U2 Fan Club Fans Not Happy

Members of U2’s official fan club have created an online petition voicing their displeasure over paying a $50 annual membership fan club fee “for a product that is embarrassingly sub par.” The petition had 665 signatures with a goal of 50,000.

In a letter written by “The Fans” titled ‘The Fanclub Is a Cannibal — U2.com, Fans Need More,’ and published last week on Petitionspot.com, fans addressed six main problems, including customer service issues such as orders being canceled or delayed, as well as “generic and uninformative” responses when fans inquired about the former.

It seems that the two main issues concern concert presales and the value fans get from the $50 membership. Previously, fans paying for U2.com membership often got first chance at concert tickets but that no longer happens due to sports teams and “certain credit cards” often offering the same opportunity.

Regarding the value, fans say that aside from posts like ‘Willie’s Diary’ there is very little value offered. “REM subscription is $12 and members receive actual unreleased tracks,” the letter says. Pearl Jam — whose fan club membership is $40 — are also cited for giving streaming radio access, a magazine, free tracks available for download and vinyl, t-shirts and a coupon enabling fans “to download a free ‘bootleg’ Pearl Jam concert of their choice.”

Before we go a head and start blaming Live Nation lets consider the options. Today you have your choice of thousands of U2 sites and many of the offer the same bit of information as the next one. Sometimes you can even find the same stories. So before ew trash the U2.com fan site lets look at what we as fans would like to have. Lets start the conversation as to whats important and build from that list. 

Frankly its a couple of fan based sites that may be adding fuel to the fire that has been burning for a couple of years. Maybe to position their site as the best option for U2 fans. 

Our position is clear. We are a fan based site. We are focused on you the fan. All the other crap can just sit by the waste side. Hell who has the time to spending all day bitching about some fan club. When all we really want is good music, and a band that respects their fans to not produce crap. End of story 

Oh not really - We have been working behind the covers of our site to add new team members. We will be posting our job requirments within a few days. Yes of course you already know that a couple of other fan sites are expanding too. We support their growth and believe that we can all support the U2 fan base. 

On Tour With U2TOURFANS

Its offical we are heading out on the North American tour this summer. Across America we will travel to each show. As we cross America we will be recording our travels for an up coming movie project as well as a book.

The 2 1/2 Month Trip will take our star reporter to every show as we begin the summer tour season we have an oppertunity for a sponsor to a part of the whole project. The U2 shows across North America have been sold out for 2 years and demand for the shows contiues to grow.

U2TOURFANS offers exceptional branding opportunities that will enhance your company’s visibility to a highly desirable audience. The U2TOURFANS staff will work with you in partnership to create a custom package designed specifically to meet your marketing goals.

U2TOURFANS has a complete 360 Social Media property list that includes all of the top social media outlets. We have the audience for your product or message.  To get more information about pricing and when we plan on hitting the road email us directly at fanmail @ u2tourfans dot com

U2TOURFANS Tour Sponsor  

• Sponsor receives a custom web banner on the U2TOURFANS website, where the advertiser identifies their business to our viewers.
• Sponsor will be able to supply products for onsite product engagements
• Sponsor will be positioned at every North American show
• Sponsor will be identified as a Title Sponsor on all collateral materials (flyers, t-shirts, program booklet, etc.).
• Sponsor will be featured daily on all social media outlets and positioned within the daily updates from around the tour.
• Tour buses can be wrapped to incorporate Title Sponsor logos along with the U2TOURFANS logo for increased visibility.
• Sponsor will be featured in YouTube daily news video updates.
• Sponsor can position promotional items.

Presenting Sponsor 

• Sponsor receives a custom web banner on the U2TOURFANS website, where the advertiser identifies their business to our viewers.
• Sponsor will receive opportunity for product sampling.
• Sponsor will be mentioned in promotional media outlets
• Sponsor will be identified as a Presenting Sponsor on all U2TOURFANS social media sites.

Gold Sponsor 

• Sponsor receives a custom web banner on the U2TOURFANS website, where the advertiser identifies their business to our viewers.
• Sponsor will be mentioned in social media, local media outlets
• Sponsor will be identified as a Platinum Sponsor on all collateral materials (flyers, t-shirts, program booklet, etc.).
• Participating Sponsor 
• Sponsor a custom web banner on the U2TOURFANS website, where the advertiser identifies their business to our viewers.
• Sponsor will be identified as a Participating Sponsor on all collateral materials (flyers, t-shirts, program booklet, etc.).

U2TOURFANS offers exceptional branding opportunities that will enhance your company’s visibility to a highly desirable audience. The U2TOURFANS staff will work with you in partnership to create a custom package designed specifically to meet your marketing goals.

U2TOURFANS Tour Sponsor  

·         Sponsor receives a custom web banner on the U2TOURFANS website, where the advertiser identifies their business to our viewers.

·         Sponsor will be able to supply products for onsite product engagements

·         Sponsor will be positioned at every North American show

·         Sponsor will be identified as a Title Sponsor on all collateral materials (flyers, t-shirts, program booklet, etc.).

·         Sponsor will be featured daily on all social media outlets and positioned within the daily updates from around the tour.

·         Tour buses can be wrapped to incorporate Title Sponsor logos along with the U2TOURFANS logo for increased visibility.

·         Sponsor will be featured in YouTube daily news video updates.

·         Sponsor can position promotional items.

Presenting Sponsor 

·         Sponsor receives a custom web banner on the U2TOURFANS website, where the advertiser identifies their business to our viewers.

·         Sponsor will receive opportunity for product sampling.

·         Sponsor will be mentioned in promotional media outlets

·         Sponsor will be identified as a Presenting Sponsor on all U2TOURFANS social media sites.

Platinum Sponsor 

·         Sponsor receives a custom web banner on the U2TOURFANS website, where the advertiser identifies their business to our viewers.

·         Sponsor will be mentioned in social media, local media outlets

·         Sponsor will be identified as a Platinum Sponsor on all collateral materials (flyers, t-shirts, program booklet, etc.).

Participating Sponsor 

·         Sponsor a custom web banner on the U2TOURFANS website, where the advertiser identifies their business to our viewers.

·         Sponsor will be identified as a Participating Sponsor on all collateral materials (flyers, t-shirts, program booklet, etc.).

Street Mission Added to Soundtrack

A long-forgotten U2 song has been unearthed for the soundtrack of a new film about the band’s early days.

Street Mission was a track recorded by Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen, and Adam Clayton in the late 1970’s when they were The Hype.

In the upcoming British film Killing Bono, the track will be performed by the actors playing the Irish rockers.

The comedy, which is based on the lives of the two schoolmates who quit the band that was to become U2, is based on Neil McCormick’s memoirs, I Was Bono’s Doppelganger.

The Chronicles of Narnia star Ben Barnes will portray McCormick in the film, which is set for release in Britain in April.



Bono and the boys headline Glastonbury

U2 have been announced as the headliner for the first night of the 2011 Glastonbury festival, one of the world’s largest outdoor music events.

The band will join Coldplay and Beyoncé at the top of the festival’s bill, which will take place June 24th-26th in Somerset, England.

Rolling Stone: Three decades of U2

U2 were originally scheduled to perform at last year’s Glastonbury festival but had to drop out when Bono injured his back. Gorillaz were brought on as a last-minute replacement headliner.

Rolling Stone: US’s magazine covers

U2’s Glastonbury performance will fall in the middle of the next American leg of their 360 stadium tour.

Given that they would need to bring their elaborate production overseas and back again in the span of a couple days, it seems safe to say that the band will be abandoning their 360 stage for this performance.

In other U2 news, an early song written by the band when they were known as the Hype will appear on the soundtrack to “Killing Bono,” a comedy film about the two members of the Hype who did not go on to join U2.

The song, “Street Mission,” has been bootlegged by U2 fans for years.

KILLING BONO soundtrack

KILLING BONO, the upcoming Irish rock movie about the rise of two Irish bands, one of which turned out to be U2 is to feature a brand new U2 song called ‘Street Mission’, the previously unreleased song is credited to ‘The Hype’ - which is the name of Bono’s band before they renamed it U2.

The soundtrack will also include U2 classic ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’. Grammy Nominated song writer Joe Echo has also written eight new songs for the album, which are performed by the film’s stars Robert Sheehan, Ben Barnes and Martin McCann.

The soundtrack is released on March 28th and the film will open in Ireland on April 1st.

U2 reveal massive Twitter and Facebook project

U2/ Facebook/ Twitter/ U2TOURFANS Irish rockers U2 have revealed a new social media that allows concert goers to tag themselves in the audience via email, Twitter or Facebook.

Last year the Orange, a brand of France Télécom used a similar system. They used a high-powered camera that allows you to zoom on every single fan in the stadium.

At U2’s concert in Johannesburg earlier this month a photograph like this was taken. This massive image allows users to zoom into the crowd and see if they can spot themselves. They can then tag their images.

These panoramic images are taken with what is known as a Gigapixel camera. Now we of course has a chance to test this out during the South Africa show. What see that amazed us is how clear each image of every person as well as the equipment was ( or is). We found all of our team around the stadium and thought this might be something new for us to spotlght in the weeks ahead.  

Blew the Cape off Capetown

U2 360 Tour Capetown 2/18/2011Several U2 fans said Friday night’s performance at Cape Town Stadium was a “life changing experience”.

The Irish super group wowed over 72,000 screaming fans for the band’s final leg of the 360 Degree Tour in South Africa. Special appearances by Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Miriam and Amadou had the audience chanting for more.

Fans told Eyewitness News that U2’s giant stage “The Claw” was the main draw card of the show.

They added that the whole experience was breathtaking.

Other fans enjoyed the moving screens and said the performances “blew them away”.

Top selling international rock band, U2’s Cape Town concert this Friday, February 18 will be broadcast live on Highveld and KFM in South Africa, alongside a live stream on Dstvafrica.com , only available and free throughout the African continent.

U2 played a huge show in Johannesburg last Sunday night, returning to South Africa for the first time since 1998. On the PopMart tour, U2 also played 2 shows and the Johannesburg concert was broadcast live. The audio stream on DStvafrica.com will be broadcast into, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkino Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comores, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, St Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The webcast is flash-based and therefore will not work on devices not supporting that technology. The stream will be available www.dstvafrica.com

U2’s manager Paul McGuinness said “The band had a great night in Johannesburg and I’m sure we’ll deliver another big show in Cape Town”.

DStv Online CEO John Kotsaftis said: “At the Soccer City show Bono said ‘This place feels like the future’ and we are excited to be making the future happen right now on dstvafrica.com with this first ever live streaming of a U2 concert in Africa. We are very proud and excited to be working with Universal Music and U2 on this initiative and this is just one of many innovations we have lined up for our online audience in 2011.”

Want to work for U2 ?

Organizers of a U2 concert in Moncton this summer are on the hunt for hundreds of temporary workers needed to erect a massive stage, grandstands and lighting and sound systems at Magnetic Hill.

Pascal Dube of Stage Crew Inc. of Moncton is looking for riggers, forklift drivers, truck loaders, stage hands and general labourers.

It will be a huge job that will begin about a week before the concert.

The U2 stage, a huge metal claw with four legs and giant video screens that stands about 50 metres tall, will likely be the biggest yet erected at the outdoor venue.

As a contractor to the touring company, Dube will be responsible for working with U2’s road crew to make sure everything is set up and ready to go when the band arrives.

He can’t say exactly how many people he will need but said the AC/DC show in Moncton in 2009 required more than 200 people — and the U2 show is expected to be bigger with up to 100,000 spectators.

“We have people coming from all over New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia to work at the show. And they don’t come just for the work because they have other jobs — they gotta love doing it,” Dube said.

“In this job you get to meet people from all over the world and get to be part of putting this big show together. It’s all about the music.”

The July 30 show will be the final North American date of the U2 360 Tour. The opening act is Montreal’s Arcade Fire, which received a best album Grammy last weekend for The Suburbs.

Besides all the riggers and stagehands, the U2 concert is expected to provide many other short-term jobs in security, food service, beverage service, traffic control and the box office.

Shane Porter, the City of Moncton’s supervisor of special events, said extra security will also be recruited while traffic control in and out of the site will be handled by the RCMP.