Belgium U2 Concerts Held Back

Tickets for the U2 concert at the Koning Boudewijnstadion stadium in Brussels, Belgium are being held back and not currently being sent due to organizers worries about the secondary ticketing market. In the Belgian Press, Teleticketservice stated they have too much evidence that secondary market ticket resellers are waiting impatiently on the cards and they want to hold off mailing the tickets until summer 2010, closer to the September 22 and 23 concert dates.  Those who bought tickets for one of the two concerts this fall received an email this week which Teleticketservice warning the cards be mailed until summer.

“We have recently received a number of nervous phone calls from people who asked that tickets be sent immediately”, says Stefan Esselens. “We suspect that a large proportion of the tickets will be sold at exorbitant prices.”

Organizers hopes that the currently anti-secondary ticketing legislation being bantered around in the Belgium will be approved after summer. The new government proposal prohibits the resale of tickets by more than 10 percent profit.

U2 South American Rumor Translation

We have been watching all of the twitter news about the possible South American tour. Normally we do not engage in rumors. However we thought we owed it to our readers to translate the whole report from PABLO MÁRQUEZ / Desde Cannes. We have a spanish speaking staff and we reviewed the following and the translation can be found below.

Spanish Article full 

Mánager de U2: “Haremos lo posible por volver a Latinoamérica”

Paul McGuiness descartó que el 360° Tour pase por Chile en noviembre, pero deja abierta la opción para inicios del 2011. 

PABLO MÁRQUEZ / Desde Cannes

Como un visitante más de Midem, la feria de la industria musical mundial que se desarrolla por estos días en Cannes, Francia, se pasea por los pasillos el calvo y bonachón Paul McGuinness, el primer y único mánager que ha tenido U2 a lo largo de sus más de tres décadas de trayectoria.

Dave Long/U2TOURFANS 2009

Para muchos, este irlandés de sonrisa fácil es el gran responsable de convertir a un grupo de cuatro amigos de Dublín en la banda más grande del mundo. Y, por lo mismo, siempre interesado en saber lo que se está pensando en el ahora alicaído negocio de la música popular, McGuinness levanta la mano a la hora de hacer preguntas a los paneles de expertos que aquí discuten sobre lo que viene.

“Nosotros, con U2, estamos en el negocio de la música en vivo. Comenzamos muy tímidamente y nos hemos convertido en la banda en directo más importante del mundo, quizás en la más importante de la historia de la música popular. Con este tour haremos, por lo menos, 90 conciertos. Ya hicimos unos 45 el año pasado y creemos que podremos hacer otros 45 durante el 2010. En total, vamos a tocar frente a unas 6 millones de personas en todos los países que visitemos”, explica.

-En un momento se dijo que U2 volvería por tercera vez a Chile en noviembre de este año.

“Lo más probable es que no vayamos este año a Latinoamérica, lo siento. Tal vez volvamos a principios del año que viene, pero eso aún tenemos que definirlo. Y la razón es que este show, el 360º Tour, es uno de los más grandes que puedas imaginar. Son en total tres escenarios, que tienen que viajar en barco dentro de unos 200 containers. Calculamos que, al día, el costo de cada show es de unos 3 millones de dólares. Pero haremos lo posible por volver a Latinoamérica, por supuesto”.

-Al definirse como banda en vivo, ¿se preocupan de los tiempos de crisis que se viven por estos días?

“Con el tiempo, U2 se ha convertido en una banda en vivo, pero eso no significa que no tengamos respeto por los discos. De hecho, para la grabación del último hicimos un gran esfuerzo para su factura y por eso nos preocupamos de cada detalle en su presentación en vivo. Desde que comenzamos la gira, además, nos hemos preocupado porque el precio de los tickets no sea tan elevado”.

-La banda ha hecho acuerdos con telefónicas y otros formatos para vender su música, ¿creen que el futuro es también digital para U2?

Dave Long/U2TOURFANS 2009“Claramente, la música está orientándose hacia el mercado digital, hacia las descargas y todo tipo de consumo electrónico, pero creo que las compañías proveedoras de servicios de internet aún no se están preocupando de invertir y desarrollar nuevas plataformas que beneficien a los músicos en general. Creo que, efectivamente, las cosas están cambiando, pero tomará algo de tiempo para que todo se normalice”.

-Se dice que U2 ya trabaja en el sucesor de “No line on the horizon”.
“Retomaremos la gira en junio próximo, en California, y claro que los chicos han estado componiendo canciones. Lo más probable es que saquen un nuevo álbum después de la gira, pero la verdad es que no lo sé con certeza”. (El Mercurio)

English Translation - U2TOURFANS STAFF

Dave Long/U2TOURFANS 2009Manager of U2: “We will make possible to Latin America” Paul McGuiness discarded the 360 ° Tour pass by Chile in November, but leaves open the option for early 2011.

PABLO MÁRQUEZ / from Cannes as a visitor of MIDEM, the exhibition in the global music industry that develops these days in Cannes, France, strolling through the corridors bald and bonachón Paul McGuinness, the first and only Manager which had U2 in his more than three decades of trajectory.

For many, this easy smile Irish is great responsible for a group of four friends from Dublin become the world’s largest band. And, therefore, always interested in knowing what you are thinking of now roiled the popular music business, McGuinness raises her hand to ask questions to panels of experts that discussed here on what comes. 

“We, with U2, are in the live music business.” We started very timidly and we have become the most important live band in the world, perhaps the most important in the history of popular music. With this tour we’ll, at least 90 concerts. We did some 45 last year and we believe that we can do other 45 during 2010. “In total, let’s play vs. some 6 million people in all countries visit”, explains.  -At a time it was said that U2 would return for the third time to Chile in November this year. 

“It is likely that we will not this year to Latin America, sorry.” Perhaps back at the beginning of the year that is coming, but that we still have to define it. And the reason is that this show, the 360 ° Tour, is one of the largest can imagine.

They are three scenarios, who have to travel by boat of about 200 containers in total. We estimate that, per day, the cost of each show is about 3 million dollars. But we do our best to return to Latin America, of course.  -To define as live band, what concern in times of crisis living these days?  “Eventually, U2 has become a live band, but that doesn’t mean that we do not have respect for disks.” In fact, for the recording of the last did a lot for your Bill and why we care of every detail in his presentation live.

“Since we started the tour, moreover, we have concerned because the price of tickets is not so high”.  -The band has made agreements with telephone and other formats to sell their music, do you believe that the future is also digital for U2?  “Clearly, music is geared towards the digital market towards downloads and all kinds of consumer electronics, but I think that companies internet service providers still not be are concerned invest and develop new platforms that benefit musicians in general.”

I think that, indeed, things are changing, but will take some time to make everything normalize.  -It is said that U2 is already working on the successor of “No line on the horizon”.  “We shall return to the tour in June, in California, and of course the guys have been composing songs.” “It is likely to draw a new album from the tour, but the truth is I do not know with certainty”.

New U2 movie Update

The feature film, entitled “Killing Bono”, is being made in and around the city over the next six weeks. Waring Street and Lower Donegall Street have been dressed to portray a vision of London in the late 1970s. Traffic diversions will be in place on Sunday and Monday but rush hour traffic will not be affected by the filming. The film, which has been described as a “music-based comedy”, is set during U2’s formative years in north Dublin and London. It is based on the memoirs of Bono’s schoolfriend, Neil McCormick, who is now a music critic for the Daily Telegraph newspaper. “Killing Bono” tells the story from the point of view of the rather less successful rival band which he set up with his brother in the late 1970s. The film is directed by the Belfast-born director Nick Hamm and has received funding from Northern Ireland Screen, with help from Invest NI. It is hoped the film will be released in the summer of 2010.

U2TOURFANS Weekend News Wrap Up

In the nothing new column U2 have revealed that they have begun work on a new album. The follow-up to 2009’s ‘No Line On The Horizon’, the as-yet-untitled album is set to be “really special”.

Now take U2TOURFANS to go, down load today the brand new Apple Application

“We are working on a lot of new songs,” The Edge told EW.com. “Some of them are really, really happy. We’re convinced that we have something really special.”

Adding that the band have been working on material in-between legs of their world tour, the guitarist revealed a little more about the making of the album. “We are experimenting with a lot of different arrangements, and electronic is one of the things we are playing with,” he explained. “But there are other songs that are very traditional, almost folk. In some ways, that’s the thing we haven’t figured out yet, is where this album is going to end up.”

Meanwhile, U2 frontman Bono has recorded a new song with Jay-Z, to help raise money for those affected by the recent earthquakes in Haiti.

Sometimes you can’t make it on your own, especially in the midst of a catastrophe. Enter U2 and Jay-Z.

The Edge announced Wednesday that he and bandmates Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. joined forces with Hova last week to write and record a quickie charity song that will benefit relief efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The guitarist told an Irish radio station that producer Swizz Beats contacted him and said he and Jay-Z “wanted to do something for Haiti.”

“So Bono came up with the phrase on the phone and last night we were here, we wrote a song, finished, recorded, and sent it back to them,” said Edge. “So that might be the next thing you hear from us.”

 Celebrities were rampant for “Hope for Haiti” as were musicians, all with the intention of inspiring folks to donate a few bucks to their brethren in the disaster-ridden country. When it comes to the latter, their were many highlights — Springsteen performing “We Shall Overcome”, Jennifer Hudson tackling “Let it Be”, and Dave Matthews joining Neil Young for “Alone and Forsaken” are a few examples. But easily the exciting of them all was the much-anticipated collaboration between U2 and Jay-Z.

Bono wrote the hook for “Stranded” — his new Haiti benefit single with Jay-Z and Rihanna, which is subtitled either “Haiti Mon Amour” or “Haiti Mi Amore” — while on the phone with producer Swizz Beatz. “The idea of the song is ‘We’re not gonna leave you stranded’ and that’s what the chorus is,” Swizz Beatz tells Rolling Stone. “So me and Bono started going back and forth with ideas, and he was like, ‘You know this word stranded keeps standing out to me’ and I asked him to sing it, and he put me on hold ’cause he’s recording the ideas on a Dictaphone — so he did it there and then on the phone.”

Swizz Beatz got the song started by sending simultaneous texts to Jay-Z and Bono — but when they both called, he accidentally hung up on Jay while trying to conference them. After three hours of phone tag, they all agreed to the project, which came together in geographically scattered sessions, with extra production work by the Edge. “I knew that Jay would be able to tell a story, and that Bono would be able to sing and bring it home. The last component that I added was Rihanna, and she’s kinda like the angel that’s on the track, softening it up and giving it that caring feeling, because this hook is so powerful.”

As it so turns out, the track, titled “Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)”, also features Rihanna, primarily hears Hova in command, and, in the end, it totally lives up to the expectations! Lyrically, the selection is emotionally raw, musically, it’s incredibly catchy. Overall, it’s a song of hope that is neither too cheesy, nor full of itself — it’s “Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)” that does the talking, not its massive star power.

Now take U2TOURFANS to go, down load today the brand new Apple Application today via iTunes.

U2TOURFANS Announces launch of iPhone Application

U2TOURFANS Announces launch of iPhone/iTouch Application

Today, U2TOURFANS announced the release of a new iPhone/iTouch application that integrates its multiple services into a single interface, making it easy for iPhone users to find, use and switch between U2TOURFANS social media properties like, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, and more To use the application, iPhone/iTouch users can download directly from the iTunes Applicaition store, by searching U2TOURFANS or clicking here. (Free for a limited time ) Sign up on Facebook Fan Club for ulimited free use.

Search U2TOURFANS

To accomplish this, U2TOURFANS partnered with SeattleClouds, SeattleCloud is an online publishing platform that allows you to create your own iPhone applications. You can then submit and sell your apps in the AppStore so people all over the world can download or buy your app.

The people behind SeattleClouds are a team of dedicated individuals with a long history in the technology field. Because of the potential that we saw in iPhone applications, we have developed a platform that can let any user create iPhone applications; no programming skills are required.

U2TOURFANS and SeattleClouds wanted a 360 experience unlike any other fan site connecting all of the elements that make up U2TOURFANS 360 experience. By connecting social applications such as twitter, youtube and facebook fans will be able to have the complete experience.

Editor-in-Chief Dre was quoted last night during the introductionof the application as saying.” This as the greatest birthday present to date, the launch of the application creates the 360 expeience that has always been the main focus of our media property.

These new features provide iPhone users with a desktop-like U2TOURFANS web application experience in terms of ease-of-use, speed, and feature richness but optimized for the iPhone. This experience is made possible by the iPhone’s general usability and the capabilities of its web browser, combined with U2TOURFANS/SeattleClouds innovative mobile web applications. We plan to expand this experience with updated versions as we get closer to tour season. One of our goals is to support a complete U2 experience that are fulfilling the promise of the mobile web - like the iPhone - and to ultimately deliver unique and compelling mobile experiences that provides the best fan experience possible.

Birthday wishes to our Chief from the U2TOURFANS Team ! We selected this one for you !

U2 Fans Ticket Alert

U2 fans who weren’t quick on the draw — or, more to the point, quick on the mouse — initially missed out on getting tickets to the legendary Irish rock band’s June 16 concert at Oakland Coliseum. The show was dubbed a sellout not long after ducats first went on sale in early November.

Now, however, promoter Live Nation is singing a different tune about the concert and it goes a little something like this: You, too, can see U2.

Live Nation has recently released more tickets to the show — and, according to the news release, they’re “good seats.” (A quick check online confirmed that.)

Tickets run $30-$250 and are available through both Ticketmaster (800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com) and Live Nation (877-598-6659, www.livenation.com).

U2 and Jay-Z record song for Haiti

Bono and Jay Z Berlin Wall U2, Jay-Z and producer Swizz Beatz have recorded a song together to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

U2’s guitarist The Edge told Irish radio station 2FM the band “wrote a song, finished and recorded” last week after being contacted about the idea.

The Edge, Bono and Jay-Z, along with Rihanna, are due to appear in London for “a group performance” as part of Friday’s Hope For Haiti telethon.

George Clooney’s two-hour benefit show will be aired on MTV in the UK.

The Edge told 2FM DJ Dave Fanning over the weekend: “Bono got a call from a producer, Swizz. He and Jay-Z wanted to do something for Haiti.

“So Bono came up with the phrase on the phone and last night we were here, we wrote a song, finished, recorded, and sent it back to them.

“So, that might be the next thing you hear from us.”

‘Something amazing’

Swizz Beatz also confirmed the project on his Twitter page, saying: “Me, Bono, Hova [Jay-Z’s nickname] have something to say about Haiti. Stay tuned.

“I told you I was working on something amazing for Haiti. They need us!”

It is not clear when the single will be released, or whether the artists plan to premiere the song during Friday’s telethon

Jay-Z has played with the Irish rock group before, popping up for a handful of dates on last year’s 360 tour, and adding a rap to their hit single Sunday Bloody Sunday during the 2009 MTV Europe Awards.

George Clooney has been organising the Hope For Haiti telethon

Meanwhile, more acts have been added to the bill for the Haiti telethon including Coldplay, who will play at “a London location” alongside Jay-Z.

Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and Keith Urban will appear in Los Angeles while Haitian-born Fugees star Wyclef Jean, Sting, Mary J Blige, Shakira and Bruce Springsteen will be among performers in New York.

Funds raised will go to Oxfam America, Red Cross, Unicef, Partners in Health and the Yele Haiti Foundation.

The telethon will be screened live in the UK from 0100 GMT on Saturday 23 January.

In the US, the telethon is being screened live without commercials on a number of channels including NBC, ABC and CBS.

U2 News Coverage of Haiti,Nascar,Oscar,Freeze,AH

Bono, Sting, Timberlake To Perform On Haiti Telethon

George Clooney says the “Hope for Haiti” benefit for victims of the earthquake in Haiti will include performances from Bono, Sting, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys.

The Edge, whose “Brothers” song was nominated for a Globe,(Did not win) said that he will be helping George Clooney’s Friday telethon. “This  is one of  the most serious disasters that has happened in 10 years and we have to do everything that we can. There’s no question about it.” 

Of attending the Globes, he explained, “This is the perfect opportunity for people to say, ‘We’re there and we are going to do whatever we can,’” adding that the awards are a great platform to get the word out.

Speaking to The Associated Press at the Golden Globes ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Clooney said that more than 40 celebrities are expected to attend the Jan. 22 event. The actor said the aim of the benefit is “to show the people of Haiti that the whole world is paying attention.”

The benefit, which Clooney and Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean will host, will be broadcast on more than a dozen broadcast and cable networks. It will be held in New York, with CNN’s Anderson Cooper chiming in from Haiti.

The show will benefit the Red Cross, UNICEF, Oxfam America, Partners in Health and Jean’s Yele Haiti Foundation.

Clooney said that songs from participating artists will also be available on iTunes, with proceeds going to the relief effort.

You can support Hait too by visiting our Haiti link.

U2’s ‘Bad’ gets a NASCAR makeover

U2 3-D Car Promotion #19Heroin and NASCAR, who knew? U2 fans watching the NFL playoffs on Fox this weekend surely heard what would seem to be an oddly placed song scoring the network’s preview of the upcoming Daytona 500: U2’s mid-’80s hit “Bad.”

The commercial features little more than a snippet of one of the Edge’s most recognizable guitar riffs — the few slow, glistening notes that set the table for the song’s explosive rock ‘n’ roll release. 

U2 hasn’t exactly shied away from commercial endorsements of late, or massive sporting events.

Also, anyone who has attended any NFL, NBA or MLB game in recent years has likely heard “Beautiful Day” piped throughout the arena or stadium, further linking U2 with the sporting world.

Yet judging by some previous NASCAR-branded music releases, U2 seems to be a bit out of place with the barroom hits and country rock more closely tied to the sport.

Granted, it’s more a story these days when rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t appear in a commercial, but are U2 fans ready to have one of the band’s most iconic songs forever associated with auto racing? If the quick responses on Twitter are any gauge, then no.

Though Bono’s lyrics in “Bad” are vague and open to interpretation, it’s a song long believed to be about heroin addiction, making it feel a bit out of place in hyping the Feb. 14 race. It should be noted, of course, that it’s not the first time a rock ‘n’ roll tune about drug use has appeared in a commercial, as Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” more famously promoted a cruise line.

Sheridan:’U2 sure bet for an Oscar’

OscarDIRECTOR Jim Sheridan last night tipped U2 to walk off with an Oscar after the group failed to win a Golden Globe for the soundtrack to his new film ‘Brothers’.

The band’s song ‘Winter’ was beaten in the Best Song category by singer Ryan Bingham with the theme from film ‘Crazy Heart’ at a star-studded ceremony in Hollywood on Sunday night.

“I’m sorry the lads didn’t win a Golden Globe but I think there’s a good chance they could get an Oscar instead for Best Song,” Sheridan told the Irish Independent.

The collaboration between Jim Sheridan and U2 came about after Sheridan showed U2 a rough cut of the movie.

‘Brothers’, a remake of the Danish film ‘Brodre’, tells the story of a decorated marine who goes missing overseas while his younger brother cares for his wife.

Another Irish nominee who failed to pick up a gong was Dublin actor Brendan Gleeson, in the running for best actor in a TV movie for his portrayal of British prime minister Winston Churchill. But Kevin Bacon won that award for his role in ‘Taking Chance’.

Ex-U2 worker has her assets frozen

A former personal assistant of U2 guitarist Adam Clayton has had her assets frozen indefinitely over allegations she defrauded 1.8 million euro from him.

Clayton sacked Carol Hawkins late last year after she allegedly used his debit and credit cards to buy cars, a house and jewellery.

Dublin’s High Court was told lawyers for the former PA are examining an employment contract which they said contains a mediation clause.

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‘Artificial Horizon’: U2’s Limited Edition Remix CD

ARTIFICIAL HORIZON, a U2 remix album produced only for subscribers to U2.com. If you thought the U2360° remix of I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight was going to bring the house down, wait till you hear the Grand Jury Mix of If God Will Send his Angels, Trent Reznor’s version of Vertigo, Jacknife Lee’s remake of Fast Cars or David Holmes’s remix of Beautiful Day. This is one special collection - check the full tracklisting below.

ARTIFICIAL HORIZON comes off the presses in late January and will be mailed to subscribers within a few weeks

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