"The Miracle Man" Joins U2 on Tour

Ger Hartmann,  the ‘miracle’ man

Ger Hartmann, hailed as the ‘miracle’ man after nursing hurling superstar Henry Shefflin back from injury, is ready to pack his bags to join up with U2 on their world tour-as band injuries therapist.

 From there, it will be onto Monte Carlo, on the invitation of the International Olympic Committee, to address sports medical practitioners.

He told the Limerick Post: “It is not generally known that I worked with U2 in the past, but this will be the biggest gig of all.

“Earlier this year I spent time with them in the States in the making of a new film due to be released in 2010. They have a tough schedule ahead and invited me to ensure that fitness levels are maintained. They keep reminding me that it was in Limerick that they took their first step to stardom.

“It is well documented that Bono suffered a serious back injury on stage recently and their tour had to be curtailed....I will be there to offer advice should any such problems be encountered again”.

Recently, he set up a clinic in Kenya to facilitate the multitude of African athletes under his wing.


www.limerickpost.ie

"One Tree Hill" in New Zealand

An exclusive interview with  Bono and The Edge  by The Rock FM, a show from New Zealand  to promote The U2 360° Tour, going to Auckland on 25 November this year.
Bono confessed he  had done "Bungy jumping naked in Queenstow" and Edge said the possibilities of performing "One Tree Hill" there are high.

Listen to the complete interview here: 

www.therock.net.nz 

3 U2 Songs Among the Greatest Songs of the 80s

Absolute Radio asked its UK listeners and viewers of MTV, Viva and Vh1 "What is the greatest song of the 80s?"   and put them to the vote. U2 has three songs in the list: the best ranked was "With or Without You" in 18th position ,"Where The Streets Have No Name" is  nº 36  and further down, 63rd appears  " Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".


The top five include:

1. Culture Club - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
2. Culture Club - Karma Chameleon
3. Inxs - Need You Tonight
4. A-Ha - Take On Me
5. Michael Jackson - Thriller

INXS:The New Wave genre’s inclusion of straight ahead rock music tinged with pop sensibilities. Need You Tonight,” the best New Wave song the band would ever produce.

Power ballads, power dressing, big hair, the death of punk and the birth of new musical movements like electro, shock pop and the New Romantics – the 80s might have been the decade taste forgot, but it provided some of the most memorable moments in music history!
Live Aid rocked the world, while the likes of Boy George and Madonna shocked the world. The 80s inspired a generation to express themselves through music, fashion and a change the world attitude – and its influence can still be seen and heard today.
So many songs from the 80s resonate with audiences old enough to remember, and young enough not to have even been born.

Bono: It was an in-your-face pompadour mullet that we’ll probably never see again.

www.absolute80s.com//www.liketotally80s.com

Bono: Prime Minister?

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said U2 singer Bono has the right credentials to become a President or Prime Minister. 
Blair praises the Irish star and activist in his much-anticipated new book, A Journey, which was released this week.

He writes that Bono "could have been a president or prime minister standing on his head”.

In the exert, serialised by the Independent, Blair adds: “He had an absolutely natural gift for politicking, was great with people, very smart and an inspirational speaker... motivated by an abundant desire to keep on improving, never really content or relaxed.

“I knew he would work with George [W Bush] well, and with none of the prissy disdain of most of his ilk".
A Journey recalls Blair's time as British prime minister. In the book he also questions his predecessor Gordon Brown's credentials.

 www.gigwise.com

Hey, isn't that Bono? -- U2 can be a Lyric Opera supporter

U2's Bono and Sir Andrew Davis, musical director of the Lyric Opera, pose for a Lyric Opera brochure. (Courtesy of Lyric Opera)

What's Bono doing on the cover of the Lyric Opera's annual Operathon brochure?
Well, the Lyric has a history of putting non- opera types on that cover — though Mike Ditka boasts an impressive set of pipes — and Lyric board President/CEO Richard Kiphart had gotten to know the U2 singer through his philanthropic work. So Kiphart asked Bono, the singer said yes, and the shot was taken in a Soldier Field hallway before the band performed there last September, Lyric communications director Susan Mathieson Mayer said.


Who's the Bono look-alike?

That's Sir Andrew Davis, the Lyric's 66-year-old music director and principal conductor, who struck a Bono-like pose with a fresh haircut and gel job plus $130 Armani sunglasses though his black T-shirt reads "Lyric Rocks" in contrast to Bono's "Lyric Opera." That photo is slated to appear in upcoming Lyric promotional materials.

"The T-shirts stand for something we're really trying to get across to the wider public," Davis said, "that opera is something that rocks."

So what's his favorite U2 song? "I don't have one. I've never heard any," he whispered with a laugh before realizing he once led the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a rendition of "Beautiful Day."


"I don't listen to pop music at all really, and I haven't for decades," he said, "so why should I start now?"



www.chicagotribune.com

Edge Joins the Stand Up to Cancer TV Event

DAZZLING ARRAY OF STARS TO LIGHT UP STAND UP TO CANCER SEPTEMBER 10TH BROADCAST

Among others Edge will appear as musical guest for Stand Up To Cancer telethon. The one-hour event is scheduled for September 10th at 8:00 pm ET/PT and will be aired on all major U.S. TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) and many cable networks, too, in 195 countries.
Other musicians scheduled to perform include: Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day,Neil Diamond,Delta Goodrem, Herbie Hancock, Kris Kristofferson, Lady Antebellum, Leona Lewis, Orianthi and Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson of Heart. These artists join previously announced performers including Natasha Bedingfield, Martina McBride, Aaron Neville, Dave Stewart and Stevie Wonder.

“Plain and simple, cancer takes too much from us,” said Laura Ziskin, SU2C co-founder and executive producer of the September 10th broadcast, who is a cancer survivor.
“Loved ones lost to it, pain and suffering endured by those in treatment, even the recent report that cancer has the most devastating economic impact of any cause of death…this disease exacts a very high price.
We want people all over the country to rise up and say, ‘ENOUGH!’
“Tune in on Sept. 10th to see your favorite stars, who’ll ask, ‘Will you stand up with us?’
Person by person, saying ‘yes’ moves us toward a goal completely within our grasp: a world without cancer.
A donation of any size brings scientists one step closer to a cure," Ziskin said.

Stand Up To Cancer says that one hundred percent of the donations at next week's fund raiser will go directly to cancer research.

Get Involved-This is where the end of cancer begins

Bono and The Edge on Australian Radio

Bono and The Edge called into the Hamish & Andy show on Sydney’s 2DayFM radio on Wednesday (Sept 1st) promoting their upcoming Australian tour. (thanks to www.u2log.com). Parts of the interview are hilarious!









www.u2log.com