Live from Auckland

Back so soon? It’s only been four years - and one new album - since U2 last played in Auckland.

That matches the interval between their 1989 and 1993 visits. Back then, between the earthy, earnest Lovetown tour - one of the biggest this country has ever seen - and the extravagant Zoo TV shows, the band not only reinvented itself musically but reconfigured how bands of their stature played stadiums.

Tonight, 40,000 of us get to see if they’ve done that again.

Last year’s No Line On The Horizon album is possibly the last in a back-to-basics trio which started with 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind and 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

It’s also achieved a fraction of the sales of U2’s other noughties albums, possibly due to a lack of any definitive hits.

But it’s easy to imagine Horizon tracks like the stomping Get On Your Boots causing the same sort of excitement down front that earlier-generation noisy anthems did.

And the ballad Moment Of Surrender should have the cellphone-as-cigarette-lighter-waving brigade out in force.

So this time U2 have something to prove. But they also have a very big platform to do that from.

All the visual evidence suggests that the “Claw” stage of this 360° tour is a great leap forward from the 2006 shows, which didn’t exactly lack for spectacle or whiz-bang production.

Of course, U2 and New Zealand go back a long way. Local fans were early adopters of their early albums. Then there was One Tree Hill, the song written after the 1986 death of Greg Carroll, their Kiwi stage manager.

Clayton says Auckland - and New Zealand - are still special for U2 to visit.

“The connection with Greg, and the affinity with Greg and our history with your country is strong. As well as that I think it’s that kind of special bond that two island cultures have with each other. In the early years, when we were spending a lot of time touring America and Europe, when we came down to the Southern Hemisphere there was something very reassuring about landing in New Zealand. We always have fun here, we get on with the people very well - and the crowds are fantastic.”



U2's rehearsals in Auckland

Thursday begins the 4^th leg of the 360° Tour with the 1^st of 2 shows in Auckland. The boys held rehearsals earlier today at Mount Smart Stadium.

They have been doing 2 a day sessions, “we have been on holiday time to shake that off “The early session featured Sunday Bloody Sunday, Walk On and a complete run thru of Boy Falls From The Sky.

The second rehearsal the band focused on the main setlist and a couple of extras.

1. End of In A Little While
2. Miss Sarajevo
3. Boy Falls From The Sky
4. City Of Blinding Lights
5. Vertigo
6. Crazy Tonight / Relax (snippet)
7. Sunday Bloody Sunday / Get Up Stand Up (snippet)
8. Scarlet
9. Walk OnOne Tree Hill
10. Ultra Violet
11. Boy Falls From The Sky
12. Edge plays the intro to Where The Streets Have No Name

Well that’s all for tonight – The show begins tomorrow. ( really its today in NZ)

Sourced: U2GIGS for Setlist and snippet -

U2 Landed in NZ

U2 has landed - and wasted no time in tweeting about the New Zealand experience.

Guitarist The Edge has posted a photo of One Tree Hill on his Twitter account two days before the Irish rockers play the first of two shows at Mt Smart Stadium.

The band has a connection to the Auckland landmark - One Tree Hill is the title of their 1987 single written after the death of Bono’s New Zealand-born assistant Greg Carroll.

Concert promoters and record label representatives are keeping the band’s movements a closely guarded secret.

However it is understood the rockers arrived on Monday morning on an Air New Zealand flight.

The last time U2 was here, in 2006, members stayed at the $25,000-a-night Great Mercury Island estate, owned by Sir Michael Fay, and were choppered to Auckland for concerts.

The private island, off the coast of the Coromandel, give guests access to two homes, 12 beaches and a private chef.

Other favoured Auckland accommodation for the rich and famous include Wells Bay lodge on Waiheke Island - with the required helicopter pad and $750-a-night suite at the Hyatt Hotel for each of the four musicians.

Supporting act Jay-Z has also arrived in the country but it is not known if his wife, singer Beyonce Knowles, is with him.

The rapper’s entourage was spotted renting a fleet of luxury Audi vehicles, celebrity watch websites said.

Last night, crews were putting the final touches to the 590 tonne stage set complete with the “claw”, a 50m three-legged structure.

The band’s 360 Degrees Tour, one of rock’s highest grossing productions, involves 250 personnel as well as local crews at each venue.

More than 50,000 tickets sold in less than an hour for the Thursday night show but there are some still available for Friday.

Has U2 Arrived to NZ ?

U2 2010 360 Tour Its a question ? Has anyone in NZ spotted the boys from Ireland. We have heard some little birds suggestiong that the boys have arrived. Yet we stil have not seen any photos or comments from the fans. 

Crews are working 16-hour days to get ready for the biggest concert of the year when the U2 360 Tour hits the country.

The largest temporary grandstand ever built in New Zealand has gone into the north end of the  main arena of Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium, which will hold nearly 12,000 fans.
   
 At the southern end the installation of a second 10,000-seat temporary stand has been completed this weekend in time for the shows on  Thursday and Friday.

Much of this  second temporary grandstand has been trucked up in a massive logistical operation from the World Rowing Championships that were held at Lake Karapiro earlier this month.  A team of 40 men has been working long shifts  to get the southern stand completed on time.

Because of the extra seats, the promoters have been able to make a final release of tickets at all levels for the Friday’s show.  Thursday night’s concert is sold out.

Joining U2 as their special guest will be US rapper Jay-Z in his first performances in New Zealand.  The Auckland concerts will be the only New Zealand appearances by U2 and kick off the Australasian leg of the 360 Tour, which is already the highest

U2 FAQ Celebrates "Boy"

Bono / U2TOURFANS Thirty years after the release of U2’s landmark debut album Boy and its enduring single “I Will Follow” a new book titled U2 FAQ: Anything You?d Ever Want to Know About the Biggest Band in the World?And More is set for a November 2010 release from Backbeat Books. Written by award-winning music journalist John D. Luerssen, the 450+ page tome explores the 35-year history of the revered Irish band.

The latest in Backbeats acclaimed FAQ series (Fab Four FAQ, Fab Four FAQ 2.0, Pink Floyd FAQ), U2 FAQ follows Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr.

From their start at Dublin’s Mount Temple School in the fall of 1976 up to their recent re-emergence following Bonos debilitating back injury earlier this year. U2 FAQ boasts rare artifacts and photos culled from fans and collectors worldwide plus an insightful and heartfelt introduction by John Thomas Griffith, the one-time frontman for Red Rockers, an opening act on U2’s 1985 Unforgettable Fire trek.

U2 FAQ explores the creation of Boy, now celebrating its 30th anniversary, in full detail and includes: The March 1978 development and live debut of “Shadows and Tall Trees”; The 1979 EP Three U2 made for CBS Ireland; Signing To Chris Blackwells Island Records; How the suicide of Joy Divisions Ian Curtis impacted the course of the album; A trial run with Siouxsie & the Banshees producer Steve Lillywhite recording “A Day Without Me”; U2’s September 1980 “Mondays at The Marquee” London shows in advance of Boy; The early support of Boston DJ Carter Alan; Controversy over the Boy sleeve that led to its alteration for sale in the U.S. market; Breaking bottles and banging bicycle spokes on “I Will Follow”; “Twilight” earns U2 a strong gay following; Why manager Paul McGuinness thought Stories for Boys was about masturbation; and why the NME called the band really quite awful at the same time Melody Maker praised them for playing truly great rock music which inspires the heart.

What makes U2 FAQ different from the other books written about the band, is thataside from all of the information it gathersit explores the bands vulnerabilities, Luerssen says. I think that with U2’s enormous popularity, its easy to forget that Bono, The Edge, Larry, and Adam are human beings like the rest of us. And I explore that in chapters like Broken Nose to the Floor: Public Debacles, Dangers, and Embarrassments, and Dont Talk Out of TimeTrue U2 Stories.

From 10 Bands Who Have Opened for U2 (including the BoDeans, Kings of Leon, and Pearl Jam) and U2’s odd taste in cover songs. to the story behind Allen Ginsbergs appearance on U2’s 1997 television special and why U2 abandoned their plan to record an album with legendary producer Rick Rubin after laying down two tracks with him, U2 FAQ is stuffed with information for casual fans and die-hards alike.



U2 to perform at Engenhão in Rio !

U2 360 TOUR / Dave Long According to sources the band will be playing in Apirl 2011 - The group is expected to perform at the Stadium Engenhao (RIO). The boys have only played RIO once before (1998) According to sources Morumbi Stadium also is consdiered to be a stop on 8th, 9th and 10th of Apirl 2011.

Suggestions have been made that U2 could be closing the World Cup 2014. This story came up after rumors about the governor of Ro De Janeiro (Sergio Cabral) gave the boys a presentation.

Chilean newspaper “La Tercera”. According to the newspaper, U2 will come to South America in 2011 to do shows in Argentina, Chile and Brazil. The dates of the tour concerts 360 degrees here in Brazil will only be released once the contracts in Argentina and Chile are already closed. T

Although they have not yet confirmed tour dates, the same news shows that the U2 shows in Brazil will take place in March 2011.  On the official website of U2, U2 at the 360 ° Tour 2010/2011, are blank information about concerts between October 2010 and May 2011.

Although the shows are rumored to happen in March 2011 in Brazil, still no word on ticket sales for U2 in Brazil in 2011, local presentations (Maracanã, Morumbi …) and cities are not yet defined.

But you know you want to go to shows that the forecast sales of tickets (entries) should already start in October or November. Wait for more information about tickets to U2 in Brazil in 2010. 

Auckland Fans Win Access 2 Inner Circle

U2/Bono/ 360 Tour U2 are bringing their 360 tour to New Zealand for two nights next week and we’re offering the chance for one lucky winner and a friend to get access to the inner circle of the show!

This is an opportunity which money can’t buy; tickets to the inner circle are handed out on a first come first served basis to those with GA tickets.

The Irish superband will bring their U2 360 Tour to Mt Smart Stadium on November 25 and 26.

In conjunction with Universal, Stuff has one fantastic first prize of two tickets to the inner circle on Friday, Novemer 26 and and five runners-up prizes of the U2 360 DVD.

The winner will also receive two copies of the DVD.

This is a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for one lucky reader and his or her friend.

How to enter:

Tell us why you think you should be a part of the inner circle.

Email your answer to competitions@stuff.co.nz with your name, address, post code and phone number before midday on Tuesday, November 23 to be in with a chance to win. Please ensure the email subject line says, ‘U2 360’.

Terms and Conditions:

Prize winners will be determined from a random draw of eligible entries received before midday on Tuesday, November 23. Only one entry per person will be accepted. Prize cannot be exchanged for cash or other property.

Employees of Fairfax New Zealand’s corporate office and www.stuff.co.nz, and their immediate families, are not eligible for the prize.

Fairfax New Zealand Limited’s Managing Director, Publishing, will make a final determination if any matter is disputed.

Entries belong to Fairfax New Zealand Limited and may be used by the company for marketing and promotions.

This promotion is not associated with U2TOURFANS and or any of its social media properties.  All entries belong to Fairfax New Zealand Limited. The details of the contest have been posted as news entertainment  and not as endorsement of any contest or promotion.

U2 Rakes in 130M

U2 360 Tour It has been reported that the Irish rock band U2 has raked in a huge $130 million over the last 12 months — making U2  the biggest selling band in the world.

It may be recalled that this is a fact, despite frontman Bono was being unable to perform after an operation on his back in May.

And yet, U2 has still managed to feature as the most profitable international group. According to a magazine’s list of top-earning musicians, this was the the foursome raked in $130 million over the past year from their 360 Degree world tour and sales of their 2009 album No Line on the Horizon. Proving that rock is still indeed alive and earning, hot on their heels like a bat out of hell was AC/DC, who scooped up a respectable $114 million, and Beyonce has made $87 million.

Bruce Springsteen proved that he is still has his earning chops in order, and got in $70 million, while pop sensation Britney Spears ranked at the fifth place with $64 million. It was earlier reported that Lady Gaga managed to beat Madonna as Gaga made $62 million, while Madonna clinked the cash register with $58 million.