Glastonbury performance disappointing because of Bono's shoes?

[Steved1998]

U2’s Bono blames disappointing Glastonbury show on the ‘wrong shoes’ | News | NME.COM

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November 1, 2011 19:25

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U2’s Bono blames disappointing Glastonbury show on the ‘wrong shoes’

Apparently the 'ice rink' stage left them 'freaked out'

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U2 frontman Bono has said that the “wrong shoes” were the reason why his band’s headline set at this summer’s Glastonbury Festival was a disappointment.

Apparently his footwear and the "ice rink" like stage, which was caused by the rain, were not a good match. Talking to Q magazine, the singer explained that there were a number of factors which lead the show being less than impressive in his eyes. He said:

There were a couple of things... There was a DJ under the stage, playing music in between sets, and he bumped into our keyboard computer. So we lost all the keyboards… I walked out and realised that the stage was like an ice rink and I was wearing the wrong shoes. I couldn't move – I was stuck on the spot. We were a bit freaked out.


In another recent interview, Bono raised questions about the U2’s future, admitting that the Irish four piece, who reissued their 1991 album 'Achtung Baby' yesterday (October 31), have become irritated by him questioning the relevance of the rock veterans in the current musical climate.

He told Rolling Stone: “I'm not so sure the future hasn't dried up. The band are like, 'Will you shut up about being irrelevant?' We'd be very pleased to end on [2009 studio album] 'No Line On The Horizon' [but] I doubt that.”

Guitarist The Edge said the band, who recently completed their '360' world tour, may return next year but "it's equally possible that they won't".



Maybe Bono didn't watch the same performance I saw.. I thought they were pretty good. I guess you guys know what to get him for Christmas now.


I wasn't sure where to put this since the tour forums were closed so move it or lock it or merge it if it's in the wrong place.

 

[Galeongirl]

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f189/all-is-u2-breaking-up-discussion-212651.html


It was being discussed somewhere in that thread. It's all the same Q interview taking horribly out of context. So all the press jumped on it and now U2 were breaking up. But PaulMcGuinne$$ told them he has to eat, so they got back together and started working again to raise $$.

 

[Steved1998]

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f189/all-is-u2-breaking-up-discussion-212651.html


It was being discussed somewhere in that thread. It's all the same Q interview taking horribly out of context. So all the press jumped on it and now U2 were breaking up. But PaulMcGuinne$$ told them he has to eat, so they got back together and started working again to raise $$.

Thank you for summing up that thread. Somebody has to think of poor Paul.

Hopefully this thread will focus on Bono's footwear and their effect on the Glastonbury performance and not OMG U2 ARE BREAKING UP

 

[rennowba]

I was there about 5 people from the front barrier.the atmosphere down the front was great.

The first song was awful at first i couldnt work out what version of the real thing they were playing. The guitars were to low and i couldnt hear a thing bono was singing.

Then the fly was incredible probaly the best live song ive ever heard.

From the fly onwards it was great they did cock the begining of streets up which i didnt notice but i could hear it on tv when i watched it back.

it was great up until 2 3rds through the show.bonos vocals went very low ,abit to low and that carried on until the end of the gig.

This should of been the greatest glastonbury gig ever but it wasnt.it should of gone down in history.

It was great dont get me wrong but it should have been a special gig but i dont think it was.

Alot of things went against u2 for some reason they put themselves under so much pressure to do it,there the best live
Band ever it was a breeze to them so why all the pressure.

Having to cancel the gig added more pressure, having to jet from the usa didnt help.

Morissey was a poor warm up he killed the crowd where as elbow really got it hot for coldplay who were amazing.

And the bloody rain,my god ive never seen rain like that.

If u2 had done the saturday with elbow as
Warm up and if they had the blazing hot sun i reckon it would have been different

All in all it was. a great gig but it wasnt what it should have been!

 

[rennowba]

The article actualy says that chris martin handed bono his arse on a plate after the
Glastonbury weekend.

Coldplay were amazing that weekend thats the best they will ever perform,u2 were good but ive seen them better
Elsewhere which rips coldplays glastonbury show to shreds.

 

[Steved1998]

I was there about 5 people from the front barrier.the atmosphere down the front was great.

The first song was awful at first i couldnt work out what version of the real thing they were playing. The guitars were to low and i couldnt hear a thing bono was singing.

Then the fly was incredible probaly the best live song ive ever heard.

From the fly onwards it was great they did cock the begining of streets up which i didnt notice but i could hear it on tv when i watched it back.

it was great up until 2 3rds through the show.bonos vocals went very low ,abit to low and that carried on until the end of the gig.

This should of been the greatest glastonbury gig ever but it wasnt.it should of gone down in history.

It was great dont get me wrong but it should have been a special gig but i dont think it was.

Alot of things went against u2 for some reason they put themselves under so much pressure to do it,there the best live
Band ever it was a breeze to them so why all the pressure.

Having to cancel the gig added more pressure, having to jet from the usa didnt help.

Morissey was a poor warm up he killed the crowd where as elbow really got it hot for coldplay who were amazing.

And the bloody rain,my god ive never seen rain like that.

If u2 had done the saturday with elbow as
Warm up and if they had the blazing hot sun i reckon it would have been different

All in all it was. a great gig but it wasnt what it should have been!

Bono should have put on his boots

 

[Pop Artist]

If Bono still wore those gigantor crepe soles that he did before 360, he wouldn't have had problems!

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Bono should have put on his boots

Sexy boots?

 

[Galeongirl]

Bono should have put on his boots

 

[last unicorn]

This issue has been discussed in several threads including the one about the Q article when the Q issue first came out. In fact, Q is stirring up drama by calling the performance "disappointing". We all know U2 are very critical of their work and performances, but given the terrible circumstances of their performance at the festival, they still did very good. It was as if almost everything, including the elements, were against them. They were under a lot of stress and pressure and obviously very nervous, plus it wasn't their audience. Still, they gave a great performance. Bono didn't "blame" anyone or anything for the stuff that went wrong, there just were a lot of factors that night, one of them was the slippery stage and if I had an injury like Bono had a year ago I wouldn't set foot on such a stage. I'm sure it WAS frightening. One false move and they could have kissed the tour goodbye with Bono heading back to hospital. I'm sure U2 wanted a much much better show and much better conditions, but it happened the way it happened and there's no use crying over what obviously couldn't be changed.

 

[bono_man2002]

Here I was all along blaming Adams left Sleeve on his jacket for the average performance.

 

[lemonfly]

Bono and Edge seemed pretty nervous throughout, Adam played like he didn't have a care in the world (I thought he was great) and Larry looked constipated as per usual. It pains me to say it but, yes, Coldplay were much better. But then Chris Martian didn't have to worry about slipping and falling on his ass in front of the eyes of the world.

 

[TheEdge25]

Even if Bono had slipped and fallen on his ass he could have just laid there and played it out like he meant to do it by moaning and continuing to sing the song.

He's done that dozens of times.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

U2 are better when they're in their own environment and comfortable. Period.

 

[bono_212]

There were a couple of things... There was a DJ under the stage, playing music in between sets, and he bumped into our keyboard computer. So we lost all the keyboards…

Maybe, then, you should acknowledge the fact that there's a pretty cool guy down there playing keyboards one more and more of your songs recently, and NOT make him hide under the stage.

Seriously, I can't think of anything quite as fucked up as that.

 

[Dfit00]

Even if Bono had slipped and fallen on his ass he could have just laid there and played it out like he meant to do it by moaning and continuing to sing the song.

He's done that dozens of times.

Wouldn't that have been lovely?

BONO FALLS OF STAGE - YouTube

Seriously, I think the shoes is a lame excuse. He has over $900 million and he can't get a good pair of shoes when he's aware that England has shitty weather and rains most of the time?

 

[chocky]

Seriously, I think the shoes is a lame excuse. He has over $900 million and he can't get a good pair of shoes when he's aware that England has shitty weather and rains most of the time?

Sure but if you'd recently broken your back and brought shoes that made you feel unstable, wouldn't you feel nervous?

 

[chocky]

Maybe, then, you should acknowledge the fact that there's a pretty cool guy down there playing keyboards one more and more of your songs recently, and NOT make him hide under the stage.

Seriously, I can't think of anything quite as fucked up as that.

Yeah, I don't know why the hide him.

No-one cared when Talking Heads, Sting, Peter Gabriel had 20 people on stage. Green Day have 2 permanent touring musicians as do other trios and 4 piece bands. Fans don't care. And U2's biggest fans are already well aware of Terry Lawless.

 

[bono_212]

Yeah, I don't know why the hide him.

No-one cared when Talking Heads, Sting, Peter Gabriel had 20 people on stage. Green Day have 2 permanent touring musicians as do other trios and 4 piece bands. Fans don't care. And U2's biggest fans are already well aware of Terry Lawless.

It makes me mad, when I think about it, to be perfectly honest.

 

[rennowba]

I forgot to mention those bloody protests.all the build up and the aftermath to their glasto gig was about them.

 

[Dfit00]

Sure but if you'd recently broken your back and brought shoes that made you feel unstable, wouldn't you feel nervous?

He didn't break his back, it was his sciatic nerve that got compressed.

Even with this reason it still doesn't cut it, it had been over a year since the injury occurred and received world class medical attention.

 

[mama cass]

He didn't break his back, it was his sciatic nerve that got compressed.

Even with this reason it still doesn't cut it, it had been over a year since the injury occurred and received world class medical attention.

don't you mean his spinal cord?

after the kind of surgery B had, and with the risks entailed, you seriously wouldn't want to be throwing yourself about, really!

so yeah i do understand him being worried about slipping on that stage...

fwiw, i saw the show on tv, and i thought the boys did a fantastic job against all the odds, weather, technical glitches, antagonist element of the crowd and people in general wanting to see them fall flat on their faces... but they didn't! they produced a great professional gig by normal standards... they went out there and got the job done! and a good one at that! i think the problem is U2 and their fans know their live potential, and maybe they feel they didn't quite get there that night, but that's just because we're comparing U2 with U2 lol!

 

[rennowba]

i think the problem is U2 and their fans know their live potential, and maybe they feel they didn't quite get there that night, but that's just because we're comparing U2 with U2 lol!

You have hit the nail on the head there.

There glastonbury performance was great but it should have been the greatest glastonbury moment ever but it wasnt.

 

[last unicorn]

Even if Bono had slipped and fallen on his ass he could have just laid there and played it out like he meant to do it by moaning and continuing to sing the song.

He's done that dozens of times.

Sure but if you'd recently broken your back and brought shoes that made you feel unstable, wouldn't you feel nervous?

He didn't break his back, it was his sciatic nerve that got compressed.

Even with this reason it still doesn't cut it, it had been over a year since the injury occurred and received world class medical attention.

These comments are making me really mad, seriously. You people really have no idea. Go and do some research. If you knew only half about the kind of injury B had you wouldn't be saying this stuff. This is just ignorant. He had a very serious injury and could have ended up in a wheelchair. I don't make excuses by B and I have a lot of stuff to complain about when it comes to Bono commenting on certain issues, but his back injury isn't something to joke about. I don't think any of you saying stuff like this have an idea about the real nature of such a injury, how painful and traumatizing it can be and how much it keeps affecting a person, yes, Bono as well, he's still limbing today because of it.

And I won't comment on this injury issue any further because Bono's personal medical problems are really nobody's business, it makes me feel uncomforable to discuss this stuff.

Stop blaming Bono for everything that's gone wrong. For a change, not everything about the not so fortunate Glastonbury performance was his fault. Some fans are worse than the man's worst enemies and try to do anything to make Bono look bad just because he fails to live up to their own expectations. I'm sure Bono is critical enough of his own performance.

Maybe, then, you should acknowledge the fact that there's a pretty cool guy down there playing keyboards one more and more of your songs recently, and NOT make him hide under the stage.

Seriously, I can't think of anything quite as fucked up as that.

The guy playing underneath the stage in Glastonbury had nothing to do with U2, it was a local DJ playing music in between sets. I don't get your comments at all. If you mean Terry Lawless: Bono DID acknowledge him all the time on stage.They are not hiding him. U2 have always been a four piece band. If they don't want any musician on stage with them, that's fine. I wouldn't mind if Terry or anyone else would be up there on stage with them, but I don't feel they are lying or hiding him or anything.

But of course we all know Bono is a liar so, yes, he's probably lying about Terry too.

 

[bono_212]

Read a bit closer next time. The Dj knocked over The keyboard equipment. If it was up on the stage where it belonged, it may not have happened. Don't know that for sure, since it was the computers for the keyboard, but it still just makes me think about how wrong I find it to be that they hide someone featured so prominently on so many songs under the stage.

 

[mama cass]

but it still just makes me think about how wrong I find it to be that they hide someone featured so prominently on so many songs under the stage.

maybe he's shy?

 

[U2girl]

Yeah, I don't know why the hide him.

No-one cared when Talking Heads, Sting, Peter Gabriel had 20 people on stage. Green Day have 2 permanent touring musicians as do other trios and 4 piece bands. Fans don't care. And U2's biggest fans are already well aware of Terry Lawless.

Most U2 fans probably don't know he's there. And the computers contribute more to their shows than he does.

I find it bizzare when a 4 piece rock band has an army of additional musicians and/or dancers on stage. Unless it's like REM's situation and you have to replace someone in the studio/live because someone left the band.

 

[Vlaco]

These comments are making me really mad, seriously.|

You're really mad because of some comments on the internet? If I were you, I couldn't care less....really.....

 

[gvox]

A few reality checks:

Terry has more than just a keyboard or two going on, and it may be impractical for him to have all that onstage all the time. There`s a much greater chance that Bono would knock something over than there is that someone in the underworld would.

Also, fwiw he`s only been with them the last 10-11 years of their 30. It`s not necessary to have him up there all the time.

Finally, Edge is on record as saying that he is a, quote, incredibly modest man. He may not even want to be up there with them, he has his own band that he fronts.

 

[gvox]

And the computers contribute more to their shows than he does.

False.