IT WAS a case of the unforgettable buyer for U2 stylist Lola Cashman, who still hasn’t found what she’s looking for.
In fact there was literally no desire for a string of U2 trinkets that Ms Cashman had put up for auction — earning just a quarter of the expected amount.
The unique online auction for some of U2’s personal items from the band’s early days has raised just €10,000 of the expected €40,000.
The 16-item collection was put up for auction on a US website with just six items bid for in total. All the items up for grabs hail from the band’s early days including a number of the boys’ personal items such as a pair of Larry Mullen’s used Converse shoes and a chipped navy blue mug used by Bono and The Edge.
However, the final figures of the auction show that only six of the sixteen items generated bids, which totalled €7,000 — a far cry from the €40,000 that was originally predicted.
As the auction was coming to an end yesterday, a flurry of interest erupted for the unique items put up for sale — including a set of Bono’s rosary beads which fetched nearly €4,000.
Along with the beads, a Polaroid picture of Bono from 1987 which sold for more than €1,000 and a used set concert list also sold for €945.
As did a signed photograph of the band for €241 and a backstage pass from their Joshua Tree tour for €219.
Another religious object put up was Larry Mullen’s former Bible, given to the stylist in 1988, with the inscription “To Lola, With Real Love, Larry, 15-1-88”.
It was being auctioned off for $4,800 (€3,500) and not one bid was placed.
Larry Mullen’s worn Converse shoes were expected to sell for at least $4,500 (€3,300) which also failed to generate any bids.
The former stylist is no stranger to auctioning off memorabilia belonging to the iconic band.
Cashman was previously involved in a high-profile court case dubbed Stetsongate, for selling items belonging to the rock legends she had collected while joining them on their Joshua Tree tour from 1987 onwards.
After losing her appeal against a judge’s decision that the items were not hers to sell, she instead auctioned off items that were personally inscribed to her.
CISCO BluesFest The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest runs from July 7 to 18 this year, and while the schedule of performers won’t be officially announced until April 21, it’s certainly the season for rumours.Melting snow means one thing: Bluesfest is approaching.
A couple of different fans sites have suggested that it could be possible. The timing looks good, with U2 playing Philadeliphia on July 12th and Montreal on July 16th and 17th. The leaves a couple days to stop over to LeBreton Flats.
Jerry MeleDecember 1997 gig in Mexico City. The melee exposed the disgusting sense of impunity running rampant among Mexico’s privileged elite—even during a period of immense social and political change—and the enormous influence of U2, which shamed the country’s top figure through its firm, but dignified response.
As the Mexican magazine La Revista tells the story, the Zedillo boys attended the 1997 concert—part of the PopMart tour as VIPs, entering with complimentary tickets. Afterwards, they attempted to leave through a restricted area full of expensive equipment. Camera crews confronted the entourage, leading to a dustup. U2 security director Jerry Mele, a Vietnam veteran who was considered one of the best in the business and gained his reputation by maintaining order at death-metal concerts, was then run down by a vehicle carrying the Zedillo crew as they left the Foro Sol. Mele nearly died of his injuries.
The band immediately demanded an apology, threatening to expose the president’s children’s egregious impunity. Zedillo refused. At a concert the following evening, U2 front man Bono told the sellout crowd: “We nearly lost a brother last night.”
Embarrassed publicly and perhaps fearing a public-relations disaster, Zedillo relented, inviting U2 for a meeting at Los Pinos (the president’s residence) the following day.
During the tense affair, Zedillo reportedly told Bono: “(U2 security) put my sons’ lives in danger.” Earlier, the chief of presidential security refused to divulge the names of the officers involved in the scuffle to U2. The president, defending his guards, blamed the promoter.
Bono reportedly pointed out how President Bill Clinton’s daughter attended U2 shows without incident and that the Secret Service knew how to behave itself when accompanying her. He also repeated his demand for an apology in front of the entire country. The meeting ended without satisfaction for U2. President Zedillo would learn shortly thereafter that his boys had lied.
Jerry Mele and Bono Jerry Mele never worked again. He won a lawsuit against the show’s promoter and the Mexican government two years later.
Ernesto Zedillo Jr., long the object of U2 fans’ scorn, angrily rejected culpability. The young man, described by La Revista as “a businessman” and “jet-set figure” (read: a playboy living large with his father’s money), told Milenio, a Mexico City newspaper, that if U2 didn’t come to Mexico, it wasn’t his fault.
Perhaps not entirely. During the U2 hiatus, Kristy MacColl, a British singer, who previously performed a duet with Bono, died after being struck by a powerboat while diving near Cozumel. The boat owner has never faced justice. Bono dedicated a song to his late friend during one of last week’s concerts - and also made a call for action. The following day, the president’s office promised to reopen MacColl’s case. Fans suspected MacColl’s death had further soured U2 on performing in Mexico.
U2 has been back to Mexico, Jerry remains retired and has written a book. Life moves on.
As we get closer to the start of the tour we begin to think about many things associated with a massive tour. So U2 Fans who is Jerry Mele ? Post your answer on Facebook. Come back later today to read all about Jerry and his adventures
What do you know about the song “Beautiful Day”? Here is some info that you may find interesting, if you have other facts share them with us.
“Beautiful Day” is the first song and lead single from U2’s 2000 album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind. It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2’s biggest hits to date. It was their fourth #1 single in the UKand their first #1 in the Netherlands, while the single also was #1 for a week in Australia. The song peaked at #21 in the U.S., the band’s highest position since “Discothèque” in 1997. The song won three Grammy Awards in 2001.
The lyrics were inspired by Bono’s experience with Jubilee 2000, a benefit urging politicians to drop the Third World Debt.
This is about a man who loses his material things and feels better because he realizes the value of what he has.
U2 wrote this in stages. It changed drastically when Bono came up with the “Beautiful Day” lyric and the idea for the backing vocals.
This was featured in television coverage of the 2000 Olympics from Australia. It was used in a nightly video recap called “Images Of The Games.” NBC made a donation to The Special Olympics in exchange for the rights to use it.
This was one of the first major releases made available for download. Fans could stream the song from U2.com before it was released.
A live performance was taped for British TV show Top Of The Pops on the rooftop of a hotel in Ireland that Bono and The Edge own. They also taped a performance of “Elevation” that day.
This evolved out of a punk rock song they were working on called “Always,” which was used as the B-side to “Beautiful Day.” “Always” was included on a 2002 album of U2 rarities called U2 7. The album was distributed through Target stores.
The video was first shown at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sep. 7, 2000.
In England, this went to #1 its first week. It beat out a duet by Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue which was expected to claim the top spot.
This was the first track and first single on All That You Can’t Leave Behind. The album did much better than their previous one, Pop, released in 1997.
When this went to #1 in the UK, Bono told BBC Radio One: “This tastes very sweet. You think to yourself, you’re a rock band, you don’t need the pop charts, but you do need the pop charts. Singles are what makes rock sharp, and we’ve not been great at singles. I can’t tell you how excited we feel, we’ve been around for a while and to hear this song on the radio, it feels very special.”
This won 2000 Grammys for Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Best Rock Performance By Duo Or Group. The album was released after the 2000 cutoff date and was not eligible for awards, but this was because it was released as a single before the date. The next year, U2 won 4 more Grammys.
When accepting the Grammy awards for this, The Edge wore a jersey with the number 3 as a tribute to Dale Earnhardt, a race car driver who died the weekend earlier in the Daytona 500.
U2 performed this at halftime of the 2002 Super Bowl after it won an online poll, beating out “Desire,” “Pride” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Unlike the year before, when Aerosmith was joined by Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly, U2 had the halftime show to themselves.
Clips of this song are used as the theme music for The Premiership, a weekly TV show in the UK which shows that covers all the English Permier League football (soccer) games.
This song was played at the end of a Smallville episode entitled “Nicodemus,” where Clark takes Lana up on the windmill and shows her the Metropolis horizon line.
Kurt Nilsen from Norway won the 2003 World Idol competition singing this song. World Idol brought together winners for the Idol competitions in various countries to compete against each other. 2003 was the only year it took place, and Nilsen beat 10 other contestants, including Kelly Clarkson, who placed second.
Before we get all giddy about the possible release at the end of the month. Lets consider all of the hype rumors for a website company that has started a site with the same name as the show in Pasadena, since its a promotional hype twitter noise we passed on telling you as early as Friday afternoon. The release suspicious: The sites listing these DVDs say they’re available on March 31st. Marketing 101 would say this is not really true. Why ? Well Youtube has a vested interest in this release too, U2’s marketing machine would really be in full swing right about now. So folks before you go line and purchase what could be a bootleg hang on a bit we as well as a couple of your other fav U2 fan sites do their homework.
The Edge attended a Jeff Koons-curated show last night at the New Museum, as part of Armory Arts Week in New York.
Of the dozens of art world events happening as part of Armory Arts Week in New York right now, one of the most buzzed about was last night’s New Museum’s opening of a controversial show that features highlights from the personal collection of Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou, curated by artist Jeff Koons.
At last night’s opening party Koons, wearing a crisp black suit, wandered the galleries with his daughter. Speakeasy caught up with him on the fourth floor of the museum, which featured an eclectic mix of works including brown gouache paintings by Kara Walker and a sparkling sculpture called “Super Sister” by Liza Lou of an oversized bejeweled woman with an afro wearing short-shorts, platform red heels. “Skin Fruit: Selections from the Dakis Joannou Collection” marks the first time Koons has taken on the role of curator.
“I think I ended up dealing mostly with the body, inside and out,” Koons said of his approach. But as for making a career out of putting together art exhibits in the future, Koons says his plan now is to “to focus on my own work.”
Koons and Joannou have been friends since 1985, according to the artist, and Athens-based Joannou has been one of the earliest and most prolific collectors of his work. The exhibition is the first in a series called “the Imaginary Museum,” that will present significant private collections as exhibitions in New Museum.
The exhibition features more than 100 works by Koons and other artists including Kiki Smith, Matthew Barney and Charles Ray. The show is still stirring up debate in the art world since Joannou is also a longtime trustee of the museum. Detractors argue that the show is a conflict of interest for the non-profit institution.
That didn’t stop crowds from turning up for last night’s opening party. The elevators were so packed for much of the evening that many guests decided to walk between the four floors through a narrow stairwell. Downtown hipsters, artists and a random smattering of celebrities, including Cyndi Lauper, Pierce Brosnan and fashion photographer David LaChapelle, wandered the galleries.
U2’s the Edge, in his telltale black beanie and a plaid shirt, seemed to offer the most distraction from the artwork for star-struck onlookers. “He’s still so cute after all these years!” said one young female gallery wanderer, within earshot of the musician. Standing near a tall rock-like sculpture by artist Dan Colen, decorated with graffiti-style writing and wads of chewed gum, the Edge, who’s real name is David Evans, told us that he was impressed by the size of Jaonnou’s collection. “It’s incredible to see it all in one exhibition,” he said. Though he wouldn’t call himself a major collector of art, Evans told us he does own works by Jean Michel Basquiat and Damien Hirst, whom he calls a friend.
On the second floor, a woman wearing all black and a museum-credential badge and facing a wall, broke out into song every few minutes near a white Carrara marble sculpture of several people lying on the ground in body bags, a piece by Maurizio Cattelan. “Thiiis is propagaaaaaanda,” the woman sang melodically before matter-of-factly announcing, in a speaking voice, “This is Propaganda, 2002, by Tino Sehgal,” referring to the title and author of the performance art piece she was putting on. (Sehgal currently has a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum uptown.) “Yes! I’m a piece!” she answered a few confused onlookers who needed clarification.
The last of a three part series over a couple of months. Whats more taboo than drugs, sex or is God ? The unwelcomed guest in the world of rock ‘n’ roll. However that’s preciselly why Bono, lead singer of U2, finds God to be such a powerful subject for the band’s songs. “You’re in a rock band what can’t you talk about? God? OK, here we go,” he once said. “You’re supposed to write songs about sex and drugs. Well, no, I won’t.” Todays top trending conversation is #SEX and you have to wonder with the quesions posed by fans? Does U2 have a lot fo sexual references in their songs or would say that they pretty much stay on the “God” trip?
From the band’s origins as four dreaming teenagers in Dublin, Ireland, in the 1970s to its current status as among the greatest rock bands on the planet, U2 has written and performed music shot through with a religiosity that defies easy categorization.
On its 2001 Elevation Tour, U2 sold out arenas and stadiums around the world, using in the process a surprising amount of religious imagery. The band usually closed with “Walk On,” a song from, All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Toward the end of the song, Bono would shout “Unto the Almighty, thank you!” and lead the crowd in a chorus of hallelujahs.
Bono and the rest of U2 would seem to fit comfortably with evangelicalism and contemporary Christian music. That placement, however, is resisted by both the evangelical establishment and the band itself. U2’s members—Bono, guitarist The Edge, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton ( which has birthday this month)—drink and smoke and swear, causing some pietistic Christians to question the band’s beliefs.
U2 doesn’t seem to care whether churches accept the band. Over years, U2 has grown uncomfortable with organized religion, calling church life “claustrophobic” and blaming Christianity, at least in part, for dividing Ireland. “I have this hunger in me…. Everywhere I look, I see evidence of a Creator,” Bono has said. “But I don’t see it as religion, which has cut my people in two.”
The question of U2’s religious beliefs, and the ways band members have expressed them, is the subject of a 2001 book, Walk On—The Spiritual Journey of U2 (Relevant Books), by Steve Stockman, a Presbyterian minister in Ireland. Stockman mines U2 interviews and books about the band and its music to write a spiritual companion to the band’s career.
Stockman wrote that in U2’s early days in Dublin, Bono, The Edge and Mullen embraced a charismatic evangelical form of Christianity unusual then for Ireland. They found like-minded believers in a small group called the Shalom Fellowship. In the early 1980s, one of Shalom’s leaders declared that U2 would have to give up rock `n’ roll to please God.
It was a crossroads for the band, and after deciding that God would rather have them play rock music than stay in the fellowship, Bono, The Edge and Mullen left. Never again would any members of U2 be formally aligned with a religious group. “For Bono, The Edge and Larry, the God that they met and have pilgrimaged with down the amazing road is a God who is bigger than church or religious boundaries,”(STOCKMAN)
