Just launched a brand new tool for the worlds greatest fans. U2 Fans we have teamed up with google to provide a U2 360 search tool that can be used with ease. Try the tool out today. Its been designed to search out all related U2 360 Tour news, videos, photos and stories. Yes if there is a story out on the net about U2 this tool can provide you the quickest links to all those stories you have been craving. No longer spending hours and hours searching. Try it today and share your feedback as we continue to build you the worlds greatest fan site.
u2 360 Tour North America Opening EPK
If you need to feel like your at the show. We have this great promotional clip for you to review. Enjoy
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Blackberry U2 Mobile
Finally U2 loves Blackberry- Today via Blackberry Applications World you can download the feature. So here is what you need to know.
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U2 Mobile Application works on Blackberry
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Get the software via Blackberry Application World
- Or click on your blackberry Application World via the download tab.
- Once you down load review and agree to the terms
- It will setup in your download file - so move it to where you want to keep the icon.
Updated 6:30PM EST - So I had a chance to down the little U2 application to my blackberry bold and I will say OMG.
- Application name should be changed to promotional tool to sell CD’s and concert tickets.
- Videos are all available on U2.com - So whats the special deal ?
- Music, don’t think your going to get to stream U2 on your Bold. No way its just a clip.
- Photo’s are not anything you have not gotten a chance to see from all the U2 fan sites.
STAR Rating **
So let us know what you think ? Share and post your comments here. - Also check back today with us we have a special treat for you. -
Global Horizons (Part III)
U2: Local Act, Global Horizons (Part III)
By Justin Kavanagh | Tuesday, September 15, 2009
U2 has reached a new generation of music lovers with its iPod and Blackberry campaigns — thus avoiding the fade into irrelevance usually suffered by aging rock stars. In the conclusion of his three-part series, Justin Kavanagh explores the performance art and marketing behind U2’s stage shows.
In the 1990s, U2’s stage sets embodied a new world order in which global consumers lived passively in 2-D. Zoo TV was a mobile television station warning against the dangers of brainwashing by TV. Banks of screens subjected the audience to an onslaught of sensory overload with sound bites and advertising-speak. In the arena of marketing, U2 inverted the rules. The band received no payment for use of their 2004 single “Vertigo” in ads for Apple’s iPod.
The 1997 PopMart extravaganza used an even larger wonderwall of imagery and illusion, crowned by a huge yellow arch to parody the age of mass consumerism.
The band embodied the parody, dressing as cyber-age Village People to stride cockily into the heart of another irony. They were the biggest band in the world — bigger now than Led Zeppelin — and they were caricaturing their own iconic stardom. Still, some in America assumed that the tour was sponsored by McDonald’s or Wal-Mart.
But if the medium was super-sized kitsch, the message remained uniquely subversive for a rock band. The Pop album asked aching questions about the absence of Jesus in the modern world. The lyrics had Bono “looking for to fill that God-shaped hole.” “Mofo” remains the darkest song in the U2 repertoire, a breathless scream for identity, for the love of a dead mother and ultimately for salvation of the soul. This was music and theater of the absurd so loaded with role-play and risk that it seemed bound to confound.
PopMart defied every cliché about rock ‘n roll by exposing its excesses under megawatt illumination. “Let’s go to the overground” was the band’s creed in the 1990s, a stance that challenged the standard rock star pose of embracing an illusory underground community. And yet, the band has stayed connected to worldwide audiences in a way that transcends the years and the sheer scale of these shows. At a 2005 concert in Chorzow, 70,000 Polish fans organized a massive mosaic flag in red and white for the early 1980s anthem “New Years Day.” The song was U2’s response to the communists’ brutal crackdown on the Solidarity trade union in December 1981.
“Mofo” remains the darkest song in the U2 repertoire, a breathless scream for identity, for the love of a dead mother and ultimately for salvation of the soul. The Poles’ act of flash-mob solidarity was organized by Internet and text messaging. This show of viral techno-savvy demonstrated U2’s success in attracting newer audiences and in connecting generations.
By the new millennium, the band had given their blessing to Apple’s iPod and the BlackBerry. In the arena of marketing, too, they inverted the rules. The band received no payment for use of their 2004 single “Vertigo” in ads for Apple’s iPod. Instead, they rode the popularity of the portable media player to bring their music to a new generation. Likewise, the current single and tour have been widely previewed on U.S. TV and Internet ads for BlackBerry. Typically, the campaign inverts the standard artist/product endorsement routine — its tagline is “BlackBerry Loves U2.”
But if the band — or the brand — has charmed the world, their hometown often remains curmudgeonly in its begrudgery towards U2’s success. A 2006 decision to move part of its business to the Netherlands, in order to lessen its Irish tax burden, brought allegations of tax-dodging. Bono argued that Ireland has long sought to attract international investment in its financial services sector, but now cried foul when an Irish entity decided to make a similar investment abroad.
The Edge also defended the band’s global approach to finance. “[W]e do business all over the world, we pay taxes all over the world and we are totally tax compliant,” he said. But once again, it was Bono, as spokesman for the earth’s poor, who drew the real heat for what critics label as his hypocrisy.
If the band — or the brand — has charmed the world, their hometown often remains curmudgeonly in its begrudgery towards U2’s success.
Broach the topic in any Dublin pub these days, and you’ll soon hear a searing critique of the multi-millionaire behind the DATA and ONE campaigns. These initiatives aim, respectively, to combat poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa, and to increase U.S. government funding for international aid programs.
Bono, if present, would defend his work for Third World debt- and hunger-relief on practical terms. He has been quoted as saying, “If you look into it, you think, ‘This guy works two-and-a-half days a week at this, not being paid for it, and at cost to his band and his family, and doesn’t mind taking a kicking.’” For all the local criticism, the band have always lived in Ireland, employed locally and invested in hotels, nightclubs and properties in Dublin. Their success has also driven the establishment of a thriving music industry. The city’s next big thing won’t want for local inspiration — and Dublin now appears on the back of most European Tour t-shirts.
The U.S. tour
In terms of spectacle, there now seems no limit to U2’s ambition. This year’s show takes place within what can only be described as a spaceship. How far can you take us, Bono? This is rock’s largest ever stage set: a 164-foot high, four-legged “claw” in centerfield. It gives stadium-goers from all sides open views of the band.
A conical screen hovers above the stage. From this huge multimedia shrine, U2 will beam their gifts of sound and vision to the faithful. Onscreen, U2 will project to the masses their positive propaganda for a better world. In Europe this summer, crowds heard a message from Bishop Tutu and watched recent scenes of protest and repression from Iran. In place of the crank phone calls, Bono called up the captain of the space station to ask for the view from above… the state of the world through the eyes of God, perhaps?
At a 2005 concert in Chorzow, 70,000 Polish fans organized a massive mosaic flag in red and white for the early 1980s anthem “New Years Day.” And what of their music from outer space in 2009? Few bands of their vintage play anything but oldies on such tours, but U2 climb aboard their space-age magic carpet to explore new boundaries. They will open with four songs from the new album, No Line on the Horizon.
The encore promises to reveal a band that still treasures “vision over visibility,” in the words of their most visible frontman. U2 will invert Oscar Wilde’s famous artistic creed about living in the gutter but looking at the stars. In the new song “Moment of Surrender,” Bono takes a crawl through the gutter in the persona of an alcoholic confessing his sins.
Despite the “War of the Worlds” spaceship stage, it is the band’s ability to relate to a crowd on a human level that still makes a U2 concert an extraordinary experience.
In Washington this week, the song “Walk On” will bear witness to the courage of Aung San Suu Kyi. It will shine a light onto the mendacity of her incarcerators in Myanmar. A line of local volunteers will walk onstage, each wearing a mask with the face of the incarcerated Burmese opposition leader.
“Walk On” echoes one of the world’s great soccer anthems, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Its message of hope for finding one’s way home in the world resonates with every crowd. It’s a simple human message, best delivered in person by fellow-travelers. Wherever you are in this world, you’re not alone…Walk On.
Spaceships may offer us the view from the gods, but at ground level it is local acts that lead to global change. And when the 49-year-old Bono walks onto his spaceship stage this September, I’ll think of the young singer from Dublin asking all those years ago, “Have yous far to go?”
Editor’s Note: This is the conclusion of a three-part series on U2. Read Part II here.
Just feeling U2's next show
Monday night the band all rested up from two days in Chicago, opening the North American tour they head off to Toronto for a show on 9 /17. They have switched planes at this point a retro fitted Air Canada Airbus A320-211 C-GQCA (msn 210) in the colors of the Irish rock 
The tour is in support of the group’s 2009 album “No Line on the Horizon”.The U2 360° Tour is named after the 360-degree staging and audience configuration it uses for shows, which U2 claims is “the first time a band has toured in stadiums with such a unique and original structure.” Previously AC decorated A320 C-FPWE for the U2 Vertigo Tour.
Twitter: We have had some fans ask us who else they can follow via twtter for show updates and news. We have tons of references the best way would be to see who follows us and start following them. The whole idea for U2TOURFANS was to create a place to exchange the fan experience. We really don’t mind sharing the tweets or the information. In fact it makes the experience that much better.
1000MIKES: Yes you asked and we do have channel we will offer the use of the channel to a different fan for each show. Yes we plan on using it as well. However we all know how long batteries last. We of course use a Blackberry Bold *AT&T and LG ZEON
YouTube: Our channel of course can be found via U2TOURFANS we try to post videos within 48hrs of the show, however that does depend on many factors ( too boring to talk about)
Chicago Show: Mixed feelings. I guess the highlight was Blue Room.It debuted live during the main set, 14 years later. Fact: This ws the only second Passengers song that U2 has ever played live.
The Process: We have been working on a couple of stories. Bottomline it comes down to time and interest. We take your feedback and we look for the story. Most of you have asked for the tour news, such as how many trucks, how do they tour the US ( bus, plane ) All of those details. One item everyone has been asking for we have not choosen to share. “Techincal Rider” this is really something that should remain with the Band and the venue.
Review Chicago Sunday
Bono singing ’Chicago’ in the introduction to Magnificent, with the audience, unsurprisingly, in seventh heaven. ’One for the money, two for the show, where are we in the world… Union Street.’
The second show a chance to win over the Chicago news. The band was rehearsing “Your Blue Room” earlier in the day and they did not disapoint. For Your Blue Room, widely agreed to be among the most beautiful tracks the band have ever written, released on the 1995 album Original Soundtracks when the band recorded as Passengers with Brian Eno
It debuted live during the main set, 14 years later.
Fact: This was the only second Passengers song that U2 has ever played live. Adam did not have his spoken verse rather it as done by te astronauts (International Space Station) pre-recorded from the first show.
Couple of points
- During “One” a few of the vocals, missing
- Elevation was mixed into a couple of songs
- Unknown Caller was incomplete, mixed in a some of Breathe
The band had some other changes, most of the tweeter comments said while the flow was different it fe
lt little like a start and stop. This joint was jumping for Elevation, while Until The End of the World and Stay, another couple of songs which have been played sparingly to date, also had 65,000 people lost in the music. ’Green light, Seven Eleven/ You stop in for a pack of cigarettes/ You don’t smoke, don’t even want to/ Hey now, check your change….’ And if the suit of lights for Ultraviolet is making a name for itself, welcome to the steering wheel microphone swinging low from high up in space station - now with added LED’s.
Most will agree its an amazing show. Song selection is key we wonder what you thought ?
Videos posted on U2TOURFANS channel - Credits to twitter followers, and wide news release.
U2: Local Act, Global Horizons (Part II)
The Globalist, September 11, 2009
By: Justin Kavanagh
U2TOURFANS Editor Note: This is a long story, read all the way to the end. Its broken into three parts.
Since their beginnings in the troubled Dublin of the 1980s, U2’s political message has stayed strong. From speaking out about Pinochet’s crimes in Argentina to working in Ethiopian refugee camps, Justin Kavanagh explains how singer Bono has kept up his activism while evolving with the times.
From the start, U2’s songwriting confronted the problems of the world. Few bands have drawn inspiration from such a global diversity of subjects: from Hiroshima’s holocaust (“The Unforgettable Fire”) to Martin Luther King (“Pride (in the Name of Love)”) to third-world hunger (“Crumbs from Your Table”).
U2’s music challenged listeners to hear nuance beyond the catchy choruses. Their debut album Boy hinted at an idealistic belief in the power of the imagination to shape a better world. Bono sings, “I thought the world could go far/ if they listened to what I said.”
Critics consistently pointed out the paradox of rich rock stars acting as spokesmen for the downtrodden. Years later, when Bono met Horst Kohler — then head of the IMF, and now the President of Germany — the politician challenged him directly, saying, “So you’re a rock star. You make a lot of money and then find a conscience?”
In fairness, the singer had earned the right to rage. He wrote “Where the Streets Have No Name” after he and wife Ali spent time as volunteers in an Ethiopian refugee camp. “Bullet the Blue Sky” described the fear experienced on a visit to Nicaragua and El Salvador, arranged through Amnesty International. They had witnessed first-hand the fighter planes and artillery fire of the Reagan-funded Contras.
Performing the song led the singer into another contradiction. “Outside, it’s America,” he would intone darkly on stage in New York, D.C. or L.A., trying to evoke in spoken lyrics the terror felt by Latin Americans at the forces which they associated with the superpower to the North. But such political sermonizing went largely over the heads of U.S. audiences.
When Bono met Horst Kohler, the politician challenged him directly, saying, “So you’re a rock star. You make a lot of money and then find a conscience?” Still, U2’s music challenged listeners to hear nuance beyond the catchy choruses. The militaristic drums of ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’ made it a stadium favorite, yet, like “40,” it concealed the biblical yearning to sing a new song.
Such subtleties were often overlooked, as many mistook the historical twist in the title for nationalistic rabble-rousing. Remember, the vitriol in the verses of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” suffered the same fate in Reagan-era America.
Elsewhere, audiences proved more perceptive. In Chile, the band used a live TV broadcast to showcase their lament for the country’s political victims, “Mothers of the Disappeared,” at a concert in the Estadio Nacional. The stadium was sacred ground, infamous for its use as a prison camp by the military regime following Pinochet’s coup d’état.
The band invited the madres onstage to display pictures of their long-gone loved ones and gave them time to name each victim individually. Bono then spoke directly to the camera and said, “General Pinochet, God will be your judge. We will not. But at least tell these women where are the bones of their children.”
Many cheered, but many in the audience hissed and booed, too. Bono, ever the arch-contrarian and agent provocateur, was pleased at this mixed response. “I was flattered that we weren’t just playing to people who all agreed with us,” he claimed.
An aversion to sycophancy is rare in the realm of rock, but U2 remain a gang of friends who still like to be challenged, and to challenge each other. Bono has reflected on the danger of rock-star privilege invading real life.
Bono had earned the right to rage. He wrote “Where the Streets Have No Name” after he and wife Ali spent time as volunteers in an Ethiopian refugee camp. “After you go home, you return to be lords of your own domain,” he said. “That is the way of males in particular; they rid the room of argument until they have no one left — except people who agree with them. It is understandable. But I like a good argument. It’s a rare privilege to be in the company of people who you started out with and who can see through you.”
If egos were self-regulating within the band, it wasn’t always obvious from the outside. By the end of the 1980s, U2 were fast becoming caricatures. However worthy the causes, embracing the world and its contradictions was seen as political heavy-handedness and God-bothering grandiosity. In Dublin’s culture of fond mockery, Bono was ridiculed for his assumed messianic complex. A faux tribute band called the Joshua Trio played U2 covers wearing angels’ wings, and its singer arriving on stage astride a donkey.
So, the four non-prophets decided the time was right to change their tune. U2 reinvented themselves for the 1990s, adapting the age-old adage of “Fear the devil, and he will taunt you, mock the devil and he will run.”
“I’m ready,” sang Bono as he air-kissed his preacher-man persona goodbye, “ready for the laughing gas.” As the Zoo TV tour reinvented the rock show, out went the white flags and the preachy speeches. In came disguises, masks and the electronic razzle-dazzle of an age in thrall to technology.
Drawing on their playful Dada past, U2 introduced a cast of cracked characters that minced a fine line between method-acting dementia and demonic evocation. The Fly was a know-it-all barfly philosopher. MacPhisto was a “fat Elvis” version of the Devil himself, a menacing mix of world-weary Vegas crooner and faded Satanic majesty.
Rather than protesting stridently, the singer now loosed his demons onto global affairs. MacPhisto implicated the powerful and the complicit by warm association. For instance, he would call the White House nightly to tease and taunt George Bush (the elder). And he would invite Salman Rushdie onstage to to speak about his infamous Verses. In Dublin’s culture of fond mockery, Bono was ridiculed for his assumed messianic complex. Yet, underneath the eyeliner and the red horns, the message remained the same: The world was still going to hell — but now U2 offered us the warm hand of the devil to take us there… and the descent would be televised on the world’s largest TV screen.
With Bono as Beelzebub’s mouthpiece, the band tuned to the zeitgeist of capitalism’s moment of historic triumph. It was the end of the 20th century, the end of the Cold War and the End of History, some said. While Vaclav Havel was rocking in the castle with the Rolling Stones, U2 were fast-forwarding rock into the age of New Media. The walls were coming down, and the screens were going up. Global telecommunication offered a transparently two-dimensional world, which promised to be even better than the real thing.
U2's 360 Tour: 'One of the best stadium shows of the last decade'
The arena spectacle that is a U2 show won’t arrive in Los Angeles for a few more weeks yet. The band’s “360 Tour,” dubbed so due to the 90-foot tall, four-pronged canopy that serves as a mega in-the-round stage — a look that calls to mind a giant alien spaceship plopping down in the center of a football stadium — launched its North American leg this weekend in Chicago.
The Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot took in the festivities and labeled it “one of the best stadium shows of the last decade” in a video review on his Turn It Up blog. U2 will touch down in Los Angeles on Oct. 25 with a date at the Rose Bowl. The U2 site lists the concert as sold out, but Pop & Hiss was able to find single tickets available via Ticketmaster searches. If you’re still on the fence about attending, here’s an excerpt from Kot’s review:
On its previous tours, U2 had started to resemble its generation’s answer to the Rolling Stones: a band that had started to become predictable, a stadium act rolling out decades-old hits as its songwriting stagnated. This time, the band reconnected to deeper themes in its music and reinforced a recent development in its sound: groove.
There was also the inescapable Godzilla in the room: that much-hyped mega stage, which splits the difference between silly contrivance and weird, sometimes awe-inspiring art object. It literally dwarfed everything, and reached out to all corners of the stadium, allowing the four ant-sized band members to play to the crowd on all sides. The setting often made for compelling theater, though it wasn’t on par with the band’s 1992-93 Zoo TV tour, a multimedia barrage that mirrored the chaos and anxiety harnessed by its 1991 “Achtung Baby” album. Ever since, U2 has been searching for the right mix of spectacle and intimacy, pizzazz and poignance on the big stage, but Zoo TV remains the finest supersized tour mounted by any band in the last two decades.
The centerpiece of this year’s stadium model, dubbed the 360 Tour in honor of the circular stage, was the Irish quartet’s latest hit-and-miss studio album, “No Line on the Horizon”; seven of its songs were performed, out of 23 on the set list. Though there was no salvaging thin material such as the brash but empty “Get on Your Boots” and the convoluted “Unknown Caller,” the atmospheric yet expansive tone of the title track connected U2 to the spiritual quest of its 1984 album “The Unforgettable Fire.”
In the days leading up the concert, the Chicago Tribune provided in-depth, behind-the-scenes coverage.
— Todd Martens