Paul's Statement

Real Time Update: Paul makes an audio statement

Following Bono’s unexpected back surgery earlier today, Live Nation confirmed that the U2 U2360° tour launch previously scheduled for June 3rd in Salt Lake City has been postponed.

U2 fans with tickets to the June 3rd event are encouraged to retain tickets until updated show information can be provided.

Additional tour information will be forthcoming

Transscript of Pauls message

“The band were really looking forward to getting back out on the road until the emergency surgery on Bono’s back, which took place in Munich today.

We were due to start rehearsals on Tuesday in Salt Lake City and get the show ready for the next leg. There were gonna be some changes and some new material. It’s unfortunate that we’re inconveniencing fans. We will make plans to reinstate these dates as soon as possible.

Obviously, it’s been very disruptive for our crew, as well; we have over 400 people converging on Salt Lake City, and some of them have been turned around and told to stay at home until we make our new plan. We hope to get things resolved as soon as possible. Keep watching U2.com and you’ll get the information as soon as we can get it out to you. Signing off, this is Paul McGuinness.”

Salt Lake City Postponement

Just annouced following Bono’s unexpected back surgery earlier today, Live Nation confirmed that the U2 U2360° tour launch previously scheduled for June 3rd in Salt Lake City has been postponed.

U2 fans with tickets to the June 3rd event are encouraged to retain tickets until updated show information can be provided.

Additional tour information will be forthcoming.

Breaking News Bono undergoes surgery !

(Reuters) - U2 lead singer Bono has undergone emergency surgery on his back in a Munich hospital after being injured while preparing for the next leg of the band’s world tour, a spokesperson said Friday.

The 50-year-old from Ireland had been preparing for the North American leg of the “360 Degree” world tour which is due to kick off in Salt Lake City on June 3.

“Bono has today undergone emergency back surgery for an injury sustained during tour preparation training,” his spokesperson said.

“He was admitted to a specialist neuro surgery unit in a Munich hospital.

“Bono will spend the next few days there, before returning home to recuperate. Once his condition has been assessed further, a statement will be made regarding the impact on forthcoming tour dates.”

After North America, the tour was scheduled to travel to Turin in Italy on August 6. It was not immediately clear how badly the injury would disrupt the group’s tour.

The tour earned around $109 million (75.5 million pounds) in 2009, according to music journal Billboard, making it the world’s most lucrative, and the publication also predicted it would end up being the highest-grossing tour in history.

By some measures the band, with hits like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Where the Streets Have No Name,” is the world’s most successful. They have sold more than 150 million records, according to unofficial estimates.

U2 360 Stage Update from Utah

U2 360 Tour 2009 - Load Out from 2009 U2 is about to begin their North American tour, the U2 360 tour. The giant four-legged Claw will be set in the middle of the venue, and in the center there will be a revolving stage. All the technical hardware is hidden inside the four legs of the structure, and at the top is a huge video screen which will offer simultaneous footage of the concert to the farther audiences at the show. 

Over 130 feet high, weighing 390 tons and requiring 180 trucks to transport it from venue to venue, U2 have three different Claws at their disposal. While they are playing on one of them, the second one is being set up at another venue and the third one is being transported somewhere else.

Long-time U2 associates Willie Williams and Mark Fisher will be working as show directors for the 18-month tour. “Everyone who sees it says that it looks like something different,” says Williams. “It does look as though it has escaped from a giant space aquarium.”

The Claw was inspired by the four-legged Theme Building at Los Angeles airport. “Our work is all to do with the logistics of building a very large piece of technical infrastructure in a very short time, and to make something interesting out of it,” says Fisher. “Why do people go to shows like this in the digital age? It’s for the huge collective experience, the social and spatial, and memories. This set will contribute by creating a massive sense of anticipation and delivering an amazing kinetic performance.”

The base goal of The Claw is to create a feeling of intimacy for crowds of up to 90,000 people - no easy feat by any standard.

Details

• U2 have three custom-built “claw” stages for their tour.
• While one is in use, another is being dismantled and a third is being constructed for the next concert venue.
• The stage designer is Willie Williams, who has been with U2 since 1982. Mark Fisher serves as architect.
• A total of 189 trucks transport the stages around. There are 380 drivers and 12 buses.
• The U2 entourage constitutes 550 people.
• The video screens weigh 56 tonnes.
• The claw-like edifice can take 165 tonnes of equipment freeing up more pitchside space for fans.

World Music Awards 2010 Winner

Just updated in Monaco on Tuesday night U2 picked up two awards. Worlds Best Rock Artist and Best Selling Artist from Ireland.That one we thought was a given. Currently we have not confirmed any members had attended the event. We know that Bono was in Seattle for part of the week. The U2 plane was spoted at the airport.  Rumors suggest that the band has been in New York gearing up for the tour. Our sources have spotted Bono a couple of times around town however that was last week during the Bono’s birthday dinner.

Trucks have arrived !

The trucks have arrived in Salt Lake City and the crews should be starting to build any day now. A U2 fan that lives in town has been posting videos. Greg Gunn has been posting them. As of last nights video the pitch has been placed and the parking lot is full of trucks. Just waiting arrival.

 Source: U2tours.com, 

U2 Sing from NYC

CALLING from New York on the Ryan Line still open.” U2 singer Bono echoed Gerry Ryan’s famous radio signature as he launched into a special version of his friend’s favourite song, his band’s classic anthem ‘With Or Without You’.

The supergroup was unable to attend the star-studded ceremony, but instead hooked up live via satellite from New York to make its own special contribution.

“Gerry, you shone like a star in the summer night. You’ll be alright, flying high, flying so high,” Bono sang.

As the song concluded at the end of the service, he added: “Goodbye Gerry, see you down the road.”

Boyband Westlife earlier performed an acapella version of their hit ‘You Raise Me Up’ in the small Clontarf church, located in the suburb where the broadcaster grew up and lived with his own family.

Dressed in matching black suits with white shirts and black ties, the group flew back to Ireland from the UK especially to perform at the funeral.

They almost didn’t make it.

Grounded

It was feared the band would be grounded by the volcanic ash cloud which had brought chaos to Irish airports again this week.

However, the opening of Irish air space at 4am got them home just in time.

The String Quartet from the National Symphony Orchestra and the Dublin Gospel Choir also performed at the funeral.

Mourners included such prominent figures in the Irish music business as Sharon Corr, pop manager Louis Walsh and Boyzone’s Keith Duffy.

Summer Heats up with U2

You do not know what a real concert experience is until you have seen U2 live, or so fans of the Irish rock quartet say.

U2’s concert U2360° Live from the Rose Bowl Stadium in California, United States last October is an example of how the band from Dublin, Ireland always pulls out the stops to give fans a memorable time.

The stage design featured a large four-legged steel structure that holds the speaker system and cylindrical video screen, and hovers above the performance area. Dubbed “the Claw”, the platform is surrounded by a circular ramp, which connects to the stage by means of rotating bridges.

“Bono is nothing if not a committed showman, which is half the fun of seeing U2 live,” the Daily’s Dusty Somers said of Bono’s stage presence in a review. “Being outfitted in a laser suit and swinging from an illuminated microphone is the kind of stuff he probably lives for, and with that superbly talented band behind him, it’s the kind of stuff that makes enduring the often impersonal nature of a stadium show worth it.” 

We have a couple of questions for you? Please post your answers on Facebook

• How many shows do you plan on attending?
• Do you have tickets already for each show your attending ?
• Have you ever attended a fan meet up ?
• What do you think of Fan meet ups ?
• Blackberry or iPhone ?
• What city will have the best show ?
• Do you have U2TOURFANS APP loaded ?

Sorry we had to throw the last question in. We are working on a totally new app and really wanted to know if you had it loaded to your Iphone. - 

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