Thursday, April 30, 2009

Noel Gallagher Sings for (Red)Wire in the Shower


Oasis singer Noel Gallagher has been filmed singing in the shower for pal BONO's new (Red)Wire online magazine.
The singer/songwriter agreed to perform a solo rendition of the band’s Waiting for The Rapture in a shower room at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the new issue of the downloaded subscription service, which went live in December (09).
Subscribers pay $5 (GBP3.40) per month for one-of-a-kind videos, recordings and celebrity messages.
The fee goes to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Past Red(Wire) highlights have included U2's rendition of I Believe In Father Christmas and exclusives from Jay-Z, The Killers and Yusuf Islam.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Bono sings War/No More Trouble



We have already written about "Playing for Change", the multimedia movement created by Mark Johnson to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world.
Bono, among other professional and street musicians, colaborated in this project and the result is a CD/DVD available at PFC store.


A message from the people at PFC:


And now, everyone can participate in this transformative experience by joining the Playing for Change Movement. People are hosting screenings, musicians are holding benefit concerts of every size, fans are spreading the message of Playing for Change through our media, and this is only the beginning. Together, we will connect the world through music!


Playing for change: www.playingforchange.com

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Here Comes the Star: The Stage!!


U2 360° promises to be "the" tour; a whole new concept of stage has been designed by Willie Williams who said:"'After two and a half years of planning, this thing is almost built. I thought I was getting used to the scale of the operation, but it's pretty staggering to look at this and imagine we're taking it on tour, with several dozen other pieces like it"



Pictured is an inverted section of the 'shoulder' of the main structure, being fabricated in Belgium.


Seems that a kind of monster has been created, thanks Mr Williams

source:www.u2.com

Monday, April 27, 2009

Bono is Everywhere!!!

Mr and Mrs Hewson at Salma Hayek´s wedding party. Jeez! Doesn´t she look stunning???


The man with the stamina of a thousand bulls has had a hell of a week:



On Tuesday he attended the Food Bank for New York City's Sixth Annual Can-Do Awards.

On Wednesday he showed up at a Tribeca Film Festival kickoff dinner hosted by Vanity Fair magazine. (While in New York, Bono also interviews actor George Clooney for an upcoming TIME/CNN special.

On Friday he attended the funeral of Sir Clement Freud at St. Bride's Church in London.

On Saturday he was in Venice, Italy, for the wedding ceremony of actress Salma Hayek and husband Francois-Henri Pinault.


source:www.atu2.com

Saturday, April 25, 2009

ON PLAYING AND WRITING


U2.com has posted some extracts of the special edition of the deluxe version of NLOTH.
These special editions feature some very fine behind-the-scenes photography from the recording period of 'No Line' - handwritten versions of songs as they evolved for instance - and a series of intriguing interviews with Catherine Owens, a long-time friend of the band who directed the 'U23D' movie.



LARRY ON DRUMMING

C So, just to go back a little, is your prep time in the studio akin to Edge's prep time, where he spoke about getting back to Malibu and being on his own with the music, do you have a similar relationship with the music?

L Hmmm... drumming is, I think, quite different, being on your own with the music would not be the same for me as it would be for Edge. Drumming is a visceral, violent discipline and for those who are not specialized in the field, like me (I am a street drummer, I have had a few lessons here and there), there is nothing romantic about this relationship. It is pure violence and that is the way I like to have it! (big smile). Now, that said, when you are working with the band, occasionally you have to bring flowers...

ADAM ON PLAYING

C So, in terms of how you would see the bass player's role and what you bring into any given situation, is your focus on where Edge is going or where Bono is going? Obviously, you and Larry are a team in a certain way...

A In situations where it is one, two, three, go, as it often is at the early stages of the record, the bass department has a few different jobs to do. First and foremost, I am trying to support what is going on so that things can fly. Then when there are bits of audio real estate, where something needs to happen, those are my little opportunities to pop things in on a creative level. That was very much true for 'Being Born' and 'No Line on the Horizon'. There were moments, like on a bird's first flight, where you don't want to drop the ball, you want to support everyone else, for example as Larry is settling on a drum part and Edge is trying to figure out his chords, Bono may be trying some new vocal range, you want to help keep all of this up in the air...



EDGE ON SONGWRITING

C When you are in a situation where you are presenting something musically to everybody, is that nerve wracking? Do you get attached to the pieces before you present?

E I can't really get too attached to anything I offer up or the collaborative process would be too difficult. I really have to kind of see my song ideas as orphans. Just let them go, and see which ones survive. I can come up with something I think is brilliant, but if it doesn't get Bono, Adam or Larry excited, and unless they can add to it, then it is never going to go anywhere. Sometimes I have to let go of what I think are gems, grit my teeth when something I have spent ages on is torn apart and thrown in the dustbin in front of my eyes. But you know the best ones always survive, and if you are going to be too precious about your personal work, then don't be in a rock 'n' roll band.

BONO ON LYRICS


C Do you call these characters your muses? Have you allowed these characters to invade you or have you invaded them?

B Now that's a very good question, who is invading who? Hmmm, I don't know, but if you want to talk about "Being Born", well, I'm not sure why it's called 'Being Born', but it's about this character who is going a bit AWOL. Who takes a road trip, who just takes off to rediscover who he is and to refind his first love. In my head, the traffic cop is from Morocco, he is certainly African-French, he heads down through France, through Spain towards Cadiz. He's heading for a little place near Cadiz, a little surfing town called Tarifa. At night, when the sun goes down, you can see across the water to the hills of Africa. Africa and Europe are only eight miles, thirteen kilometres, from each other. The real important thing to know about this song is the sense of speed and this kind of primeval drive to get back to your essence... The engines roar, blood curdling wail / Head first then foot / Then heart set sail. As you know from our DNA's point of view, Africa is where we all come from, so I suppose I relate in some strange way to this feeling of Africa as home, I really do, and I'm not the only European that does. Especially somewhere like the Masi Mara in Kenya, which local legend claims to be the Garden of Eden. I've been brought to tears by the sheer beauty and scale of the natural diversity of this place. Sorry, I digress...

source:www.u2.com

Bono interviews George Clooney

Bono interviewed George Clooney for Time Magazine as the actor has been included in the magazine list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
The interview was recorded for the special programme CNN,"Anderson Cooper 360" “The World’s Most Influential People" .It lasted about 40 minutes and was done at the Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz in the Lincoln Center and it will be aired on 1st May ,11:00 p.m. ET.



| Source: CNN

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Random U2 Quote


"Men should not be forced to wear pants when it's not cold"
Adam Clayton (in the 90´s)

It seems he´s not the only one who has that idea...The New York Times has reported that

The Male Unbifurcated Garment movement began in the early 1990s, when a cross-dressing Swede named Roger Lewau launched a now-defunct Web site called the Skirts Lover Nest. Over the years, the movement has strived for civil rights in displays of pride that have included a march down Fifth Avenue, where dozens showed up in minis, tutus and full-length crimson ball gowns. Now comes “Dressed to Kilt,” a fashion show hosted by the M.U.G.-wearing Scotsman Sean Connery. The models will include Andie MacDowell, the actress; Marcus Schenkenberg, the supermodel; and Robert Anderson, named in the show’s promotional material as a “Scottish Hunk.” Proceeds will benefit the Friends of Scotland, but M.U.G. men around the world will surely take note.

source: www.nytimes.com

Maybe Adam goes back to wearing his sarongs in public.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Bono at Tribeca


Since it was founded eight years ago by Robert de Niro the Tribeca Film Festival has become one of the main events on the Big Apple social calendar. As the 11-day cinema event kicked off in Manhattan this week stars, including U2 singer Bono were there to help get the party started.


Can´t believe he has the energy to be everywhere!!!Hey, frontman, shouldnt you be getting ready for the HUGE gig???

source:www.hellomagazine.com

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Bono:Elected by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences


The American Academy of Arts & Sciences today(20th) announced the election of leaders in the sciences, the humanities and the arts, business, public affairs, and the nonprofit sector. The 210 new Fellows and 19 Foreign Honorary Members join one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies and a center for independent policy research.
The scholars, scientists, jurists, writers, artists, civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders come from 28 states and 11 countries and range in age from 33 to 83. They represent universities, museums, national laboratories, private research institutes, businesses, and foundations. This year’s group also includes Nobel laureates and recipients of the Pulitzer and Pritzker prizes, MacArthur Fellowships, Academy, Grammy, and Tony awards, and the National Medal of Arts.
In the humanities and arts, new members include, among others: Civil War historian James McPherson; biographer Robert Caro; author Thomas Pynchon; choreographers Trisha Brown and Edward Villela; actors Dustin Hoffman and James Earl Jones; mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne; singer/songwriter Emmylou Harris; and jazz musician Kenny Barron.
The Academy elected 19 Foreign Honorary Members from Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada, and Israel. They include: 1993 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nelson Mandela, who guided the reconciliation of South Africa in the post-Apartheid era; U2 lead singer and advocate for humanitarian causes, Bono; South African Constitutional Court Justice Kate O’Regan; British actress Judith Dench; Indian cultural historian Romila Thapar; 2009 Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor; Hong Kong-based filmmaker Kar-Wai Wong; Irish poet Michael Longley; and the president of the German Academy of Sciences, Volker ter Meulen.
“These remarkable men and women have made singular contributions to their fields, and to the world,” said Academy President Emilio Bizzi. “By electing them as members, the Academy honors them and their work, and they, in turn, honor us.”
The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on October 10, at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

source:www.amacad.org

Latin Audiences Favour U2


"No Line on the Horizon" is among the five most sold albums both in Argentina and Spain. Since the release the album has been in the charts of both countries varying from 1st to 3rd.

source:Productores Musicales de España//CAPIF,Argentina

Monday, April 20, 2009

Where´s Our Soul?


Bono wrote another column as guest for The New York Times. Spiritual and meditative, he sees the time of Easter as rebirth and asks us where our soul is...a good question to pose in these troubled times.

"I AM in Midtown Manhattan, where drivers still play their car horns as if they were musical instruments and shouting in restaurants is sport.

I am a long way from the warm breeze of voices I heard a week ago on Easter Sunday.

“Glorify your name,” the island women sang, as they swayed in a cut sandstone church. I was overwhelmed by a riot of color, an emotional swell that carried me to sea.

Christianity, it turns out, has a rhythm — and it crescendos this time of year. The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of ...

Carnival — rock stars are good at that.

“Carne” is flesh; “Carne-val,” its goodbye party. I’ve been to many. Brazilians say they’ve done it longest; they certainly do it best. You can’t help but contract the fever. You’ve got no choice but to join the ravers as they swell up the streets bursting like the banks of a river in a flood of fun set to rhythm. This is a Joy that cannot be conjured. This is life force. This is the heart full and spilling over with gratitude. The choice is yours ...

It’s Lent I’ve always had issues with. I gave it up ... self-denial is where I come a cropper. My idea of discipline is simple — hard work — but of course that’s another indulgence.

Then comes the dying and the living that is Easter.

It’s a transcendent moment for me — a rebirth I always seem to need. Never more so than a few years ago, when my father died. I recall the embarrassment and relief of hot tears as I knelt in a chapel in a village in France and repented my prodigal nature — repented for fighting my father for so many years and wasting so many opportunities to know him better. I remember the feeling of “a peace that passes understanding” as a load lifted. Of all the Christian festivals, it is the Easter parade that demands the most faith — pushing you past reverence for creation, through bewilderment at the idea of a virgin birth, and into the far-fetched and far-reaching idea that death is not the end. The cross as crossroads. Whatever your religious or nonreligious views, the chance to begin again is a compelling idea.

Last Sunday, the choirmaster was jumping out of his skin ... stormy then still, playful then tender, on the most upright of pianos and melodies. He sang his invocations in a beautiful oaken tenor with a freckle-faced boy at his side playing conga and tambourine as if it was a full drum kit. The parish sang to the rafters songs of praise to a God that apparently surrendered His voice to ours.

I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search.

The preacher said, “What good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Hearing this, every one of the pilgrims gathered in the room asked, “Is it me, Lord?” In America, in Europe, people are asking, “Is it us?”

Well, yes. It is us.

Carnival is over. Commerce has been overheating markets and climates ... the sooty skies of the industrial revolution have changed scale and location, but now melt ice caps and make the seas boil in the time of technological revolution. Capitalism is on trial; globalization is, once again, in the dock. We used to say that all we wanted for the rest of the world was what we had for ourselves. Then we found out that if every living soul on the planet had a fridge and a house and an S.U.V., we would choke on our own exhaust.

Lent is upon us whether we asked for it or not. And with it, we hope, comes a chance at redemption. But redemption is not just a spiritual term, it’s an economic concept. At the turn of the millennium, the debt cancellation campaign, inspired by the Jewish concept of Jubilee, aimed to give the poorest countries a fresh start. Thirty-four million more children in Africa are now in school in large part because their governments used money freed up by debt relief. This redemption was not an end to economic slavery, but it was a more hopeful beginning for many. And to the many, not the lucky few, is surely where any soul-searching must lead us.

A few weeks ago I was in Washington when news arrived of proposed cuts to the president’s aid budget. People said that it was going to be hard to fulfill promises to those who live in dire circumstances such a long way away when there is so much hardship in the United States. And there is.

But I read recently that Americans are taking up public service in greater numbers because they are short on money to give. And, following a successful bipartisan Senate vote, word is that Congress will restore the money that had been cut from the aid budget — a refusal to abandon those who would pay such a high price for a crisis not of their making. In the roughest of times, people show who they are.

Your soul.

So much of the discussion today is about value, not values. Aid well spent can be an example of both, values and value for money. Providing AIDS medication to just under four million people, putting in place modest measures to improve maternal health, eradicating killer pests like malaria and rotoviruses — all these provide a leg up on the climb to self-sufficiency, all these can help us make friends in a world quick to enmity. It’s not alms, it’s investment. It’s not charity, it’s justice.

Strangely, as we file out of the small stone church into the cruel sun, I think of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, whose now combined fortune is dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty. Agnostics both, I believe. I think of Nelson Mandela, who has spent his life upholding the rights of others. A spiritual man — no doubt. Religious? I’m told he would not describe himself that way.

Not all soul music comes from the church."


source:www.nytimes.com

Saturday, April 18, 2009

More Hotels!!!


We have already seen that Adam has taken up videorecording as hobby, so here goes two more vids of his collection: hotel views. The first one is from his hotel room in Germany (when he went with Edge to the Berlinare ) and the second , a more recent one, a Los Angeles hotel.
Enjoy them...




and




source:www.u2.com//www.U2miracle.com

Friday, April 17, 2009

Random U2 Quote


"We have always been ideologues. We were in the back of the bus reading Bibles instead of Playboy when we were 19 or 20."

Bono, 2000

Thursday, April 16, 2009

An Oldie But Goldie


OK, our favourite musicians have given us a break and they have NOT appeared live in any TV show,radio show, no mag or paper interview for the last week...so let´s grab some old jokes...
Larry is one of the most personal and low profile of the four members of U2, so enigmatic and thought to be moody and at times sullen,he has been the object of the "Chuck-Norris style facts" jokes...

Larry Mullen Jr Facts
  • Larry Mullen Jr does not play drums, he beats them.
  • The real reason Larry couldn't be the leader of the band was his 17 different kinds of awesome caused fans' heads to explode during concerts. To balance out the situation the lamest was selected.
  • Larry Mullen Jr's body naturally produces his own styling gel.
  • Once at a press conference, Larry Mullen Jr. was asked what he thought about drum machines. There were no survivors.
  • Larry Mullen Jr does not run. Instead the ground beneath his feet rotates faster.
  • Larry Mullen Jr's rhythm keeps the rotation of the Solar System in balance.
  • Larry Mullen Jr does not need to adjust for tempo. Time adjusts itself out of fear.
  • Larry Mullen Jr owns Norway
  • When asked why he never gets to solo Larry Mullen Jr replied "I don't want to shatter your perception of reality."
  • When Larry Mullen Jr gets drunk he actually gains braincells. (LOL!!)
  • Larry Mullen Jr once met Chuck Norris and it was declared a "draw."
  • When the Grim Reaper dies Larry Mullen Jr. will come to collect him.
  • Larry Mullen Jr has two settings: Drum, and be annoyed at Bono.
  • NATO made Larry Mullen Jr grow his hair to produce air drag to slow him down. Be glad it does.
  • Larry Mullen Jr's *glare* cannot be photographed by man-made cameras.
  • The British retain possession of Northern Ireland only because Larry Mullen Jr. lets them. (This is the BEST one, LOL!!)
  • Larry Mullen Jr's heart is a smallblock V8 engine.
  • Larry Mullen Jr. will never die. The only way he can die is if you kill him. Larry Mullen Jr. would like to see you try.
  • Larry Mullen Jr challenges statues to staring contests. The score so far?
LARRY MULLEN JR - 1,345,147
STATUES – 0
  • Larry Mullen Jr did the entire War album in one 32 minute session using only a garbage can, a bucket and some chopsticks he stole from a Sushi bar.
  • Larry Mullen Jr pierced his ear with his finger.
  • Larry Mullen Jr breaks wood with his hands and the splinters that get stuck in his hands are later used as some drumsticks. Sometimes he doesn't even remove them from his hands.
  • Larry Mullen Jr CHOOSES when to grow wrinkles.

source: www.atu2blog.com

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Another Album for 2009??


U2 and Eno Again .The producer says they're off to the studio
Brian Eno,the legendary producer didn’t give any more details at all – but made the comment at the very end of an event last night in which he discussed philosophy and politics with US trumpeter and composer Jon Hassell.

The talk at London's South Bank Centre was the opening to this year’s Ether Festival, and on Sunday and Monday night Eno will perform alongside David Byrne as part of the same event.

The legendary producer and former Roxy Music member is credited with the invention of ambient music, and during his career has worked with the likes of Talking Heads, David Bowie, U2 and Coldplay as well as producing numerous world music records.

Hassell collaborated with Eno on the 1980 album ‘Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics,’ and early in his musical career worked with the revered composer and sound pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen.

In his career Eno has recorded more than forty solo and collaborative studio albums, beginning in 1973 with Here Come The Warm Jets, and most recently last year’s Whatever Happens Will Happen Today with David Byrne.



source:www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Portuguese TV interviews U2

A very interesting interview by "Jornal da Noite", a Portuguese programme.

Bono: "If you want to get into people´s hearts, give them music."



source:www.sic.aeiou.pt

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Magnificent to Magnify!!!

The Second single from NLOTH is almost here and the cover will look like this:





Another picture taken in Fez, rooftop and the city behind...it gives a very magical and spiritual feeling to the whole album concept.


New Vids from U2

U2.com has posted two videos : one from the Echo Awards and the other another one from the Adam saga.Seems that he enjoys his new hobby so much that he wants to share it with us.Thanks,Adam, it´s always nice to have images directly from the horse´s mouth.






source:wwwu2.interference.com

New Logo for U2 360° Tour

Shinnier, more modern and perpahs with a futuristic touch, the new logo for the upcoming tour has been launched.

Random U2 Quote


"Anyone who doesn´t like U2, isn´t trying hard enough."

The Edge in a recent interview.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Magnificent in May


The following single from NLOTH is "Magnificent" due to be released in May.

7" Single:
Side A: Magnificent
Side B: Breathe (Live from Sommerville Theatre, Boston)

CD:
1. Magnificent
2. Breathe (Live from Somerville Theatre, Boston)

CD:
1. Magnificent
2. Vertigo (Live from Somerville Theatre, Boston)
3. Get On Your Boots (Justice remix)
4. Not said yet

source:www.u2tour.de

"I'd be very capable of setting fire to myself"


Bono is "an inch away" from being a drug addict.

The U2 frontman goes to church to tame his "wild streak" and stop him giving in to his darker desires.

He said: "I've been surrounded a lot in my personal life by addiction - in the last few years, in particular. I know a lot of people - not least the bass player in the band - who have had to deal with their demons in courageous ways.

"And maybe there's a part of me that thinks, 'Wow, I'm just an inch away'. There's no doubt about the fact that I have a wild streak and I'd be very capable of setting fire to myself. So, you know, I don't go to church for the view."

U2's bass player Adam Clayton battled alcohol problems in the mid 90s and was once so hung-over he couldn't play a show. To stay on top of temptation, Bono gets up at 6am - the time he used to get home from partying - to pray and contemplate his life.

The 48-year-old singer told the Irish Independent newspaper: "My meditative life feeds my soul and it's a wonderful thing for me to have time to reflect upon things and spend some time to myself.

"I want to squeeze every drop out of the day. But it's also the tyranny of good ideas, because if you spot one, or if you have one, then you think you have to follow through on it. And that might be a psychosis. I may have to get that fixed."

source:http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com

The Edge & Charity

The Edge has pledged his support to a fundraiser in honour of late Big Country singer Stuart Adamson.
It's in aid of the Children's Hospice Association Scotland and the youth set-up at Adamson's beloved Dunfermline Football Club.

And the gift from The Edge -- a longtime friend of fellow guitarist Adamson, who died in Hawaii in 2001, aged 43 -- will boost the fundraiser by £8000. His Gibson Epiphone guitar is expected to fetch at least that when it is auctioned on eBay.

Adamson's musician daughter Kirsten, lead singer The Gillyflowers, got in touch with The Edge.

She said: "I couldn't believe it when the guitar turned up. It's pretty cool.
"The Edge has signed it and has used it for a few gigs. My dad really had a lot of respect for The Edge and U2, so this is just a fantastic tribute." The Edge had one condition, though -- that some money raised goes a charity he co-founded to help musicians struggling in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Adamson's son Callum added: "My dad would have been extremely honoured by this gesture. He was a working class man with a burning ambition to become a successful musician.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edge has signed up to become an ambassador for the UK learning disability charity, Mencap.

The rock star will help the charity with fundraising, raising awareness and campaigning against discrimination.

The Edge, otherwise known as David Evans, took the position following his appearance at Mencap's Little Noise Sessions held in north London last November.

source: www.dailyrecord.co.uk//www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/

Monday, April 6, 2009

Playing For Change:Songs Around The World


Playing for Change began a decade ago, the brainchild of Grammy-winning music producer and engineer Mark Johnson. For ten years Johnson and his team traveled the globe, with a single-minded passion to record little-known musicians for what would become Playing for Change - its name evoking the coins thrown to street musicians as well as the transformation their music inspires. They went to New Orleans shortly after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. "The city felt sad and desolate, yet the music never stopped," says Johnson. "The street musicians and music in the clubs kept the city alive and gave it a sense of hope." When they visited South Africa and witnessed its growing pains in the aftermath of apartheid, "we saw that people marching down streets singing in groups of thousands did more to effect positive change than any weapons ever could."
In this album, Bono has contributed with a cover of Bob Marley´s War/No More Trouble.
The album can be bought in Amazon or in Playing For Change Store.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Bono and Edge, Turn Off The Dark

U2.com says that...

Bono and Edge joined Julie Taymor in New York a few days ago to preview 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' which is set to open on Broadway early next year.

'It's fun for us to work in a different idiom than we're used to,' explained Bono. 'It's great to not be writing for the first person and to step inside some of these fantastic characters.'

The Spider-Man preview, hosted by Julie, Bono and Edge, took place at The Times Center and this is what we learned.

1. 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' will open at Broadway's Hilton Theater on February 18th next year, and previews begin on January 16th.

2. It's directed by Julie Taymor ('The Lion King' and Beatles movie 'All Across The Universe' in which Bono played Dr Robert ) and written by Julie with Glen Berger.

3. The narrative 'follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down - literally - when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek, suddenly endowed with astonishing powers, soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains test not only his physical strength but also his strength of character.'

4. Costumes are by Eiko Ishioka (Coppola's 'Dracula' and the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony) and according to one early reviewer, they are 'breathtaking'.

5. Edge and Bono have written all the music and lyrics and eight of the songs were previewed by a group of actors, including: 'Bouncing off the Walls', 'Turn off the Dark', 'Bullying By Numbers' and the ballads 'Rise Above' and 'Boy Falls From the Sky'.

source:www.U2.com

U2 360° Tour in Latin America


It was almost unbelievable that after the huge success of the Vertigo Tour in Latin America(you have just to check U2 3D), U2 wouldn´t play in the south of the American Continent.
According to MTN Latinoamérica, the tour will close in October 2010 in Latin America.
Paul McGuinnes, U2 manager, said that they have planned to reach 100 concerts in big stadiums due to the structure and details of the stage.
And now a bit of a complaint...it would be so nice that countries that have never seen U2 Live were incorporated to the tour, to name a few...Peru or El Salvador where there´s a huge campaing called "U2 Vení"(U2 Come) to foster the coming of the superband...


source:www.mtvla.com

Friday, April 3, 2009

Oldie but Goldie

Lately we´ve had so much material about the "guys" that we can´t complain. So these videos in the BBC that are only about a month old seem old...But they are so funnyand fresh that I guess it´s good to see them again or for the first time.

BBC-U2-Live Lounge with Radio 2 DJ,Chris Evans...




Sally, lucky girl, did you ever think who would give you a massage???





The secret gig on the rooftop is revealed...



source:www.bbc.co.uk

Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Edge´s Design


The Edge and his daughter have designed a bold geometric multi-coloured pattern tie which is part of a Limited Edition Collection exclusively produced by Contemporary English tailor Gresham Blake .The tie is 100% silk and has been hand woven in England.The money obtained for its sale is for CLIC Sargeant.
CLIC Sargent wants to see a world where all children and young people with cancer live life to the full. We will be there for each family, caring every step of the way, providing individual support to children and young people with cancer and leukaemia and their families through: -Clinical, psychosocial, emotional and financial services in hospital, at home and in the community across the UK -Being a strong voice nationally and locally -Research into improving treatment and care

The tie can be bought in e bay:

Bono in Washington

U2 frontman Bono paid a visit to the U.S. Capitolon 31 March to promote Third World relief efforts. He met GOP Leader John Boehner.

"Bono was quite the diplomat during the discussion. Gracious, polite, funny, well-spoken, well-informed, and expressing what seemed to be a sincere appreciation for America. He had nothing but good things to say about the compassion of the United States and the good work that has been accomplished in Africa in large part as a result of American generosity. He spoke positively of his work with both Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, as well as the late Sen. Jesse Helms and former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. He said his purpose in coming to the Hill today was to thank congressional leaders on both sides for what has been achieved to date in terms of helping save lives and educate children in Africa, and to urge that these efforts continue to the extent possible despite the serious economic challenges America is facing."

There was an interesting exchange between (Michigan) Rep. Thad McCotter and Bono during which McCotter talked about Bobby Kennedy's vision of community activism versus Lyndon Johnson's. LBJ, according to McCotter, advocated "top down" charity (i.e. big government forcing it on folks from the top down), while Bobby Kennedy differed and said you should start small with families and churches and local groups and build from there. Bono was intrigued by this and asked McCotter if he could echo it. McCotter said "sure, I haven't had it copyrighted."

Boehner had to leave for a speech, while the rest of the members stayed to continue the discussion. As Boehner walked out the door he saluted and said "Bono, thanks!" Bono thanked him back and gave what appeared to be some kind of peace gesture. Then Bono took photos and signed autographs for members and a few staffers who managed to squeeze into
the room.

source:www.cleveland.com

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Another interview!!

Pitchfork Media (Chicago) made a two part interview with the band.Interesting to hear them talking about NLOTH as the future .
Bono:" Right now there is so much fear about the future, people losing their jobs, people getting angry... but Get On Your Boots opens with the line 'The future needs a big kiss' and I hope that our optimism as a band is the right tone for now, it is a defiant tone..."

And as the comments say:" What's most striking about watching Bono, the Edge, and Adam Clayton discuss their history and new album is how much they seem like regular guys-- give or take a Bob Dylan anecdote." Parts 1 and 2 up now.











source:http://pitchfork.com/tv/http://u2.com