U2 Surprises on the way

U2 360 Tour Gaint Stadium 2009 With the new DVD, ‘U2360° at the Rose Bowl’ released next month, U2.com figured it was high time for a chat with U2’s longtime Show Director Willie Williams.

On a sunny afternoon in the UK, they tracked Willie down to his London studio where we found him and his production team hard at work developing ‘visual content’ for the 2010 leg of the Tour.

U2.COM said “Unsurprisingly, the ideas are highly original and we’d love to tell you all about them… but then he’d never speak to us again. Which would never do, as Willie writes the best rock’n’roll touring diary there is” - and only for U2.com subscribers. Still he does drop a few hints in the interview. And, like everyone else, he’s delighted at how the Rose Bowl shoot looks on the new DVD.

‘There is a certain style or how live concerts can look on camera,’ he explains, but the 360° set up has changed all that. ‘You definitely know which show you are at…’

U2’s 360° production team is looking to get you involved. Willie is working with band and production team on a series of new visual ideas for on-screen content. For starters Willie is looking to fans to submit three simple questions which could end up in a new piece of screen content for the show.

The questions are simple - one U2 question, one personal question, one philosophical question. They can be serious or trivial, quite ridiculous… or quite important.

If you’d like the chance for your question to appear on screen on the 360° Tour, fill out the form on u2.com (Members Only). You can pose questions in written form or record them as an MP3 audio file.

If your not a member we would suggest that you sign up before the tour starts. We would have to agree is one of the best around.

A full 360 U2's Summer Tour

u2 360 Tour 2009 U2’s 12th studio album “No Line on the Horizon” was pretty weak on CD, MP3 sales however crowds will continue to fill the stadiums as U2 gets set to kick off the next round of tour stops, starting with Utah on June 3rd. Once again around North America as it sets to blast off to Europe 3 Million plus came to see U2 worldwide and they sold out 44 venues. Remember FT Paul was quoted as 09.10 tours should gross $ 750 million breaking the old U2 record of $ 398 million set by the Vertigo tour 05//06.

The set design has not changed; U2 will have some competition this time around with Green Day setting out on tour later this summer.  The tour season starts next month as most bands still try to find sponsors and creative ways to head out on a big tour. U2’s sponsor has not changed that we know of. The U2 marketing machine can be expected to kick off in a couple of weeks

The space station touches the sky at 165 feet high at the midpoint of the stage.  Crews have been resting for a couple of months kicking back as if that was true. Most crew members not dedicated to U2 have been out on other tours awaiting the start date.

U2 360 TourSet List expectations running high with suggestions coming in that the set list may change a little by adding and dropping. If anything has been learned about the last time out, fans did attend more than one show. So the joiners need to be fresh ( Bono, memo change up some of the jokes) Some songs were staples to the set list like “Breathe,” a stand-out track from “No Line on the Horizon” which became the band’s entrance music. After 32 years together, the band still respects their stadium-rocking roots and old favorites like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Where the Streets Have No Name” often had places in the set list as well.

Songs of Ascent Possible ?

Many U2 fans have been praying that U2’s follow up release would be ready for the next round of shows. However its been reported already by RS assocaite editor Brian Hiatt ( via twitter) that release this year 2010 was unlikely, however suggestions have been made that it could be released, remember  this follow-up album as “Songs of Ascent” and its original release was supposed to be in 2009. U2 has said that the songs are part of surplus material that came out of the recording of their last album. With U2 tour dates scheduled through October 2010, perhaps fans will hear one or two new songs live before the spaceship’s final landing. Well we wll have to wait and see.

Next up Bono’s big day 

Bono, Geldof to edit Globe for a day

The Globe and Mail Bono and Bob Geldof will edit the Globe and Mail newspaper for one day later this month in a special edition devoted to the future of Africa, the Globe announced Tuesday.

The two want to explore the issue of extreme poverty in Africa ahead of the G8 and G20 meetings, which will be held in the Toronto area in June.

Kenyan activist and blogger Ory Okolloh will also be part of the team editing the May 10 issue of the Globe.

It is the first time the Toronto-based paper has invited guest editors into its newsroom.

U2 lead singer Bono is the founder of One, an advocacy group that fights poverty and disease, particularly in Africa. He also has led a global campaign urging world leaders to forgive African countries’ debt.

Bono has been a guest editor at London’s Independent newspaper and at Vanity Fair.

Geldof, an activist and musician formerly with the Boom Town Rats, organized the Live8 series of concerts in 2005 and also lobbies world leaders on poverty issues. He was editor of the Georgia Strait in Vancouver 36 years ago.

“The Globe and Mail, one of the world’s great papers of record, has, in a mad rush of blood to the head, agreed to let two Irish pop singers edit their august journal for one special day, one special edition,” Geldof said.

The two will take questions online from readers.

The special edition will feature content and commentary from African political leaders, business owners and grassroots activists and from the Globe’s Africa correspondent, Geoffrey York.

Okolloh, who is a frequent public speaker on the role of technology in Africa’s future, will oversee stories and participate in a series of online discussions.

The G8 summit in Huntsville, Ont., will deal with controversial issues such as how to improve maternal health and aid for the developing world. The G20, to be held later in June in Toronto, is expected to focus on financial reform.

Bono and President Obama Update

Bono was in Washington on Friday and visited the White House to meet President Obama to fill him in on his recent trip to Africa.

It appears the meeting was not on Obama’s official itinerary for the day, but a National Security spokesman told CNN what the two talked about.

“[They discussed] ways to make sure our foreign aid is effective, and the opportunities for innovation and technology to change the development landscape in Africa,” he said.

The Bono-founded charity organization ONE released a statement about the visit, in which the U2 front man went over some of the issues discussed.
 
“With the first Blackberry president, we discussed the power of new technology to empower activists and entrepreneurs across Africa, part of a new rising generation that’s boosting growth and governance and defying stereotypes,” read the statement.



U2 360 Tour 1 Month Away

U2 360 Tour is exactly one month away. Thats right if your reading this, its after midnight in the US and we are offically one month away from the start of the tour. U2 Fans all around the world are waiting for the start of the tour. We posted a video from the past leg to get your “BIG FAT ASS UP” and ready for some great music. ( Hey Bono said, we have no idea if you have a big fat ass !)

 

Bono gets Oval Office meeting with Obama

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and U2 lead singer Bono have met in the Oval Office to discuss the administration’s development work in Africa.

The White House says the social activist singer joined with Obama, along with members of his national security staff, to talk about ways to make sure U.S. foreign aid is effective. They also discussed opportunities for using innovation and technology to drive economic growth in Africa.

The meeting Friday comes as the administration prepares for several international summits where development will be on the agenda.



McKinley High and U2 ?

Glee U2 could be the next best-selling artists to get the Glee treatment by the talented stars of McKinley High.

Fresh from the success of the Fox series’ recent ‘The Power of Madonna’ episode, a homage to the queen of pop, there has been speculation that the Dublin rockers could be next to have one of their songs featured on the show.

The Herald can reveal how the new CD from the award-winning series, to be released on May 18, features 19 songs and will include a track entitled One. A song of the same title, taken from U2’s best-selling Achtung Baby album, has regularly featured in Greatest Songs Of All Time lists and has been played by the band at every one of their concerts since 1992.

Entitled Glee, The Music: Volume 3 Showstoppers, the CD includes reworked versions of songs such as Pokerface and Bad Romance by Lady Gaga, alongside Beck’s Loser and Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler.

However, show insiders are keeping tight-lipped on whether the famous U2 song appears or not, given that Creed and Metallica have both released tunes with the same name.

A publicist for U2 said they weren’t aware of any collaboration with Glee, but the band could still have given the go-ahead for its material to be used.