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Bono's Top Ten Moves - Bone Head and all
1. The Spidey
If Bono were a bit younger, he could audition for the title character in his own Broadway show and get the part. In his never-ending desire to connect with his audience, Bono was notorious for climbing up, climbing down, or swinging from anything he could get his hands on, including light rigging, speaker stacks, fences, sculptures, and at the US Festival in the mid-'80s, the huge banner that hung behind the stage. While Bono insisted on defying gravity, the rest of the band were left to their own devices, continuing to play while no doubt shaking their heads in disbelief. Imagine what they're thinking during the band's Live Aid performance of "Bad," 11 minutes into a six-minute song: "You crazy #*%*#!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHnXOSxka1Q
2. The Hair Whisperer
In the late '80s, Bono got rid of his mullet and cut his hair into a shoulder-length pageboy. At first it was a jarring transition, until it became apparent that this hairstyle was the best bodily prop Bono ever had at his disposal, giving him more options than ever before or since. It started out innocuously enough, pulled back into a ponytail, but then it became a weapon whipping around his head, or sticking to the sweat on his face, causing Bono to compulsively run his fingers through his hair to smooth it away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdceKu89SxY&NR=1
3. The Shackle
In the video for "With or Without You," Bono throws his arms straight up over his head and crosses them at the wrists for a literal interpretation of the line "My hands are tied/my body bruised..." Bono, I'd like to personally thank you for fueling my rock star fantasies with that particular visual.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdlPjAJFIrw
4. The Rockette
U2 likes to make a big entrance when they come out to play for their fans, and nothing was bigger than the Zoo TV tour. Bono and his mates tossed off every last vestige of their '80s personas and came roaring into the '90s in a blaze of leather and flickering blue light from an enormous wall of television screens. The Edge strikes the first notes of "Zoo Station," and Bono, looking cooler than cool, rises out of the darkness and executes a series of high kicks that rival any of those performed by the famed residents of Radio City Music Hall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5omeaIIcbc
5. The Boxer
How do you top Zoo TV? Why, with PopMart, of course. Another big entrance by the band as the song "Pop Muzik" blares over the loudspeakers, they enter the venue by walking through the crowd, tuxedoed bodyguards and huge entourage in tow. In his white robe, hood pulled over his eyes, Bono does his best "Macho" Comacho or "Boom Boom" Mancini, jabbing and prancing his way to the ring. And while it may take a few minutes for the crowd to notice, no one seems to care once they realize the muscles aren't real.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c7U-9gyPsw
6. The Bull
This move was worthy enough to be a part of both the PopMart and Elevation tours, for the song "Until the End of the World." Bono's fingers are his props here, representing the horns of a charging bull as Bono and The Edge attempt to slay each other with rock 'n' roll. The fans are the lucky winners in this dramatic fight to the finish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i9OuBJNdbI
7. The Turkey
U2 appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman in support of All That You Can't Leave Behind, shortly after the 9/11 disaster. The band paid homage to the city by playing "New York." True to form, Bono changed the lyrics of the song to fit the occasion, which was touching until, in an effort to become the Statue of Liberty, Bono places his outstretched fingers behind his head to form her crown. Does he evoke the famous symbol of freedom, or poultry in heat? Tough call.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXMSNRDcBMM
8. The Loaded Diaper
This move is most evident in the official "Beautiful Day" video, shot in and around the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, France. Anyone who's been a parent will recognize it immediately: Your very young child waddles up to you in a sort of half walk, half squat, clearly uncomfortable. With the camera at such a low angle, we get a most unfortunate view as Bono gives new meaning to the phrase "It's been all over you."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6FwEJwwYcQ
9. Crazy Samurai
During the Vertigo tour, Bono and Larry began the song "Love and Peace or Else" at the tip of the b-stage, while Adam and The Edge remained on the main stage. Larry plays the song on a single drum and cymbal, but at some point flees the scene and heads back to the safety of his kit. Bono takes the drumsticks and starts wailing away on that poor thing, doing his damnedest to smash it to bits. He gets so excited, he's also stomping his feet. Look out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEQSVihLdPo
10. The Upper GI
There's a point in every U2 show that makes you wonder if Bono's pre-show burrito was a bad idea. He hunches over, grabbing his middle or pulling his jacket tighter to his body, and he's clearly feeling something, but what? The song, or the burrito? Let's hope, for all of our sakes, that it's the song.
Did you know this ?
Bono has admitted he suffers from severe stage fright - despite the fact he’s been playing to packed stadiums for 25 years.
The U2 frontman says he still feels "nervous" and "sick" when he wakes up on the morning of a gig, even after quarter of a century.
"The morning before a show I get nervous. I can wake up with a sick feeling," he told Harper’s Bazaar.
The 46-year-old Irish star also worries he might let the crowd down by giving a less than perfect vocal performance.
"I have to hit very high notes and if you hit them wrong you can put your throat out," he said.
"So there’s a ‘Will I? Won’t I?’ aspect to it.
"It used to worry me sick. That sense of, how could I meet the levels of anticipation?
"If you’re a rock star and need 25,000 people telling you they love you, obviously you must be a very insecure person," he joked.
Bono Favors Performance Rights Act
Bono is the latest artist to speak out in favor of the Performance Rights Act, which would call for radio stations to pay roylaties to artists for playing their music. Bono joins other supporters such as Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan, will.i.am, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock and Emmylou Harris, who have all joined the musicFIRST Coalition on Capitol Hill to lobby in favor of the Performance Rights Act.
Bono released a statement on the matter via musicFIRST, which is an advocacy group for artist rights. “While we have many friends at radio, and appreciate the many things that radio has done for our band over the years, we believe it’s only fair that when radio makes money by playing a recording artist’s music and selling advertising, the recording artist should be compensated just as songwriters are already,” said Bono. ”This is a principle accepted by radio broadcasters in virtually every country in the world. The music business is in a state of freefall at the moment, and while, thankfully, this no longer really affects us - there are many young recording artists out there who can no longer earn a living from the sale of their music, or from touring or selling merchandise… yet they remain a vital part of radio playlists throughout the USA. They should not be denied their fair share. In this time of so much positive change coming from Washington, we hope this bill will be embraced and become the law.”
In response to Bono’s statement, NAB EVP Dennis Wharton commented, “The irony is that it will be the less-established performers who will be hurt most by a performance tax. If radio stations are forced to pay to play music, program directors will be less likely to take a chance playing unknown artists and will instead stick with established musicians like Bono. New artists and niche formats will suffer, and Bono and Britney Spears will become wealthier.”
The House Judiciary Committee has been holding hearings on the legislation, and numerous broadcasters have testified that radio is facing an extremely difficult time in this economy as it is, and enacting a performance royalty would be devastating to the industry
Blackberry the Smart Choice
WHEN Bono strides onto the stage at the Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona on June 30, Jim Balsillie will be a happy man.
The beginning of U2’s world tour marks the start of a high-profile sponsorship for BlackBerry. This tie-up is designed to speed up the journey of the gadget from the businessman’s briefcase to the pocket of the ordinary consumer.
For Balsillie, the joint chief executive of Research in Motion (RIM), BlackBerry’s parent company, it shows he intends to do more than simply defend his patch in the battle with Apple and Nokia for supremacy in the growing smart-phone market, where the mobile phone has morphed into a handheld computer.
What started life as a portable e-mail device, wrecking family weekends, has become something the younger generation uses to listen to music through applications such as Pandora and Slacker. Pictures of Barack Obama clutching his BlackBerry while on the election trail have only burnished its credentials.
U2 Stage Video
Following on from news that U2 will embark on an extensive worldwide tour, the design for the band’s “ambitious staging” has now been revealed. Bono and co. will play inside a towering structure nicknamed ‘The Claw’, with four legs and speakers mounted on each side.
According to a cover feature in the US Rolling Stone, the stage set was dreamed up by U2 ‘show director’ Willie Williams. ‘The Claw’ stands at 164 feet tall, which – crucially – is twice as high as the stage set used by that other world’s biggest band The Rolling Stones on their A Bigger Bang tour. “Theirs would fit underneath this one,” Williams bragged to the magazine. It’s unclear yet whether this is a stroke of genius or something of a sci-fi Spinal Tap, but you can’t say U2 aren’t trying.
50 Days to the start of the world tour
So in honor of hitting the official 50 day mark. Here are 50 things you did not know. (well maybe)
BONO, 44
1. Dropped out of school at 16
2. Sleeps four hours a night
3. Is a fan of George Bush (and finds him very funny); also likes Condoleezza Rice and is pro-Tony Blair
4. Wears a replica of a rosary given to him by the pope, who he calls "the funky pontiff"
5. Regrets having a mullet in the '80s
6. Gets in shape by boxing
7. Drives a beat-up Volvo
8. Keeps his beloved trademark bug-eyed "Fly" sunglasses he wore on the 1993 Zoo TV tour in safe storage in Dublin
9. Years before he was born, a psychic told his mother she would have a son who would be famous in whatever profession he chose
10. Got into so much trouble in high school that he was called "the Antichrist"
11. Gets late-night "firing squad" phone calls from the band after jumping into the audience or climbing scaffolding onstage
12. Is working with Brooklyn-based designer Rogan on a new line of blue jeans
13. Says he needs to be told he's loved 12 times a day
14. Has been married to his high school sweetheart Alison Stewart for 22 years, though she once threw him out of the house during a rocky stretch in their marriage
15. Was a character witness for R.E.M.'s Peter Buck when Buck was on trial for an air rage incident
16. Keeps an apartment on Central Park West
17. Has four children, ranging in age from 2 to 13
18. Gave Christy Turlington away at her wedding to Ed Burns
19. Is allergic to red wine
20. Quit dying his hair jet black because he was "starting to look like Roy Orbison"
ADAM CLAYTON, 44
21. Doesn't drive at night since he had Lasik surgery
22. Though he's not married, he was once engaged to Naomi Campbell
23. Served as best man at Bono's wedding
24. As a teenager, was kicked out of two schools for smoking, drinking and streaking
25. Kept the band together in the early '80s, when the three other members wanted to quit and devote their lives to God
26. Was charged with drunk driving in 1984 and marijuana possession in 1993
27. Says he is now completely sober
28. Admits that he hates responsibility
29. Was so wasted on the Zoo TV tour that the band's bass technician was forced to take his place for a whole show
THE EDGE, 43
30. Was the first member of the band to get married, to high school sweetheart Aislinn O'Sullivan, in 1985 (they're now divorced)
31. Now lives in Europe and in L.A., because his current wife, a belly dancer, is an American
32. Doesn't think Bono should allow himself to be photographed with the pope and George Bush, "and he knows it"
33. Wanted to be a doctor or an engineer growing up
34. U2 lore has it that he actually left the band in the early '80s for religious reasons
35. For years was teased about his record collection, which included nothing recorded before 1976
36. Is so proper that he calls Larry Mullen "Lawrence"
LARRY MULLEN, 43
37. He hates cats (he had a bad experience with one as a child)
38. Is called Dorian Gray by Bono because he has yet to age
39. Loves Echo & the Bunnymen
40. Like the Edge, has a son named Aaron
41. Considers Bono his best friend
42. Is teased for being cheap; U2's manager says Mullen "still has his First Communion money"
43. Worships Elvis Presley
44. Loves to hang out in secondhand record shops
45. Like Bono, he's been with his high school sweetheart since they were 13, although they're not married
46. Is a huge Irish football fan
47. Was painfully shy and still is the quietest member of the band
48. Suffers chronic back pain because he was never taught how to sit correctly at the drums
49. He "cannot tell a lie," according to Bono
50. Has been known to shun the tour bus in favor of traveling alone, on his motorcycle
Bono and the King
A POEM Bono wrote about Elvis in 1995, which he read aloud during an interview two years ago, is going to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 this week. "So what?" you might say, on the grounds that we've often heard slightly nonsensical garbage coming from his mouth in the past, why not a poem which was described by its initial audience of one as being "effective, but bonkers"?
Elvis: American David is the title of the U2 front man's ode to The King, and aside from its iambic pentameter which, to use a term from classical literary theory, is off the hook, the poem makes several claims that not only rhyme but are also enlightening, even to the most ardent Elvis fan. "Elvis grew sideburns as a protest against Tom Jones' hairy chest," Bono states at one point in the poem, which is all written in lowercase, prompting some suggestion that it may have been composed on a mobile phone.
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