Live Nation Global Touring today confirmed that U2 will return to Chile. The U2 360° Tour will visit Estadio Nacional in Santiago on Friday March 25th, 2011 and special guests on the night will be Muse.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on December 16th and to Entel customers paying only with CMR Falabella cards on Monday, December 13th and Tuesday 14th via Ticketmaster.
U2.com subscribers can enter a special advance PRESALE beginning this FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10th at 10am (local) and running until this SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12th at 5pm (local).
Subscribers will be emailed ahead of this presale with details of timings.
Remembering John
U2 Brisbane Review
It was a beautiful night for U2 fans as the heavens smiled on the Irish supergroup, keeping the rain at bay last night for the first of their two shows at Suncorp Stadium, in Brisbane.
While the band’s 360 Degrees tour is a ”rain, hail or shine” extravaganza that delivers even in a deluge, the crowd of 45,000 some of who had camped outside the venue since Tuesday night to secure a front-row spot were counting their blessings with just some early drizzle.
The spirit of John Lennon loomed large as Bono performed Stand By Me in honour of the 30-year anniversary of Lennon’s death before dedicating In the name of love to him as well.
Bono captivated the crowd and one woman in particular who he pulled up on stage, serenading and dancing with her during a sweet version of In a little while.
The set list was peppered with old and new hits… I will Follow, Mysterious Ways, Vertigo, Where the Streets have No Name, Elevation, Ultraviolet and so on.
With a massive catalogue there was always bound to be the odd song missed out (no Desire, Even Better than the Real thing, New Years Day) but how much can you cram into 2 hours and 15 minutes?
Bono got the gig of to one hell of start praising his Brisbane fans.
“Allow us to let us kiss your arse for one moment. Thank you for the life you’ve given us.”
Bono strutted around the stage, his natural domain with the Edge and Adam Clayton more than happy doing the occasional lap as well.
A brief sprinkle of rain was all we got, enough though for a mechanical umbrella to deploy and cover drummer Larry Mullen Jnr. Yep, this stage has got it all.
The importance of this day 30 years ago when John Lennon was murdered was not forgotten with Bono paying tribute to the singer.
You knew all the words, all the songs (perhaps fumbling through of the lyrics of the newer ones) and the crowd was in fine voice.
Bono appeared to have a couple of blips, at one point tearing out his ear piece and on another occasion losing his voice momentarily during With Or Without You.
A criticism? Hmmm….It should have finished one song earlier… With or Without you would have been perfect but, not unlike the monstrous stage they just had to go that one step further.
Full Set List
- Return Of The Stingray Guitar
- Beautiful Day
- I Will Follow
- Get On Your Boots
- Magnificent
- Mysterious Ways
- Rain (snippet)
- Elevation
- Until The End Of The World
- I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
- Stand By Me (snippet)
- North Star
- Pride (In The Name Of Love)
- In A Little While
- Miss Sarajevo
- City Of Blinding Lights
- Vertigo
- Thunderstruck (snippet)
- I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
- Two Tribes (snippet)
- Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Scarlet
- Walk On / You’ll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
- One
- Dear Prudence (snippet)
- Where The Streets Have No Name
- All You Need Is Love (snippet)
- Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
- With Or Without You
- Moment of Surrender
Will.i.am on U2
The American music star, who is a member of the Black Eyed Peas, has revealed that he is a huge fan of the U2 lead singer, finding him incredibly motivational.
The traits he particularly admires in the 50-year-old Irish star are his dedication to making the world a better place and his ability to continue to produce great music hits.
“I look at U2 and think, ‘Wow, I hope our group can stay together that long and still make brilliant music,’” Will.i.am told British newspaper The Sun. “And just being around Bono and the guys is inspiring. It’s like how a government should be. Bono for president of the world, I say.”
Will.i.am revealed that he would like nothing better than to produce U2’s next album, at the same time as divulging that he has been suffering from an ear problem called tinnitus.
The issue means that Will experiences a constant ringing in his ears all the time, and music is the only thing that makes it feel better.
“I don’t know what silence sounds like any more. Music is the only thing which eases my pain,” he said. “I can’t be still. Work calms me down. I can’t be quiet as that’s when I notice the ringing in my ears. There’s always a beep there every day, all day. Like now. I don’t know exactly how long I’ve had this but it’s gradually got worse.”
Transformed for U2
It’s the biggest rig Lang Park has seen since Sam Backo.
But this monstrous structure will be well gone by the time the Broncos go around next year.
The centrepiece of U2 360° – the Irish supergroup’s current tour – started being assembled at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium yesterday but anyone could be forgiven for thinking a HG Wells novel had come to life.
The four-legged structure boasts 92 speakers as well a 22 metre, 5000 pixel full HD screen, which rises up and down from the height of 30 metres.
The structure takes five days to assemble - one day to lay down the stadium flooring, three days to build the stage and one day to attach the lighting and sound equipment.
Tour director Craig Evans said the size of the production dwarfed any project in which he had been involved.
“The original theory Bono had [of] a show ‘in the round’ the idea was to make it so big that it makes the stadium feel small and creates an intimate feeling in a stadium atmosphere,” he said.
“This show certainly succeeds in doing that. This stage does make the stadium feel small - it will create a feeling of intimacy with the band to the audience.”
With Brisbane suffering through a recent bout of wet weather, stage manager George Reeves said Bono would be pushing ahead with the Suncorp Stadium gigs in spite of any downpour.
“He loves singing in the rain, in fact he loves singing in the rain so much that he sings Singin’ in the Rain every time it rains so even if it’s raining everyone should be prepared to enjoy the show as well,” he said.
That is good news for the small group of U2 fans who began lining up outside Suncorp Stadium as early as Monday morning.
Sydney woman Katie Powell has been to every Australian U2 show since 1993.
She said the band’s recent Melbourne show was very involving and stacked up well against previous tours.
“You are just surrounded all around by it and you see them move around the stage,” she said.
“They don’t stick to one part, everyone in the stadium has a fair view of the show.”
Forget U2, Stones for Best Band
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Guns N’ Roses and U2 have had their day as best group.
Download the latest by the National, Hot Chip and Broken Bells. If you’re thinking, “who?” Well, they’re relatively obscure groups that have produced some of the best new albums.
Brooklyn-based the National has made a great recording — “High Violet” — after a decade of refining understated rock anthems on four previous albums. Tracks such as “Afraid of Everyone” simmer nicely. Released on 4AD, with “You Were a Kindness” and other bonus tracks. Rating: ***½.
U.K. electropop rockers Hot Chip started out making dance songs such as “Ready for the Floor.” The title track of “One Life Stand” (EMI) has them settling in for a long-term relationship. Their too-cool-for-school minimalism will appeal to fans of the xx and the Chemical Brothers. Rating: ***.
Put on the Broken Bells’ eponymous debut CD (Columbia) and the opener, “The High Road,” jumps out with its slick chords. No surprise it’s catchy: The band’s members include Brian Burton, better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, mastermind of numerous hits. Rating: ***.
Danger Mouse is also a driving force on the Sparklehorse CD, “Dark Night of the Soul” (Capitol/ Parlophone). The long list of guest vocalists includes Suzanne Vega on “Man Who Played God” and Iggy Pop on “Pain.” Rating: ***.
I Am Kloot, “Sky at Night” (EMI). These Britons often are compared with fellow Mancunians Elbow, for whom success also was long delayed. They shine on ballads such as “To the Brink.” Elbow’s Guy Garvey co-produces. Rating: ***.
What is it with Manchester? Also hailing from the city are Delphic, whose dance moves on “Acolyte” (Polydor) recall New Order; Everything Everything, with a genre-defying debut “Man Alive” (Geffen); and the duo Hurts, whose first album “Happiness” (RCA) aims to capture the heights of the Pet Shop Boys. They don’t succeed, but try hard. Ratings: **.
A review copy from Jagjaguwar records, in a plain box and labeled “Public Strain,” had me baffled with its weird glacial melodies and off-key singing. It turned out to be a thing of beauty, the second album by Women, a misleadingly named Canadian quartet of guys. Rating: ***½.
Fans of Women’s psychedelic raves probably will appreciate Atlanta band Deerhunter, whose “Halcyon Digest” on 4AD is drenched in guitar fuzz. Rating: ***.
Second albums are often the hardest. Grinderman, Nick Cave’s latest band, stakes its claim to greatness with a rough- hewn series of riffs on “Grinderman 2” (Mute/Anti). Rating ***½. The impressive New York act MGMT isn’t so successful with its sophomore “Congratulations” (Sony): doubtless they’ll bounce back.
U2 To Join Oprah Specials
U2 is tipped to join the A-list celebrities appearing on the Oprah Winfrey television specials downunder, according to The Australian newspaper.
The shows will be filmed at the Sydney Opera House Dec. 14, the first at 10 a.m. and the second at 5 p.m.
U2 is performing at ANZ Stadium in Sydney that night as part of a tour through Live Nation Australia and Michael Coppel Presents.
U2's Monster 2nd Downunder Show
Last night two of pop music’s superpowers came together for a pulsating night at Docklands.
Just over 60,000 fans crammed into an expanded-capacity Etihad Stadium to witness U2 360, the Irish superstar band’s bold achievement in stadium rock.
But before Bono and co landed, the American hip-hop superstar Jay-Z was entrusted with opening the monster double-bill.
He provided U2 with a winning mix of pop-cultural prestige and commercial supremacy few acts could, and he undoubtedly widened the night’s demographic. His wife, singer-actress Beyonce, however, was not to be seen.
Jay-Z also delivered pop hits, none better than last year’s epic Empire State of Mind, which drew the night’s first big singalong.
It’s not difficult to get caught up in the logistics of the U2 production - the ”claw” is 50 metres high and carries 590 tonnes of equipment. But the stage, while vast, feels uncluttered and gives the band access to the crowd on all sides.
Almost miraculously, U2 delivers a sense of intimacy.
The sight of the four mates from Dublin, who have endured for more than 30 years together, entering the packed stadium by walking through the crowd as David Bowie’s Space Oddity blasts out is genuinely thrilling. It’s a nod of gratitude to fans, an acknowledgment that the quartet and their followers have stuck tight for so long.
Yet Bono was the irrepressible star last night. He used the elongated catwalks to strut, shadow box and spider dance through early parts of the set.
The U2 classics - With or Without You, I Will Follow, Where the Streets Have No Name, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Beautiful Day and One - were delivered in elaborate fashion.
Recent tracks Get On Your Boots and Magnificent were helped in part by Bono namechecking in the intro St Kilda, Richmond and Fitzroy. The gesture to Melbourne was lapped up.
City of Blinding Lights and Vertigo were also given fresh energy.
Songs regularly segued into others in almost mash-up style. Bad borrowed from All I Want Is You. And even the rain held off despite dire forecasts.
As for the sound, it was excellent to fair depending on where you were in the stadium.
”We’ve been doing this a while,” Bono said. ”But we’re still figuring out so much about music … Keep coming to see us, we’re still pilgrims.”
He then spoke of a strong connection the band has with Melbourne and launched into I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.
The band also played two new, unreleased tracks.
Both were strident efforts demonstrating that these rock veterans retain their hunger.