PLEBAn Misc U2 News and Articles #1

[BonoFox1]

Per request, since I tend to post articles in the Misc thread and some of you have request an article thread




U2 Set to Play First Morning Television Show

| Entertainment Tonight


Published: February 19, 2009


U2 will make its first-ever live morning television show performance. ET has the details!



ET has learned that ABC's "Good Morning America" will host the band's live performance Friday, March 6.

The performance will coincide with the release of U2's highly-anticipated twelfth studio album No Line On The Horizon, which hits stores March 3.

 

[BonoFox1]

Friday, February 20, 2009

U2 on the move again after their lost decade



U2 have broken away from safety to offer us something prophetic, writes JOHN WATERS

LAST TIME I wrote about U2 I managed three separate entries in Pseuds Corner, the Private Eye satirical magazine column that aims to puncture pomposity. I naturally approach the same subject pessimistic about matching that success.

This, approximately, has been U2’s problem also. Their last two albums suggested time had played a trick, insinuating in their narrative some sense of linear purpose and yet placing their best work near the beginning, condemning them to strut around for decades in a doomed attempt to repeat themselves.

For a generation, U2 have accompanied us on the way. Out of the partly real, partly imagined darkness of 1970s Ireland, they claimed their right to express, more loudly than anyone, the blurt of longing, born of the grey suits, cars and minds that blighted the youths of the generations now faced with defining reality at a moment of unprecedented uncertainty. They emerged, primed with innocence and desire, to claim their inheritance from the depths of a culture left unplumbed in the collective desire to escape it. They were clumsy and ignorant in a good way, and in the 1980s offered themselves up as gauche guinea pigs before the gods of glitz and glitter in an attempt to road-test the sincerity they could not in conscience jettison in a medium intolerant of anything but cynicism and cool. In the 1980s they clung to a dogged authenticity against the grain of the times, producing the decade’s best album in The Joshua Tree .

In the 1990s they cracked the code and convinced everyone they had changed beyond recognition, when really they had learned to dance and dress more plausibly. In the Noughties, they went Awol from their own mission, treading water in an attempt to hold market position, and became even more successful. A bit like the broader story of their homeland, when you come to think of it.

All the while they suggested that, once they had honed their craft and sullen art, they would show us something utterly devastating. And yet, this remained a promise, which a dwindling number noticed was remaining unfulfilled.

I pressed “play” on No Line on the Horizon last weekend dreading that, like its last two predecessors, it would consolidate U2’s position at the top of the premiership and perhaps win a portion of a new generation to the idea of a band that could make a handsome packet out of producing a handsome racket while winking knowingly towards the future. I was ready for an album designed to tour well and meet all the mediocre expectations that have latterly come to burden its creators. I anticipated a new bunch of songs that, injected with an essence of U2, harvested and preserved at the optimum moment between The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby , would convince the world that U2 had not, in fact, broken up.

I cannot tell you how happy I am to tell you that I have just eaten my hat, and that this is the album U2 should have made after Achtung Baby . This, of course, means they’ve lost a decade somewhere, but then who hasn’t? It is a tribute to this album that is can be described without reference to the virtues of individual songs. Like its tremendous predecessors, it has a wholeness that owes as much to mood as to playing, lyrics or sonic integrity.

U2 have only briefly, in the middle phase, been about songs. Latterly, they have been about a Proustian rampage through the debris of a music that happens too quickly for clarity, excavating pieces that seemed like they might have contained something more than they revealed first time around. In these tracks, you keep hearing snatches of elusive allusiveness that take you to a deeper level of memory, but in a way that suggests redemption rather than repetition.

U2 squandered their lost decade casting around for a direction that would not compromise their commercial position until it seemed they would eventually have to risk frittering away their audience to complete their mission. (Their mission, incidentally, has fundamentally to do with stealing rock ’n’ roll back from the dark angels, ideally involving the creation of a soundtrack in which the citizen might hope to hear, at those moments of near-despair when man-made reality reaches the outer reaches of its plausibility, something to refer him to the broader canvas. It is a tall order.) For a long time it has seemed U2 were running on the spot, standing still while suggesting radical movement. With this album they have started to move again, hesitating a further step into the improbable. And yet is is not, from the viewpoint of their premiership position, a risky album? With No Line On The Horizon, they have achieved something that, oddly, stands with one leg in the shallow, concentrate-version of U2 that the world has taken at face value for a decade, and one leg in a future as exciting as anything they have hitherto allowed us to glimpse. If, as we have previously noted, music is prophetic as to the drift of wider reality, then this album may be the most hopeful thing you will hear all year.

 

[BonoFox1]

I know I posted this one before but I thought it was worth posting again


Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani help charity auction

February 15, 2009

London, Feb 15 (IANS) Pop divas Mariah Carey, Faith Hill and Gwen Stefani are sharing their love for music with fans on new, exclusive one-of-a-kind iPods.



The divas have filled iPods with their own downloaded delights as part of a fundraising effort to benefit Music Rising, an organisation that replaces lost or destroyed instruments in the hurricane-affected Gulf Coast region, reports contactmusic.com.


The iPods, which have been signed by the singers, are currently being auctioned off on website Tonic.com and more than 70 celebrities will be adding their own personal playlists to iPods in the coming months.


These include U2's The Edge, former US president Bill Clinton, Madonna, Beyonce Knowles, Cher and Britney Spears to name a few.


*The auction calendar
iPod Calendar on Tonic.com

 

[BonoFox1]

02/14/2009
'This is London calling...'

The band are special guests of the BBC at the end of the month, performing for Radio 1's Live Lounge and interviewed on the Radio 2 drivetime show. You might even be able to snag a ticket in their competition.

After playing three tracks for a Radio 1 Live Lounge session in Jo Whiley's daytime show from 10am, the band will head across to Radio 2 for a conversation with Chris Evans on his drivetime show at 5pm.

A number of Radio 1 listeners will get the chance to watch the band's performance at the BBC Radio Theatre - listen in to Jo Whiley's show from Monday 23 February for the lowdown.

Meantime, check out the dedicated U2 microsite the BBC have launched.

 

[lauramullen]

Thanks for these BF1

 

[Galeongirl]

Thanks for making the thread, this'll be a good read!

 

[WildHoney]

Thanks,

Awesome idea

 

[BonoFox1]

Evan Rachel Wood Confirms Spider-Man Casting

By: Brian Scott Lipton · Feb 22, 2009 · New York

Actress Evan Rachel Wood announced on E! that she will appear in the planned Broadway musical Spider-Man, to be directed by Julie Taymor with music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge of U2. She will play the role of Mary Jane.

No dates have been announced for the show, which is expected to open during the 2009-2010 season at the Hilton Theatre.

Wood previously worked with Taymor on the film Across the Universe and is currently on the big screen in The Wrestler

 

[BonoFox1]

Coldplay and The Killers stage all-star gig
London
February 23, 2009 11:45:06 PM IST



Brit rock band Coldplay and American rock band The Killers staged an all-star gig on February 18 night, with Bono and Take That frontman Gary Barlow making a surprise appearance at the one-off charity concert.

Coldplay and The Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers had performed at the Brit Awards at London's Earl's Court earlier in the evening, and they had to hurry across the U.K. capital to make it to the War Child charity event at The O2 Shepherds Bush Empire.

The two bands performed for 2000 fans, by putting on a selection of their own hits, and the crowd grew wilder when their guests joined them on stage.

"This is going to be the best encore you've ever seen," the Daily Star quoted Coldplay frontman Chris Martin as saying before he introduced Barlow and U2's Bono to the stage.

Martin and Barlow duetted on Take That classic 'Back for Good' before Bono and Flowers came out to join the pair on The Killers' 2005 hit 'All These Things That I've Done'. (ANI)

 

[BonoFox1]

Fans of U2 have blamed the poor UK chart showing of the 'Get On Your Boots' single on changing musical tastes and illegal copies of the song which were available on the internet





By Emile Laurac


Monday February 23 2009

THE lead single from U2's much-hyped new album last night failed to breach the UK Top Ten, with the band hitting the charts at their lowest point in over a decade.

'Get On Your Boots' was the highest new entry of the week in the UK, but fans were bitterly disappointed that it only charted at 12.

This is in contrast to the Irish charts, where the first single from album 'No Line On The Horizon' shot straight to the top spot.

Online U2 fan forums last night blamed a host of factors for the relatively low UK placing, ranging from the changed nature of the charts to internet leaks.

Certainly the changed attitudes of the record-buying public mean that album sales will be the true barometer of the band's popularity. But unless the single rises up the charts in the coming weeks it will mark U2's worst performance since 1997's 'If God Will Send His Angels'.

First time since 1997, a U2 single fails to hit UK top 10


That song was the fifth single from the 'Pop' album and was not aggressively hyped or marketed in the way 'Get On Your Boots' has been. And while number 12 is a respectable position for most bands, the world-conquering might of U2 has only failed to dent the UK top 10 four times in 25 years.

The band have enjoyed a remarkable run of success since their very first number 10 hit 'New Year's Day' in 1983.

Elsewhere in the charts, last week's Brit Awards had a huge impact on the record-buying public.

International

Double Brit award winners Kings of Leon knocked Lily Allen off the top of the album charts with 'Only By The Night', which won the group the best international album prize.

'The Fear' kept Allen at the top of the singles chart although Kings of Leon, who also won best international group, moved up from 12 to three with 'Use Somebody'.

- Emile Laurac

 

[last unicorn]

There is an interview with U2 in a Swiss newspaper. They praise the album and talk to all four members. That bit is especially interesting:

Bono, wie bringen Sie alle Ihre politischen Aktivitäten, Charity-Aktionen und ihr Musikerdasein unter einen Hut?
Bono: Es gibt eine Fabrik, in der immer wieder neue Bonos hergestellt werden. Als die Band realisierte, dass ich immer beschäftigter wurde, haben sie eine Fabrik eröffnet, ganz am Rand der Dubliner Vorstadt Tallaght. Und es gibt ganz verschiedene Bonos, die da fabriziert werden, je nachdem, für welche Gelegenheit sie gebraucht werden. (lacht)

Bono, how do you manage to handle all your political activities, the charity work and your life as a musician?
Bono: There's a factory where new Bonos are produced. When the band realized that I was getting more and more busy, they opened a factory in a Dublin suburb. And there are a lot of different Bonos produced there, Bonos for every occassion that you might need them for. (laughs)

 

[BonoFox1]

COMIC RELIEF 2009
Comic Relief – Funny For Money
Friday 13 March
7.00-10.00pm BBC ONE
10.00-10.30pm BBC TWO
10.35pm-1.30am BBC ONE

This is must-see TV at its finest as Comic Relief takes over BBC One for a whole night of comedy gold in a one-off extravaganza of top telly treats.

An amazing bounty of TV beauties will guide viewers through the big night, with hosts including David Tennant, Davina McCall, Fern Britton, Claudia Winkleman, Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr and Graham Norton.

Comedy sketches come from Little Britain and Ricky Gervais, while Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse pitch their wares to the Dragons' Den judges.

There'll be tears of both laughter and sadness as French And Saunders perform their last sketch, and old friends and new flames join the comedy queens in a toe-tapping, show-stopping unforgettable farewell.

Gavin And Stacey's James Corden (Smithy) imparts his wisdom to the England football squad and the Outnumbered family embraces all that Red Nose Day has to offer.

Throughout the night, Davina McCall, Lenny Henry, Paul O'Grady and Ant & Dec report back on how the money raised is hard at work and changing lives here in the UK and in Africa.

Viewers can also tune in to see the conclusion of Comic Relief Does The Apprentice and see which of the celebrity candidates feel the wrath of Sir Alan Sugar and hear the immortal words: "You're fired!"

There are more special moments from Let's Dance For Comic Relief, a one-off Sarah Jane Adventures sketch, featuring national treasure Ronnie Corbett, and a unique collaboration between double-acts Armstrong & Miller and Mitchell And Webb.

Also in the studio, performing live for the nation, are Britain's biggest boy band – Take That – as well as Franz Ferdinand and girl band The Saturdays, who perform one of this year's Red Nose Day singles, Just Can't Get Enough.

Gavin And Stacey stars Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones (aka Bryn and Nessa) also perform their own delightful version of (Barry) Islands In The Stream, live in the studio.

On BBC Two at 10pm, Comic Relief spreads the music love with a special one-off edition of Top Of The Pops. Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates are joined by a host of comics to present an incredible live show, including performances from Oasis, U2 and, once again, Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones, giving another rendition of their Comic Relief single.

James Corden and Mathew Horne bring up the rear in the wee hours as they guide viewers through some of the more risky and rude moments from Red Nose Days past.

CP


BBC - Red Nose Day 2009 - Home

 

[BonoFox1]

U2 play on Le Grand Journal and talk on French radio

Today, U2 performed live on a French TV show for the first time. The band were special guests on Le Grand Journal, and the first song they played was Get On Your Boots. It was similar to recent performances at awards shows, and at the start, the screen displayed "Gros baiser", French for "Big kiss". This time, the pre-recorded intro included an instrumental sample of the Marseillaise and "I don't want to talk about wars between the nations" spoken in French.

Boots was followed by an interview with Bono and The Edge. Both spoke in English with French dubbed over the top. The first question was "how do you manage to be successful?", to which Edge responded "we have the right shoes". When asked about the creation of the new album, Bono spoke about the significance of being in Fez. They were asked what other bands inspire them; The Clash were cited as a "public service announcement with guitars" and Edge mentioned Coldplay. Edge also talked about the band's disco influences and said that some disco songs were better than rock, at which point Bono pretended he would leave the stage. The interview then moved on to Bono's political work; Edge expressed pity for politicians who are face-to-face with Bono due to how persuasive he is. The music industry was also discussed; the vinyl edition of No Line On The Horizon was displayed; Bono even mentioned playing music loud at his beach house in southern France.

After the interview, the band performed a second song, Breathe. It had an extended drum intro and a keyboard backing track. Bono managed to handle the pace of the verses, but tired a little by the end of the song. During Edge's solo, Bono ventured out and stood on the table where the interview took place. The performance was uplifting and finished U2's appearance for the episode. There are rumours that a third song may be taped for broadcast on a later show.

Thanks to Renato M. for assisting with this article. For the record, this was the first truly public performance of Breathe, but not its first listing in our database: the band played it for some El Salvadorean fans visiting the Hanover Quay studios back on the 12th of February. See the end of this article for video of both songs.

Not long after Le Grand Journal, U2 appeared on French radio station NRJ for an interview. You can listen to it here. The band's responses are in English with French translation. The interview asked a lot of detailed questions that put the band on the spot, though there were moments of humour too. It was revealed that Fez-Being Born was going to open the album but the band wanted to open with a high energy song, hence the title track taking first place in the tracklist. U2 were asked about the forthcoming tour; their responses were cagey and didn't give away much, but they hinted there will be information to come soon. Bono said they are working on a way to play outdoors that has not been done before. At the end of the interview, he also revealed that Magnificent was originally titled French Disco.

Meanwhile, across the English Channel, BBC Radio 1 broadcast a pre-recorded interview of Bono and Edge by Zane Lowe. The interview was broken by studio versions of U2 songs, including selections from No Line On The Horizon. Video from this interview is now available on the BBC's website, but cannot be viewed in all territories.

 

[Anji]

Making music, saving the world

By John Wilson
Presenter, Front Row



U2 played at President Obama's inauguration If it wasn't for the graffiti - declarations of devotion in dozens of languages - you'd never know it was the headquarters of the world's biggest band.

The address they'd given had been vague - south side of the Liffey, out towards the old docks - but every cabbie in Dublin knows where to go. Can you take me to U2? "No problem," comes the reply, along with a stream of Bono stories. So you still see him out on the town? "Try stopping him." So here we are in the narrow riverside road, outside a two storey brick warehouse. Three French teenagers mooch beside a large steel door hoping for a glimpse of a hero or two.

Today could be their lucky day. All four members of U2 - Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen - are on their way right now, to play some music and be interviewed for Front Row. Denim and beads Bono could talk for Ireland if there was such a national sport. No wonder George, Tony, Kofi, Condi and co all listen to him; surely they can't get a word in edgeways. Adam Clayton knows it's a futile task and is apparently happy to sit back and let the frontman do the work as the pair share a sofa at U2 HQ. Bono is dishevelled in denim and beads, all wonky teeth and bloodshot eyes. Most mornings he gets up when other rock stars are heading to bed.


He's got a lot to pack in. Mr Bono is the unpaid CEO of a global network of organisations that lobby the most powerful people in the world on behalf of the poorest. U2 140 million albums sold worldwide Won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band Rolling Stone magazine listed U2 at 22 in its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time Debt relief, Fairtrade, Aids in Africa are all permanently stacked in the in-tray. And then there's the day job (or is it the night job?); the one that pays handsomely - writing rock songs, learning how to play them, recording them and then relearning them before setting off on a tour of the stadiums of the world.


Today, it's the relearning bit that's the hardest. After talking to me for two hours (Larry and Edge, then Bono and Adam), the band reconvene in a cramped rehearsal room on the upper floor of their riverside complex.
The Edge has a Telecaster guitar in his hands and what appears to be NASA control panel at his feet. His fingers make minimal movements on the fretboard and yet, as his boots stamp on a succession of pedals, his instrument spews unworldly noises - squelch, crunch, buzz. Then, just as Larry reaches the peak of a lengthy snare roll, the guitarist hits the 'Edge' button and the room fills with one of the most distinctive sounds in rock; chiming, echoing notes chase each other through the air. Some of the people I have to deal with, you just want to have a bath after meeting them

Here comes Bono, fists clenched, eyes closed, an impassioned harmony note hummed the swelling mix. And then it collapses gracefully into itself, like a tower block demolished by a controlled explosion. As the reverberations settle into the corners of the room Bono mumbles "Oh dear". U2 haven't played together since they finished recording the new album No Line On The Horizon just before Christmas. But it doesn't take long to rebuild and soon the room is filled with a massive rush of sound, raw and dirty. "Some of the people I have to deal with", Bono had admitted earlier, referring to his role as political campaigner, "you just want to have a bath after meeting them".

This band - which first played together in the gymnasium of Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 - provide a release, a safety valve, for the most restless man in rock. He can't wait to get here for rehearsals most days, he claims. Like a kid in his first band. Now I'm standing alongside 48-year-old Bono as he urges his bandmates on, stamping his feet and attempting a mini pogo dance in front of his mic. "I've got a new rose, I've got it good ..." he sings over Edge's fuzz guitar, referencing The Damned, as U2 pummel their way through a ragged punk rock version of new single Get On Your Boots. Guitars, drums and voice smash together on the final note of the song.

"Well, you'll never hear us play as badly as that ever again" laughs the singer. "Let's go again...one, two, three, four..." You can hear John Wilson's report on Front Row, BBC Radio 4 , Tuesday 24 February at 1915 GMT

From here BBC - Today

 

[BonoFox1]

Great read! Thank you Anji

 

[TedUK]

Here's an article from today's Daily Mail

Oops, wrong tags! Trying again.

I got one from last Friday's Independent as well, but I need the A3 scanner at work for that one!

Teddy

 

[lauramullen]

Can't see it

 

[BonoFox1]

Here's an article from today's Daily Mail

Oops, wrong tags! Trying again.

I got one from last Friday's Independent as well, but I need the A3 scanner at work for that one!

Teddy

COOL!!! Thank you for this!!

 

[BonoFox1]

re-posting this for E_O

U2-Powered Spider-Man Musical Gets Premiere Date
Josh Grossberg Josh Grossberg 56 mins ago
Los Angeles (E! Online) – Broadway's Spidey senses are tingling.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the hyped stage musical directed by Julie Taymor (The Lion King) with music and lyrics courtesy of U2's Bono and The Edge, will kick off what its producers hope will be an amazing run along the Great White Way beginning with previews on Jan. 16, 2010, and a Feb. 18, 2010, opening night.



The $40 million effort, reportedly the most expensive Broadway production ever, will make its debut in the Hilton Theatre, the only venue big enough to allow the superhero room to spin his way around the sprawling skyscraper sets while duking it out with various bad guys.



Spider-Man's book is written by Glen Berger, and Taymor and will follow the classic origin story (nerdy Peter Parker gets bitten by radioactive spider and becomes a crimefighter). No word yet on casting or which villains Spider-Man will face off against.

Initially rehearsals for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, whose name derives from one of its songs, were slated for the spring. But the creative team has now opted instead to workshop the musical in the summer and push back rehearsals until the fall.



··· THEY SAID WHAT? Get today's most commented stories now at E! Online - Entertainment News, Celebrity Gossip, Celebrity News


U2-Powered Spider-Man Musical Gets Premiere Date

reposting this for E_O for those that don't visit the other folders

 

[lauramullen]

Here's an article from today's Daily Mail

Oops, wrong tags! Trying again.

I got one from last Friday's Independent as well, but I need the A3 scanner at work for that one!

Teddy

Thanks that's much better

 

[BonoFox1]

Bono Worries That Fans Want Him Dead & Broke

Bono is spooked.

The U2 frontman normally boasts Herculean confidence, but a recent interview found him in pensive mood. Why? He believes that some fans want to see him dead. In a glorified rocker sorta way.

MusicToob reports Bono recently said: "one of the things we like about Rock'n'Roll is the religiosity. And genuinely people do want you to die on a cross age 33, with a Jack Daniels in your hand. Our job is in part to derail a mythology that isn't helpful to music or musicians."

U2's new album, "No Line on the Horizon," that is set for official release next week has already been leaked onto the Internet -- and been torn to shreds by anyone with ears. Unsurprisingly, Bono is not confident about the disc's success amid the credit crunch. He says, "People have 12 albums, maybe they don't need a 13th. But we think we've come up with something special."

 

[GracelandHarley]

A review from today's Washington Post:

washingtonpost.com

 

[Bonogirl777]

Poor Bono.

 

[BonoFox1]

Fans want me to die in rock'n'roll style: Bono


Bono, lead singer of Irish band U2, has revealed that some fans want him to die in an unforgettable rock'n'roll style.


According to mirror.co.uk, the 48-year-old singer claims most fans want musicians to die early like Kurt Cobain and John Lennon as it adds an aura of mystique. But Bono wants to be different and play until he gets old.

He said: 'One of the things we like about rock'n'roll is the religiosity. And genuinely people do want you to die on a cross age 33, with a Jack Daniels in your hand. Our job is in part to de-rail a mythology that isn't helpful to music or musicians.'

 

[Bonogirl777]

Look at The Rolling Stones, people.

 

[BonoFox1]

Poor Bono.

I don't know what kind of fans want Bono dead and broke, but personally I want Bono and the band to do what they love (if they continue as a band or not) but live out their full life

 

[BonoFox1]

A review from today's Washington Post:

washingtonpost.com

Thank you for this

 

[GracelandHarley]

Thank you for this

 

[last unicorn]

What utter crap. Bono has never said anything like that. Tabloid media takes his interviews and twist his words to make it sound sensational.

 

[BonoFox1]

What utter crap. Bono has never said anything like that. Tabloid media takes his interviews and twist his words to make it sound sensational.

That is what I'm saying!!