Bono says "I may never play the guitar again".

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Shouldn't we all be breathing a sigh of relief that Bono will stop wearing his guitar? Especially in songs where it's ridiculous and totally unnecessary? The fact he had a guitar during - to take two examples - I Will Follow on the Elevation Tour or Bad on 360 was silly and added nothing to the songs (and possibly detracted from them). Bad is two fucking notes. How do you need a second guitar?

It's evident that in the late eighties Bono put in a fair amount of time to practicing guitar. On Lovetown his contributions, especially the occasional lead in All I Want Is You, were quite good. They maybe weren't essential, but they definitely added to the songs. This lingered at least to early ZooTV, but since then perhaps he stopped practicing as seriously because his contributions soon returned to "look Bono's wearing his guitar for no reason at all".

And in any case, Dallas can - and has - quite easily flesh out U2's live sound. No need for Bono to waste time strumming a couple of chords badly when you've got another guy in the touring party who's Edge's equal.
 
If Bono enjoys playing guitar, I'm sure he'll work hard on being able to play it again on stage. Being a great guitar player is one thing, but having to quit something you really like doing is another one. I wish him a good recovery, practicing on the guitar again could actually be a good way of physical (and also emotional) therapy for him.
 
Dallas has a LOT going on just keeping The Edge operating. If he's ever been playing a hidden guitar from the underworld, that would mean there was a second guitar tech keeping Edge running. There is just too much going on in the average life of a guitar tech during a live performance for me to believe that Dallas will or ever has been playing a hidden backup guitar.

I know people have seen him strumming along back stage. But he's strumming the next guitar The Edge will play, tuning it and making sure it's ready to go by listening to it through his in ear monitors.
 
I usually agree with you Ax, but Bad on 360 Bono DID add to. Of course his guitar is inaudible on the regular recordings, but live in Brussels it was really good. There is an IEM bootleg of Brussels 2 where you can hear him clearly, especially in the end he does a fair bit with Edge and it sounds great.
 
I usually agree with you Ax, but Bad on 360 Bono DID add to. Of course his guitar is inaudible on the regular recordings, but live in Brussels it was really good. There is an IEM bootleg of Brussels 2 where you can hear him clearly, especially in the end he does a fair bit with Edge and it sounds great.

Maybe not vital to the song, but Bono's guitar was very audible when I saw them do Bad in Buenos Aires (guitar comes out 4:30 into the video):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5FfcaVmn1Y
 
U2 Frontman Bono Bike Injury Leads To Retirement? The Singer Reveals He May Not Strum His Guitar Again : Trending News : Franchise Herald

Article from Jan 14, 2015

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LOL That's hilarious! Quality reporting, right there.

I think the thing that most people aren't reporting is the fact that U2 have put (so far) 60 dates on sale AFTER Bono's accident. Clearly, they have reason to believe Bono will able to perform by May 14th. But that's not as ZIPPY of a headline!
 
LOL That's hilarious! Quality reporting, right there.

I think the thing that most people aren't reporting is the fact that U2 have put (so far) 60 dates on sale AFTER Bono's accident. Clearly, they have reason to believe Bono will able to perform by May 14th. But that's not as ZIPPY of a headline!

Agreed.
 
Yep, Bono not being able to strum his guitar simply has to result in his retirement since he's the lead guitarist in the band and one of the most famous and genius guitar players in the world. Bono could never go on with his career if he's not able to play his most important instrument again. :sad:

I'm a bit worried about the amount of stupid articles and re-hashed articles about his supposed retirement we'll have before the tour starts while Bono is away from the public eye. :sigh:
 
I'm sure Bono's not losing any sleep over it.







Since those heavy-duty pills keep him doped to the gills 24/7.
 
I just read an article about a man who fell into a vegetative coma like state for 12 years. He was trapped in his body. He could think and was fully aware of his surroundings but could not move or speak. I can only imagine what Bono is going through right now.
 
Somebody mentioned Dallas could play Bono's parts. I don't think Bono's parts were important enough for anyone to need to stand in and play. Plus, as somebody else said, Dallas really does have his hands full with Edge's gear. He works Edge's pedals if Edge is away from his pedals (he has a set of pedals in his area under the stage), gets the guitar ready for the next song, has to be ready at a second's notice to swap out Edge's guitar for a replacement if he breaks a string or the guitar just doesn't work for some reason. He's a busy guy!

Fun fact about Dallas. At the Sydney 1993 gig that Adam missed, one scenario they considered was Dallas playing guitar, and Edge playing bass for the entire show!! They weren't sure if Stuart Morgan could do it. But they realized that 1: that would confuse the camera crew, who were using that gig as a rehearsal for the 2nd show's broadcast and eventual live release, and 2: a crowd at a U2 show expects to hear Edge on guitar! So that must mean that Dallas knows how to play all the songs, in addition to known the effects they require.

My source is Flanagan's Bible "U2 at the end of the world". Read it immediately if you haven't!
 
Yeah Dallas is Edge's stand in since JT tour, so it kinda makes sense he knows all the material and effects. Seems logical to me.

Kinda fun too, since when soundchecking the guitars Dallas occasionally plays rare U2 songs that aren't done live, or randomly Sweet Home Alabama last tour. Sam rehearses with the drums from Mofo quite often as well.
 
Doesn't that passage about the show Adam missed have a line like, "Meanwhile, the camera is avoiding Stuart like a whore at a church picnic"? I love Flanagan so much. Acrobat, you'll find that book gets a lot of love around here!
 
Obviously part of the responsibilities of somebody who's responsible for making sure The Edge's guitar sounds the way it's supposed to is to know how to play the songs that may be played on said guitar(s).

But this idea that he's somehow been the hidden 5th musician beneath the stage is silly.

If anything, Terry Lawless us the secret musician, as he does more than just play the occasional piano part.

The job of the guitar tech is very extensive. What would they do if Dallas had to do some emergency repairs right as a song that he's allegedly filling guitar parts on is supposed to start?

The filler that people believe might be Dallas is very likely loops, be they created in stage by Edge or pre-recorded, backing tracks, or Terryworld.
 
:hmm: Interesting you bring up Terry.

Does he know how to play the guitar?

Otherwise, I'm sure they can put recorded bits of Bonoguitar as sequences in his laptop... so he could actually replace Bono's 'guitar playing'.
 
Bono says "I may never play the guitar again".

Here's a new shot of Bono from earlier today, in the south of France:

Deus_ex_Adam_Jensen.png


I guess now he'll be able to play guitar after all.

ETA: guess he hasn't shaved since the accident.

Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
Terry is the man! They should have brought him on the stage years ago. Why he is hidden, when he plays during the concert? Stating U2 was always about 4 people doesn´t make much sense.This was always a bit of a dark hypocritic side of U2 for me.
 
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