'We stand together with the families who have lost lives here in Paris,
'We stand together with the families who have lost lives in San Bernardino, in Damascus and Beirut
We stand together with the families whose children have been taken hostage by an ideology
that shows none of the mercy or compassion of the God they deem to serve….'
An emotional night in Paris as the band returned to France, three weeks after the devastating terrorist attacks.
'Oh, you look so beautiful… in this city of lights…' and never more so than at the end of City of Blinding Lights, as images of Paris on the huge screens gave way to the names of those who lost their lives.
The massed cheering in solidarity was one more sign of an extraordinary atmosphere of celebration and defiance tonight.
As Bono had said, introducing Iris, it felt like the whole world was in the city.
'Tonight we are all Parisiens.
'Ce soir nous somme tous Parisien...
If you love liberty – Paris is your hometown.'
What a show, all the way from The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) to One and Bad and the surprise arrival on stage of Patti Smith and 'People Have The Power' to close a remarkable evening.
U2 and Eagles of Death Metal will perform together in Paris this Sunday, resuming the appearances that had been affected by the November terror attacks in France. According to Billboard, EODM will join Bono and Co. for U2’s final song on Sunday at Paris’ AccorHotels Arena. U2 had been scheduled to perform on Nov. 14 at the same venue, but the concert was postponed in the wake of the attacks. Now the band will perform at AccorHotels on Dec. 6 and 7, with the previously scheduled HBO special to record the second night. “So much that was taken from Paris on the tragic night of November 13th is irreplaceable. For one night, the killers took lives, took music, took peace of mind – but they couldn’t steal the spirit of that city,” U2 frontman Bono said after rescheduling the shows. “It’s a spirit our band knows well and will try to serve when we return for the postponed shows on December 6th and 7th. We’re going to put on our best for Paris.” EODM will also be resuming the remainder of its European tour in February of next year. In the band’s first interview after the attack, frontman Jesse Hughes expressed his eagerness to get back to Paris and perform. “I want to be the first band to play in the Bataclan when it opens back up,” Hughes said in an interview with Vice. “Our friends went there to see rock and roll and died. I want to go back and live.” http://variety.com/
Near the midway point of every recent U2 show, a simulated bomb goes off. The sound of the explosion, which along with the song “Raised by Wolves” commemorates 1974 terrorist car bombings in Dublin, is meant to mark the end of innocence on the band’s autobiographical “Innocence and Experience” tour.
“Blood in the house/Blood on the street,” Bono sings. “The worst things in the world are justified by belief.” Tribute messages scroll past on high-tech screens: “Remember the victims,” “Leave our culture alone,” “Justice for the forgotten.”
Already steeped in geopolitics, U2’s elaborate arena show will be imbued with fresh symbolism when this Irish band ends its tour with two shows in Paris on Sunday and Monday, Dec. 6 and 7, the last of which will be broadcast on HBO at 9 p.m. Eastern. Originally scheduled for Nov. 14 and 15 at the AccorHotels Arena, the concerts and television special were postponed in the wake of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks that killed 130 people, including 89 at the Bataclan, a concert hall where the band Eagles of Death Metal was performing.
Less than a month later, U2 — which played Madison Square Garden several weeks after 9/11 and honored emergency workers from the stage — will perform the biggest concert in Paris since the Islamic State-coordinated assault.
“Some of our songs from back in the ’80s, about events in Ireland, suddenly have a new meaning and a connectedness to these terrible events in Paris,” said the Edge, U2’s guitarist, who added that the band was “thinking about some special guests” to honor the tragedy.
By phone from New York, where he honored the 10-year anniversary of his humanitarian organizations, ONE and (RED), Bono, U2’s frontman, was characteristically hopeful about returning to Paris, stressing joy and defiance in the face of terror. These are excerpts from the conversation.
Q. You played two shows in Paris ahead of the attacks and were preparing for the HBO show. Where were you when you learned what had occurred?
A.I was onstage, and we were rehearsing at the Bercy [now AccorHotels Arena]. We were evacuated from the building. We were hoping that the reports of multiple incidents were wrong. It was kind of chaos.
What was the decision process like to cancel the shows?
U2 doesn’t have a history of canceling many shows. I suppose the Irish in us just doesn’t want to give in to terrorism. We’ve had it all our lives. But the look on [the head of global touring for Live Nation] Arthur Fogel’s face, I could just see that this was not going to happen. And then: How could we be useful for the Eagles of Death Metal? What could we do while we were here in Paris?
You visited the Bataclan to pay your respects.
We did that on our way to the airport. We left the next evening — we had a plane, which we put at the Eagles’ use if they wanted it, but they found another way. The best thing we could do for our fellow musicians was to buy them phones.
So you were able to speak with Eagles of Death Metal?
I spoke to Julian [Dorio] and to Jesse [Hughes]. But that was the best thing, Jesse said, just getting the phones to be texting and all the stuff that you do — social media — to find out what’s going on. Their phones were in the venue.
Jesse took me through every moment. They really need proper counseling, though — not from a well-meaning Irish rock star. Because post-traumatic stress disorder is a real issue for people who go through these things. They’re going to come through fine, but it was pretty bad.
When it came time to start thinking about rescheduling, was it important to you to get back out there as soon as possible?
Absolutely. Terrorism relies on people being terrorized, and we were not going to be. We felt the biggest and the only real contribution we can make at moment like that is to honor the people of Paris, who brought us the concept of liberté, égalité, fraternité.
ISIS and these kinds of extremists are a death cult. We’re a life cult. Rock ’n’ roll is a life force, and it’s joy as an act of defiance. That’s what U2 is. That’s at the very heart of our band. More importantly in this case, it’s the very heart of our audience. I can now already hear that we will be drowned out by that French crowd. And that’s powerful.
Have you kept up with the political response to the attacks?
There’s a line I’ve been using since, which is that in Ireland we know not to become a monster in order to defeat a monster. It’s not just the 130 lives that were stolen. They were also trying to steal equality and justice. In fact, from some of the reaction and overreaction — i.e. we’ll only take in Christian refugees — you can say they had a direct hit. If they change us, then they were effective.
You grew up with the threat of homegrown terrorism looming. How does that affect how you view the recent events in Paris, Beirut and around the world?
“Raised by Wolves” — on any other Friday, I would be standing right at the center of one of the car bombs in Dublin. Thirty-three people died on that Friday. I missed it. There was a bus strike on that day, which is why I cycled to school. In my sort of self-interrogation as to why I write the way I write, I thought, why am I always writing songs about social justice? I realized that this incident when I was 14 must have really affected me even though I escaped it.
My best friend’s brother did not escape it, and he was forever affected by it. He came to the show last week in Belfast and in Dublin with a piece of shrapnel from the car. He was never properly counseled, and he saw terrible, terrible things. He later became a heroin addict; he slept on the street. Now he’s restored, but he brought a piece of the car that blew up in front of him. I asked him why, and he said, “I took a little piece of it because it took a little piece of me.” Forty years later, people are still hurting.
When it comes to rebuilding the show after what’s happened, are there sections that you will adjust? For instance, the parts about the car bombings, with loud explosions?
If you were to write a script for Paris, and if it was U2 playing, you’d come up with a show similar to what we have. That’s the funny thing. But it’s not only joy as an act of defiance; it’s business as usual as an act of defiance. This is not a concert for heroes. This is just: Do your thing. That’s what the French want us to do. We’re doing what we’re told.
The tour was scheduled to end in Ireland, and now the Paris shows will become the last dates. How does that change the experience?
How bizarre is it — and in a funny way, how inspiring is it — that when we left Paris we went straight to Belfast and we found peace? We found hope. This was supposed to be an intractable problem. And this was a peace that was brutal. People had to really compromise to make this peace.
When you get bleak about things and think, Gosh, is there an end to this? Yeah, there is, it just takes lots of work, lots of time. I was never a hippie — I’m punk rock, really. I was never into: “Let’s hold hands, and peace will come just because we’ll dream it into the world.” No. Peace is the opposite of dreaming. It’s built slowly and surely through brutal compromises and tiny victories that you don’t even see. It’s a messy business, bringing peace into the world. But it can be done, I’m sure of that.
Most heads of state attend grand affairs flanked by a security detail. Bono, the archduke of the Axis of Altruism, enters accompanied only by the Edge toting a sonically lethal six-string Gibson Explorer. “Imagine having the Edge in your life,” Bono told a well-heeled audience that included vice president Joe Biden, Bill and Melinda Gates and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday evening. “He’s an interesting man. I feel as if I’m still getting to know him.”
Bono, right, and the Edge perform at "It Always Seems Impossible Until It Is Done: A Night of Music with ONE and (RED)", in celebration of World AIDS Day, at Carnegie Hall, December 1, in New York. GREG ALLEN/INVISION/AP
The two mononymous members of U2 were headliners at a concert given on World AIDS Day to celebrate 10 years of work done by the nonprofits One and (Red) in combating two deadly epidemics: the aforementioned virus and extreme poverty. “This is not a charity concert,” the 55-year-old Irish rocker informed the audience at the outset. “Justice is onstage tonight. This is a celebration. This is an instigation. This is a provocation. This is not a charity concert.”
This was, with one glaring and American exception, one kick-ass show. Backed by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and a Congolese choir, artists such as British pop star Jessie J., Irish rocker Hozier, Zimbabwe-born actress Danai Gurira (Michonne on The Walking Dead) and Miley Cyrus performed. Trevor Noah, the fledgling host of The Daily Show, who was born and raised in South Africa, hosted. “It’s inspiring to think that if you follow your dreams and put everything into it, in two months you can be here sharing the stage with Bono,” he said.
Between sets, speakers included Sting, former president Bill Clinton, Stephen Colbert and Biden, who remarked, “I’m the only Irishman on this stage tonight with no talent.”
Let’s cut directly to the musical hits, and one glaring miss. Jessie J, a former schoolmate of Adele’s at the BRIT School in London, wowed the attendees, which included a flock of boldface-type New York names such as John McEnroe, CBS’s Charlie Rose, CNBC’s Jim Cramer and model Cindy Crawford, with an alveoli-bursting cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain.”
Trinity College–dropout Hozier displayed his virtuosity with a trio of songs. He opened with Skip James’s 1931 Delta blues classic “Illinois Blues” before segueing into his own 2014 hit “Take Me to Church.” The tall Irish rocker then found himself standing beside, as he said, “more than my inspiration, my everything,” Bono and the Edge, for a stirring rendition of U2’s “When Love Comes to Town.”
Colbert appeared as a presenter to honor, as he put it, “I want to pronounce this couple’s name right...Bill and Melinda Ga-tes...I looked it up on Bing.” The host of The Late Show noted that the power couple helped launch the (One) Foundation with a $1 million check before veering back to his comic comfort zone. “I mean, I was talking about this with Bono backstage,” Colbert said, “and I can’t impress on you enough that I’m on a first-name basis with Bono.”
Gurira followed with a stirring reading from a play that she had written as a student at New York University’s Tisch School, a monologue from an AIDS-infected African mother who, as Gurira put it, “has come to her reckoning.” There was no more powerful moment in the evening, as at the end of the eight-minute performance Gurira was in tears and the crowd sat slack-jawed. Perhaps because Gurira was such a tough act to follow, the erstwhile Hannah Montana headed in exactly the opposite direction.
In his opening remarks, Bono had noted, “We have in this room the famous and the infamous.” Cyrus, clad in a pink rhinestone jumpsuit and functioning as a wrecking ball of sorts to the evening’s grandeur, proved him correct. Before sitting down at the organ to play an elegy to a dead pet, “Pablow the Blowfish,” she had a crew member bring her a phone charger onstage. “My phone is dead and I wrote the lyrics on my phone,” the 23 year-old explained before launching into the tune. Afterward she said, “I’ve never gotten through that song without crying, not once” as the audience wondered if she was serious. Or sober.
Later in the evening, when Cyrus walked onstage to take part in the closing number with Bono, the Edge and Jessie J, she was victimized by a technical glitch. As she hit centerstage to sing a verse from “One,” Cyrus looked down at a prompter that was blank. “You’ve gotta help me,” she called awkwardly across the stage to Bono. “There’s nothing there.”
Who in that assemblage that included a former U.S. president, a sitting vice president and a former New York City mayor (whom a few hope will run for president) is better at providing help than U2’s lead singer? Through the launch of One and (Red), both of which Bono co-founded, extreme poverty worldwide has been reduced by 60 percent in just over a decade.
“I witnessed a miracle,” Biden told the crowd, relating a Gaelic version of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. “I was there when Bono walked in, met Jesse Helms for the first time and convinced Jesse Helms in one fell swoop to forgive $6 billion in third-world debt.... That’s when I became a disciple of the church of Bono.”
Few orators are possessed of as much charisma and passion as Bono, who reminded the crowd in this, the week of the 35th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder, that you can more than get by with a little help from your friends. “The best news that no one knows is that the U.S. is saving 15 million lives through the work of the Global Aids Foundation,” said the U2 frontman, noting that the AIDS virus has claimed 34 million lives. “Forty years ago, you landed a man on the moon. Since 2000, you have landed more than 15 million people back on Earth. That is a moon shot!”
And yet there remains, after all of the millions of albums sold and through almost four decades of never getting a promotion from the job he’s held since he was a teenager, a beguiling humility to Bono. Before the show, he spoke of his 2014 bicycle accident in Central Park, noting that the only pain worse than shattering his arm in six places was the world learning that an “Irish rock star wears lycra.”
Bono also noted that, to benefit (Red), he is auctioning off a chance for someone to go on a bike ride with him around Central Park’s six-mile loop. “Second prize,” he qupped, “is two bike rides.”
The two-plus-hour show closed with the headliners, Bono and the Edge, demonstrating just how much robust sonic force two old pros can summon. It was only a fortnight ago that U2 was forced to cancel a show (that was to be simulcast on HBO) in Paris due to the ISIS attacks there. Now here these two were on the stage at Carnegie Hall, opening with “Every Breaking Wave” (from their latest album, Songs of Innocence) before bringing the millionaires and billionaires to their feet with “Stuck in a Moment, “Angel of Harlem” (performing it on a cold and wet December day in New York) and the anthem “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
Before their final number, the man born Paul Hewson said of himself and guitarist Dave Evans (aka the Edge), “We became musicians because we looked around and we didn’t feel like we belonged anywhere. And we weren’t sure we wanted to.”
As the Edge played the opening chords of “One,” Bono added, “It gives us comfort that when the day comes when we cannot sing anymore, that you will keep this melody going.”
Rock’s ambassador of empathy was not only talking about the music.
Eagles Of Death Metal, led by Jesse Hughes,
were playing at the Bataclan when gunmen hijacked the venue
(Picture: Rex Shuttertock)
U2 offered Eagles Of Death Metal the use of their phones and planes after the Paris attacks.
The band say they bought phones for EODM after their mobiles were left inside the Bataclan in Paris.
Eagles Of Death Metal were playing the Bataclan Theatre last month when terrorists hijacked the venue and killed 89 people.
U2 were due to play two shows in the city, but the series of attacks, in which 130 people died in total, forced them to cancel.
Hearing EODM were also in Paris, Bono reached out the group.
Bono told the New York Times: ‘We left the next evening – we had a plane, which we put at the Eagles’ use if they wanted it, but they found another way.
‘The best thing we could do for our fellow musicians was to buy them phones.’
He added that the band should seek ‘proper counselling’ to come to terms with the horrors they witnessed.
‘Post-traumatic stress disorder is a real issue for people who go through these things. They’re going to come through fine, but it was pretty bad.’
The frontman has previously described the attacks as ‘the first direct hit on music‘ after the Irish group axed their concerts.
He said in a radio interview: ‘These are our people. This could be at a show, you at a show, in that venue. It’s a very recognisable situation for you and for me and the coldblooded aspect of this slaughter is deeply disturbing and that’s what I can’t get out of my head.’
Meanwhile an online campaign has been launched to get EODM’s cover of Duran Duran’s Save A Prayer to number 1 in the charts.
Bono is a launching an all-star campaign featuring “once-in-a-lifetime experiences” to coincide with World AIDS Day on Monday.
Would you like to spend quality time with George Clooney as he showers you with compliments?
How about walk a red carpet with Meryl Streep or visit the set of "Game of Thrones"?
They are all possible: Bono is a launching an all-star campaign featuring "once-in-a-lifetime experiences" that can be won after donating at least $10 to his organization (RED), which raises funds to fight AIDS.
The campaign kicks off Tuesday to coincide with World AIDS Day, which is Dec. 1.
And Bono isn't just the face for the movement: The U2 frontman will go on a bike ride with one donor - a year after he was seriously injured in a bike accident in New York's Central Park that forced him into surgery.
"I'm not sure that was as funny to my band as it was to me," Bono said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"But I think we're going to have fun and yeah, we'll go visit the scene of the crime."
Jimmy Kimmel is dedicating his Tuesday late-night show to the campaign. He and Olivia Wilde will host (SHOPATHON), a tongue-in-check play off of home shopping, and the special episode will feature celebrity guests like Tom Brady, who is offering one donor a chance to learn how to pass a football, and Shaquille O'Neal, who will take a photo with a winner for his or her 2016 holiday card.
And Kimmel is offering himself up, too: He is willing to give someone's kid "the talk."
"There's no age limit - if you have a 45-year-old kid, I'll explain it to him, too, as long as the parents are OK with it. I'm happy to do the job," said Kimmel, who appears in a promo video for the campaign with Scarlett Johansson and Barry Manilow.
Other "experiences" that can be earned after donating on Omaze.com/RED include a contour makeover with Kim Kardashian; a portrait painting by James Franco; or attending a University of Texas at Austin football game with alum Matthew McConaughey. Entries close on January 21, 2016.
"Even though red is the color of emergency, there's a sort of optimism about the whole campaign and a kind of defiant humor. We have always had that, but the (SHOPATHON) will really take it to another new level," Bono said.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match every dollar raised up to $20 million. R&B singer The Weeknd is offering fans a chance to hang backstage at a concert; there is a one-day "wellness break" with Snoop Dogg in Colorado; and Ryan Seacrest will let someone announce the No. 1 song on his radio show.
"When you see how much work Bono does personally to fight AIDS, it's almost embarrassing, it's the least we can do or anyone can do to help," Kimmel said.
"Also, it's Christmas season, you have to figure out what to buy. It's almost like my Oprah's favorite things list," he added.
Bono won't appear on the special episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," which airs on ABC and tapes in Hollywood. Instead, he will be in New York celebrating the 10-year anniversary of (RED) at Carnegie Hall with Vice President Joe Biden, the Edge, Stephen Colbert, Miley Cyrus, Trevor Noah and others.
"It's a big day, World AIDS Days. It's crucial this year. This is the most crucial year," Bono said.
"We can feel people going, 'Oh yeah, that AIDS thing is done now,' and we're like, 'No! It's not!'"
Bono has said the character of Paris will not change despite the terror attacks last month (AP)
Bono says Paris will remain strong despite last month's terror attacks and he hopes that U2's concert in the French city this week will move the audience.
The Irish band were set to perform in Paris on November 14 and were rehearsing when 130 people were killed in suicide bombings and shootings the day before in what has become the worst attack on French soil in more than a half-century.
With the Accor Hotels Arena gigs rescheduled for December 6 and 7, Bono said of the terrorists: "They took a lot of lives we're not going to get back, but they're not going to change the character of the city of Paris."
When asked what concertgoers can expect when U2 perform, he added: "Well, knowing our French audience and having a sense of them by now, I would say joy as an act of defiance.
"That's what U2 does, that's what French people want from us and that's it."
Of the audience, he said: "These are our people and they're very familiar faces, the people in the audience, they're our people.
"They're like my daughter, my son, they're like (U2 members) Edge, they're like Larry (Mullen, Jr.) ... so we took it very badly. But we're going back, you bet. Nothing will stop us from going back."
Bono also praised US rock band Eagles of Death Metal, who were performing at the concert theatre Bataclan where some people were taken hostage and killed.
He said: "We're very, very moved by the fact that our fellow troubadours, the Eagles of Death Metal, had such a hard time.
"They're an extraordinary talented band, they've been through the most ugly nightmare and they have been very graceful about it."
![[Vídeo] Bono y Edge en el Carnegie Hall durante el Día Mundial del SIDA](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sL3pOq77xh-tkZyUigZG2s64Ciy7m1aLtR-NmCNTyPm5ZW4h5JzlxK_adC77BrPF4LBXt6UGKSyDiFRqOMmJUATbIhg9aSiI9k1m1o_atX8YNlnEnF3_15f5rsHYRAAMzr8B4Aetf6LNclEA3lOjwHP2kd1oBoM5ae8W0MbiPpvBU=s0-d)
