SMASHED RECORD U2 ROCKS LONDON

U2's first UK gig in their current tourhas broken the attendance record for a Wembley Stadium concert, organizers have said.

About 88,000 people arrived at the Irish group's concert on Friday - 5,000 more than what is thought to have been the stadium's previous record.

U2's radical "claw" stage has enabled tour organizers Live Nation to increase the capacity for the sold-out show.

Wembley's previous biggest crowd is believed to have been the 83,000 who saw Rod Stewart perform there in 1995.

Elbow, who won the Mercury Prize last year with their fourth studio album The Seldom Seen Kid, were supporting on Friday.

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Behind-the-scenes look at U2's stage for the 360 Degree tour.

A Behind the scenes look at the London show and comments from the U2 360 Tour.

Jake Berry, Production Director Said “The band's reaction upon seeing the stage for the first time was like Wow. Every show, every production has a wow factor. Our show just lasts a little longer than anybody else's. They were just amazed. Everything they thought it could have been the whole idea from Mark (Fischer) and Willie Williams the set designer and the show designer, the whole concept was to make something big enough so the whole stage would be intimate. And believe it or not the larger the show was, the more intimate the show looked. So it's accomplished all those goals."

Willie Williams had this to say "It's a very interesting dynamic when we all sit round a table and talk about things because what's unusual about U2 is they really are a group. There are four of them and they all have their input. And in the live show, Bono does really has more of an input because, at the end of the day, he's the one that has to pull it off. He can't turn around and fiddle with his amplifier when something's going wrong. But they all have the power of veto and they're all involved and they all come up with ideas. It's a wonderfully collaborative process."

A name we have not heard from Arthur Fogel, CEO of Global Touring and chair of Live Music for Live Nation had this to say "Certainly with respect to U2, there really are no masters of performing live. It's a privilege to be able to work with them. They're really an inspiration to a lot of artists to keep pushing the envelope to develop shows that excite people and that are really what live shows are all about."

Mark Fischer, Architect had a comment as well, "It's something you can't replicate in your living room or on your Ipod. And in the digital world, you need to know why you're going to bother to shell out a hundred and odd pounds for you and your lover to come see and this thing rather than stay at home and that's what we're in the business of doing. So it's memory, you'll remember this. Anyone who comes to this show, in 20 years time will say 'Remember when you were at Wembley, when you saw U2, 360degrees? It was amazing.'"

Crew News: Production workers, lighting and sound technicians and video production staff were busy with the final preparations ahead of the Irish rockers "360 Degree" shows on Friday (August 14) and Saturday (August 15) at the Wembley Stadium.

The whole stage comes in three parts. First, comprises of covering the entire pitch with flooring which enables them to drive cranes and trucks onto the field. The second part takes four days to build the steel structure and the last day composes of testing the lights, sound, video equipment, sound check and any last minute changes. Taking down the entire production takes approximately two days.

Supporting acts for the London shows will be Mercury Prize winning band Elbow on Friday and Mercury Prize nominated Scottish rockers Glasvegas.

U2 will continue to tour Europe until the end of August and move onto the United States and Canada in September.

U2's Drum Tech Said what about 2010 ?


Reports are now out from an Italian site (U2place.com) The drum tech for Larry (Sam O'Sullivan) has told some fans in Zagreb about the bands up coming plans for the next year or so.

So what did Sammy have to say you ask ?

  • The North American tour ends, The band will stay in Vancourver to complete work on the new album which we reported was named Songs of Ascent due to be released in December or around about in 2010
  • U2 may tour Australia/New Zealand ("Oceania" is what U2place.com says) in March 2010, but it depends on the cost of transporting the stage.
  • There'll be another tour of Europe next summer, including a date in Rome.

In other news the boys are getting set for a string of London dates and the fans keep pouring in.

U2 speak out over Suu Kyi verdict

U2 speak out over Suu Kyi verdict

(UKPA) – 1 hour ago

U2 have condemned the Burmese government as a "bunch of crooks" for the "mock trial" of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The band - huge critics of the regime - were angered by the further 18-month house arrest of the pro-democracy leader.

They said in a statement: "This bunch of crooks that call themselves a government continue to rob the people of Burma of their rightful leader - this mock trial and its sham verdict is a signal not of junta strength but of fear and cowardice, fear of a 64-year-old woman whom they dare not even let walk down the street."

More than 120,000 fans in Zagreb for U2 gigs

ZAGREB — More than 120,000 fans from all over southeastern Europe have gathered in Zagreb to see legendary rock group U2 on their only stopover in the region on their current 360 Degree Tour of the world.

It is the Irish band's first visit to the region since their concert in Sarajevo in 1997. Local media have dubbed the two shows "the performance of the decade."

Some 63,000 people filled Zagreb's Maksimir Stadium on Sunday night, and as many again are expected at a second concert on Monday, organisers said.

More than 40,000 fans have arrived in the Croatian capital from countries including Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Slovakia and Romania.

The event has dominated news in the Croatian media for the past week, with detailed reports of the setting up of the stage on the home turf of the Dinamo Zagreb football club.

The futuristic décor is dominated by a huge metal structure nicknamed "the claw", which measures 50 metres (160 feet) and weighs 390 tonnes.

The opening concert on Sunday lasted around two hours and included songs from "No Line on the Horizon", the band's 12th album which was released in February.

Zagreb is one of 15 European cities on the 360 Degree Tour, which began on June 30 in Barcelona and will end in October in Vancouver, Canada, with a total of 44 concerts scheduled.

By the end of the tour, the group will have performed before an estimated three million fans.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved

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Bauer Radio to broadcast U2 gig across network

U2 Sheffield gig will play live on Bauer Radio's 20-station Big City network, plus three national digital stations

John Plunkett

Guardian.co.uk, Monday 10 August 2009 13.52 BS

The Bauer Radio network has secured the live broadcast rights to U2's latest tour, planning to air the band's Sheffield concert across its 20-station Big City network and three of its national digital stations.

The Big City network – which is based in the north of England, Scotland and northern Ireland and includes Key 103 in Manchester and Newcastle's Metro Radio – will devote more than five hours of airtime to the band, including two hours of live coverage from the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield on 20 August. The U2 coverage will also air on Bauer's digital stations The Hits, Q and Kerrang! and online.

The Big City network programme director, Steve King, said the concert would be the "biggest commercial radio event of 2009".

"U2 are very appropriate for the Big City network - they are straight down the middle of our audience, particularly the more recent material from their last album and the one before that," he said. "There aren't many artists you can do this with – U2, Take That, possibly Robbie Williams."

The Big City network previously broadcast a Williams concert live from Vienna.

Longer pieces between songs would be taken out, King said, because they were not so relevant to a radio audience.

The live concert programme, which will begin at 7pm, will be preceded by a pre-recorded interview with the band by a DJ from Bauer's Clyde One, Billy Sloan.

Bauer has also set up a dedicated website for fans listening online, iloveU2ontheradio.com.

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U2 may cause cancellation of major Celtic game

Glasgow police say they can't host two major events at once

By
KENNETH HAYNES
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

The date of Glasgow Celtic’s fourth round Champions League qualifying draw with Arsenal is in jeopardy due to the fact that U2 will be playing a show at Scotland’s Hampden Park on the same night.

Police in the area say they do not have the resources or manpower to host two major events in Glasgow at the same time.

U2’s stadium 360 Tour attracts thousands of concert goers, while the Celtic-Arsenal play-off game is expected to be a wild event, given that it involves two British football clubs.

Celtic, however, remains hopeful that the game will take place as planned on Tuesday, August 18, but are still cautioning fans to hold off on making travel plans to Glasgow until the conflict is resolved.