Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Three Nights with U2

Adam signing outside studio.

Tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday, the band are taking part in 'U2 3 Nights Live'

About 200 people sat on the carpeted floor, cross-legged, in a recording studio at Capitol Records to see and hear Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry interviewed, in tall chairs set up right in front of the audience, for one hour by Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage. The interview aired live on radio stations around North America starting at 9 p.m. EDT.
About half the people there (wearing green wristbands) were lucky fans from around the country who won tickets to see the event in person. The rest (with red wristbands) were radio promoters and people from the record label, reporters, music-industry folks and their guests. Bono gave a shout-out to a few people in the room, including manager Paul McGuinness, Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine and Los Angeles Times writer Robert Hilburn.The interview started off with only three U2 Musketeers: Bono, Edge and Adam. Larry, who wasn't feeling well, arrived for about the last 15 minutes, cheerful but a little pale.
During the interview, during which Edge surprisingly got in about as much talk time as Bono (Adam was his usual endearing, quiet self), the band answered questions interspersed with songs played from No Line on the Horizon.
The band talked about NLOTH being more experimental than the previous two albums, and the new, very effective experience of including Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno as songwriters for the album.

Bono said the band has "two instincts" that are polar opposites: to "experiment and be outside ourselves" and to "be ourselves." When the two are balanced, "we're at our best," he said.

Often while the music was playing, the guys just listened themselves and seemed very into the songs -- closing their eyes, nodding their heads, tapping their legs. Bono mouthed a few vocals and, in a nod to Adam, pointed out the bass line several times. (Before that, Adam had blushed and tried to deflect attention when answering a question from Manson about being the "star" of the new album.)
They also talked about the Fez recording sessions, the just-announced 360-degree tour set-up ("It's never been done before the way we're going to do it," Bono said) and their "soft spot" for Los Angeles. Answering a question from an audience member, they said the Red Rocks concert in Denver was probably their favorite "rock experience." The recent pre-inaugural concert for Barack Obama rated high as well.
When asked where the band would go next for album musical inspiration, a la Fez, Bono replied, "We seem to like places that are crossroads, places where different cultures meet, whether that's Miami, South America, the Caribbean, Cuba, Sarajevo, Berlin." He then asked if the audience had "any suggestions for where we should go next?"

© @U2/Lindell, 2009.

source:www.atu2.com// pic: belgapictures




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