Updated on http://www.facebook.com/u2tourfans
Lights Sound and Crew
credit U2GIGS
U2 when they're 64
Billboard just released its Top Concert Tours for 2009, and leading the pack with the highest-grossing tour was U2. The other artists in the top five were Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, and Pink.
U2 spent 2009 touring behind its studio album ‘No Line on the Horizon,’ and will continue to tour in North America and Europe this summer.
U2’s deal with Live Nation earned them $108 million last year and the top spot on Billboard’s Top Money Earners list for 2009, thanks to the band selling out all 44 of its concerts in 2009. Total gross for the 360 tour was $311, 637, 740, with total attendance at 3, 071, 290.
So will you love them at 64 ?
U2 Turin news
Rehearsals for 10 concerts could start as early as today or Wednesday. This is a pretty long length of time of time between the start of rehearsals and the first date of the leg August 6th that makes it about 10 days. This has happened before. However in this case we expect it because of some new songs, and of course allowing Bono a chance to ease back into the mix of a live show. The bands security has said that we could expect rehearsals to start on Tuesday. Let the rumors begin.
Thanks to a couple of web savvy U2 fans we have a link for the stadium webcam. Currently not much has been happening however we do expect it to get interesting soon. Stadium webcam sits on top of the Stadio Olimpico.
Hey we heard from our friends in Chile and according to the state newspaper La Tercera they report that U2 will perform at the Estadio Nacional in March 2011 and also Brazil, Argentina and we heard Peru however it is all just a rumor. The newspaper claims that tickets will go on sale in September.
New Songs > It’s not the first time that the boys have stopped off the tour to record some tunes. We have heard and checked out Black Rock Studios in Greece and some recording sessions have been booked. Now we cannot confirm this so we still a rumor. Also we did notice that U2GIGS has reported as well as a couple of fans sites so as we like to say. Rumors may become facts and facts never become rumors, so let’s wait.
New U2 Book
Due September 15th in the U.S.
Featuring an introduction by Cowboy Mouth’s John Thomas Griffith, the one-time frontman for Red Rockers, who opened for U2 on its Unforgettable Fire trek, U2FAQ also boasts rare artifacts and photos from U2 fans and collectors worldwide.
Active and relevant for nearly thirty-five years, Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen, Jr. have been masters of reinvention, thriving artistically while continuing to sell out concerts across the globe. From their start at Dublin’s Mount Temple School in 1976 up to the 2009 Rose Bowl show that shattered a U.S. concert attendance record (previously set by the group in 1987), U2’s members have experienced some amazing collective highs. But in its ascent, the band has seen its share of personal, artistic, and commercial setbacks, including Bono’s recent debilitating back injury, which prompted the postponement of its U.S. tour until 2011.
These are just some of the topics U2 FAQ explores: How did Bono recover his cherished suitcase of lyrics 23 years after its 1981 disappearance? What movie dialogue is sampled in the middle of Seconds? What effect did bull’s blood have on Larry’s drumming? How did Bono’s visit to Central America inform The Joshua Tree? What are the details of Adam’s 1989 marijuana bust? How did Mick Jagger wind up on “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”? Can Bono really save the world?
“What makes U2 FAQ different from the other books written about the band, is that – aside from all of the information it gathers – is the fact that it explores the band’s vulnerabilities,” Luerssen says. “I think that with U2’s enormous popularity, it’s easy to forget that Bono, The Edge, Larry and Adam are human beings like the rest of us. And I explore that in chapters like Broken Nose to the Floor: Public Debacles, Dangers, and Embarrassments, and Don’t Talk Out of Time—True U2 Stories. It’s a must-read book, whether you love or loathe U2.”
Luerssen – a regular AOL Music/Spinner contributor who has also written for Rolling Stone, Billboard, All Music Guide, and American Songwriter and penned 2004’s highly praised Rivers’ Edge: The Weezer Story (ECW Press) goes beyond the essential facts, delving into the legendary fables and unique anecdotes that make
Peter Parker and Bono
Well, it’s not that bad. According to the New York Times (via RollingStone.com), a spokesman for the show said the $50 million production will begin full rehearsals on August 16th, only slightly behind their original launch date of February 2010. Apparently, the show (directed by Julie Taymor of Across the Universe fame) had a “cash flow problem”, which caused two of its stars, Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming (playing Mary Jane Watson and the Green Goblin respectively), to leave the production. While there’s no word yet who will replace them, leading man Reeve Carney did happen to tweet that he’s already begun his aerial choreography.
After U2’s fateful string of bad luck including Bono’s bad back and its subsequent cancelled tour, the popular band is finally getting back on its enormously successful feet. And it’s coming in the form of a superhero, Spider-man to be exact.
Initial rehearsals have begun on a new Broadway musical based on the Spidey based Broadway called Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark. Julie Taymor, who previously helmed the hallucinatory Beatles trip Across the Universe is in progress of heading the project, which features music exclusively by U2’s Bono and The Edge.
Spider-Man is one of the most expensive Broadway Productions ever staged, costing about $50 million, which the producers actually had difficulty raising, thus postponing the production this past February. “I honestly can’t believe I’m getting paid to do things my mom would have killed me for when I was a kid! Ha!”, tweets musician Reeve Carney, who plays the Peter Parker character.
Although production details are still a bit sketchy at this moment, fans can begin rocking their Spidey senses when it debuts on Broadway this coming November.
// ]]>
U2, Eminem or Lady GaGa?
Even with a bad back, Bono still has more power than the rest of us. He and his Irish band mates in U2 land at the top of Forbes annual Top-Earning Musicians with net earnings of $130 million for July 1-June 31. The only new artist to make the Forbes list is Lady GaGa, but she makes our list this week for a totally different reason that has nothing to do with money or fame, but with humanity.
1. U2: The Irish rockers top Forbes list of top-earning musicians. I believe they’ve found what they’re looking for.
2. Eminem (No. 1): Not only does “Recovery” log its fourth week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, for the first time in his career, Eminem lands back to back No. 1s. After “Not Afraid” went to No. 1 in May, “Love the Way You Lie” goes to No. 1 this week, bumping Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” out of the top spot after six weeks.
3. Rihanna (not ranked): The news is good for Eminem, but it’s great for Rihanna. “Love the Way You Lie” is her seventh No. 1 since she first debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2005, giving her more No. 1s in that time frame than any other artist. Lady GaGa is plotting as we speak.
4. James Taylor and Carole King (not ranked): In a summer of tour cancellations and poor sales, James Taylor and Carole King proved that there’s a lot of life left in acts that deliver the goods. Both in their 60s, the pair completed a 58-date world tour this week that grossed $63 million and averaged 95% capacity. They’ve got a friend…lots of them.
5. Lady GaGa (not ranked): This week Lady GaGa did something much more significant than sell tickets: She stood up, loudly and proudly, against anti-gay protesters from Westboro Baptist Church, who picketed her show in St. Louis. She asked her fans not to engage the protesters and, instead to pray for them. At the show’s conclusion, she tweeted: “Tonight love and hate met in St. Louis….Hate left but love stayed + together we sang.” Instead of WWJD, maybe we should ask ourselves WWLGD?
6. Big Champagne (not ranked): The media metrics company launches the “Ultimate Chart” to measure a single’s popularity and to challenge Billboard’s Hot 100. Like the Hot 100, the Ultimate Chart measures radio play and tracks sales, but also includes data from social networking sites such as YouTube. Be prepared for Justin Bieber to be No. 1 until he turns 25.
7. Roger Faxon (not ranked): The new EMI chief makes his first visit to LA in his new capacity to review the U.S. operation. The question is what will he change. Despite the parent company, Terra Firma’s woes, EMI looks strong with Lady Antebellum and Katy Perry. Do we see more synergies between EMI’s publishing powerhouse and the label side?
8.New Music Seminar (not ranked): The revived music conference, which ruled supreme in the ‘80s, made news this week primarily for a session that laid out by the number revealing just how tragic album sales are. We won’t run down all the sobering stats, but here’s one to wrap your brain around: Number of albums selling more than 250,000 copies in 2009: 85. Number of albums selling more than 250,000 copies in 2001: 214. But who’s counting…
9. Chris Isaak and Harry Connick Jr. (not ranked): Bret Michael, Elton John, Steve Lilywhite and even Donald Trump were among the names bandied about to replace Simon Cowell as an “American Idol” judge. While nothing is official, Isaak and Connick appear to be the last two standing. Both are great choices, but we’re casting our vote for Isaak.
10. Joss Stone (not ranked): She’s the new Bond girl. Even though it looks like it may be a hot minute before we get a new 007 film, she appears alongside Daniel Craig and Judi Dench in the new video game, “James Bond 007: Blood Stone.” She also sings an original song, “I’ll Take It All.”
Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Boy