U2 in Croatian TV

The interview takes about 30 minutes and is very interesting.

It Was 40 Years Ago Today...

Forty years ago , one of the pop world's most infamous and imitated album covers was shot in an ordinary-looking street in north London entering into history...

The idea for the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road album was initially to call it Everest, after the favourite brand of cigarettes smoked by their engineer Geoff Emerik.

Then the thought of doing a Himalayan cover helped kill the idea, and instead they considered doing the shoot closer to home.

"There's a sketch Paul McCartney did with four little stick men crossing the Zebra," says Brian Southall, author of the history of Abbey Road Studios. On the 8 August 1969 that the Fab Four walked out of No 3 Abbey Road, having finished basic work on what would be their penultimate album.The photographer who took the famous cover shot was the late Iain Macmillan.

One of the most copied covers, a gift every fan ( and not so) wants to have when in London.

Hundreds of fans flocked to Abbey Road in northwest London, singing Beatles songs as they jammed the two-lane street around the zebra crossing in the well-heeled Saint John's Wood neighbourhood.

U2 and GreenDay also had their "Abbey Road" shoot.

source:www.news.bbc.co.uk//www.news.yahoo.com

"Never Seen Before!"

Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol was so knocked out by the show in Katowice that he sat down and wrote this piece for U2.com:

I had to write about this. I simply had to. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn here as this is U2's site and hallowed ground for all of you but this story needs to be told. The shows so far on this tour have all been amazing and each night the crowd's reaction to U2 has been loud and joyous and passionate. Last night in Poland though was something else. Hard to explain. Let me try. I have never in my life seen a crowd reaction like that of Katowice last night. Right from opener Breathe there was a daft magic in the air. Insanity everywhere you looked. People's faces clothed in the kind of joy I've only seen in gospel churches and then only on the TV so to see this religious fervour up close was overwhelming. The city outside the stadium could have been under heavy fire from alien spacecraft and I don't think anyone would have heard, saw, or indeed cared that much.

Then The Edge takes to the piano for New Year's Day (playing it guitar pick still between his fingers!) and the place is bathed in red and white instantly. Red cards held aloft by the people on the floor and white cards in the seats to make a giant Polish flag you could probably see from space. It took the breath clean out of me. By the end even Bono was speechless, for a few seconds anyway. The things he said next are lost to me verbatim but what I won't forget is the tears that came to me then. In floods. And when I turned to check if anyone had snared me for blubbing I realised that every single person around me also had tears in their eyes. We were sharing something that simply never happens at rock shows anywhere. A collective emotional and spiritual surrender of epic proportions. This was majesty and tenderness married and that is a rare thing indeed.

Last night was something I've never seen before and I can't quite fathom it. Not sure I ever will or even want to. It will sit alongside the greatest nights of my life and I thank U2 and Poland for that. Also thank you to the Polish U2 fans for giving us the best reaction to our own set we've had on this tour so far. All in all then a night of triumphs.

I would tour with this band (we all, us Patrollers, would) 'til the last grain of sand tipped gently into the bottom half of the hourglass and yes that sounds (and perhaps is, why not) a massive hint hint to stay on this magic carpet ride a little/a lot longer but believe me when I say this: this is the greatest show on earth. Why on earth would you buy just anyone's cockatoo? Long may they reign!

Gary Lightbody, aged 33, Bangor, Northern Ireland, Overwhelmed.x

source:www.u2.com

The Leadership Summit 2009

Bono is a speaker at the The Leadership Summit 2009 for the second time since 2006.

“We can be the generation that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies. But will we be that generation?”

Bono is the lead singer of Irish rock band U2, which has sold more than 140 million albums and won numerous awards, including 22 Grammys. A well-known activist in the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa, he co-founded DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) in 2002, The One Campaign in 2004, and Product (RED) in 2006, and was named TIME’s Person of the Year for 2005. Interviewed for the Summit in 2006, he challenged church leaders to mobilize against the ravages of global AIDS and poverty. Be a part of the continuing story, as Bono talks in an exclusive video about the church's inspiring response and about his continuing life journey as a "single issue protagonist."

"I´ll Go Crazy..." Vid Nominated for an Award

This year, the Ottawa International Animation Festival received a total of 2185 entries from 78 different countries. Of those, 91 short films and 7 feature films were chosen for competition. In addition, 59 showcase films were chosen to represent the efforts of the Canadian, Canadian TV, International, and Student communities. Among them:


source:www.animationfestival.ca

Happy Birthday, The Edge!!!

August 8th, is The Edge´s ,a.k.a. David Evans, birthday. Hope you have a great day with family and friends!!!

A great gift for our admired guitarist ...donate to Music Rising...

"I´ll Be With You Again"

Poland, Solidarity Movement, the great leader Lech Valesa ...all together made years ago the solid background for one of U2´s biggest songs."New Year´s Day".
"Something important is happening in Poland, and we thank you to be invited to your party!" said Bono.

U2.com has posted:

A spine-tingling night right from the start with a huge and passionate audience. If they weren't in red and white - great planning by the fans here again - they were in U2 shirts or in Music Rising shirts or even, dressed like PopTarts. The opening clutch of tracks suggested this was going to be some night but none of us could have predicted the ovation when New Year's Day arrived. What a response!!

Say it's true, it's true...
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one.

With the flag of Solidarnosc on stage it felt like all the hopes and dreams of this audience were captured in a song. 'Something going on here. There's something going on in this country,' said Bono. 'We could feel it the last time we came. This country is going somewhere very special. Is it faith? Faith in the future. Poland! Europe needs more countries like Poland...'

We sang Happy Birthday to Edge tonight and it felt like everyone was celebrating a birthday. Was it the best show of the tour to date ? Who can tell?

As many fans said it wasn´t just a "gig", it was a celebration!

source:www.u2.com//pics-vids:u2gigs.com