ladywithspinninghead
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Hmmm, a protest party...Looks like Bono wants something in return for U2 playing here!
PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2005.03.08
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Arts
PAGE: E1 / Front
BYLINE: Lynn Saxberg, With files from Mike Blanchfield
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen
Hello, Bono? Can you please play Ottawa?
U2 is coming to Ottawa for the first time in 20 years, and according to the Prime Minister's Office, it's all because of a phone conversation between Paul Martin and U2 singer Bono.
The band will play the Corel Centre on Nov. 25 as part of the fall leg of the Vertigo tour announced yesterday. The 33-date North American excursion starts with two shows in Toronto on Sept. 12 and 14, and a show at Montreal's Bell Centre on Nov. 26. They play Vancouver's GM Place on April 28 and 29 on the first leg of the tour.
The band is touring behind its 11th studio disc, How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
"Paul Martin asked us to to play the gig," Bono said in a statement, "and we were delighted for three reasons:
"One, 18,000 Ottawans is going to be a great night out... two, because if Paul Martin agrees to give 0.7% national income to the poorest people in the world it will be a great celebration party."
"Three, if he doesn't it will be a great protest party. Eighteen thousand Canadians calling and requesting their prime minister give 0.7 per cent GNP to aid will be an historic night out."
Martin became involved with the effort to bring U2 to Ottawa in response to a petition launched by radio personality and U2 fan Sandy Sharkey. Three thousand fans signed the petition, which asked the prime minister to encourage Bono to perform in Ottawa.
When Martin phoned in to Sharkey's BOB-FM morning show Feb. 15, he told the station he would do whatever he could to get the band to play Ottawa. Martin joked that if he was successful, the station should be renamed Paul-FM for one day.
That's happening tomorrow, Sharkey confirmed, and Martin will again be her guest as BOB-FM becomes Paul-FM.
"His presence is what blew the whole thing up," Sharkey said. "After he weighed in, the story got picked up by every single U2 website. He's going to tell us what happened in the conversation with Bono, and give us the juicy details."
Martin and Bono met three years ago at an International Monetary Fund summit in Prague and have struck a friendship, based largely on Martin's efforts as finance minister in the 1990s to encourage rich countries to forgive Third World debt.
Bono gave a keynote speech at the Liberals' 2003 convention in which Martin succeeded Jean Chretien as prime minister, and he urged Martin to boost foreign aid and help Africa.
The Irish rocker and Windsor, Ont.,-born prime minister "talk occasionally," said Melanie Gruer, a spokeswoman for Martin.
The band has not played Ottawa since the mid-1980s, when it sold out the Civic Centre.
Arthur Fogel, president of tour-production company the Next Adventure, a division of Clear Channel Entertainment, confirmed the Ottawa performance happened because of the radio-station petition.
"Details of the station's campaign, along with Paul Martin's support efforts, were forwarded to the band through our office," Fogel said in a statement.
But it's not certain that Martin will join festivities at the Corel Centre in November.
"He's very keen on going to the concert," Gruer explained. "It's right around the time of the Commonwealth meeting in Malta, so I guess we'll see how his schedule unfolds."
When he's not fronting U2, Bono is a tireless advocate for Third World debt relief and has lent his support to worldwide efforts to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa. Several years ago, he toured the continent with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.
On the weekend, Bono's name was bandied about in Washington as a possible successor to the head of the World Bank.
He is also believed to be on the list of this year's nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize.
But he'll be busy with his day job in the foreseeable future. After a month of rehearsals at Vancouver's GM Place, the Vertigo tour begins in San Diego on March 28. Last month, 370,000 tickets for 21 arena performances on the first leg of the tour sold out in record time, including the two shows in Vancouver.
Tickets go on sale March 19 for the fall dates, but don't bother joining the band's online fan club in hopes of getting your seats early. After the fiasco of the first pre-sale, when fan-club members were outmaneuvered by scalpers, the band issued an apology and promised unlucky U2.com members they'd get tickets for the second leg. But the website now warns new subscribers there won't be a pre-sale opportunity at all.
Tickets are $49.50 for general-admission floor access, and $95 or $160 for reserved seats in the stands. Surcharges are extra. There is a limit of eight tickets per order, including two general-admission tickets. They go on sale at 10 a.m. March 19 at the Corel Centre box office, and all Ottawa-Gatineau Sports Experts locations.
An opening act has yet to be confirmed.
PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2005.03.08
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Arts
PAGE: E1 / Front
BYLINE: Lynn Saxberg, With files from Mike Blanchfield
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen
Hello, Bono? Can you please play Ottawa?
U2 is coming to Ottawa for the first time in 20 years, and according to the Prime Minister's Office, it's all because of a phone conversation between Paul Martin and U2 singer Bono.
The band will play the Corel Centre on Nov. 25 as part of the fall leg of the Vertigo tour announced yesterday. The 33-date North American excursion starts with two shows in Toronto on Sept. 12 and 14, and a show at Montreal's Bell Centre on Nov. 26. They play Vancouver's GM Place on April 28 and 29 on the first leg of the tour.
The band is touring behind its 11th studio disc, How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
"Paul Martin asked us to to play the gig," Bono said in a statement, "and we were delighted for three reasons:
"One, 18,000 Ottawans is going to be a great night out... two, because if Paul Martin agrees to give 0.7% national income to the poorest people in the world it will be a great celebration party."
"Three, if he doesn't it will be a great protest party. Eighteen thousand Canadians calling and requesting their prime minister give 0.7 per cent GNP to aid will be an historic night out."
Martin became involved with the effort to bring U2 to Ottawa in response to a petition launched by radio personality and U2 fan Sandy Sharkey. Three thousand fans signed the petition, which asked the prime minister to encourage Bono to perform in Ottawa.
When Martin phoned in to Sharkey's BOB-FM morning show Feb. 15, he told the station he would do whatever he could to get the band to play Ottawa. Martin joked that if he was successful, the station should be renamed Paul-FM for one day.
That's happening tomorrow, Sharkey confirmed, and Martin will again be her guest as BOB-FM becomes Paul-FM.
"His presence is what blew the whole thing up," Sharkey said. "After he weighed in, the story got picked up by every single U2 website. He's going to tell us what happened in the conversation with Bono, and give us the juicy details."
Martin and Bono met three years ago at an International Monetary Fund summit in Prague and have struck a friendship, based largely on Martin's efforts as finance minister in the 1990s to encourage rich countries to forgive Third World debt.
Bono gave a keynote speech at the Liberals' 2003 convention in which Martin succeeded Jean Chretien as prime minister, and he urged Martin to boost foreign aid and help Africa.
The Irish rocker and Windsor, Ont.,-born prime minister "talk occasionally," said Melanie Gruer, a spokeswoman for Martin.
The band has not played Ottawa since the mid-1980s, when it sold out the Civic Centre.
Arthur Fogel, president of tour-production company the Next Adventure, a division of Clear Channel Entertainment, confirmed the Ottawa performance happened because of the radio-station petition.
"Details of the station's campaign, along with Paul Martin's support efforts, were forwarded to the band through our office," Fogel said in a statement.
But it's not certain that Martin will join festivities at the Corel Centre in November.
"He's very keen on going to the concert," Gruer explained. "It's right around the time of the Commonwealth meeting in Malta, so I guess we'll see how his schedule unfolds."
When he's not fronting U2, Bono is a tireless advocate for Third World debt relief and has lent his support to worldwide efforts to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa. Several years ago, he toured the continent with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.
On the weekend, Bono's name was bandied about in Washington as a possible successor to the head of the World Bank.
He is also believed to be on the list of this year's nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize.
But he'll be busy with his day job in the foreseeable future. After a month of rehearsals at Vancouver's GM Place, the Vertigo tour begins in San Diego on March 28. Last month, 370,000 tickets for 21 arena performances on the first leg of the tour sold out in record time, including the two shows in Vancouver.
Tickets go on sale March 19 for the fall dates, but don't bother joining the band's online fan club in hopes of getting your seats early. After the fiasco of the first pre-sale, when fan-club members were outmaneuvered by scalpers, the band issued an apology and promised unlucky U2.com members they'd get tickets for the second leg. But the website now warns new subscribers there won't be a pre-sale opportunity at all.
Tickets are $49.50 for general-admission floor access, and $95 or $160 for reserved seats in the stands. Surcharges are extra. There is a limit of eight tickets per order, including two general-admission tickets. They go on sale at 10 a.m. March 19 at the Corel Centre box office, and all Ottawa-Gatineau Sports Experts locations.
An opening act has yet to be confirmed.
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