June 25, 2010 - Glastonbury

[Vlaco]

Awesome news. I'm really looking forward to this event!

 

[dsmith2904]

I agree with Neil McCormick's tweets today (below).. they have a chance here to seduce the audience....

in response to a tweet asking "why now": Timing. Dates worked with US tour. Its a Glasto anniversary. &, I suppose, a chance to reach out to a growing army of sceptics

But it will be great, whatever the sceptics think. U2 are seducers. Give them an audience & they will work their magic.

Why did U2 take 26 years to play Glasto? Ask the drummer. "It's not our fans, right? Not our sound rig? Not our lights? And the point is?"

Just done a U2 at Glastonbury radio interview. Rock group play rock festival. Who says the news agenda is dumbing down?

He's weighing in on the Glastonbury announcement in his blog, too.

 

[SUPER_SUPER_FAN]

i love the fact its sold out ( before even one band was announced)

i love the fact it will be a non u2 crowd

i love the fact that it will be a challenge for the band to "seduce" this crowd.

i love the fact so many u2 fans are pissed off they ( the band and Glastonbury ) pulled a fast one after years of rumours being exactly that = { i think it was brilliant !!! }

 

[phommel]

From the Telegraph:

Neil McCormick Why do U2 want to play Glastonbury?

By Neil McCormick Music Last updated: November 24th, 2009

U2: ultimate outsiders?
U2 are to headline Glastonbury this year, on the festival’s 40th anniversary. There has been some predictable scepticism expressed about this from the anti-U2 brigade, although it seems a bit of a no-brainer to me: rock band plays rock festival – let the controversy begin!

Like last year’s headliners, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the Irish group have a long established reputation as outstanding live performers, which has helped make them one of the most consistently popular live attractions of the last few decades. It was probably a given that U2 would get to Glastonbury sooner or later (The Rolling Stones are really the only other band of that stature never to have played the festival), the real question being why has it taken them 26 years.

The answer lies partly in the fact that U2 just don’t need Glastonbury, or any other festival. They are one of the few bands who can pull mass crowds under their own steam on a regular basis anywhere in the world. And, certainly since they ascended to stadium status with The Joshua Tree in 1987, they have put a great deal of care and effort into creating their own unique and artfully integrated live environments. Whenever the issue of Glastonbury has arisen within the U2 camp, the same questions tend to arise, which, if I might paraphrase the succinct directness of their very pragmatic drummer, boil down to: “So, if I understand this correctly, we wouldn’t be playing to our fans, right? It’s not our sound system? It’s not our lighting rig? And we would be doing this for a fee that would be less than we would make on the gate at our own gig? And the point of this would be …?”

So what has changed? Well, Glastonbury itself, for one thing. It has become a kind of something-for-everyone entertainment smorgasbord. There may still be a quasi hippy ideal of the Pyramid stage headliner connecting to the audience in a mystical way as the sun goes down and the lights go up, but you can’t have Radiohead every year. It’s hard to see how having one of the world’s greatest rock bands at the top of the bill is any more unlikely to appeal to the mass of festival goers than other recent headliners, such as Jay Z or Sir Paul McCartney.

But the whole music business has changed, beset by technological challenges that have not just damaged recorded music sales but provided so much choice that it is becoming ever harder to achieve the kind of universal, crossover audience that U2 are used to. They may have a huge fan base, but for them to remain a truly effective force in the wider world of popular music, they need to find new ways to reach out to people who are not, perhaps, their natural listeners.

I imagine the band see Glastonbury as an opportunity to woo the sceptics, that increasingly shrill minority of mockers who loudly denigrate their every move. Bono has the instincts of a perennial suitor, a rock and roll travelling salesman who almost sees it as a matter of pride to be able to sell his wares to the most reluctant customer. The fact is the general public loves them, as their sell out live shows (this year alone, U2 have performed to over 3 million fans and grossed more than $300 million in ticket sales) and multi-million selling albums attest (although their latest ‘No Line On The Horizon’ has been widely perceived as a four million selling flop, low sales by U2’s standards, it is nonetheless amongst the best selling albums in the UK and the world this year). But somehow U2 have never belonged in the rock fraternity that seems to locate Glastonbury as its spiritual home. They have never actually been part of a British rock scene. In earlier days, U2 did play festivals. But never Glastonbury, probably because they were never invited. Coming from Ireland as post-punk rockers in the early 80s, they were critically aligned with the Liverpool new-psychedelic scene of Echo & The Bunnymen and Teardrop Explodes, but were viewed suspiciously by those bands as over-eager Irish interlopers, rivals rather than peers. And while they have certainly had their champions amongst critics (in the UK, The NME’s influential, polemical and cerebral critic Paul Morley was an unlikely early supporter) they have always had their vocal denigrators, who use them almost as short-hand for naffness: too sincere, to epic, too ambitious to ever be cool. U2 achieved success on their own terms, almost completely outside of the framework of the British music scene, and actually more on an Irish-US axis.

There is still something about playing Glastonbury that is a badge of honour amongst British bands, and I know that is something that appeals to Bono. There is a fraternity that exists in at least the perception of a shared experience, where the bands not only mingle back stage, striking up new friendships and alliances, but are perceived to share the trials of the often embattled festival goers themselves. Indeed, the regularly appalling weather of the worst Glastonbury festivals seems to be a positive bonus in this regard. Bonds are formed in the mud and rain. Bands wear those wellies with pride.

U2 live are a fairly irresistible force. They have passion, commitment, charisma, imagination and the kind of songs you can find yourself singing despite yourself, delivered with the showmanship and warrior skills of a gang who have been playing together all their lives. And with Bono at the helm, they are a band of seducers: put them in front of even the most sceptical crowd and they will do everything in their power to win them over. It may be a greater challenge to perform to an audience that is not, naturally, their own, but if they deliver at Glastonbury, the ripples could spread out into the wider musical community of both fans and artists. For all their success, U2 have been outsiders in the British rock scene. On some level, Glastonbury still represents a kind of inclusion. With these kind of stakes, I think U2 at Glastonbury could turn out to be legendary.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I'd just like to mention that I have tickets for this and let out quite the "Fucking hell!" on a packed bus when I saw that headline in the Guardian this morning.

Thanks, that is all.

 

[last unicorn]

i love the fact its sold out ( before even one band was announced)

i love the fact it will be a non u2 crowd

i love the fact that it will be a challenge for the band to "seduce" this crowd.

i love the fact so many u2 fans are pissed off they ( the band and Glastonbury ) pulled a fast one after years of rumours being exactly that = { i think it was brilliant !!! }

I agree with that.

 

[mama cass]

I'd just like to mention that I have tickets for this and let out quite the "Fucking hell!" on a packed bus when I saw that headline in the Guardian this morning.

Thanks, that is all.

that is so brilliant! congrats!! you will have a total blast i'm sure!!

 

[phommel]

I'd just like to mention that I have tickets for this and let out quite the "Fucking hell!" on a packed bus when I saw that headline in the Guardian this morning.

Thanks, that is all.

 

[gareth brown]

in response to thinking aloud about the BBC - unless Bono suddenly decides he DOESN'T want U2 to be for everyone as he has done these last 32 years - you can pretty much bet your house that BBC will broadcast the entire concert.

They have done for every headliner for years. Full set unless there's a special request (like Blur last year - they wanted some songs left unbroadcast so people going to their big Hyde Park reunion shows would have a surprise as they played THE EXACT SAME SET EVERY NIGHT meaning there isn't a full version of the best gig in history )

 

[mama cass]

They have never actually been part of a British rock scene. In earlier days, U2 did play festivals. But never Glastonbury, probably because they were never invited. Coming from Ireland as post-punk rockers in the early 80s, they were critically aligned with the Liverpool new-psychedelic scene of Echo & The Bunnymen and Teardrop Explodes, but were viewed suspiciously by those bands as over-eager Irish interlopers, rivals rather than peers. And while they have certainly had their champions amongst critics (in the UK, The NME’s influential, polemical and cerebral critic Paul Morley was an unlikely early supporter) they have always had their vocal denigrators, who use them almost as short-hand for naffness: too sincere, to epic, too ambitious to ever be cool. U2 achieved success on their own terms, almost completely outside of the framework of the British music scene, and actually more on an Irish-US axis.

i think that's nonsense i really do

 

[MikeyJB]

I'd just like to mention that I have tickets for this and let out quite the "Fucking hell!" on a packed bus when I saw that headline in the Guardian this morning.

Thanks, that is all.

I was exactly the same mate. Certainly brightened up my Monday morning at work.

 

[phommel]

in response to thinking aloud about the BBC - unless Bono suddenly decides he DOESN'T want U2 to be for everyone as he has done these last 32 years - you can pretty much bet your house that BBC will broadcast the entire concert.

They have done for every headliner for years. Full set unless there's a special request (like Blur last year - they wanted some songs left unbroadcast so people going to their big Hyde Park reunion shows would have a surprise as they played THE EXACT SAME SET EVERY NIGHT meaning there isn't a full version of the best gig in history )

But since there will be no other UK shows, they also don't have to keep a surprise...

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Mama Cass, I actually reckon that para is true. I only saw this news on yes, the Guardian's website today and my first thought was bloody hell, no! Then I read the link to Neil McCormick's blog and my next thought is shit, Bono has never overcome his inferiority complex has he? He really wants to be accepted by the cool kids. U2 were never cool!!!!

 

[mama cass]

Mama Cass, I actually reckon that para is true. I only saw this news on yes, the Guardian's website today and my first thought was bloody hell, no! Then I read the link to Neil McCormick's blog and my next thought is shit, Bono has never overcome his inferiority complex has he? He really wants to be accepted by the cool kids. U2 were never cool!!!!

i dunno blueeyedgirl... i was mainly meaning the bits about not being part of "a british rock scene" and achieving their success "almost completely outside" the british music scene...

U2 were everywhere when i was a teen in the UK getting into proper music... they had tremendous support in the UK... loads of radio airplay... all my peers were listening, buying records, some even going to concerts... the excitement surrounding them was really buzzing as i remember... they were a breath of fresh air for those who dreamed of respite from hair metal and hair pop lmfao

and i wasn't even a U2 fan then, i just listened to them with all my other faves like The Cure, Heart and Def Lepard

plus, i remember going to nightclubs (and that was the "cool" - or "uncool" depending on how you see it - underground alternative "garage" club scene, not the "pop" clubs) and so many boys were dressing like the Edge (you know, with that headscarf) - at the time i didn't even really know what the Edge looked like, it was only years later with hindsight seeing photos from that era and thinking oh my god ding ding!

i think U2 were huge in the music scene in the UK in those early days... well at least on the planet i lived on at any rate

 

[Popmartijn]

i dunno blueeyedgirl... i was mainly meaning the bits about not being part of "a british rock scene" and achieving their success "almost completely outside" the british music scene...

U2 were everywhere when i was a teen in the UK getting into proper music... they had tremendous support in the UK... loads of radio airplay... all my peers were listening, buying records, some even going to concerts... the excitement surrounding them was really buzzing as i remember... they were a breath of fresh air for those who dreamed of respite from hair metal and hair pop lmfao

and i wasn't even a U2 fan then, i just listened to them with all my other faves like The Cure, Heart and Def Lepard

plus, i remember going to nightclubs (and that was the "cool" - or "uncool" depending on how you see it - underground alternative "garage" club scene, not the "pop" clubs) and so many boys were dressing like the Edge (you know, with that headscarf) - at the time i didn't even really know what the Edge looked like, it was only years later with hindsight seeing photos from that era and thinking oh my god ding ding!

i think U2 were huge in the music scene in the UK in those early days... well at least on the planet i lived on at any rate

I don't think that Neil McCormick was saying that U2 aren't huge (or weren't 20 years ago), but that they're not part of the 'British rock scene'. U2's Irishness has maybe always prevented them to be fully accepted by British (or maybe even just English) bands and the music press. Yes, there was praise, but full acceptance? They're still outsiders.
Maybe U2 feel it's one of the final walls they want/need to break through and that they can this by playing Glastonbury.

 

[mama cass]

I don't think that Neil McCormick was saying that U2 aren't huge (or weren't 20 years ago), but that they're not part of the 'British rock scene'. U2's Irishness has maybe always prevented them to be fully accepted by British (or maybe even just English) bands and the music press. Yes, there was praise, but full acceptance? They're still outsiders.
Maybe U2 feel it's one of the final walls they want/need to break through and that they can this by playing Glastonbury.

that's what i'm getting at... i do think they were part of the British rock scene - btw i understand this as not "British" as in "British" as obviously they're Irish, but "British" as in "in Britain at that time"... U2 were a big part of how i remember the music scene in Britain in the 80's... the Edge's guitar playing was a revelation amongst my friends (and my hub's friends apparently) - everyone i knew who could play guitar were trying to play U2 tunes and work out the Edge's riffs... i just remember their influence in these little things really...

and i don't think their "Irishness" was a problem, at least it wasn't in my experience of discovering U2 in the UK, or seeing their reception amongst my peers at the time, radio airplay etc... i remember U2 being as huge a part of the rock scene in Britain as any Brit or US band...

i don't think U2 are seen outsiders in Britain - i think they're very much part of the music establishment in the UK, they've always been a part of things in the industry and they are very well respected... maybe some things are down to political tensions - there has been a certain distancing by U2 from things in the past hasn't there, didn't they decline to play at one of the Queen's do's at one point or something for instance??

plus haven't they been turning down Glastonbury for years?? i don't think this "acceptance" theory is water-tight...

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Ouch check this out
.......................................................................................................................
Festivals are brilliant. Standing in fields, listening to music out of ropey speakers, complaining about being covered in mud and spending £10 on organic hemp burgers. Perfect.

What you want for your money is a magical experience where you get to enjoy bands you like, discover weird stuff like Brazilians who compose songs off radiators and occasionally get off your face on booze. Glastonbury 2010 should theoretically be one of the best festivals of all time. Why? Because it’s the 40th anniversary of the festival. Shame it’s going to be ruined by U2.

Well we say, U2. We mean Bono.

In the olden days, before people had mobile phones, U2 actually made music. Actually, to be fair they still do this. But back in times where the world was in black and white, they were considered to be good. The success of the band subsequently created an egotistical monster in the form of Bono. Sometimes the self-obsessed twat can’t get through doors as his own opinion inflates him that much. And now they’re playing Glastonbury.


When U2 hit the pyramid stage at Glastonbury, we can guarantee a few things. Firstly, nobody under the age of 30 will be there to see them. Nobody young trendy will want to be seen anywhere near them. U2 make music for dads to blast out of their cars while onlookers point and snigger. They’ll either be left performing to bemused security staff or farm animals that have been drafted in to make up the numbers.

But wait – this could actually be a warped blessing in disguise. Remember that Bono personally knows half the world’s population. Every time there’s a crisis or photo opportunity, you’ll see the Irishman there. He knows which world leaders, clergymen and other musicians to be seen with. Perhaps he’s cooking up something special gor Glastonbury. Festival founder Michael Eavis backs our wild theory up by telling The Guardian:

“The 26-year-old rumour has finally come true. At last, the biggest band in the world are going to play the best festival in the world,” he said. “Nothing could be better for our 40th anniversary party.”

Using his wealth of celebrity mates, Bono could make the Glastonbury gig a special one-off show that’ll blow everyone else out the water. Think about it. The Catholic church has gotten all pissy about Madonna using crosses in her shows before. So imagine the look on everyone’s face when The Pope emerges from a burning cross before breaking in to a frenzied guitar solo with The Edge. It’ll be OK if God’s best mate actually does it. The Guardian again reports:

“Eavis had promised something special for Glastonbury’s 40th anniversary, and in booking a band who have been rumoured to headline every year since the mid-1980s, he has not disappointed. The ebullient 74-year-old said the news had been a long time coming.”

Ballsacks, we’re so pumped up about this that we forgot there aren’t any tickets left for Glastonbury 2010. Either a kind PR company will let us go and experience the spectacle, or it’ll be the borefest that most people believe it’ll be. A two-hour lecture from Bono about how we should have donated the ticket money to starving Africans or drowning penguins. Fun.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Ouch check this out
.......................................................................................................................
Festivals are brilliant. Standing in fields, listening to music out of ropey speakers, complaining about being covered in mud and spending £10 on organic hemp burgers. Perfect.

What you want for your money is a magical experience where you get to enjoy bands you like, discover weird stuff like Brazilians who compose songs off radiators and occasionally get off your face on booze. Glastonbury 2010 should theoretically be one of the best festivals of all time. Why? Because it’s the 40th anniversary of the festival. Shame it’s going to be ruined by U2.

Well we say, U2. We mean Bono.

In the olden days, before people had mobile phones, U2 actually made music. Actually, to be fair they still do this. But back in times where the world was in black and white, they were considered to be good. The success of the band subsequently created an egotistical monster in the form of Bono. Sometimes the self-obsessed twat can’t get through doors as his own opinion inflates him that much. And now they’re playing Glastonbury.


When U2 hit the pyramid stage at Glastonbury, we can guarantee a few things. Firstly, nobody under the age of 30 will be there to see them. Nobody young trendy will want to be seen anywhere near them. U2 make music for dads to blast out of their cars while onlookers point and snigger. They’ll either be left performing to bemused security staff or farm animals that have been drafted in to make up the numbers.

But wait – this could actually be a warped blessing in disguise. Remember that Bono personally knows half the world’s population. Every time there’s a crisis or photo opportunity, you’ll see the Irishman there. He knows which world leaders, clergymen and other musicians to be seen with. Perhaps he’s cooking up something special gor Glastonbury. Festival founder Michael Eavis backs our wild theory up by telling The Guardian:

“The 26-year-old rumour has finally come true. At last, the biggest band in the world are going to play the best festival in the world,” he said. “Nothing could be better for our 40th anniversary party.”

Using his wealth of celebrity mates, Bono could make the Glastonbury gig a special one-off show that’ll blow everyone else out the water. Think about it. The Catholic church has gotten all pissy about Madonna using crosses in her shows before. So imagine the look on everyone’s face when The Pope emerges from a burning cross before breaking in to a frenzied guitar solo with The Edge. It’ll be OK if God’s best mate actually does it. The Guardian again reports:

“Eavis had promised something special for Glastonbury’s 40th anniversary, and in booking a band who have been rumoured to headline every year since the mid-1980s, he has not disappointed. The ebullient 74-year-old said the news had been a long time coming.”

Ballsacks, we’re so pumped up about this that we forgot there aren’t any tickets left for Glastonbury 2010. Either a kind PR company will let us go and experience the spectacle, or it’ll be the borefest that most people believe it’ll be. A two-hour lecture from Bono about how we should have donated the ticket money to starving Africans or drowning penguins. Fun.

 

[hedge]

appalling writing.

where was that published?

 

[mirrorballman]

appalling writing.

where was that published?

U2 Set To Bore Festival Goers At Glastonbury | Hecklerspray

Muppet stuff!

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Very much so, the thing is people actually read it though.

 

[last unicorn]

Oh the drama. Next year when the festival actually takes place, all of this bickering will be forgotten.

 

[gman]

Oh the drama. Next year when the festival actually takes place, all of this bickering will be forgotten.

Yarp....yer not wrong. Come the time....am pretty sure u2 will play to a packed audience. Remember folks.....its fashionable to knock those at the top, especially here in UK. We are world beaters at it!

 

[phommel]

Oh the drama. Next year when the festival actually takes place, all of this bickering will be forgotten.

Indeed! I remember last year. All the critics about Bruce & E-Street playing festivals. Also they are not a typical festival group. But the crowd at Pinkpop and Glastonbury went nuts!!!

 

[MikeyJB]

Firstly, nobody under the age of 30 will be there to see them

Well I will be mate, so fuck you.

 

[ramblin rose]

So where are the "open minded music lovers" that supposedly go to this festival?

 

[mama cass]

So where are the "open minded music lovers" that supposedly go to this festival?

sitting in their teepees and not on the internet that's for sure

(just joking btw... Glastonbury is a pretty corporate affair these days really, has been for years...)

 

[chrissybaby]

U2 Set To Bore Festival Goers At Glastonbury | Hecklerspray

Muppet stuff!

That really is terribly written. There were plenty of people under 30 at all their shows this summer! So lazy, just falling back on all the cliches of what defines rock music... Very 1989 NME.

 

[U2girl]

The press will no doubt have a field day come U2's show at Glastonbury.

 

[poopman]

I am not sure what that writer is talking about U2 being just 'dad's' music. It's kind of stupid to pigeon hole your musical tastes to a certain time period. One can listen to bands like islands, arctic monkeys and handsome furs yet still enjoy music from u2, the cure and echo and the bunnymen, or CCR, the band and leonard cohen. hell, i listen to billie holiday from time to time. are some people really this snobish and pretentious with their musical tastes?