Bonogirl777
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What did he say about her?
PLEBA Misc U2 News and Articles #2
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What did he say about her?
Every smart rockstar would evade her anyway..she's weird, like Anton Corbijn said...
what did Anton say?
domo-kun
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Anton had a Q&A, and someone asked about the time he had worked with Kurt Cobain, he talked about how he made the video for Heart Shaped Box,
with quite allot of humour , then someone just asked him how he was like.
He replied by saying that Kurt was a great friendly guy, then they asked about Courtney, and he replies about her. Saying that when she was close to him (she was on the set for a couple of days) She totally makes something change in him. Him acting different , negative, like courtney did. Telling him stuff what to do and what not. Basically I got the feeling Anton didn't like her.
Thre's a video on youtube, I'll pm it if you want. I think its kind of offtopic to post here.
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BonoFox1
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"SOMETHING I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE"
07 August 2009
Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol was so knocked out by last night's show in Katowice that he sat down and wrote us this piece.
I had to write about this. I simply had to. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn here as this is U2's site and hallowed ground for all of you but this story needs to be told. The shows so far on this tour have all been amazing and each night the crowd's reaction to U2 has been loud and joyous and passionate. Last night in Poland though was something else. Hard to explain. Let me try.
I have never in my life seen a crowd reaction like that of Katowice last night. Right from opener Breathe there was a daft magic in the air. Insanity everywhere you looked. People's faces clothed in the kind of joy I've only seen in gospel churches and then only on the TV so to see this religious fervour up close was overwhelming. The city outside the stadium could have been under heavy fire from alien spacecraft and I don't think anyone would have heard, saw, or indeed cared that much.
Then The Edge takes to the piano for New Year's Day (playing it guitar pick still between his fingers!) and the place is bathed in red and white instantly. Red cards held aloft by the people on the floor and white cards in the seats to make a giant Polish flag you could probably see from space. It took the breath clean out of me. By the end even Bono was speechless, for a few seconds anyway. The things he said next are lost to me verbatim but what I won't forget is the tears that came to me then. In floods. And when I turned to check if anyone had snared me for blubbing I realised that every single person around me also had tears in their eyes. We were sharing something that simply never happens at rock shows anywhere. A collective emotional and spiritual surrender of epic proportions. This was majesty and tenderness married and that is a rare thing indeed.
Last night was something I've never seen before and I can't quite fathom it. Not sure I ever will or even want to. It will sit alongside the greatest nights of my life and I thank U2 and Poland for that. Also thank you to the Polish U2 fans for giving us the best reaction to our own set we've had on this tour so far. All in all then a night of triumphs.
I would tour with this band (we all, us Patrollers, would) 'til the last grain of sand tipped gently into the bottom half of the hourglass and yes that sounds (and perhaps is, why not) a massive hint hint to stay on this magic carpet ride a little/a lot longer but believe me when I say this: this is the greatest show on earth. Why on earth would you buy just anyone's cockatoo? Long may they reign!
Gary Lightbody, aged 33, Bangor, Northern Ireland, Overwhelmed.x
U2.com > News > 'Something I've Never Seen Before'
07 August 2009
Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol was so knocked out by last night's show in Katowice that he sat down and wrote us this piece.
I had to write about this. I simply had to. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn here as this is U2's site and hallowed ground for all of you but this story needs to be told. The shows so far on this tour have all been amazing and each night the crowd's reaction to U2 has been loud and joyous and passionate. Last night in Poland though was something else. Hard to explain. Let me try.
I have never in my life seen a crowd reaction like that of Katowice last night. Right from opener Breathe there was a daft magic in the air. Insanity everywhere you looked. People's faces clothed in the kind of joy I've only seen in gospel churches and then only on the TV so to see this religious fervour up close was overwhelming. The city outside the stadium could have been under heavy fire from alien spacecraft and I don't think anyone would have heard, saw, or indeed cared that much.
Then The Edge takes to the piano for New Year's Day (playing it guitar pick still between his fingers!) and the place is bathed in red and white instantly. Red cards held aloft by the people on the floor and white cards in the seats to make a giant Polish flag you could probably see from space. It took the breath clean out of me. By the end even Bono was speechless, for a few seconds anyway. The things he said next are lost to me verbatim but what I won't forget is the tears that came to me then. In floods. And when I turned to check if anyone had snared me for blubbing I realised that every single person around me also had tears in their eyes. We were sharing something that simply never happens at rock shows anywhere. A collective emotional and spiritual surrender of epic proportions. This was majesty and tenderness married and that is a rare thing indeed.
Last night was something I've never seen before and I can't quite fathom it. Not sure I ever will or even want to. It will sit alongside the greatest nights of my life and I thank U2 and Poland for that. Also thank you to the Polish U2 fans for giving us the best reaction to our own set we've had on this tour so far. All in all then a night of triumphs.
I would tour with this band (we all, us Patrollers, would) 'til the last grain of sand tipped gently into the bottom half of the hourglass and yes that sounds (and perhaps is, why not) a massive hint hint to stay on this magic carpet ride a little/a lot longer but believe me when I say this: this is the greatest show on earth. Why on earth would you buy just anyone's cockatoo? Long may they reign!
Gary Lightbody, aged 33, Bangor, Northern Ireland, Overwhelmed.x
U2.com > News > 'Something I've Never Seen Before'
Bonogirl777
Blue Crack Addict
Love that! 
"Why on Earth would you buy just anyone's cockatoo?"
"Why on Earth would you buy just anyone's cockatoo?"
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BonoFox1
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It Might Get Loud – Release Dates
.........................................................................................................................................
THIS INSTRUMENT WAS CALLING OUT TO ME
06 August 2009
A documentary on the electric guitar, 'from the point of view of three rock legends', It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos - The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White.
'It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. Concentrating on the artist's musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, provoking rare discussion as to how and why he writes and plays, this film lets you witness intimate moments and hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach and play.'
We'll be bringing you more on the film in the coming days, meantime, take a look at this preview clip.
U2.com > News > This Instrument Was Calling Out To Me
.........................................................................................................................................
THIS INSTRUMENT WAS CALLING OUT TO ME
06 August 2009
A documentary on the electric guitar, 'from the point of view of three rock legends', It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos - The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White.
'It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. Concentrating on the artist's musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, provoking rare discussion as to how and why he writes and plays, this film lets you witness intimate moments and hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach and play.'
We'll be bringing you more on the film in the coming days, meantime, take a look at this preview clip.
U2.com > News > This Instrument Was Calling Out To Me
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BonoFox1
Blue Crack Supplier
08. 08. 09. - 09:00
Croatian fans to prepare balloon surprise for U2
Croatian U2 fans are calling on all those who will attend the group’s concert on 10 August to use balloons to welcome the Irish band.
The idea’s initiator, U2Croatia.net website forum, said today (Fri) the idea was to make an Irish flag across the whole stadium with the balloons.
Everyone should bring one balloon to the concert. All those in the west stands should have green balloons, those in the north and south stands and on the pitch white balloons and those in the eastern stands orange balloons.
The balloons should be prepared but not tied before U2 takes the stage.
During the first song, people should hold the balloons in the air and then release them when the song ends.
Croatian Times – Home > Panorama > Croatian fans to prepare balloon surprise for U2
Croatian fans to prepare balloon surprise for U2
Croatian U2 fans are calling on all those who will attend the group’s concert on 10 August to use balloons to welcome the Irish band.
The idea’s initiator, U2Croatia.net website forum, said today (Fri) the idea was to make an Irish flag across the whole stadium with the balloons.
Everyone should bring one balloon to the concert. All those in the west stands should have green balloons, those in the north and south stands and on the pitch white balloons and those in the eastern stands orange balloons.
The balloons should be prepared but not tied before U2 takes the stage.
During the first song, people should hold the balloons in the air and then release them when the song ends.
Croatian Times – Home > Panorama > Croatian fans to prepare balloon surprise for U2
Bonogirl777
Blue Crack Addict
Sweet! 
Bonogirl777
Blue Crack Addict
lauramullen
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^ I'm going to see it on September 4th. I was going to see it this Friday in NYC, but now it is coming to Philly.
lauramullen
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From Atu2
Those unable to attend the U2 concert in Sheffield, Great Britain Aug. 20 will be able to listen via Bauer Radio stations and online.
The network has vowed to dedicate five hours of coverage to the show, only editing out long breaks without musical content. To read the full story as reported by the Guardian, click here.
The program director claims it will be the "biggest commercial radio event of 2009."
Those unable to attend the U2 concert in Sheffield, Great Britain Aug. 20 will be able to listen via Bauer Radio stations and online.
The network has vowed to dedicate five hours of coverage to the show, only editing out long breaks without musical content. To read the full story as reported by the Guardian, click here.
The program director claims it will be the "biggest commercial radio event of 2009."
lauramullen
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Guitar gods assemble for "Loud" and intimate documentary
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - For anyone who has dreamed of rock 'n' roll stardom, blissfully jammed away on Guitar Hero or rocked out at a concert, It Might Get Loud offers a thrilling personal tour of three exceptional electric guitarists' careers that's equally appealing to musicians and rock enthusiasts alike.
Sony Pictures Classics heard this immensely entertaining music docu, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, at last year's Toronto film festival and smartly snapped it up.
With Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) at the helm and the participation of Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's the Edge and Jack White of the Raconteurs and the White Stripes, the audience for Loud could rival turnout for a U2 concert tour, auguring a spirited theatrical release as fans raise their lighters for the film's Friday (August 14) release. (The documentary screened stateside in June at the Los Angeles Film Festival.)
Guggenheim centers the film on "The Summit," an unscripted Los Angeles soundstage jam session that brings the three generations of guitarists together for the first time, then branches off with personal profiles of each musician and their individual paths to developing their signature styles.
Although he's the best known among the trio, Page also is the most private, having endured decades of scrutiny as a member of the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. So his openness to the project is all the more remarkable as he invites the filmmakers into his London home to listen to his record collection and film him strumming riffs from "Ramble On" in his studio. A side trip to the country house where the legendary "Stairway to Heaven"-centered Led Zeppelin IV album was recorded prompts Page to pick up his mandolin for an impromptu version of "The Battle of Evermore."
Guggenheim strategically minimizes any recapping of Led Zeppelin's already well-documented history, focusing instead on Page's playfully engaging discussion of his largely self-taught trademark hard-rock guitar techniques, musical influences and career as a young studio musician before joining the Yardbirds.
The Edge literally goes back to the Dublin high school where the U2 quartet formed as teenagers to highlight his musical journey, while a visit to his riverside studio reveals his unique, effects-laden guitar techniques and command of audio technology.
A trip to White's Tennessee home base reveals the origins of his minimalist, roots-oriented rock and blues style as he leads the filmmakers through his development as a respected musician and producer.
These chapterlike interviews are skillfully interwoven with remarkable archival materials and cut together with generous live concert footage featuring U2, Led Zeppelin, the White Stripes and the Raconteurs. The film's highlight by far is "The Summit," when the three musicians gather to swap stories and guitar licks as Guggenheim's seven HD cameras capture stirring moments of creative spontaneity.
While the abundance of musical background and performance clips greatly enriches the film, more detail on the musicians' life stories and formative experiences would have appreciably informed their choice of musical styles.
Conceived by producer and Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, who recruited Guggenheim to direct, Loud exhibits a level of detailed narrative crafting similar to An Inconvenient Truth, though the film's free-flowing structure, held together by precise and revealing editing, allows this music doc to organically unveil an intimate portrait of artists at work.
© Reuters, 2009.
Reuters, August 10, 2009
By: Justin Lowe
By: Justin Lowe
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - For anyone who has dreamed of rock 'n' roll stardom, blissfully jammed away on Guitar Hero or rocked out at a concert, It Might Get Loud offers a thrilling personal tour of three exceptional electric guitarists' careers that's equally appealing to musicians and rock enthusiasts alike.
Sony Pictures Classics heard this immensely entertaining music docu, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, at last year's Toronto film festival and smartly snapped it up.
With Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) at the helm and the participation of Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's the Edge and Jack White of the Raconteurs and the White Stripes, the audience for Loud could rival turnout for a U2 concert tour, auguring a spirited theatrical release as fans raise their lighters for the film's Friday (August 14) release. (The documentary screened stateside in June at the Los Angeles Film Festival.)
Guggenheim centers the film on "The Summit," an unscripted Los Angeles soundstage jam session that brings the three generations of guitarists together for the first time, then branches off with personal profiles of each musician and their individual paths to developing their signature styles.
Although he's the best known among the trio, Page also is the most private, having endured decades of scrutiny as a member of the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. So his openness to the project is all the more remarkable as he invites the filmmakers into his London home to listen to his record collection and film him strumming riffs from "Ramble On" in his studio. A side trip to the country house where the legendary "Stairway to Heaven"-centered Led Zeppelin IV album was recorded prompts Page to pick up his mandolin for an impromptu version of "The Battle of Evermore."
Guggenheim strategically minimizes any recapping of Led Zeppelin's already well-documented history, focusing instead on Page's playfully engaging discussion of his largely self-taught trademark hard-rock guitar techniques, musical influences and career as a young studio musician before joining the Yardbirds.
The Edge literally goes back to the Dublin high school where the U2 quartet formed as teenagers to highlight his musical journey, while a visit to his riverside studio reveals his unique, effects-laden guitar techniques and command of audio technology.
A trip to White's Tennessee home base reveals the origins of his minimalist, roots-oriented rock and blues style as he leads the filmmakers through his development as a respected musician and producer.
These chapterlike interviews are skillfully interwoven with remarkable archival materials and cut together with generous live concert footage featuring U2, Led Zeppelin, the White Stripes and the Raconteurs. The film's highlight by far is "The Summit," when the three musicians gather to swap stories and guitar licks as Guggenheim's seven HD cameras capture stirring moments of creative spontaneity.
While the abundance of musical background and performance clips greatly enriches the film, more detail on the musicians' life stories and formative experiences would have appreciably informed their choice of musical styles.
Conceived by producer and Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, who recruited Guggenheim to direct, Loud exhibits a level of detailed narrative crafting similar to An Inconvenient Truth, though the film's free-flowing structure, held together by precise and revealing editing, allows this music doc to organically unveil an intimate portrait of artists at work.
© Reuters, 2009.
lauramullen
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More than 120,000 fans in Zagreb for U2 gigs
ZAGREB — More than 120,000 fans from all over southeastern Europe have gathered in Zagreb to see legendary rock group U2 on their only stopover in the region on their current 360 Degree Tour of the world.
It is the Irish band's first visit to the region since their concert in Sarajevo in 1997. Local media have dubbed the two shows "the performance of the decade."
Some 63,000 people filled Zagreb's Maksimir Stadium on Sunday night, and as many again are expected at a second concert on Monday, organisers said.
More than 40,000 fans have arrived in the Croatian capital from countries including Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Slovakia and Romania.
The event has dominated news in the Croatian media for the past week, with detailed reports of the setting up of the stage on the home turf of the Dinamo Zagreb football club.
The futuristic décor is dominated by a huge metal structure nicknamed "the claw," which measures 50 metres (160 feet) and weighs 390 tonnes.
The opening concert on Sunday lasted around two hours and included songs from No Line on the Horizon, the band's 12th album which was released in February.
Zagreb is one of 15 European cities on the 360 Degree Tour, which began on June 30 in Barcelona and will end in October in Vancouver, Canada, with a total of 44 concerts scheduled.
By the end of the tour, the group will have performed before an estimated three million fans.
© 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
AFP, August 10, 2009
By:
By:
ZAGREB — More than 120,000 fans from all over southeastern Europe have gathered in Zagreb to see legendary rock group U2 on their only stopover in the region on their current 360 Degree Tour of the world.
It is the Irish band's first visit to the region since their concert in Sarajevo in 1997. Local media have dubbed the two shows "the performance of the decade."
Some 63,000 people filled Zagreb's Maksimir Stadium on Sunday night, and as many again are expected at a second concert on Monday, organisers said.
More than 40,000 fans have arrived in the Croatian capital from countries including Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Slovakia and Romania.
The event has dominated news in the Croatian media for the past week, with detailed reports of the setting up of the stage on the home turf of the Dinamo Zagreb football club.
The futuristic décor is dominated by a huge metal structure nicknamed "the claw," which measures 50 metres (160 feet) and weighs 390 tonnes.
The opening concert on Sunday lasted around two hours and included songs from No Line on the Horizon, the band's 12th album which was released in February.
Zagreb is one of 15 European cities on the 360 Degree Tour, which began on June 30 in Barcelona and will end in October in Vancouver, Canada, with a total of 44 concerts scheduled.
By the end of the tour, the group will have performed before an estimated three million fans.
© 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
Anji
New Yorker
We were talking about this in the set list party the other night
Nine O'Clock
Car with Romanians hits one of U2’s official cars in Zagreb
published in issue 4491 page 8 at 2009-08-11
A car registered in Brasov hit on Sunday, in Zagreb, one of the official cars of U2 band, which has two concerts scheduled on August 9 and 10 in the Croatian capital, the online edition of the daily Jutarnji informs, quoted by Mediafax. The driver of the Romanian car, a Volkswagen, did not observe the red colour of the traffic lights, according to the quoted daily. On another hand, the Romanian passengers say that the car of U2 formation, a class E Mercedes, was running at a very high speed. Further to the accident, both drivers were slightly injured.
The Croatian daily also wrote that further to the accident there were material damages. According to some sources, the driver of the Mercedes was rushing to the airport from Pleso, wherefrom he had to collect the members of U2 band. Contacted by Mediafax, the Romanian consulate to Zagreb stressed that they had not been informed by the Police about this accident, but they would make investigations to see what happened. Currently, U2 formation is embarked on the world tour “360 degrees,” which debuted on June 30 in Barcelona, for the promotion of the album “No Line on the Horizon.”
Nine O'Clock
Car with Romanians hits one of U2’s official cars in Zagreb
published in issue 4491 page 8 at 2009-08-11
A car registered in Brasov hit on Sunday, in Zagreb, one of the official cars of U2 band, which has two concerts scheduled on August 9 and 10 in the Croatian capital, the online edition of the daily Jutarnji informs, quoted by Mediafax. The driver of the Romanian car, a Volkswagen, did not observe the red colour of the traffic lights, according to the quoted daily. On another hand, the Romanian passengers say that the car of U2 formation, a class E Mercedes, was running at a very high speed. Further to the accident, both drivers were slightly injured.
The Croatian daily also wrote that further to the accident there were material damages. According to some sources, the driver of the Mercedes was rushing to the airport from Pleso, wherefrom he had to collect the members of U2 band. Contacted by Mediafax, the Romanian consulate to Zagreb stressed that they had not been informed by the Police about this accident, but they would make investigations to see what happened. Currently, U2 formation is embarked on the world tour “360 degrees,” which debuted on June 30 in Barcelona, for the promotion of the album “No Line on the Horizon.”
lauramullen
Blue Crack Distributor
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U2 could play in Wellington
By DAVE BURGESS - The Dominion Post
Reuters
THE CLAW: U2 perform at Slaski Stadium in Chorzow, Poland, last week during their 360 degrees world tour, which began in June.
Reuters
SUPERSTARS: The members of U2, from left, Adam Clayton, Bono, The Edge, and Larry Mullen.
Irish band U2 are in talks to play two concerts at Wellington's Westpac Stadium.
The Dominion Post understands it was hoped the concerts would be staged in February or March, which would have led to a one-day cricket international between the Black Caps and Australia being moved to the Basin Reserve.
However, negotiations with promoter Michael Coppel Presents on the scheduling of the concerts have been postponed.
Bridget Delaunay, the Kiwi representative for Michael Coppel Presents, did not respond to questions put to her yesterday, but it is understood the concerts could be scheduled for later in the year. Stadium management would not comment.
U2 are using a 50-metre-high stage set - dubbed "The Claw" - for their 360 degrees world tour, which started in Europe in June.
Because The Claw is round and open on all sides, it would be a perfect fit for Westpac Stadium.
It could be erected in the centre of the grassed area and fans could sit or stand almost anywhere in the stadium to lap up the action.
A suspended video screen wrapped around the centre of the stage would ensure those in the most far-flung corners of the stadium got a good view.
And, in true rock'n'roll tradition, the sound would be loud, with each quadrant of The Claw having its own full-size sound system, each powerful enough for an entire arena.
Rolling Stone magazine said the state-of-the-art stage would add an extra 20,000 fans to each stadium concert during the tour.
It is understood that sporting fixtures would not be able to use the stadium for about 10 days to give an army of workers time to assemble and dismantle the stage.
U2 - Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen - last played in Wellington at Athletic Park in 1989 as part of their Lovetown tour, which also took in Auckland and Christchurch. They also played at the Wellington Show Buildings in 1984.
Their last appearance in New Zealand was three years ago at Auckland's Ericsson Stadium.
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By DAVE BURGESS - The Dominion Post
THE CLAW: U2 perform at Slaski Stadium in Chorzow, Poland, last week during their 360 degrees world tour, which began in June.
SUPERSTARS: The members of U2, from left, Adam Clayton, Bono, The Edge, and Larry Mullen.
Irish band U2 are in talks to play two concerts at Wellington's Westpac Stadium.
The Dominion Post understands it was hoped the concerts would be staged in February or March, which would have led to a one-day cricket international between the Black Caps and Australia being moved to the Basin Reserve.
However, negotiations with promoter Michael Coppel Presents on the scheduling of the concerts have been postponed.
Bridget Delaunay, the Kiwi representative for Michael Coppel Presents, did not respond to questions put to her yesterday, but it is understood the concerts could be scheduled for later in the year. Stadium management would not comment.
U2 are using a 50-metre-high stage set - dubbed "The Claw" - for their 360 degrees world tour, which started in Europe in June.
Because The Claw is round and open on all sides, it would be a perfect fit for Westpac Stadium.
It could be erected in the centre of the grassed area and fans could sit or stand almost anywhere in the stadium to lap up the action.
A suspended video screen wrapped around the centre of the stage would ensure those in the most far-flung corners of the stadium got a good view.
And, in true rock'n'roll tradition, the sound would be loud, with each quadrant of The Claw having its own full-size sound system, each powerful enough for an entire arena.
Rolling Stone magazine said the state-of-the-art stage would add an extra 20,000 fans to each stadium concert during the tour.
It is understood that sporting fixtures would not be able to use the stadium for about 10 days to give an army of workers time to assemble and dismantle the stage.
U2 - Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen - last played in Wellington at Athletic Park in 1989 as part of their Lovetown tour, which also took in Auckland and Christchurch. They also played at the Wellington Show Buildings in 1984.
Their last appearance in New Zealand was three years ago at Auckland's Ericsson Stadium.
http://www.u2interference.com/forums/about-stuff/advertising-feedback/
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lauramullen
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SPIDER-MAN has vanquished Green Goblin, Electro, Doc Ock and Lizard.
But when it comes to the greatest supervillain of them all -- The Riedeler -- Spidey has met his match.
The $45 million "Spider-Man," directed by Julie Taymor and written by Bono and The Edge, is caught in my net, and I can report today that escape is virtually impossible.
Mwahahaha!
Last week, production crews at both the Hilton Theatre and the scene shop where the show was being built were put on "hiatus" because the producers ran out of money. Assistants in the scene shop "ran to the bank to cash their checks because they weren't sure they'd clear," a source says.
Now comes word that the actors have been released from their contracts, with no incentive (i.e., money) to hang around waiting for the production to get back on track.
Meanwhile, ticket agents are desperately trying to get refunds for deposits from theater parties that booked early previews.
"I hope they don't stiff us the way Garth Drabinsky did," says one ticket agent, referring to the disgraced impresario recently sentenced in Toronto to seven years in jail.
A desperate attempt was made last week to save "Spider-Man" by bringing in a couple of veteran producers. But they're too smart to get involved in what's turning out to be the biggest fiasco in Broadway history.
And so, while the official line is "the production will begin previews on Feb. 25, 2010," the betting is that the Hilton Theatre, whose insides have been gutted for this show, is going to be an empty barn this winter.
"Spider-Man" has been in trouble from the beginning, done in by the inexperience of its producers -- Sony, Marvel Comics and David Garfinkle, a Chicago lawyer who, sources say, had almost no Broadway experience.
"He was in over his head," a source says.
Taymor, the director of "The Lion King," conceived of "Spider-Man" as an "installation show," something big and bold and full of special effects. Something, in other words, like Cirque du Soleil.
That's fine if you're going to put the damn thing up in Las Vegas, where "installation shows" run several times a day and are funded in large part by hotels and casinos.
But at $45 million -- and with a weekly running cost of almost $900,000 -- "Spider-Man" at the 1,700-seat Hilton could never be profitable.
The show would have to run five years, selling every single seat in the house, to just break even.
"That," says a source who crunched the numbers, "is insane."
Artistically, it's impossible to tell if "Spider-Man" is any good.
The designs for the sets and costumes that I saw were impressive, and some of U2's songs weren't bad -- moody and melodic, if not all that theatrical -- but even people working on the show weren't quite sure what it was going to be like.
"A lot of it seems to exist only in Julie's head," one source says.
Which may be where it remains for a long, long time
But when it comes to the greatest supervillain of them all -- The Riedeler -- Spidey has met his match.
The $45 million "Spider-Man," directed by Julie Taymor and written by Bono and The Edge, is caught in my net, and I can report today that escape is virtually impossible.
Mwahahaha!
Last week, production crews at both the Hilton Theatre and the scene shop where the show was being built were put on "hiatus" because the producers ran out of money. Assistants in the scene shop "ran to the bank to cash their checks because they weren't sure they'd clear," a source says.
Now comes word that the actors have been released from their contracts, with no incentive (i.e., money) to hang around waiting for the production to get back on track.
Meanwhile, ticket agents are desperately trying to get refunds for deposits from theater parties that booked early previews.
"I hope they don't stiff us the way Garth Drabinsky did," says one ticket agent, referring to the disgraced impresario recently sentenced in Toronto to seven years in jail.
A desperate attempt was made last week to save "Spider-Man" by bringing in a couple of veteran producers. But they're too smart to get involved in what's turning out to be the biggest fiasco in Broadway history.
And so, while the official line is "the production will begin previews on Feb. 25, 2010," the betting is that the Hilton Theatre, whose insides have been gutted for this show, is going to be an empty barn this winter.
"Spider-Man" has been in trouble from the beginning, done in by the inexperience of its producers -- Sony, Marvel Comics and David Garfinkle, a Chicago lawyer who, sources say, had almost no Broadway experience.
"He was in over his head," a source says.
Taymor, the director of "The Lion King," conceived of "Spider-Man" as an "installation show," something big and bold and full of special effects. Something, in other words, like Cirque du Soleil.
That's fine if you're going to put the damn thing up in Las Vegas, where "installation shows" run several times a day and are funded in large part by hotels and casinos.
But at $45 million -- and with a weekly running cost of almost $900,000 -- "Spider-Man" at the 1,700-seat Hilton could never be profitable.
The show would have to run five years, selling every single seat in the house, to just break even.
"That," says a source who crunched the numbers, "is insane."
Artistically, it's impossible to tell if "Spider-Man" is any good.
The designs for the sets and costumes that I saw were impressive, and some of U2's songs weren't bad -- moody and melodic, if not all that theatrical -- but even people working on the show weren't quite sure what it was going to be like.
"A lot of it seems to exist only in Julie's head," one source says.
Which may be where it remains for a long, long time
lauramullen
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And the saga continues
'Noisy' U2 must pay us €80k, say angry residents
U2 must cough up €80,000 for being too noisy at their Croke Park concerts, say residents.
They have said MCD, promoters of the three gigs, should forfeit the cash they lodged as a bond after breaching sound limits -- and give the money to the local community.
The residents spoke out as they prepared attempts to block any more concerts that would cause as much disruption as the U2 gigs.
They are to meet the GAA next month for talks on future events at the stadium.
Dublin City Council has confirmed that the 75-decibel maximum allowed at the venue under planning conditions was broken on all three nights of U2's 360 degree tour concerts.
Barbara Ward, of the Clonliffe and District Residents Association, said: "There was an €80,000 bond put up before the concerts and Dublin City Council were to withhold all or part of that bond if there were any breaches.
"We haven't heard yet what the council will do, but we want the full €80,000 to be withheld, and it should be reinvested in the area because we are the ones who had to put up with it."
Claw
Ms. Ward said there would be more protests if there was a repeat of the disruption caused by the creation of U2's "claw" stage.
Patrick Gates, of the Croke Park Residents Alliance, said he would be seeking guarantees from the GAA that the problems suffered would not be repeated at any future events.
© Herald.ie, 2009.
'Noisy' U2 must pay us €80k, say angry residents
Herald, August 12, 2009
By: Andrew Phelan
By: Andrew Phelan
U2 must cough up €80,000 for being too noisy at their Croke Park concerts, say residents.
They have said MCD, promoters of the three gigs, should forfeit the cash they lodged as a bond after breaching sound limits -- and give the money to the local community.
The residents spoke out as they prepared attempts to block any more concerts that would cause as much disruption as the U2 gigs.
They are to meet the GAA next month for talks on future events at the stadium.
Dublin City Council has confirmed that the 75-decibel maximum allowed at the venue under planning conditions was broken on all three nights of U2's 360 degree tour concerts.
Barbara Ward, of the Clonliffe and District Residents Association, said: "There was an €80,000 bond put up before the concerts and Dublin City Council were to withhold all or part of that bond if there were any breaches.
"We haven't heard yet what the council will do, but we want the full €80,000 to be withheld, and it should be reinvested in the area because we are the ones who had to put up with it."
Claw
Ms. Ward said there would be more protests if there was a repeat of the disruption caused by the creation of U2's "claw" stage.
Patrick Gates, of the Croke Park Residents Alliance, said he would be seeking guarantees from the GAA that the problems suffered would not be repeated at any future events.
© Herald.ie, 2009.
lauramullen
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Bono's wife sues Stella McCartney for a scent
The wife of U2 frontman Bono has sparked a legal battle with Stella McCartney in a row over a new perfume, it was reported today.
Fashion designer McCartney is about to bring out the new fragrance Stella Nude, an eau de toilette of her Stella perfume.
But 47-year-old charity campaigner Ali Hewson -- Mrs. Bono -- and her business partner Bryan Meehan, the founder of the organic food chain Fresh & Wild, are understood to have taken umbrage at the use of the word "nude."
The business partners run Nude Skincare, which produces luxury all-natural skin care products and counts Helena Christensen among its fans.
Nude Skincare is reported to be suing for compensation over branding and the use of the word "nude," not because of anything to do with the scent of the perfume.
But "nude" as a concept is already a huge part of 37-year-old McCartney's fashion brand. She is well known for her collections based on nude flesh tones and this summer's catwalk show featured models draped from head to toe in flesh tones.
A source said: "It would be quite funny, if it wasn't being taken so seriously. There are other perfumes with similar names after all."
A writ has been issued and the case is understood to be coming before the Chancery division, which deals with copyright infringement and patent claims, this autumn.
McCartney is said to be hoping to settle the matter out of court.
The source added: "Stella isn't likely to make any changes now because the fragrance is coming out in September and nudity is a big part of the perfume's look. The bottle is a nude colour."
Perfumes using the word "nude" in their branding are available from Estée Lauder, Bijan and Bill Blass. Nude Skincare declined to comment.
© ES London Limited, 2009.
London Evening Standard, August 12, 2009
By: Karen Attwood
By: Karen Attwood
The wife of U2 frontman Bono has sparked a legal battle with Stella McCartney in a row over a new perfume, it was reported today.
Fashion designer McCartney is about to bring out the new fragrance Stella Nude, an eau de toilette of her Stella perfume.
But 47-year-old charity campaigner Ali Hewson -- Mrs. Bono -- and her business partner Bryan Meehan, the founder of the organic food chain Fresh & Wild, are understood to have taken umbrage at the use of the word "nude."
The business partners run Nude Skincare, which produces luxury all-natural skin care products and counts Helena Christensen among its fans.
Nude Skincare is reported to be suing for compensation over branding and the use of the word "nude," not because of anything to do with the scent of the perfume.
But "nude" as a concept is already a huge part of 37-year-old McCartney's fashion brand. She is well known for her collections based on nude flesh tones and this summer's catwalk show featured models draped from head to toe in flesh tones.
A source said: "It would be quite funny, if it wasn't being taken so seriously. There are other perfumes with similar names after all."
A writ has been issued and the case is understood to be coming before the Chancery division, which deals with copyright infringement and patent claims, this autumn.
McCartney is said to be hoping to settle the matter out of court.
The source added: "Stella isn't likely to make any changes now because the fragrance is coming out in September and nudity is a big part of the perfume's look. The bottle is a nude colour."
Perfumes using the word "nude" in their branding are available from Estée Lauder, Bijan and Bill Blass. Nude Skincare declined to comment.
© ES London Limited, 2009.
OrARoundabout
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last unicorn
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It's such a shame that Dublin is giving U2 so many trouble this tour.
lauramullen
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I think those residents need to grow up
dandysweets
Acrobat
i really hope this isn't true. it would be too silly suing over such a trivial matter 
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
If Nude is a registered trademark by Ali's company, it's normal to sue if someone is using this name for another product. I'm sure the matter gets solved amically.
lauramullen
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U2 returns to Britain: a sneak preview
Refusing to rehash past glories, the world’s least complacent band returns to the UK tonight on its latest tour
Andrew Mueller
Bono is introducing the stage set on U2’s first of two night in Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb. “How do you like our space junk?” he calls. The concerts on the 360º tour are delivered from beneath a vast edifice that does indeed resemble a landing craft (aptly, the show’s introductory fanfare is David Bowie’s Space Oddity). Four pillars, swaddled in reflective khaki and studded with orange nodules, support immense racks of speakers, lights, and a conical screen which, when it descends from the contraption’s innards, resembles the ignition of a booster rocket preparing for lift-off. “We built it,” Bono continues, “to take ourselves interesting places.”
This raises 62,000 cheers. Tonight is U2’s first show in Croatia, and their first in the former Yugoslavia since 1997, when they took their gaudy PopMart circus to Sarajevo. “We also built it,” Bono says, “to get closer to you. Intimacy on a grand scale. That’s what we were going for.”
Intimacy on a grand scale. It’s a declaration Bono could have made at any point in the 33 years since U2 formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, in the knowledge that it would be understood by the band’s adherents and derided by their detractors. But whichever of those legions one marches with, there’s no disputing the singular nature of what they have accomplished. With very few exceptions (and most of those solo artists: Dylan, Springsteen, Cohen, Young), rock artists who last do so by trading largely in nostalgia. U2 have outrun countless peers by doing the opposite. At every show on this tour so far, the first four songs have all come from No Line on the Horizon, the latest album.
The first night in Zagreb is a strange, interesting U2 show, perhaps derailed slightly by the early unfurling of One, which has served most of its life as an encore. What follows it is uneven, but with dazzling peaks. Edge and Bono duet on an acoustic Stay (Faraway, So Close!), Unforgettable Fire is fragile yet mighty, Vertigo still the best Pixies song the Pixies never wrote, and the current single I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight is souped up into a monstrous barrage of deranged disco. Such is the restlessness of U2: most bands would wait a while before dramatically rewriting songs from their current album.
Bono had the crowd eating from the palm of his hand
“That’s always part of the process,” smiles the Edge (born David Howell Evans) over lunch the following day. “After two weeks of playing, you realise, shit, that’s what it should be.” During last night’s show, the crowd had sung him a lusty Happy Birthday. It feels impossible that it was only the his 48th: for anyone who has listened to rock’n’roll these last three decades, U2 have been uniquely constant. They’ve maintained an unchanged line-up — and, more amazingly, maintained the four-way friendship between Edge, Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.
They’ve survived the stresses of colossal commercial triumph (most notably The Joshua Tree, in 1987, which has sold more than 25 million copies) and calamitous hubris (1988’s Rattle & Hum album and movie, which established a reputation for earnest portentousness that U2 spent most of the 1990s working to dismantle).
They continue to attract stadiumfuls of succeeding generations with records that refuse to rehash past glories. The Edge does not appear to believe that the secret is any great secret. “It’s just still so much fun,” he shrugs. “Though I’m not sure I’d be enjoying it quite so much if we were still going up and down the M1 in a coach, playing clubs.” As opposed to commuting between a Côte d’Azur villa and European stadiums on a private jet with your group’s name painted on the tail.
“We’re very lucky,” he understates. “But there’s never a moment of, ‘ho hum, here we go again’. Some nights don’t go off quite as big, but I always think that’s our fault.
“Ironically I had an awful show in Poland, personally, the other night. I didn't play well, had lots of stupid technical problems, was just uncomfortable all night. And it was one of the best shows of the tour. You can also have the best show you’ve had for weeks and for whatever reason the chemistry doesn’t go off. It’s humbling, in a good way — you realise, ‘Oh, I don’t really matter that much.’”
Leaving for work with Bono is not easy. The crowds outside the stately Esplanade hotel are polite, but there are a few hundred of them, most younger than Boy, many younger than Achtung Baby. I climb into the van waiting to deliver the singer to the stadium while Bono signs T-shirts, shakes hands, poses for pictures and accepts gifts. One fan with a booming baritone declaims vaguely congruent U2 lyrics. Bono’s ears prick at “Booo-Nooo! It takes a second to say goodbye!” (an obscure choice from U2’s second album, War). “Actually,” replies Bono, smiling at the throng, “it takes more than a few minutes.”
U2’s 48 hours in Zagreb have epitomised the cruelty of touring — you travel the world, and see none of it but hotels, venues, and the view out the window of the car between them. How do you figure out the right thing to say to 62,000 locals you’ve never met before? “I think about it during the day,” Bono says, “take some quiet time before the show. Sometimes I dig up research, like on that poet I quoted last night [the 17th-century Croatian writer Ivan Gundulic]. And from the One office [One International, the anti-poverty advocacy organisation Bono co-founded] I get a brief on what’s going on in the country for the last while, and pretty soon . . . you’re a bleedin’ expert.”
He laughs, which he does often, and generally at his own expense.
“All the west Balkans have had their share of brutality. Everyone in the region has this recent past that reminds them how thin a skin civilisation is.” Something which could also be said of U2’s homeland. “Indeed,” Bono agrees. “Right at the centre of a contradiction, that’s the place to be.”
Bono’s comfort with contradictions can be assessed by trying to think of someone else who would have felt at home introducing George W. Bush at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in 2006, and playing at Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009. “Yeah,” he nods. “Because that has been the story of our lives, and particularly my own — Catholic father, Protestant mother, and not just pretending to be both as a matter of necessity, but actually being both. I think I’ve always been there, I think the band have always been there, and we seem to enjoy compromising situations.”
How weird does being in U2 now feel? “It has never felt less weird,” he says. “We’ve come out the end of a storm. The thunder and lightning that fame feels like when you’re 20 turns out to be a little bit of inclement weather, not really worth hiding indoors from. You realise you don’t actually have to have your life turned upside down, you can have a family, and you don’t have to end up in rehab. There are more interesting viruses to catch than the common cold called self-consciousness.”
Is it that U2 are roaming universes uncharted by a rock band that obliges them to keep going, to see what happens next? “I don’t imagine that this will continue ad infinitum,” he says. “But I hope it does. There’s something very strong when the four of us walk into a building. I’m pretty famous so I’m used to walking into a room and having people look up, but when it’s the four of us the hairs on their necks stand up. What they don’t know is that that’s what’s happening to us as well. Which is really the bit that I’d still like to figure out.
“Age is an irrelevance. I mean, I think about the Clash, and I would be so interested — what would they be digging up now?”
The second night in Zagreb is tighter than the first, and less emotionally askew, possibly because One is returned to its encore slot. For Mysterious Ways, U2 are joined by a girl from the audience, who’d been brandishing a sign advertising her prowess as a belly dancer. Bono asks her name, and the crowd chant it enthusiastically: Simona will probably be president in ten years. As she descends from the stage, Bono treads warily through a brief homily to the proud and ancient traditions of the region. He knows his stuff: someone who seeks the centre of contradictions finds nowhere more inspiring and maddening than the Balkans.
“But the past is only to be respected so much,” he says. “Never more than the present or the future. And truly, that’s how we feel about our band.”
The song this introduces, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, is 22 years old. Its pertinence is undiminished.
U2 start the UK leg of their tour tonight at Wembley Stadium, U2.com > Welcome
Refusing to rehash past glories, the world’s least complacent band returns to the UK tonight on its latest tour
Andrew Mueller
Bono is introducing the stage set on U2’s first of two night in Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb. “How do you like our space junk?” he calls. The concerts on the 360º tour are delivered from beneath a vast edifice that does indeed resemble a landing craft (aptly, the show’s introductory fanfare is David Bowie’s Space Oddity). Four pillars, swaddled in reflective khaki and studded with orange nodules, support immense racks of speakers, lights, and a conical screen which, when it descends from the contraption’s innards, resembles the ignition of a booster rocket preparing for lift-off. “We built it,” Bono continues, “to take ourselves interesting places.”
This raises 62,000 cheers. Tonight is U2’s first show in Croatia, and their first in the former Yugoslavia since 1997, when they took their gaudy PopMart circus to Sarajevo. “We also built it,” Bono says, “to get closer to you. Intimacy on a grand scale. That’s what we were going for.”
Intimacy on a grand scale. It’s a declaration Bono could have made at any point in the 33 years since U2 formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, in the knowledge that it would be understood by the band’s adherents and derided by their detractors. But whichever of those legions one marches with, there’s no disputing the singular nature of what they have accomplished. With very few exceptions (and most of those solo artists: Dylan, Springsteen, Cohen, Young), rock artists who last do so by trading largely in nostalgia. U2 have outrun countless peers by doing the opposite. At every show on this tour so far, the first four songs have all come from No Line on the Horizon, the latest album.
The first night in Zagreb is a strange, interesting U2 show, perhaps derailed slightly by the early unfurling of One, which has served most of its life as an encore. What follows it is uneven, but with dazzling peaks. Edge and Bono duet on an acoustic Stay (Faraway, So Close!), Unforgettable Fire is fragile yet mighty, Vertigo still the best Pixies song the Pixies never wrote, and the current single I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight is souped up into a monstrous barrage of deranged disco. Such is the restlessness of U2: most bands would wait a while before dramatically rewriting songs from their current album.
Bono had the crowd eating from the palm of his hand
“That’s always part of the process,” smiles the Edge (born David Howell Evans) over lunch the following day. “After two weeks of playing, you realise, shit, that’s what it should be.” During last night’s show, the crowd had sung him a lusty Happy Birthday. It feels impossible that it was only the his 48th: for anyone who has listened to rock’n’roll these last three decades, U2 have been uniquely constant. They’ve maintained an unchanged line-up — and, more amazingly, maintained the four-way friendship between Edge, Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.
They’ve survived the stresses of colossal commercial triumph (most notably The Joshua Tree, in 1987, which has sold more than 25 million copies) and calamitous hubris (1988’s Rattle & Hum album and movie, which established a reputation for earnest portentousness that U2 spent most of the 1990s working to dismantle).
They continue to attract stadiumfuls of succeeding generations with records that refuse to rehash past glories. The Edge does not appear to believe that the secret is any great secret. “It’s just still so much fun,” he shrugs. “Though I’m not sure I’d be enjoying it quite so much if we were still going up and down the M1 in a coach, playing clubs.” As opposed to commuting between a Côte d’Azur villa and European stadiums on a private jet with your group’s name painted on the tail.
“We’re very lucky,” he understates. “But there’s never a moment of, ‘ho hum, here we go again’. Some nights don’t go off quite as big, but I always think that’s our fault.
“Ironically I had an awful show in Poland, personally, the other night. I didn't play well, had lots of stupid technical problems, was just uncomfortable all night. And it was one of the best shows of the tour. You can also have the best show you’ve had for weeks and for whatever reason the chemistry doesn’t go off. It’s humbling, in a good way — you realise, ‘Oh, I don’t really matter that much.’”
Leaving for work with Bono is not easy. The crowds outside the stately Esplanade hotel are polite, but there are a few hundred of them, most younger than Boy, many younger than Achtung Baby. I climb into the van waiting to deliver the singer to the stadium while Bono signs T-shirts, shakes hands, poses for pictures and accepts gifts. One fan with a booming baritone declaims vaguely congruent U2 lyrics. Bono’s ears prick at “Booo-Nooo! It takes a second to say goodbye!” (an obscure choice from U2’s second album, War). “Actually,” replies Bono, smiling at the throng, “it takes more than a few minutes.”
U2’s 48 hours in Zagreb have epitomised the cruelty of touring — you travel the world, and see none of it but hotels, venues, and the view out the window of the car between them. How do you figure out the right thing to say to 62,000 locals you’ve never met before? “I think about it during the day,” Bono says, “take some quiet time before the show. Sometimes I dig up research, like on that poet I quoted last night [the 17th-century Croatian writer Ivan Gundulic]. And from the One office [One International, the anti-poverty advocacy organisation Bono co-founded] I get a brief on what’s going on in the country for the last while, and pretty soon . . . you’re a bleedin’ expert.”
He laughs, which he does often, and generally at his own expense.
“All the west Balkans have had their share of brutality. Everyone in the region has this recent past that reminds them how thin a skin civilisation is.” Something which could also be said of U2’s homeland. “Indeed,” Bono agrees. “Right at the centre of a contradiction, that’s the place to be.”
Bono’s comfort with contradictions can be assessed by trying to think of someone else who would have felt at home introducing George W. Bush at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in 2006, and playing at Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009. “Yeah,” he nods. “Because that has been the story of our lives, and particularly my own — Catholic father, Protestant mother, and not just pretending to be both as a matter of necessity, but actually being both. I think I’ve always been there, I think the band have always been there, and we seem to enjoy compromising situations.”
How weird does being in U2 now feel? “It has never felt less weird,” he says. “We’ve come out the end of a storm. The thunder and lightning that fame feels like when you’re 20 turns out to be a little bit of inclement weather, not really worth hiding indoors from. You realise you don’t actually have to have your life turned upside down, you can have a family, and you don’t have to end up in rehab. There are more interesting viruses to catch than the common cold called self-consciousness.”
Is it that U2 are roaming universes uncharted by a rock band that obliges them to keep going, to see what happens next? “I don’t imagine that this will continue ad infinitum,” he says. “But I hope it does. There’s something very strong when the four of us walk into a building. I’m pretty famous so I’m used to walking into a room and having people look up, but when it’s the four of us the hairs on their necks stand up. What they don’t know is that that’s what’s happening to us as well. Which is really the bit that I’d still like to figure out.
“Age is an irrelevance. I mean, I think about the Clash, and I would be so interested — what would they be digging up now?”
The second night in Zagreb is tighter than the first, and less emotionally askew, possibly because One is returned to its encore slot. For Mysterious Ways, U2 are joined by a girl from the audience, who’d been brandishing a sign advertising her prowess as a belly dancer. Bono asks her name, and the crowd chant it enthusiastically: Simona will probably be president in ten years. As she descends from the stage, Bono treads warily through a brief homily to the proud and ancient traditions of the region. He knows his stuff: someone who seeks the centre of contradictions finds nowhere more inspiring and maddening than the Balkans.
“But the past is only to be respected so much,” he says. “Never more than the present or the future. And truly, that’s how we feel about our band.”
The song this introduces, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, is 22 years old. Its pertinence is undiminished.
U2 start the UK leg of their tour tonight at Wembley Stadium, U2.com > Welcome
dandysweets
Acrobat
like mentioned in the pics-thread, seemingly no sign of adam at edge's birthday party. hmn!?!?!?
ShowBiz Ireland - The Edge Turns 48 in France...
ShowBiz Ireland - The Edge Turns 48 in France...
dandysweets
Acrobat
yeah i hope so. i just don't understand how she can have Nude as a registered trademark when the company isn't actually called Nude, but Edun!?
CORRECTION: Just realised that of course Ali DOES have a company called Nude Skincare, sorry about that, but still...
Besides, a lot of companies use the word Nude - surely no one can actually own that word?!?!?
Funnily enough, my aunt's middle name is Edun (true) - does that mean she can sue Ali's company? - just joking
lauramullen
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- Aug 9, 2002
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U2 go a stage further for the city spectacular
The stage during the U2 360 opener at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on June 30th
Published Date: 13 August 2009
By Peter Kay
ONCE the Eagles have flown from Don Valley next Thursday night, the rock music team will move in.
Setting up the stage for U2's Sheffield concert is a mammoth operation, taking seven days to ensure that everything is just right for Bono and the boys.
If you thought the Stones pulled out all the stops with their production that dominated one end of Don Valley Stadium in 1996, U2 are effectively taking it a stage further.
It's called the 360º tour and the stage design reflects that. The work of show designer Willie Williams and architect Mark Fisher, it sees the band on a circular stage in the middle of the audience, part of a colossal spaceship-like structure. Speakers are incorporated in four legs that rise 164 feet to support a cylindrical video screen.
And that takes some assembling.
The Stones' show involved more than 90 trucks rolling into the east end of Sheffield. For U2 it is likely to be more than 120.
A specialist crew of up to 450 will get to work so that 50,000 fans can enjoy the performance next Thursday. On the night Sheffield International Venues, which runs the stadium, will have about 200 staff working, everybody from cleaners to bar workers and maintenance workers. Then there are the 500 stewards.
Don Valley general manager Pat Smith takes its all in his stride. After all, the stadium has been hosting concerts since 1993 when Def Leppard played to their biggest home crowd.
"It's kind of normal business," says Pat. "We are working with professionals. But it's exciting and it's going to be a tremendous show."
At the same time there is no disguising his pride in Sheffield, his home city, securing one of only two English dates (the other is Wembley) for the latest tour by arguably the biggest rock group in the world.
In U2's eyes at least Sheffield is on a par with the likes of Barcelona, Paris, Berlin and Milan as they tour Europe with their latest album, No Line On The Horizon.
And it's not by accident, says Pat. It's recognition that the city as a whole has improved its profile and demonstrated its enthusiasm for the big music names.
"The city has shown that it wants to help with events like this. It's not just Don Valley. As a city we have shown that we are welcoming. Sheffield is the right place to come."
Ultimately, he points out, it's the artists who decide where to go, so the U2 date is a tremendous boost for Sheffield's reputation as well as offering a sharp economic boost through the spending in hotels, restaurants, bars and shops.
Securing such events is a hugely competitive business and Don Valley has had to wait three years for the next one to come along.
After the Stones Pat didn't think things could get bigger. But they did.
The stage during the U2 360 opener at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on June 30th
Published Date: 13 August 2009
By Peter Kay
ONCE the Eagles have flown from Don Valley next Thursday night, the rock music team will move in.
Setting up the stage for U2's Sheffield concert is a mammoth operation, taking seven days to ensure that everything is just right for Bono and the boys.
If you thought the Stones pulled out all the stops with their production that dominated one end of Don Valley Stadium in 1996, U2 are effectively taking it a stage further.
It's called the 360º tour and the stage design reflects that. The work of show designer Willie Williams and architect Mark Fisher, it sees the band on a circular stage in the middle of the audience, part of a colossal spaceship-like structure. Speakers are incorporated in four legs that rise 164 feet to support a cylindrical video screen.
And that takes some assembling.
The Stones' show involved more than 90 trucks rolling into the east end of Sheffield. For U2 it is likely to be more than 120.
A specialist crew of up to 450 will get to work so that 50,000 fans can enjoy the performance next Thursday. On the night Sheffield International Venues, which runs the stadium, will have about 200 staff working, everybody from cleaners to bar workers and maintenance workers. Then there are the 500 stewards.
Don Valley general manager Pat Smith takes its all in his stride. After all, the stadium has been hosting concerts since 1993 when Def Leppard played to their biggest home crowd.
"It's kind of normal business," says Pat. "We are working with professionals. But it's exciting and it's going to be a tremendous show."
At the same time there is no disguising his pride in Sheffield, his home city, securing one of only two English dates (the other is Wembley) for the latest tour by arguably the biggest rock group in the world.
In U2's eyes at least Sheffield is on a par with the likes of Barcelona, Paris, Berlin and Milan as they tour Europe with their latest album, No Line On The Horizon.
And it's not by accident, says Pat. It's recognition that the city as a whole has improved its profile and demonstrated its enthusiasm for the big music names.
"The city has shown that it wants to help with events like this. It's not just Don Valley. As a city we have shown that we are welcoming. Sheffield is the right place to come."
Ultimately, he points out, it's the artists who decide where to go, so the U2 date is a tremendous boost for Sheffield's reputation as well as offering a sharp economic boost through the spending in hotels, restaurants, bars and shops.
Securing such events is a hugely competitive business and Don Valley has had to wait three years for the next one to come along.
After the Stones Pat didn't think things could get bigger. But they did.
bonocomet
Blue Crack Distributor
Funnily enough, my aunt's middle name is Edun (true) - does that mean she can sue Ali's company? - just joking
Actually, as bizarre as it seems Ali could actually sue your aunt!
I have friends with the same last name as a popular clothing company. When they opened a tiny mom and pop boutique of 1 store in their small home town (not even selling the same type of clothing) the big company swooped in, sued and won!
dandysweets
Acrobat
Actually, as bizarre as it seems Ali could actually sue your aunt!
I have friends with the same last name as a popular clothing company. When they opened a tiny mom and pop boutique of 1 store in their small home town (not even selling the same type of clothing) the big company swooped in, sued and won!
oh my god. i'll better call my aunt right away and ask her to change her name - just to be on the safe side
i suppose she could change it to Nedu, or is that also taken? about your friends with the boutique; that sounds really terrible, i hope they are alright.
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