Bono and Edge play suprise gig in London

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Wow, anyone know anything about this?


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/caught_live/article502356.ece

ROCK legends BONO and THE EDGE left lucky fans rejoicing with a surprise set at an intimate church gig on Friday night.

The U2 duo were special guests at the Mencap Little Noise Sessions at the Union Chapel, Islington, North London.

Host JO WHILEY introduced the stars to the crowd of around 300 music fans - many of whom had no idea the world's biggest band were about to take the stage.

The tiny crowd in the grand church setting then enjoyed one of the most amazing short sets they had ever seen.

They opened with 1993 hit Stay which left the privileged fans with their hairs standing on end.

And Bono turned his hit Angel of Harlem into a touching tribute to INXS singer MICHAEL HUTCHENCE on the tenth anniversary of his death.

The pair ended the set with the debut of a new track - more than 20 years after they started writing it.


The song, based on Bono's experiences in Ethiopia in the 1980s, was an incredible end to a very special gig.

Bono said: "About 20 years ago we started a tune that we never finished. We've just finished it. Just don't tell LARRY or ADAM that we've played it."


It was an emotive finale to one of the most emotional 25 minutes of music imaginable.

The lucky few hundred fans were left counting their blessings that they were there to see it.




http://www.nme.com/news/u2/32721

U2 play surprise gig in London

Band dust off rare track for acoustic show


U2's Bono and The Edge played a surprise gig tonight (November 22) at London's Union Chapel.

Playing as part of Mencap's Little Noise Sessions, the duo surprised the audience with a four song set which included rare track 'Wave Of Sorrow'.

The identity of the 'special guests' was shrouded in mystery when introduced by host Jo Whiley as "a new band with a lot of potential...Dave the guitarist is very nervous...If he makes a mistake forgive him, he's new. The singer is very shy."

The band opened with 'Zooropa' track 'Stay (Faraway, So Close)' with Bono reading the lyrics off a sheet on a music stand.

The singer changed the lyrics: "You can go anywhere/ Miami, New Orleans, London, Belfast and Berlin" to " You can go anywhere/ Miami, New Orleans, Belfast and Islington," which was met by roars of approval from the crowd.

After the track finished The Edge said : "I hope you like our new direction."

Launching into 'Desire', Bono ad libbed parts of INXS' 'Need You Tonight' into the track. He sang the lyrics "I've got to let you know / You're one of my kind."

He started clapping before taking out a harmonica to play on the track's distinctive finish.

Bono introduced 'Angel Of Harlem' by saying : "This is our only Christmas song."

After a false start which saw the singer sing the start of 'Like A Rolling Stone' by Bob Dylan over The Edge's riff, the duo continued.

At one point Bono said : "Merry Christmas Yoko."

When the song finished the pair shook hands.

Bono then introduced the next track by saying : "So about 20 years ago we started a tune on 'The Joshua Tree' and yesterday we just finished it. This song is based on the experiences that my lovely wife Ali had in Ethiopia.

"You forget that this was the land of the Queen Of Sheeba...I was 25 and it was an extraordinary time to be there...It was an overwhelming experience.

"This (song) has never been played before. Just don't tell Larry (Mullen) and Adam (Clayton) we're doing it...Oh Adam's here! This is for you sir."

They played 'Wave Of Sorrow' with The Edge playing the keyboards.

Bono said : "Thanks for being so generous," and The Edge said : "I hope you didn't notice there were a few mistakes but I was told that was okay...I felt the love."
 
pics from the performance

bonoandedgelondon1.jpg

bonoandedgelondon.jpg


posted these in the other thread... which I am sure will get merged with this one...:|
 
awesome! thanks!

another question.. what did Edge mean by

"I hope you like our new direction." ?

Was that a joke in reference to changing the Stay lyric to Islington, or something else? Couldn't quite tell from the article..
 
dr. zooeuss said:
btw, anyone know what "the Mencap Little Noise Sessions" means?

Just did a quick google search, Mencap is a UK charity which campaigns for adults and children with learning disabilities, i guess these gigs are for fundraising/awareness etc
 
LemonMelon said:
Was that the entire set? Stay, AOH and Wave Of Sorrow? :ohmy:

The first article omits Desire.

I just put the set up on U2VT:

1. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
2. Desire / Need You Tonight (snippet)
3. Like A Rolling Stone (snippet) / Angel Of Harlem
4. Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland)

http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/show1523.html

That's a great short set. When that U2.com clip of Bono singing Wave Of Sorrow showed up, I wonder if Bono's clear enthusiasm would lead to it being played, and I'm really glad that it actually happened. Not to mention very, very surprised. Debuts of non-album songs have been pretty scarce lately. And besides that, this was also the first performance of Stay since 25 November 2001. Nice to see it return!
 
dr. zooeuss said:
awesome! thanks!

another question.. what did Edge mean by

"I hope you like our new direction." ?

Was that a joke in reference to changing the Stay lyric to Islington, or something else? Couldn't quite tell from the article..

Maybe he was just making a joke about doing an unplugged show in front of 300 people... this is a rare thing!!!
 
Axver, that site says it's the first LARS snippet in 25 years!!!! Do you know what they did that clip last night?

I'm also wondering what guitar past Edge used for STAY. There's already as many as 4 that I know of: Album mix, soundtrack mix, Sydney DVD, and Boston DVD.

u2fp
 
That’s quite a nice set-list, although I’m sure many are disappointed that they didn’t receive a double helping of Vertigo. Or maybe not. Anyhow, I’d best dust off my notebook and conduct a quick survey.
 
Acoustic :drool:
Wave of Sorrow :drool:

Wish I could have been there... Those 300 people were lucky to see what they saw...
 
U2FanPeter said:
Axver, that site says it's the first LARS snippet in 25 years!!!! Do you know what they did that clip last night?

I'm only going by media sources that state it was done as part of a false start for Angel Of Harlem, so I don't know any more at this stage, unfortunately. I was surprised too to see how long it had been since the last known snippet of Like A Rolling Stone, but these things happen - I know a few other extremely long gaps are floating around. I don't place too much emphasis on it though. Besides the regular snippets, it seems a lot are just what's on Bono's mind and thus crop up unpredictably like this.
 
Wait, what? I mean ... WHAT????? Howza ... a gig? What? Bono? Shadeless? Songs? Singing?

<--agog

I have it on good authority that Bono was also seen shadeless at the offices of The Guardian this week as well. I hope this indeed a new fashion direction.
 
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