Final Commments on the Passing of Father Jack Heaslip

Earlier this week we reported the passing of Father Jack Heaslip. Father Jack has been a spiritual leader to the boys since secondary school.  Many of the media outlets provided photos of the funeral. Those images quite personal have been posted around the world. We here at U2TOURFANS have posted those images too without any idea of the customs of our friends in Ireland. I personally on behalf of our staff and technical team extend our deepest apologies to our Irish brothers and sisters. 

Editor-In-Chief Dre

Father Jack Heaslip

U2 joined around 100 mourners at the funeral of their 'travelling pastor' Jack Heaslip, who passed away at the weekend. Bono was accompanied by his wife Ali Hewson to the service at St Mary's Church, Howth yesterday afternoon as they paid their respects to their friend. The 71-year-old clergyman passed away at his home over the weekend after a prolonged battle with motor neurone disease. Their relationship with the pastor dates back to the 1970s, when he worked as a guidance counsellor in Mount Temple Secondary School which they all attended. When the band was on tour he helped the hundreds of staff and crew members - who were away from homes and families - cope with the challenges of isolation and long-distance travel.

 

Bono Fit and Ready to Report May 14

It’ll be a battle to be match fit for May 14th. My southpaw is a bit tricky, but my right hook is ready to rumble for sure. We’ve got something beyond incredible planned. And I’m ready to fight for it.
— Bono

Gasps, heard around the world last November when U2 fans heard of Bono’s bicycle accident in New York’s Central Park.

Fans began to wonder if this could be the final performance for Bono with injuries that included a facial fracture, pins in the arm and a long road to recovery.

However has Bono continues to work on his health one thing is clear. The relevancy of U2 shall never be in question again.

U2 dominance in the digital download space and recurring listener space has proven that U2 can create new audience by simple smart marketing.

The Kantar report , which sampled 978 iOS users drawn from a larger panel of more than 2,500, 23 percent of them listened to U2 in January. In comparison, 11 percent listened to at least one song by Taylor Swift.

"Haven't got a clue!" Bono admits when asked about Kantar and its methodology. "I guess it's possible they could have randomly selected thousands of individuals with impeccable taste," he cracks, "who are not unduly influenced by the feeding frenzy that the blogosphere seems to become if there's a spot of blood in the water." The Edge had some comments in a RS interview that highlighted. That lots of music fans simply just download music or sign up for services with reading the fine print.

"Lots of people, including me, don't read the instructions. When you select automatic download on iOS, you're signing up to be pushed free content. It's not exactly small print, it's just a box you tick or don't. I understand how and why people got annoyed. But really, with all that's going on in the world. . .come on. Apple and U2 were genuine about this whole thing. Apple were being generous and we were trying to do something different to get through the noise. There's always a few teething problems when you're in new territory. . .One of which was that people thought we were giving the album away, that we'd suddenly become all about free music, when the opposite is true. We fervently believe all artists should be paid for their work. But we, like every musician, have to look at other models of getting paid. We were in the position where we can take a chance like this and weather the storm.  There's some phrase about breaking eggs and omelets that's probably appropriate here. "

When asked what have you learned about the digital era, The Edge replied we're in the dawn of it. The thing it's easy to forget when you live in modern times is that they're modern for about another 30 seconds. . .more so than ever. In a few years we'll look back on this time like we look back on VCRs and rotary phones. When the radio arrived, everyone thought that was the end of sheet music. I think music has become devalued and disposable in the commercial world – but not to music lovers or the people who make it, and not all big tech either. Apple – and U2 – fight hard for artists to be paid.

In the future, technology has to be a better servant of music, and not its slave master. We can take advantage of the benefits of technology, and we do, but it's also beholden on those of us who have been so well rewarded by music to figure out a way to preserve the ability for artists to create and thrive. Fans have always shared U2 music either by cassettes or cd’s the next phase was not as challenging as one would think. Digital music is here to stay how people pay for it remains to be up for possible interpretation. U2 has always had bright young marketing people around them to think out of the box when it comes to promoting U2 music. The survey proves that nothing can be left to chance. Creative minds should be looking at new ways to reach their audience.

Bono said it sounds boring, but our drug of choice at the moment is songwriting, and trying to take U2's to the next level. What is clear is that U2 is not going into that discount record bin anytime soon and that the future is as bright as they want it to be.

 

Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/u2-reflect-on-troubled-innocence-release-these-songs-have-staying-power-20150226?page=2

U2 Delivers A Knockout to the Music Industry

The music industry may have thought the U2 marketing machines may have been a bit crazy to suggest "giving" the album away. The cross promotion created opportunities that exposed the holes within the music distribution. U2 created a a deal that included delivery of the complete album to every iTunes account free of charge and the band providing the promotional support to Apple during their annual developers conference. Its been suggested that Apple paid 100 million for the right to release the album. As the smoke cleared U2 released their album to the world apple users and over night increased their audience.

Four months after Songs of Innocence’s September release, U2 accounted for “23% of all music listened on iOS devices throughout January 2015,” according to an independent study conducted by the Kantar Group and announced by the band.

Even more impressive, the numbers put Bono & co. as the “most-listened-to act” on the iOS platform as a whole, beating out fan favorites Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, who garnered 11% and 8% of all plays, respectively.

An independent study has concluded that U2 accounted for 23% of all music listened on iOS devices throughout January 2015.

The study, conducted by the Kantar Group, found that not only was U2 the most-listened-to act on the iOS platform, but that more users were listening to U2 than the second (Taylor Swift at 11%) and third (Katy Perry at 8%) runners-up combined.

Additionally, Kantar found that 95% of the U2 listeners listened to one or more tracks from the band’s current album, Songs Of Innocence.

Fake Bono Twitter Account

A few weeks ago reports we heard some reports of a possible Bono twitter account. The news circled all of the fan sites and of course most of the subscribed to the possibility that Bono could in fact be on twitter with a public account.

Well U2 fans, not a chance ! Its a fake and not even close to anything that Bono would associate with. Sources confirmed late yesterday that the account which cause all of the twitter noise is in fact a fake. This one is pretty bold. Of course we already have a great twitter follower @fakebono which provides some interesting commentary from time to time.

This new account while interesting collection of "friends" really is not doing much.  Remember which Edge got on twitter? That account proved to be fun during the tour. Pretty sure once the tour gets closer we can expect to see from traffic from @Edge360. Meantime why not download our new app and follow us on twitter. We will keep you informed and blast those rumors away. Until next time @U2TOURFANS

U2's Universal Love

I have always found messages of hope, love desire, grief and anger with U2's lyrics to be freeing in the sense of allowing me a brief minute of total emotions.

The simple joy that that music allows us to feel the emotion when you allow it to breathe within your soul.

Life experiences come alive when you open your heart and mind to lyrics. We can't experience love, joy, sadness or fear without opening our hearts to the feeling. The idea of walking around the world numb to all of this seems to be holding you in a prison for a sentence you yet to understand. 

U2's music allows ones self to break free for a few minutes and feel those feelings and express thoughts that may be locked inside of your heart.  Here are a few of those lyrics that I have found to allow us to breathe.

Ordinary Love

We can't fall any further
If we can't feel ordinary love
And we cannot reach any higher
If we can't deal with ordinary love 

Invisible

There is no them
There is no them
There’s only us
There’s only us
There is no them
There is no them
There’s only us
There’s only us
There is no them
There is no them
There’s only you
And there’s only me
There is no them

Love Is Blindness

Love is blindness
I don't wanna see
Won't you wrap the night
Around me?
Oh my heart
Love is blindness

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

Hawkmoon 269

Like a desert needs rain
Like a town needs a name
I need your love.

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Every Breaking Wave, Trouble and Irish filmmaker

The violence of Northern Ireland in the 80’s has been a theme for U2 within many of their songs. This short film inspired by the newest tracks from “Songs of Innocence” opens on a group of Catholic lads goofing off before hitting a punk club, where one boy, Sean, catches the eye of a crowd-surfing girl, Sandra. She catches up with the Sean after the show, stealing his cigarette as he lays in the street with a friend, who later informs him the she's a Protestant. Nevertheless, the couple comes together to the tune of "Every Breaking Wave," but scenes of their budding romance are undercut with outbursts

In the aftermath of the arrest, Sean isolates himself from Sandra and prepares to join forces with a group of Catholic militants. During a meeting, however, Sean answers a knock at the door and finally reunites with Sandra — but their moment is cut short when a bomb goes off. Amidst the smoke and rubble, the pair find each other and together, lift an injured friend off the ground while U2's "The Troubles," also off Songs of Innocence, begins to play.

U2 band member The Edge has praised Aoife’s work labeling it “extraordinary”.

"The Aoife McArdle short film expands on the theme of Songs of Innocence which was largely rooted in our experience growing up in the early eighties in Dublin. Aoife chose west Belfast in the same period, as it was the neighborhood that was so formative to her,” he said.

The Edge is not Aoife’s only notable fan.

Academy Award nominated filmmaker Spike Jonze,  said of Aoife McArdle's short film, "I was really taken with this film. She captured that feeling and size of life of being a teenager and of first love so well. She drifts between the reality of friends and first love into fantasy so effortlessly and romantically. It's a perfect little gem of a romance movie."

Aoife has previously directed music videos for James Vincent McMorrow and Simian Mobile Disco.

The London-based talent plans to move back to her native Belfast soon to work on her first feature film. “A lot of films in Northern Ireland don’t get shot in Northern Ireland, which is quite strange. A lot of people feel like it’s too close to the bone to go there. Or are too afraid to go there. I don’t know why.”

The band will embark on the ambitious Innocence + Experience World Tour this May download the tour app to keep up on all of the tour news, set lists and more.