U2 by U2

Finally we have heard from some of you about our idea of a book club. Based on your feedback. (Which Dre tells us this is important to our site) We have selected a book. U2 By U2.  We have included the link from the book store within the story. You can choose to purchase direct from the link or any other outlet.

The book by fans has been considered a fast read, five stars and the holy bible of all that is U2. We welcome your thoughts either here or of course on twitter or facebook.    

Neil McCormick has been a close personal friend of U2 for many years (he grew up with the band). A staff music writer for The Daily Telegraph, his latest novel was called Killing Bono. He lives in London, England.

In 1975, four teenagers from Mount Temple School in Dublin gathered in a crowded kitchen to discuss forming a band. The drum kit just about fit into the room, the lead guitarist was playing a homemade guitar, the bassist could barely play at all and nobody wanted to sing. Over thirty years later, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr are still together, bound by intense loyalty, passionate idealism and a relentless belief in the power of rock and roll to change the world.

In a epic journey that has taken them from the clubs of Dublin to the stadiums of the world, U2 have sold over 130 million albums, been number one all over the world, revolutionized live performance, spearheaded political campaigns and made music that defines the age we live in.

From the anarchic days of their Seventies punk origins through their Eighties ascent to superstardom with the epic rock of ‘The Joshua Tree’, the dark post-modern ironies of ‘Achtung Baby’ in the Nineties and their 21st-Century resurgence as rock’s biggest and boldest band, this is a tale of faith, love, drama, family, birth, death, survival, conflict, crises, creativity … and a lot of laughter.

Told with wit, insight and astonishing candour by the band themselves and manager Paul McGuinness, with pictures from their own archives, ‘U2 by U2’ allows unprecedented access into the inner life of the greatest rock band of our times.

 

Grammy Yes or No ?

Lots of chatter today about the Grammys, travel day for most so as we sit in the airport thinking about the chances our boys have,we have been wondering if you had a chance to be really honest about the Grammy vote. What would you select. Lets see - Here is your chance to vote. We of course will post the results.  So cast your vote and lets see if we can guess right. Of course we have no effect on the Grammys and this is our poll just to get the vibe of our followers.

 

Grammy Time ! Predictions any one ?

Grammy weekend has arrived. Well the boys from Ireland pull an upset and cap off a successful 2009. U2 has been nominated for 3 Grammys for No Line on the Horizon. The boys have won a total of 22 Grammys and they are tied currently with Stevie Wonder as the only artists to win as many. The categories may not be the top ones, album of  the year, song of the year and record of the year. However they are nominated, we can officially call this album the “Sleeper of the Year” ( U.S football fans know that’s a good thing). You can read all the nominations at Grammy.com. We will have a complete run down of No Line On The Horizon. We have all the songs/Videos loaded. You can down load them from iTunes or Amazon. 

 

 

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
(For duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

  • Can’t Find My Way Home
    Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
    Track from: Live From Madison Square Garden
    [Reprise]
  • Life In Technicolor II
    Coldplay
    Track from: Prospekt’s March EP
    [Capitol]
  • 21 Guns
    Green Day
    Track from: 21st Century Breakdown
    [Reprise]
  • Use Somebody
    Kings Of Leon
    [RCA Records]
  • I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
    U2
    Track from: No Line On The Horizon
    [Interscope]

Category 21

Best Rock Album
(Vocal or Instrumental. Includes Hard Rock and Metal.)

  • Black Ice
    AC/DC
    [Columbia]
  • Live From Madison Square Garden
    Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
    [Reprise/Duck]
  • 21st Century Breakdown
    Green Day
    [Reprise]
  • Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King
    Dave Matthews Band
    [RCA Records / Bama Rags Recordings, LLC.]
  • No Line On The Horizon
    U2
    [Interscope]

Category 20

Best Rock Song
(A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Rock, Hard Rock & Metal songs. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)

  • The Fixer
    Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready & Eddie Vedder, songwriters (Pearl Jam)
    [Monkeywrench; Publishers: Innocent Bystander, Jumpin’ Cat Music, Theory of Color, Write Treatage Music.]
  • I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
    Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge & Larry Mullen Jr., songwriters (U2)
    Track from: No Line On The Horizon
    [Interscope; Publishers: Universal Music Publishing, Upala Music.]
  • 21 Guns
    Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt & Tré Cool, songwriters (Green Day)
    Track from: 21st Century Breakdown
    [Reprise; Publishers: WB Music Corp./Green Daze Music.]
  • Use Somebody
    Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters (Kings Of Leon)
    [RCA Records; Publishers: Martha Street Music/Songs of Combustion Music/Music of Windswept, Followill Music/Songs of Combustion Music/Music of Windswept, McFearless Music/Bug Music, Coffee, Tea or Me Publishing/Bug Music.]
  • Working On A Dream
    Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)
    Track from: Working On A Dream
    [Columbia; Publisher: Bruce Springsteen]

 © 2009 - The Recording Academy. All rights reserved.

   

U2's "Stranded" Announcement !

‘Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)’

Editor Note: This email  came direct from U2.com

You can now download the studio recording of ‘Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)’ by Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bono and Edge. Proceeds go to help the people of Haiti rebuild their lives.

Produced by Swizz Beatz and Declan Gaffney, ‘Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)’ was written and recorded within a week and first performed at last weekend’s ‘Hope For Haiti Now’ global telethon - which raised more than $60m to support relief work.

‘Sitting in the studio and watching Haiti hurting, I knew immediately I had to do something,’ said Swizz Beatz. ‘I reached out to my friends Bono and Jay-Z and asked for their help. Jay and Rihanna sent their vocals and that same night Bono and I went into the studio.’ Swizz Beatz added, ‘It’s important we as a global community all come together to help. Haiti needs us right now.’ 

Download the studio version or the live performance version of ‘Stranded’ or get both when you download the ‘Hope for Haiti Now’ live album - which has already shot to the top of the Billboard 200, raising millions more to support the work of agencies like Partners in Health, Oxfam America, the Red Cross, UNICEF, Yele Haiti Foundation, United Nations World Food Program and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Download today U2TOURFANS APP

 

U2 360° TOUR - New tickets available!

Looking for tickets ? Well no worries we have a couple of options available. We will be posting all of the press releases, you will soon see different venues open up more tickets. Sad truth of the business.

Venues hold back tickets on larger tours to be able spread out their ticket sales to multi years - Remember most of the tickets went on sale 2009 - Well folks we are in full swing of 2010 and we have no major concert tour annoucement yet other than U2. So expect to see more tickets. Now to stay current on ticket releeases down load the brand new Iphone Application, or Sign up on Facebook and of course your aware of our twitter channel. We will keep you current. Also we have added links to ticketmaster direct and over the next couple of weeks we will be posting another source for tickets.

Gillett Entertainment Group



Just the facts:

July 16 & 17, 2010
 
AT THE MONTREAL HIPPODROME
 
ON SALE THIS SATURDAY, JANUARY 30th  AT NOON!
 
Tickets available at the Bell Centre Box Office
Charge by phone: (514) 790-2525 or 1-877-668-8269
Order online at: http://www.geg.ca
TICKETS PRICE: $55 (+ service charges)

Belgium U2 Concerts Held Back

Tickets for the U2 concert at the Koning Boudewijnstadion stadium in Brussels, Belgium are being held back and not currently being sent due to organizers worries about the secondary ticketing market. In the Belgian Press, Teleticketservice stated they have too much evidence that secondary market ticket resellers are waiting impatiently on the cards and they want to hold off mailing the tickets until summer 2010, closer to the September 22 and 23 concert dates.  Those who bought tickets for one of the two concerts this fall received an email this week which Teleticketservice warning the cards be mailed until summer.

“We have recently received a number of nervous phone calls from people who asked that tickets be sent immediately”, says Stefan Esselens. “We suspect that a large proportion of the tickets will be sold at exorbitant prices.”

Organizers hopes that the currently anti-secondary ticketing legislation being bantered around in the Belgium will be approved after summer. The new government proposal prohibits the resale of tickets by more than 10 percent profit.

U2 South American Rumor Translation

We have been watching all of the twitter news about the possible South American tour. Normally we do not engage in rumors. However we thought we owed it to our readers to translate the whole report from PABLO MÁRQUEZ / Desde Cannes. We have a spanish speaking staff and we reviewed the following and the translation can be found below.

Spanish Article full 

Mánager de U2: “Haremos lo posible por volver a Latinoamérica”


Paul McGuiness descartó que el 360° Tour pase por Chile en noviembre, pero deja abierta la opción para inicios del 2011. 

PABLO MÁRQUEZ / Desde Cannes


Como un visitante más de Midem, la feria de la industria musical mundial que se desarrolla por estos días en Cannes, Francia, se pasea por los pasillos el calvo y bonachón Paul McGuinness, el primer y único mánager que ha tenido U2 a lo largo de sus más de tres décadas de trayectoria.

Dave Long/U2TOURFANS 2009


Para muchos, este irlandés de sonrisa fácil es el gran responsable de convertir a un grupo de cuatro amigos de Dublín en la banda más grande del mundo. Y, por lo mismo, siempre interesado en saber lo que se está pensando en el ahora alicaído negocio de la música popular, McGuinness levanta la mano a la hora de hacer preguntas a los paneles de expertos que aquí discuten sobre lo que viene.

“Nosotros, con U2, estamos en el negocio de la música en vivo. Comenzamos muy tímidamente y nos hemos convertido en la banda en directo más importante del mundo, quizás en la más importante de la historia de la música popular. Con este tour haremos, por lo menos, 90 conciertos. Ya hicimos unos 45 el año pasado y creemos que podremos hacer otros 45 durante el 2010. En total, vamos a tocar frente a unas 6 millones de personas en todos los países que visitemos”, explica.

-En un momento se dijo que U2 volvería por tercera vez a Chile en noviembre de este año.


“Lo más probable es que no vayamos este año a Latinoamérica, lo siento. Tal vez volvamos a principios del año que viene, pero eso aún tenemos que definirlo. Y la razón es que este show, el 360º Tour, es uno de los más grandes que puedas imaginar. Son en total tres escenarios, que tienen que viajar en barco dentro de unos 200 containers. Calculamos que, al día, el costo de cada show es de unos 3 millones de dólares. Pero haremos lo posible por volver a Latinoamérica, por supuesto”.

-Al definirse como banda en vivo, ¿se preocupan de los tiempos de crisis que se viven por estos días?

“Con el tiempo, U2 se ha convertido en una banda en vivo, pero eso no significa que no tengamos respeto por los discos. De hecho, para la grabación del último hicimos un gran esfuerzo para su factura y por eso nos preocupamos de cada detalle en su presentación en vivo. Desde que comenzamos la gira, además, nos hemos preocupado porque el precio de los tickets no sea tan elevado”.

-La banda ha hecho acuerdos con telefónicas y otros formatos para vender su música, ¿creen que el futuro es también digital para U2?

Dave Long/U2TOURFANS 2009“Claramente, la música está orientándose hacia el mercado digital, hacia las descargas y todo tipo de consumo electrónico, pero creo que las compañías proveedoras de servicios de internet aún no se están preocupando de invertir y desarrollar nuevas plataformas que beneficien a los músicos en general. Creo que, efectivamente, las cosas están cambiando, pero tomará algo de tiempo para que todo se normalice”.

-Se dice que U2 ya trabaja en el sucesor de “No line on the horizon”.
“Retomaremos la gira en junio próximo, en California, y claro que los chicos han estado componiendo canciones. Lo más probable es que saquen un nuevo álbum después de la gira, pero la verdad es que no lo sé con certeza”. (El Mercurio)

English Translation - U2TOURFANS STAFF

Dave Long/U2TOURFANS 2009Manager of U2: “We will make possible to Latin America” Paul McGuiness discarded the 360 ° Tour pass by Chile in November, but leaves open the option for early 2011.

PABLO MÁRQUEZ / from Cannes as a visitor of MIDEM, the exhibition in the global music industry that develops these days in Cannes, France, strolling through the corridors bald and bonachón Paul McGuinness, the first and only Manager which had U2 in his more than three decades of trajectory.

For many, this easy smile Irish is great responsible for a group of four friends from Dublin become the world’s largest band. And, therefore, always interested in knowing what you are thinking of now roiled the popular music business, McGuinness raises her hand to ask questions to panels of experts that discussed here on what comes. 

“We, with U2, are in the live music business.” We started very timidly and we have become the most important live band in the world, perhaps the most important in the history of popular music. With this tour we’ll, at least 90 concerts. We did some 45 last year and we believe that we can do other 45 during 2010. “In total, let’s play vs. some 6 million people in all countries visit”, explains.  -At a time it was said that U2 would return for the third time to Chile in November this year. 

“It is likely that we will not this year to Latin America, sorry.” Perhaps back at the beginning of the year that is coming, but that we still have to define it. And the reason is that this show, the 360 ° Tour, is one of the largest can imagine.

They are three scenarios, who have to travel by boat of about 200 containers in total. We estimate that, per day, the cost of each show is about 3 million dollars. But we do our best to return to Latin America, of course.  -To define as live band, what concern in times of crisis living these days?  “Eventually, U2 has become a live band, but that doesn’t mean that we do not have respect for disks.” In fact, for the recording of the last did a lot for your Bill and why we care of every detail in his presentation live.

“Since we started the tour, moreover, we have concerned because the price of tickets is not so high”.  -The band has made agreements with telephone and other formats to sell their music, do you believe that the future is also digital for U2?  “Clearly, music is geared towards the digital market towards downloads and all kinds of consumer electronics, but I think that companies internet service providers still not be are concerned invest and develop new platforms that benefit musicians in general.”

I think that, indeed, things are changing, but will take some time to make everything normalize.  -It is said that U2 is already working on the successor of “No line on the horizon”.  “We shall return to the tour in June, in California, and of course the guys have been composing songs.” “It is likely to draw a new album from the tour, but the truth is I do not know with certainty”.

New U2 movie Update

The feature film, entitled “Killing Bono”, is being made in and around the city over the next six weeks. Waring Street and Lower Donegall Street have been dressed to portray a vision of London in the late 1970s. Traffic diversions will be in place on Sunday and Monday but rush hour traffic will not be affected by the filming. The film, which has been described as a “music-based comedy”, is set during U2’s formative years in north Dublin and London. It is based on the memoirs of Bono’s schoolfriend, Neil McCormick, who is now a music critic for the Daily Telegraph newspaper. “Killing Bono” tells the story from the point of view of the rather less successful rival band which he set up with his brother in the late 1970s. The film is directed by the Belfast-born director Nick Hamm and has received funding from Northern Ireland Screen, with help from Invest NI. It is hoped the film will be released in the summer of 2010.