PLEBA Misc U2 News and Articles #2

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Hey guys...I was wondering (sorry if this has already been posted/requested!) if anyone has the BBC radio 2 interview the band did earlier this year? (with Chris Evans)
It was done around the time when they performed on Jonathan Ross, and did the interview on radio 1 with Jo Whiley? (all the BBC promo baisically)

:hmm:
 
Derry author makes debut with U2


Derry Journal, September 04, 2009

A dedicated Derry U2 fan and first time author is using the Irish supergroup's 30 year career as a backdrop to his own life story.

Cathal McCarron said the love of the band began as a young boy in his Foyle Springs home and over the last 24 years the group has been one of the few constants in his life.

That relationship now serves as a backdrop to the young author's life story in "Me &U2, their music, my life."

"Outside of my family life and a few life long friends, my relationship with U2 is arguably the longest lasting relationship in my life. In that sense, much as the same way Nick Hornby does with Arsenal Football Club in Fever Pitch, it made sense shape the book around that relationship" he told the 'Journal'.

"This is the story of the many places where, the many times when, and the many ways how, U2 have inspired, entertained, influenced and enraged me: with their music, their lyrics, their concerts and their concepts."

The debut author, who has published the book himself, said writing the autobiographical work proved to be a cathartic experience.

"I started around February and over the course of 11 or 12 weeks it started to come together. At times I was writing a year of my life in a single night, then going back over it.

"It proved to be a lot of fun and it was great going over so many memories."

Cathal said to date the feedback from the book has been "very positive."

He said the book's appeal was not limited only to U2 fans.

"Someone said to me that its refreshing to read a book about growing up in Derry that doesn't focus on the Troubles as such. In the first third of the book have tried to capture the era, a sense of what it was like growing up in Derry."

Cathal, who files to the US next week to see U2 said there was no doubt as to what he would do should sales of the book take off.

"Ideally the book will fund my travels. This year U2 are playing in the States, Canada and possibly Australia and New Zealand. I would love to have enough money to travel with them," he said.

The Derryman's book can be purchased online at www.meandu2.net.
(c) Derry Journal, 2009.
 
There's a Q&A with Edge in Entertainment weekly about It Might Get Loud. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a scanner at the moment so I can't post it. And I can't find it on the web.

The Edge


What happens when you put The Edge, Jack White, and Jimmy Page in a revealing music documentary ('It Might Get Loud,' in theaters now)? U2's axman spills. - Dan Snierson


What was your first reaction when you were asked to be in this documentary?
I'd met Jimmy once, and waved at Jack at an awards show, but I'd never had a proper conversation with either. I thought that, no matter what happened, it was going to be interesting. There was a sense of the unknown.


What was the weirdest moment?
It was the early, more tentative phase, where three of the most well-known guitar players in the world weren't making a sound that was particularly great. You don't walk out there and create something great just because you have in the past. And, early on, there was not much to write home about. [Laughs] We did “Bullet the Blue Skye” for a second, and it was like, “Whoa, this is really not going anywhere.” Then, when we played “In My Time of Dying,” slowly you just see people relaxing. There's a certain spark at the end of that session where a little bit of magic comes through.


Is Loud just for guitar geeks?
It's not a guitar players' documentary. It will appeal to anybody interested in the creative process. Davis Guggenheim [the director, who also helmed An Inconvenient Truth] managed to avoid all the awful clich[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]é[/FONT]s. Spinal Tap is the nightmare scenario. In the wrong hands, the subject matter could become farcical, nerdy, and not interesting.


Got a favorite White Stripes song?
“Seven Nation Army”is amazing. I wrote this sketch of a song which I was really excited about. I went over to my brother's house and told him, “Dik, I gotta play you this new tune!” After about 16 bars he says, “Edge, that is 'Seven Nation Army.'” I said, “What? Get out of here! Is not!” I went back and listened, and it wasn't exactly, but it was way too close. I played it for Jack, and he was like, “Mmm, it's a bit close, isn't it?”


U2's tour hits the U.S. next week. What should we expect?
For years we've been trying to figure out a way to make those big stadiums more intimate. So with this new production design, the stage is [at least] a hundred feet closer to the back of the stadium. And we've created these ramps that go into the center of the crowd, so we're able to make that connection with the audience. We are constantly evolving our live show, because if you get too strict about the format, it just starts to lose the sense of spontaneity and jeopardy: that it can go anywhere.
 
^thanks for posting this!
Got a favorite White Stripes song?
“Seven Nation Army”is amazing. I wrote this sketch of a song which I was really excited about. I went over to my brother's house and told him, “Dik, I gotta play you this new tune!” After about 16 bars he says, “Edge, that is 'Seven Nation Army.'” I said, “What? Get out of here! Is not!” I went back and listened, and it wasn't exactly, but it was way too close. I played it for Jack, and he was like, “Mmm, it's a bit close, isn't it?”
:lol::cute:
 
Cathal is very sweet. I saw him in Dublin, but didn't geta chance to talk to him. I didn't put the book and the shirt he had on together. I'm planning on meeting up with him in Foxboro
 
:yes: He's quite prominent, I'd say.

In my own kitchen :)

I'd no idea when I talked to that reporter last week for five minutes that it would be picked up by U2 fan sites.

The article has spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes. He misquoted me, copied and pasted a paragraph from my website and put it in speech marks as if I'd said it ("This is the story of the many places where, the many times when ..."), and finished by implying I was some money-obsessed vagabond. The online version also had a broken hyperlink to my website.

Apart from that it was a great piece!
 
Cathal is very sweet. I saw him in Dublin, but didn't geta chance to talk to him. I didn't put the book and the shirt he had on together. I'm planning on meeting up with him in Foxboro

Aw bless, thank you. I was looking for your birthday sign that day too but didn't spot it in the queue.
 
Hey guys...I was wondering (sorry if this has already been posted/requested!) if anyone has the BBC radio 2 interview the band did earlier this year? (with Chris Evans)
It was done around the time when they performed on Jonathan Ross, and did the interview on radio 1 with Jo Whiley? (all the BBC promo baisically)

:hmm:

Try U2 Interview Archive? A history of U2 audio interviews

They have many old radio interviews on there.
 
Bono and Ashley back malaria drive


UKPA, September 09, 2009

Bono and Ashley Judd are among the stars who have pledged their support for a new campaign to tackle malaria.

David Beckham's football team LA Galaxy, Spanish club FC Barcelona and Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates's wife Melinda are also backing the United Against Malaria initiative, formed by charities Comic Relief, One and Malaria No More UK.

The campaign will support the United Nations' goal of universal access to mosquito nets and malaria medicine in Africa by the end of 2010.

Around 350 to 500 million illnesses and more than one million deaths worldwide are caused by the disease, which is spread by mosquitoes, every year, according to Malaria No More.

The initiative will launch in the UK on November 12, ahead of next year's 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa, in conjunction with launches in America and Africa, and will run until the end of the tournament.

Sarah Kline, executive director of Malaria No More UK, said: "Sport and particularly football is in our DNA, so for us this is a perfect campaign match."

Jamie Drummond, executive director of One, said: "African countries are already making spectacular progress in beating this easily preventable killer.

"Death rates have been halved in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Zambia in just the last few years. This is thanks to more effective management by African governments, backed by better targeted aid.

"It shows what can be done and just how unforgivable it is that in the 21st century a child should die from a mosquito bite."

Members of the public will be able to show their support by visiting www.unitedagainstmalaria.org.
(c) UKPA, 2009.
 
Trendsetting hydraulics in the Synchronous Lift System application are being used on the latest U2 concert stage.

“The claw”, a 30 metre high stage construction on four legs, giving spectators all around the stage an unobstructed view of the band.With the help of Enerpac’s Synchronous Lift System, the Belgian company Stageco has constructed three gigantic, identical stages for the current U2 360° Tour. What makes this project special, is that high-pressure hydraulics are being used for the first time ever to assemble and dismantle the 230 ton construction - also known as “the claw”.

Together with Enerpac (A Division of Actuant Corp) , Stageco has developed a unique system, based on Enerpac’s Synchronous Lift System, to raise the modular construction to a height of 30 metres quickly and safely. Being able to put on bigger and better shows than competitors provides a trump card in the entertainment world. Performances and tours by famous artists and bands have to look good, as is demonstrated by the glitz and special effects that are usually the main feature.

The stage is crucial, and this is no different in U2’s 360° Tour. For this world tour, set designer Willy Williams and stage architect Mark Fisher came up with “the claw”, a 30 metre high stage construction on four legs, giving spectators all around the stage an unobstructed view of the band. The Synchronous Lift System has helped make it possible.

One of the construction requirements was that the stage could be built and taken down again in a relatively short time. A ready-to-use hydraulic unit was required that would only need to be connected to the electricity supply and the operating computer. Together, the two companies came up with a highly effective solution which incorporated Enerpac’s custom designed Synchronous Lift System to use high-pressure hydraulics for the first time ever for such heavy loads.

Stageco has made no concessions whatsoever as far as safety is concerned. The mechanical locking of the lifting platforms, for example, was an extremely important element. Enerpac’s computer-controlled Synchronous Lift System also fulfilled this requirement perfectly
U2’s 360° Tour using Enerpac’s Synchronous Lift System
 
BONO SAVES SPIDERMAN


U2 rocker BONO has rescued the ill-fated SPIDER-MAN musical by arranging financing to keep the show afloat.

Bono and bandmate The Edge wrote the music to accompany the Broadway extravaganza, which was announced to much fanfare last year (08).

But work on the stage show stopped last month (Aug09), amid rumours producers Hello Entertainment were encountering financial problems.

Show bosses were forced to deny the musical had been scrapped altogether, after reports crew and castmembers, including Evan Rachel Wood, had been released from their contracts.

Producers insisted Spider-Man would still debut in New York in February 2010, and a newspaper report now suggests Bono is Spider-Man's saviour - the Irish rocker having convinced wealthy friends to invest in the show.

New York Post columnist Michael Riedel writes, "Bono's too smart to put his own money in the show, but word on the street is that he's tapped into his vast network of rich friends and business associates to restart production.

"Bono feeds half of Africa. So raising a few more million for Spider-Man shouldn't be too difficult

new! Magazine: If it's hot, it's here :: Latest News :: Bono saves Spider-Man
 
IT MIGHT GET LOUD


A fan's love letter to the art of the six-string, Davis Guggenheim’s documentary convenes a summit of guitar gods from three generations: Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge and The White Stripes' Jack White. The resulting jam session ought to be a music geek’s wet dream, but there’s not enough common ground to produce more than a few flashes of inspiration. Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) devotes most of the film to individual profiles. White, interviewed in his ramshackle barn in rural Tennessee, preaches the neo-primitivist gospel of creative struggle, and bemoans the "disease" of "ease of use." Tucked into a corner of a rickety attic that looks as if it might collapse at any second, he bangs out ideas on a beat-up guitar, capturing them with a vintage microphone and an old reel-to-reel deck. Even a guitar is a luxury, as he proves by constructing an electrified diddly-bow on his front porch out of wire, nails and a glass soda bottle. Page and the Edge aren't nearly so revealing, although the latter ingratiates himself by demonstrating the two-chord progression behind U2's "Elevation," which stripped of its forest of effects pedals seems almost comically crude. Throughout the film, Guggenheim teases bits of the climactic tête-a-tête-à-tête, building expectations that are perhaps inevitably left unfulfilled. It's polite enough, but there’s no sense of genuine chemistry; you can’t see the three getting together to jam on weekends. Like the movie itself, their convocation is amicable but uninspired, placing their talent side by side but never synthesizing them into something new. —Sam Adams

It Might Get Loud :: Movie Shorts :: Philadelphia City Paper :: Philadelphia Arts, Restaurants, Music, Movies, Jobs, Classifieds, Blogs
 
Cirque boss's space trip to have serious message - aside from the clown nose

MONTREAL — The founder of the Cirque du soleil may do some clowning around when he visits the International Space Station later this month - even if his primary goal is serious.

Guy Laliberte says he'll carry an important message about conserving water and he's enlisting a variety of celebrities, from former U.S. vice-president Al Gore to pop stars Shakira and U2, to rally around his cause.

But the man behind the famous circus will find a way to temporarily transform the space station into a celestial big top. His plan involves a familiar red face ornament.

"I will probably wear my clown's nose at some moment of that (trip)," Laliberte told a news conference which was broadcast live from Moscow on the web.

The Quebec billionaire added that he plans to pack away nine bright red noses in his space luggage. They'll be shared with his fellow travellers aboard the space station. Laliberte also plans to do some juggling in the gravity-free environment.

When Canadian astronaut Julie Payette made her first trip to the space station in 1999, she brought along a clown's nose given to her by the Cirque.

"It's quite funny, after all those years, I'm bringing a clown's nose," Laliberte said. "We're building up to nine and eventually there may be a million out there!"

Set to become Canada's first space tourist - for the hefty return-fare price of $35 million - Laliberte shared details of his upcoming mission at a news conference Wednesday. It also happened to be his 50th birthday.

The 12-day mission will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Laliberte stressed that, clown noses aside, his main focus will be what he describes as his poetic social mission in space.

He's planning a live webcast of events in 14 cities on five continents on Oct. 9. Each event will have its own theme related to water.

Laliberte announced that a list of international personalities will take part, including Gore, several rock stars like U2, Peter Gabriel and Shakira, and Julie Payette.

"In every one of those 14 cities, there will be a place where there'll be a stage performance with a big screen and, at the same time, there will be the presentation of the poetic social mission," he said.

The live performances will take part in a theatre or at an outdoor venue, starting in Montreal and ending in Moscow. New York City, Tokyo, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and London are among the other cities taking part.

Laliberte said that, for two hours, world-renowned figures will pay tribute to water.

"All these people are with me because they share the same worries we have about water," he said.

"They also share my belief that through art and emotion we can convey a universal message."

Laliberte said that, to his great surprise, most of the people approached "reacted positively" and made room on their agenda to be part of the event.

Laliberte said he has dreamed about going into space ever since the first U.S. moon landing in 1969 - and has been ready to go, at any opportunity.

"I've always said if ever an alien space ship comes and offers me a ride I'll go on it."

The Canadian Press: Cirque boss's space trip to have serious message - aside from the clown nose
 
Kinesys powers U2's 360° LED screen



Kinesys has designed and supplied the bespoke motion-control system for the big video screen on U2's 360° world tour. The system consists of 40 Kinesys Evo zero-speed chain hoists and eight custom-built winches, all controlled by the company's K2 3D software control package.


The centrepiece of the stage set contains 888 individual hexagonal panels which support 500,000 Barco LED pixels. The entire structure can 'stretch' from a compressed height of 7m to over 22m at full extension, forming a conical shape as it expands.



The screen hangs in the middle of a giant four-legged claw that sits centrally in the stadium above the stage, which is surrounded by the audience.

The 40 Kinesys Evo chain hoists (16 x 2 tonne and 24 x 1 tonne) are connected to the screen structure at equal intervals and at four different heights. Their movements follow pre-defined non-linear paths to ensure that the screen is structurally sound while meeting aesthetical requirements.

The hoists associated with the different levels of the screen move at variable speeds. The uppermost hoists can travel at less than 1mm a second, while those at the bottom move at more than 160mm a second when the screen is deployed at full speed.

The screen is moved up and down by 8 x 7.5 tonne winches running in synch. They are capable of speeds of up to half a metre a second, although some of the moves involve travelling just 2m over five minutes, resulting in a slow and smooth transition



http://wwwnteractive.co.uk/news/rss/928773/Kinesys-powers-U2s-360°-LED-screen/
 
THE EDGE EMBARRASSED BY WHITE STRIPES REWRITE



U2 star THE EDGE avoided an embarrassing plagiarism battle when he played a new song for WHITE STRIPES star JACK WHITE.
The guitarist thought he'd composed a new hit and played the untitled track for his brother, who insisted it sounded familiar to White's Seven Nation Army - a track The Edge loves.
Unconvinced, the rocker sat down with White while they were shooting new guitar documentary It Might Get Loud and played him the song.
The Irishman says, "I went back and listened, and it wasn't exactly (Seven Nation Army), but it was way too close. I played it for Jack, and he was like, 'Mmm, it's a bit close, isn't it?'"


U2 - The Edge Embarrassed By White Stripes Rewrite - Contactmusic News
 
Maybe I completely missed this somewhere else but there was a fire near Edge and Bono's Eze houses on Sep. 5th. Here are the photos and I guess Bono invited the firefighters to his house for champagne in thanks. Anyone know more about this?

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fire5.jpg


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thanks for the info onekea!
 
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