Cape Town Fans !

CAPE TOWN’S fan walk will be opened again on Friday for U2’s 360° Tour concert.

The concert is due to start at 7.30pm with gates opening at Cape Town Stadium at 4.30pm. The fan walk will be opened at 3.30pm.

City of Cape Town spokeswoman Kylie Hatton said the city saw the fan walk as an important access point for people using public transport to get to the stadium.

“It is a good way of moving people safely from Cape Town Station, where a lot of people will be getting off, to the stadium. The fans will get to walk in a cordoned-off area past murals and other attractions.”

The fan walk will feature large print murals depicting the Irish band’s history as well as iconic elements from some of their best-selling albums.

Marc Le Chat, from Celebrity Service Africa, which is in charge of organising events along the fan walk, said Cape Town band Almost Famous would perform from the roof of a building on Somerset Road in Green Point and would also perform a repertoire of U2 hits.

He said there would be an LED screen at St Andrews Square that would display the band’s music.

Le Chat said they would also place sky search beams at Exchange Place, St Andrews Square and along Main Road towards the stadium and beam through the night. Fire dancers would perform after the concert on the route.

 

 

Meanwhile, fans still desperate to get their hands on tickets can win some with Kfm.

 

Since yesterday, stages have been set up and will be moved to locations across the city where fans who know the lyrics off by heart can sing their way to the tickets up for grabs.

Kfm programme manager Ian Bredenkamp said:

“If Kfm crosses live from the studio to the U2 activation site, the person currently singing on stage will win eight tickets. You don’t need to be good, you just need to be there.”

Tomorrow the Kfm stages will be at the Edgemead Spar Centre (Letchworth Drive) from 9am to 10am and Thibault Square between noon and 1pm; on Thursday at Tyger Valley Mall and the V&A Waterfront between noon and 1pm; and on Friday outside Cape Town Stadium between 8am and 9am and noon to 1pm.

 

For more information visit www.kfm.co.za

Full details of road closures are obtainable at www.capetown.gov.za or at 0800 65 64 63.

U2 wows crowd in Joburg

With a roar that could rival the one seen last week in Tahrir square, Cairo, fans at the FNB Stadium last night gave U2 a rousing welcome.

But unlike the relief of Egyptians at President Hosni Mubarak’s exit from his position, fans here were celebrating seeing their favourite band playing in their own back yard.

And as lead singer Bono led the band up a stairway to the stage milking the applause and waving to all corners of the dimly lit cauldron, you knew why they’d sold over 150 million albums worldwide.

After the deafening welcoming screams, Bono wasted no time in belting out one of their biggest hits, Beautiful Day.

For another hit, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, legendary trumpeter Hugh Masekela was called on stage - to yet another massive cheer.

Former president Nelson Mandela also got a special mention, and even a video of his speech calling for “a united South Africa” was played on the big screen. Bishop Desmond Tutu sent a video message.

In between songs, Bono said: “We told you in 1998 that we’d be back … never trust a rock star. Anyway, we’re not finished yet … we’re happy to be back.”

Fans marvelled at the massive cylindrical big screen, as it expanded and contracted to create a kaleidoscopic mosaic.

Earlier in the evening, two unruly fans who got involved in a scuffle with security, were kicked out before U2’s roadies were done with sound checks. By the time the Malian duo of Amadou and Mariam, said their “merci beaucoup”, the stadium was rocking.

Local outfit the Springbok Nude Girls, led by the energetic Arno Carstens, played an impressive and compact set, which included the songs Gang Gang, I Love You, Genie and Bubblegum.

Almost an hour and a half before the Irish rock band hit the stage, thousands of fans, some in wheelchairs, others heavily pregnant and others drunk, took pictures and danced under the imposing “Claw” - the name given to the band’s 360-degree stage.

There were scores of fans in their U2 attire, standing in queues for refreshments and for toilet breaks.

Eyewitness News was inundated with calls about long queues, traffic problems and a lack of water at the concert. Jack Longford, CEO of organisers Big Concerts, denied there was a shortage of water or food and said people needed to be patient.

The band will play at the Cape Town Stadium on February 18 before heading to South America. The tour ends in July.

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We have to thank our friends for their support. If your in S.A. you should tune into 94.7 - Follow todays show on twitter #U2Highveld #U2TOURFANS
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U2 Ready 4 SA

The greatest rock band in the world wake up every day with the fear of mistaking themselves for great. That’s what Bono says. “If you get to be very good, (you find) there’s a huge chasm between very good and great.”

But there’s little chance that U2 fans will feel that divide when they play at FNB Stadium in Joburg tonight.

The spider that arches its magnificent tentacles over the 360º stage where the band will step up as night covers Soweto, dwarfs the World Cup final pitch.

Suddenly it’s intimate. It holds you tighter. As evening laces over the dazzling orange seats, shadows crossing the boundaries, Bono’s promise that every fan there will get the same visual thrill is a sure thing. Their rehearsal pounds over the ground, the light checks turning the stadium into a giant pulsar, a roaring disco for the imagination of the faithful.

The band is having dinner in a box above the spider. It’s Friday night, and they flew into Joburg the day before, but there’s no glimmer of jet lag. Bono is taller than expected, by quite a bit. The Edge says he’s hardly recognisable out there in the world, and trusts the media gathered can make him “more interesting”.

We have resources all around the show tonight for you to be apart of the show.

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U2 to perform

JOHANNESBURG — It’s fitting that one of the most politically plugged-in rock bands is debuting its world tour in South Africa on the anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s first major rally after being released from prison, and at the same stadium where the anti-apartheid icon enthralled tens of thousands.

And it’s a coincidence, U2 members told reporters Friday before a rehearsal at the historic FNB Stadium — known as Soccer City when it hosted the World Cup opening and closing games last year, for which it underwent a major renovation.

Guitarist The Edge said he only learned the day before that Sunday’s concert fell on a historic day.

“It’s such a beautiful, poetic day,” he said.

Lead singer Bono noted that history was being made at the other end of Africa. In Egypt Friday, Hosni Mubarak resigned as president after three decades in power and weeks of pro-democracy protests.

“This continent is on fire,” Bono said, adding he hoped Egypt would benefit from leadership as visionary as Mandela’s.

The Edge added: “The real hope for Egypt is that it actually will become more democratic after this.”

Bono said Mandela and retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu — who makes a virtual appearance in U2’s current show — have inspired his global campaigns against AIDS and poverty. Bono was planning to visit AIDS projects in South Africa between Sunday’s concert and a second one in Cape Town on Feb. 18. U2 last played in South Africa in 1998.

The band may also visit Mandela, who is 92, ailing, and retired from public life. Bono said he had been in touch and learned Mandela was doing well after being hospitalized last month with an acute respiratory infection. Bono said a visit was possible, but he would not push.

“The last thing you want to be is the visit that the great man has to endure,” he said.

The band discussed their musical and well as political heroes with reporters Friday. Bassist Adam Clayton said he would like to work with the Malian duo Amadou & Mariam, an opening act for their South African shows. Bono spoke of an early dream of having John Lennon produce their work, laughing at their naivete in their teens.

The band members, together three decades, said the secret to their longevity was friendship.

“We actually started out as friends, and then became a band,” The Edge said.

See U2 live

Fourteen state-of-the-art cameras, 150 tons of heavy metal digital cylinder screens and a mega-revved-up sound system – this is what’s in store for the almost 95 000 U2 fans who will be dancing under the special “The Claw” stage tomorrow evening.

And if you fancy being part of history, in what has been dubbed the biggest rock tour to hit South Africa, Computicket has announced that a fresh batch of tickets is on sale.

“We have gone overboard with the sound system. Nothing like this has ever been done before,” said production director Jake Berry during an interview with the Saturday Star at the FNB stadium yesterday.

He said up to five cranes were needed to create the stage’s flat surface which is 48m deep.

“The grass had to be ripped out in order to make way for the cranes. It will however be (restored) after the concert,” he said.

What many fans will be happy to know is that no power shortages or blackouts have been predicted on the day.

“Everything you see here is ours. No mention of cable theft or any event that has taken place during the last four days will affect the concert in anyway,” Berry said.

The U2 360º tour is a world-wide concert tour which was launched in support of the group’s 2009 album titled No Line on the Horizon.

The tour has been touted to visit various stadiums this year.

Berry, however, reflected on the weather, saying the only concern for them was lightning.

“It’s more about safety than anything else. If lightning was to occur then we would have to monitor the situation, which would even result in halting the performances if need arises,” Berry said.

It took U2’s 134-member crew and a South African production crew comprising 150 members to assemble the stage in just over eight days.

“We couldn’t have done this without local help,” Berry said.

The production crew also said the stage had been structured in a way that would make the stadium look bigger.

Why Soweto and why FNB?

Berry said the essence of hosting the tour at the former World Cup stadium meant that it would be a visually bigger concert.

“Apart from that we love performing at new buildings,” he added.

Manager Paul McGuiness said while Irish singer Bono and his band had not performed since Australia last December, it made logical sense to stop in South Africa and perform a couple of shows before jetting off to other destinations.

A Cape Town performance will follow at the Green Point stadium on February 18.

Meanwhile, fans have been advised to arrive three hours before the show kicks off.

Gates to the stadium will be opened at 4.30pm and the show is due to start at 8pm and end at 11.30pm.

Organisers also revealed that trains and park-and-rides were also available to ease traffic congestion.

Security will also be beefed up on the day as the South African police services and more than five security firms keep over-eager fans under control. - Saturday Star