs. Malibu

From E! Online. The article is pasted below, or click here to read it on it's original site, in it's original form. Story written by Josh Grossberg for E!.


Here's the pasted article:

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You might say The Edge is having boundary issues.

The U2 guitarist's plans to build five mountaintop mansions in Malibu with fantastic oceanside views is facing fierce opposition from some famous NIMBYs concerned the homes will be an environmental catastrophe.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the proposed project would be built above homes belonging to the likes of Dick Van Dyke, Kelsey Grammer and James Cameron and would require some extensive and tricky engineering, including extension of a road down a rugged elevation, grading 70,000 cubic yards of hillside and installing water lines.

"The downside of this is a permanently scarred mountainside for the benefit of a very few that for many years all will view," Jefferson Wagner, a Malibu councilman, told the newspaper. "For somebody so revered even to be orchestrating this type of development in such a sensitive area is hypocritical."

The Edge, whose real name is David Evans, promises development on the properties will address those concerns with care.

"My family and I love Malibu, having maintained a residence here for more than a decade," he told the Times. "These homes will be some of the most environmentally sensitive ever designed in Malibu—or anywhere in the world. I'm disappointed that certain critics either don't have the facts or have ulterior motives."

The Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has "certificates of compliance" from Los Angeles County establishing that the land he owns meets all legal requirements.

Edge added that he and Irish real estate investor Derek Quinlan plan to take up residence in two of the homes and most likely flip the other three, which has rankled some neighbors whose peace and quiet will be rattled by all the building.

The California Coastal Commission is expected to review the environmental impact of the project in June.

This is not the first fight Evans has found himself in with neighbors.

He and the rest of U2 came under fire in their hometown of Dublin for now defunct plans to build the so-called U2 Tower, a proposed skyscraper in the heart of the city that would've been the tallest in Ireland. Preservationists claimed the $220 million project would have resulted in the tearing down of four adjacent historic buildings.



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Blipping U2

All U2 continues to grow and I'd like to thank you for continuing to read this blog about our little addiction to the Greatest Band In The World.

We're on Twitter, and now we're testing out Blip.fm. You'll see an embedded player in the left sidebar of this blog now, where songs we "blip" will appear. Similar to tweeting, it's just us finding a song and linking to it for you to be able to listen to while browsing All U2, All The Time. The font is a bit odd, but it appears to be working.

Feel free to follow us on both sites and as always, your comments and suggestions are welcome!

U2 Diary

Just a quick link to a cool site I discovered this morning, that should make many U2 fans happy.



A Beautiful Day in Minnesota

The name of this blog is All U2, All The Time, and for good reason. Anything U2 piques my interest, regardless of how big or small the story. I found this article on the ocregister.com, about MLB's Minnesota Twins using U2 music.

I've pasted the U2 part of the article here, with credit to the writer. If you're interested in the full article, or want to see it in it's original form, visit the ocregister site here.

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By BILL PLUNKETT
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

MINNEAPOLIS – They walked off the field to the sound of "Beautiful Day" for the third consecutive day. But the weather outside was more fitting to the Angels' mood – gray and cold with intermittent drizzle.
Their pitching stabilized for a day by Shane Loux and Daniel Davidson, the Angels could manage just four hits of their own as the Minnesota Twins completed a sweep with a 3-1 victory Sunday afternoon at the Metrodome (prompting the U2 send-off for the home crowd).


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Many U2 songs have been used in circumstances which have nothing to do with the song's original intent. Most non-U2 fans don't have the understanding of what Bono's doing in his lyrics. What I find interesting is that Beautiful Day is not necessarily about a sunny, warm day, where everything is perfect, and in this case, probably without realizing, it seems a tad appropriate for the Twins to play it after a win, especially on a rainy, gray day.

April 19, 2009

Perhaps...

Perhaps it was memory.

Perhaps it was the weather.

Perhaps it was a little of both.

There are times when the weather is just right, and the lighting of the falling sun gives off just enough heat to counteract a soft, cool breeze. A perfect night to be outside.

Perfect weather for an outdoor concert.

I've been to my share of outdoor shows, some U2, some not. But last night, after dinner, the night was one that just felt perfect for an outdoor concert. I was reminded of those nights at outdoor shows where the night is warm, yet filtered by a cool breeze that feels refreshing against your skin. There's a certain feel to these kind of nights, where the air is full of electricity, energy and emotion. And I, warm from movement, and soaking up the atmosphere, watch the Greatest Band In The World perform on stage.

The sound carries beyond the ring of the stadium or ballpark, echoing off the wall of people in the stands, and nearby buildings of the city the show is in.

A connection is made, and everything just falls into place. Music, movement, mood combined in one emotion, on the perfect night to see a U2 show.

Last night, I washed dishes after dinner, feeling the air slide through the screens of my home's open windows. I couldn't help but think that this would have been a perfect night to see U2360. So, I grabbed my iPod, plugged it into my speaker system and turned NLOTH up. The music fit the moment, and I couldn't help but hear the songs from the perspective of a fan in a crowd, on the perfect night, watching the boys on stage. Each song felt new, and electric. I can only imagine what it will be like when I get my chance to see this tour for myself.

I am a U2 fan.

For 25 years, U2 music has been a part of each moment of my life, like an ever-changing soundtrack, that sometimes just fits so perfectly.

Like last night.

Perhaps it was all in my head.

Perhaps it was something a little bit more.

Can U2 save Dublin's Economy?

Found this article on independent.ie.

To see it on the independent site, click here.

I've also pasted it below. Thanks and credit to the author.


ROCK MAGNETS: fans from all over the world will be coming to Dublin to worship at the altar of U2 Photo: Getty Images


By WILLIE KEALY EXCLUSIVE

Sunday April 19 2009

The head of Dublin Tourism has suggested that a U2 concert in Dublin every year could have a profoundly positive effect on the economy.

And business leaders and the GAA are predicting a €50m bonanza for Dublin in July when the band play three concerts in Croke Park.

The band will play to 250,000 fans over three days, many of them coming to Ireland from overseas.

"These concerts are attracting thousands of fans from all over the world and during these times are a welcome huge economic boost worth over €50m to Dublin and Ireland," said Aebhric McGibney, policy director of Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

"It is also an opportunity for Ireland to showcase our Irish culture and heritage showing the world, what we do best."

According to Dublin Tourism, it will be the first time in several years that every hotel in Dublin and surrounding area has a good chance of being fully booked.

"A U2 home concert is the equivalent of Ireland winning the Grand Slam five times in the one season at home," said Dublin Tourism boss Frank McGee.

"Over 250,000 will attend the concerts, all spending money on food, drink and accommodation. "If only we could have one every year."

He added that a combined crowd of 250,000 in Ireland was the pro rata equivalent of playing in front of front of three million people in the UK. The first 165,000 tickets for the concerts sold out within 40 minutes of going on sale, setting a new Irish box office record and becoming the fastest-selling ticket ever here. The concert dates are July 24, 25 and 27.

Eamonn O'Connor, managing director of Ticketmaster, said: "U2 are bigger now than they've ever been. They are without doubt the biggest touring act in the world".

GAA stadium director, Peter McKenna, said: "It is like having three All Ireland Finals back to back. These aren't just Irish concerts, they are truly international events with fans travelling from Brazil to Canada, Australia to Japan -- this is Croke Park and the city of Dublin on show to the world."

- WILLIE KEALY EXCLUSIVE

April 18, 2009

U23D - Cheaper than a live show

Found this on the NY Love Examiner:

I've copied and pasted it below. If you'd like to read it in it's original form, please click here.

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The U2 3D Movie: A Great Recession Date

We just came back from seeing U2 3D at the Liberty Science Center. Besides the Beatles, U2 is my husband’s favorite band so I knew he’d love to see their 3D movie for Husband Appreciation Day. It is only playing there this Sat and Sun (until April 19th) that is why I’m posting this right away, so if you are a U2 fan, make sure to go! Tickets are $11.25 per person! (much cheaper than the $45 concert tix). I think the shows are at 5:15 and 7:45 PM.
When you first walk into the theater they handed us these glasses to put on. It was my first 3D movie and I thought it was really cool. The effects were tremendous and you felt like you saw the band and the audience response from all kinds of perspectives. Although I’ve been to a real U2 concert once with my husband, I found that I grasped the meaning of the songs better in the movie theater. Many of the songs were about peace and love and had a message of unity and hope. When I looked over at my husband he was smiling and I knew that he liked it.
We went to Liberty State Park (within which the Liberty Science Center resides). The park is beautiful and it has many benches with water views of the skyline, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It is a romantic free spot to sit or walk on a date.
So if you just can’t make it to see U2 3D at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ, you can go see Harry Potter in 3D or just wait to see what’s playing there next. Less than $25 for a great date for two is a recession special!
I’m not sure if U2 3D is playing at any IMAX theaters in Manhattan or in other boroughs anymore. I tried checking just now and I think it’s come and gone. So, this may be your last chance for awhile! So grab your date and sing ‘One’ and then go take her for a walk under the stars at Liberty State Park. Enjoy!
My Best in Love,
Paulette


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End of pasted story.


Bono - Guest Columnist in today's NY Times

Found this on the St Andrew Blog, which posted Bono's Op-Ed Piece he wrote for today's New York Times.

Click Here to see the post. I've also pasted it below:

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The lead singer of U2, Bono, authored an Op-Ed piece in Today's New York Times.



I AM in Midtown Manhattan, where drivers still play their car horns as if they were musical instruments and shouting in restaurants is sport.

I am a long way from the warm breeze of voices I heard a week ago on Easter Sunday.

“Glorify your name,” the island women sang, as they swayed in a cut sandstone church. I was overwhelmed by a riot of color, an emotional swell that carried me to sea.

Christianity, it turns out, has a rhythm — and it crescendos this time of year. The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of ...

Carnival — rock stars are good at that.

“Carne” is flesh; “Carne-val,” its goodbye party. I’ve been to many. Brazilians say they’ve done it longest; they certainly do it best. You can’t help but contract the fever. You’ve got no choice but to join the ravers as they swell up the streets bursting like the banks of a river in a flood of fun set to rhythm. This is a Joy that cannot be conjured. This is life force. This is the heart full and spilling over with gratitude. The choice is yours ...

It’s Lent I’ve always had issues with. I gave it up ... self-denial is where I come a cropper. My idea of discipline is simple — hard work — but of course that’s another indulgence.

Then comes the dying and the living that is Easter.

It’s a transcendent moment for me — a rebirth I always seem to need. Never more so than a few years ago, when my father died. I recall the embarrassment and relief of hot tears as I knelt in a chapel in a village in France and repented my prodigal nature — repented for fighting my father for so many years and wasting so many opportunities to know him better. I remember the feeling of “a peace that passes understanding” as a load lifted. Of all the Christian festivals, it is the Easter parade that demands the most faith — pushing you past reverence for creation, through bewilderment at the idea of a virgin birth, and into the far-fetched and far-reaching idea that death is not the end. The cross as crossroads. Whatever your religious or nonreligious views, the chance to begin again is a compelling idea.



Last Sunday, the choirmaster was jumping out of his skin ... stormy then still, playful then tender, on the most upright of pianos and melodies. He sang his invocations in a beautiful oaken tenor with a freckle-faced boy at his side playing conga and tambourine as if it was a full drum kit. The parish sang to the rafters songs of praise to a God that apparently surrendered His voice to ours.

I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search.

The preacher said, “What good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Hearing this, every one of the pilgrims gathered in the room asked, “Is it me, Lord?” In America, in Europe, people are asking, “Is it us?”

Well, yes. It is us.

Carnival is over. Commerce has been overheating markets and climates ... the sooty skies of the industrial revolution have changed scale and location, but now melt ice caps and make the seas boil in the time of technological revolution. Capitalism is on trial; globalization is, once again, in the dock. We used to say that all we wanted for the rest of the world was what we had for ourselves. Then we found out that if every living soul on the planet had a fridge and a house and an S.U.V., we would choke on our own exhaust.

Lent is upon us whether we asked for it or not. And with it, we hope, comes a chance at redemption. But redemption is not just a spiritual term, it’s an economic concept. At the turn of the millennium, the debt cancellation campaign, inspired by the Jewish concept of Jubilee, aimed to give the poorest countries a fresh start. Thirty-four million more children in Africa are now in school in large part because their governments used money freed up by debt relief. This redemption was not an end to economic slavery, but it was a more hopeful beginning for many. And to the many, not the lucky few, is surely where any soul-searching must lead us.

A few weeks ago I was in Washington when news arrived of proposed cuts to the president’s aid budget. People said that it was going to be hard to fulfill promises to those who live in dire circumstances such a long way away when there is so much hardship in the United States. And there is.

But I read recently that Americans are taking up public service in greater numbers because they are short on money to give. And, following a successful bipartisan Senate vote, word is that Congress will restore the money that had been cut from the aid budget — a refusal to abandon those who would pay such a high price for a crisis not of their making. In the roughest of times, people show who they are.

Your soul.

So much of the discussion today is about value, not values. Aid well spent can be an example of both, values and value for money. Providing AIDS medication to just under four million people, putting in place modest measures to improve maternal health, eradicating killer pests like malaria and rotoviruses — all these provide a leg up on the climb to self-sufficiency, all these can help us make friends in a world quick to enmity. It’s not alms, it’s investment. It’s not charity, it’s justice.



Strangely, as we file out of the small stone church into the cruel sun, I think of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, whose now combined fortune is dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty. Agnostics both, I believe. I think of Nelson Mandela, who has spent his life upholding the rights of others. A spiritual man — no doubt. Religious? I’m told he would not describe himself that way.

Not all soul music comes from the church.

Bono, the lead singer of the band U2 and a co-founder of the advocacy group ONE, is a contributing columnist for The Times.


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April 17, 2009

Rare Clips

The Music Director for 103.7 The Mountain, Shawn Stewart posted a few songs from U2 Medium, Rare & Remastered. This is the free CD available to new members of U2.com. 

Click here to see her page and hear the songs. It's always fun to find a fellow radio person who's into U2 like I am.


Guitar Hero: U2?

Would you play Guitar Hero: U2?

Found this story on this blog about bands that the writer thinks should be on Guitar Hero. Click the link to read the whole post.

What do you think?

Here's the U2 part of the post, copied and pasted from the original post:

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Guitar Hero: U2

U2 has more Grammy’s than any other artist ever and are on most lists of the greatest bands of all time. They have tons of top selling albums and high grossing tours. Bono is one of the most recognizable people in the world and The Edge gets his name thrown in some discussions of great guitar players. So why no U2? When it was rumored awhile back that there would be a U2 Guitar Hero game coming, one of the biggest beefs was that they didn’t “rock hard enough”. Others claimed they already had their fill of Bono. In this particular situation I think this game would be a perfect fit for their fans, who enjoy the whole “U2 experience”, and may not have as much interest to many others. DLC packs of their music would probably be enough for them.

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Bono on copyright infringement

Found this on the Copyright Alliance Blog:

For those who missed this in March, here is the article, written by Patrick Ross:


April 16, 2009

Opening Night - First Song will be...

It's opening night in Barcelona, June 30th. The lights have dropped and the show is about to start. What will U2 open with?

It seems logical that something from NLOTH would do the job, but this is U2, and with U2, you just never know.

I added a poll to the sidebar, with the tracklist from NLOTH, and 2 others I can kinda see being slim options for opening night.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

April 15, 2009

When Bono Looks At The World...In Eyeliner




The above photo credit: U2 Interference.

From The West Australian:
Bono thinks he looks “sexy” in eyeliner.

The U2 frontman has started wearing thick black eye makeup under his coloured glasses because it makes him look like Elvis.

He said: “I thought I looked very sexy in eye make-up. It’s a new character I’m trying out. I was calling him Elvis’s dead brother, Jesse - which maybe is in poor taste. It’s still in development! I started just messing with it a few weeks ago.”

The 48-year-old singer has a knack for stealing the limelight from the band, but that doesn’t mean they listen to what he says.

Drummer Larry Mullen Jr said: “People think we’ve all got beepers on, and it’s like, ‘Bono’s had a thought! Oh, f**k! Get out your beeper!’”

He claims the other members of U2 spend a lot of time talking Bono out of his hare-brained schemes.

Larry said: “I think if Bono had his way, we’d probably be recording and playing for Africa, that’s how he thinks. Just take everything and give it all. It doesn’t work like that.

“We spend a lot of time trying to hold Bono back from doing the maddest things possible. I just don’t understand where he gets the energy.”

BANG SHOWBIZ


Free U2 tickets from AirAsia!

Found this on Yahoo News:

AirAsia's Facebook page, which has the contest is here.

Bernama - Thursday, April 16

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) -- AirAsia is offering two return tickets to London with three-day and two-night stay and two concert passes, courtesy of Universal Music for the U2's concert in London on Aug 14.



The low-cost carrier said the contest was part of AirAsia's initiative in conjunction with the "World's Best Low-Cost Airline" launch of its major regional brand campaign aptly themed "Have You Flown AirAsia Lately?".

The campaign kicks off today.

To participate in the contest, guests will have to solve a few riddles posted every two days on AirAsia's facebook beginning today, it said in a statement.

Participants are encouraged to discuss with each other on the wall and only submit their answers after compiling them for all the seven riddles and completing the slogan "I fly with the world's best low-cost airline because..." to londoncalling@airasia.com by May 10, it said.

The most ceative slogan with all correct answers will be selected as the winner whom will be announced on the facebook on May 15, it said.

The campaign will comprise a brand new AirAsia TV commercial directed by Yasmin Ahmad, it added. -- BERNAMA

U2charist

Found this on seacoastonline, while doing my usual search for U2. It's interesting to me how much of a role U2 plays in religious services. I've been to one here in Detroit, that was set up with three visual screens and presented like ZooTV. Needless to say, I am always interested when I see things like this posted online. Although this post talks about the memory of the church's pastor, who had apparently passed away.

For more info on U2charist, here's their blogspot page.

U2charist on April 26 is a farewell to Rev. Paige Blair

YORK HARBOR — In response to the movement to Make Poverty History, and as part of the farewell activities planned to say goodbye to its rector, the Rev. Paige Blair, St. George's Episcopal Church will celebrate a special U2charist at 5 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at 407 York St. The U2charist will feature music from U2's catalog.

The Rev. Paige Blair is laregly responsible for the U2charist's current incarnation.

"It has been amazing what we have done as priest and congregation in the 8½ years we've served together — and what we've done in partnership with other churches around the country and around the world through the U2charist has been both amazing and humbling.

"And so important. This is the first time in human history that we have the opportunity, and therefore the obligation, to make extreme poverty history," she said.

Thirty thousand children die every day due to extreme poverty, and 8,000 people die of HIV/AIDS. That is the equivalent of ten September 11ths a day, or a 2004 tsunami every week. We as people of faith are called by our Creator to embrace this call to do what we can to make poverty history. As Bono has said, this is our generation's 'moon shot.'"

Every nation in the world has endorsed the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and global AIDS, and many churches, including the Episcopal Church, have endorsed them as well.

The offering from the service will benefit AIDS Response Seacoast and other MDG efforts.

XFM in London Giving Away A U2 Print


Click Me to hit the site and read about it!


A Business Perspective of U2360

Found an interesting page on Lloyds, which takes you into the world of insurance, and how bands like U2 have to deal with the concept of touring with a huge staff that needs insurance.

An interesting read, and it's an angle I have not thought about before, but being that U2 is a business as much as a band, I found it very informative.

Click Me to read the page.

Anton Corbijn's Linear sways a non-U2 fan

Found this on pampelmoose.com.

The author admits not being into U2, but enjoyed the concept of Anton Crobijn's movie, Linear.

U2 has always been a visual experience for me, even without the video...lol. There is a feel, a scent, if you will, that resonates from each song, and if put to video, and done right, it can be an amazing experience.

Here is the article from that site, with thanks and credit to the author and owner of the photo:

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I came across a post on the Creative Review Magazine’s CR Blog entitled U2 Linear: it’s not a music video. And indeed it is not. It is a short movie commissioned by the band and directed by Anton Corbijn.

This is a great idea. I have an aversion to the music of U2, although I have been a fan in the past, but I enjoy Corbijn’s work immensely. In the No Line On The Horizon [Box Set] [Limited Edition] [CD/Poster/Book/DVD] edition of U2’s latest album you will find the movie Linear and here’s the interesting part - “It is not an extended music video or a U2 documentary, it’s a new way to listen to a record - a new way to use film to connect to music,” claims Corbijn.

Anton Corbijn U2 Linear NemoHQ
Click on image to see an excerpt from Linear.

Corbijn is right when he says it is a new way to listen to an album. His idea fits neatly alongside my idea of The Music Album as The End of The Organizing Principle. I argue that musical artists are free these days to explore the delivery of music well beyond the boundaries of the CD and its artificial restrictions. It is nice to find myself playing in the same sandbox as U2 and Anton Corbijn.

April 14, 2009

Interesting Take On NLOTH

It's no secret that faith plays a part in U2's life and can be found woven into their music. While searching the web for U2, I came across this blog, which goes into specific detail about God and references to Him in No Line On The Horizon. It comes complete with sample clips and detailed explanations.

If this interests you, it might be worth checking out.

The blog can be found here.

U2 Magnificent Video

Taken from The Inspiration Room:

U2’s track, “Magnificent”, from the 2009 album No Line on the Horizon, has been released as a music video, filmed live in The Somerville Theatre by Tom Krueger and edited by Duncan Shepherd at 89 Edit.

U2 Magnficient in Somerville Theatre Massachusetts

The video features U2 playing to a small crowd of 900 in an intimate venue in Davis Square, Somerville, just north of Boston, Massachusetts, on March 11, 2009. The show was the final night of U2’s ‘3 Nights Live’ US promo tour, broadcast live over national radio by FMQB Productions. Tickets to the concert were given out as prizes by Boston radio stations. Bono reference to “where it all began” links the performance back to the December 13, 1980 concert in Boston, attended by 150 people.

Credits

Filming was shot in Somerville by director/cinematographer Tom Krueger, who also directed “Original of the Species” for U2.

Krueger shot the video on eight HD CAM cameras and four HDV camcorders in a freewheeling experiment designed to harken back to the days of punk rock, resulting in a variety of interesting, ever-shifting camera angles.

Post production and effects were developed at Headlight, New York, by executive producer Steve Holiner.

Editor was Duncan Shepherd at 89 Edit with managing director Sharon Lew.

Shepherd and Krueger worked closely to choose a grade for each camera to achieve various sorts of bleach bypass looks, giving them a set of dailies similar to the type of graded dailies of a traditional, film-shot music video. The crew was able to tweak individual shots as they went along. In order to avoid the flat, unfilmlike finish that so often accompanies HD footage, Duncan edited the whole project on Final Cut Pro in HD format and used the program’s internal color correction to apply a more interesting look and feel to the dailies before commencing shot selection.

The process of editing the video was a watershed moment for 89, which was able to output a finished, uncompressed HD edit straight to the Smoke/Flame suite from a laptop using Final Cut Pro, rather than replicating all the work “online” at a later stage, saving time and money and allowing them to spend more time on digital cleanup. The crew found that, while there were still good reasons for editing many projects “offline” in SD, individual projects - like this U2 video - are ideally suited for editing with this new technology.

“Whether dictated by cost, time constraints, or simple creative realities, editors, directors and producers have a range of options open to them that previously were unrealistic or impractical,” noted 89’s Duncan. “The fact that all this power is available on set, or even in a field in the middle of Wyoming just shows that the way we’ve been editing all these years may be about to get a lot more fun. I wouldn’t say that I’ve made a total conversion yet, but, being a bit of a control freak, I like having the power to do the finish work, too, and this could get addicting.”






Lyrics

Magnificent
Magnificent

I was born
I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after I haven’t had a clue
Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise…

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts

Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent
Magnificent