Tuesday, December 20, 2011

U2.COM : An A to Z of 'U22'


Paul McGuinness has seen the band play live more than anyone else.

From the most intimate Dublin club in the 1970's  to the biggest stages on the planet on U2360°,  Paul knows what it takes for a U2 live show to leave the ground ... and what tracks will send it into orbit.

So how would the band's manager take on the tricky task of choosing 22 tracks for 'U22' from the 46 on offer?  Here's his selection -  tell us what you think in the comments below. (They're listed alphabetically - you might want to tell us how you'd sequence them in the show.)


All I Want is You
Bad
Beautiful Day
City of Blinding Lights
I'll go Crazy if I don't go Crazy Tonight (Remix)
In a Little While
I Still Haven't Found
Miss Sarajevo
Moment of Surrender
Mysterious ways
One
One Tree Hill
Stay
Stuck in a moment
The Fly
The Unforgettable Fire
Ultra Violet
Unknown Caller
Until the end of the world
Vertigo
Walk on
Where the Streets Have No Name

Monday, December 19, 2011

U2 : Happy Metalliversary : 'Gentlemen... Let It Out'



Larry, Adam, Edge and Bono have paid a moving tribute to Metallica as they mark their thirtieth 'metalliversary'.

'Do you think they're really tough? Or are they just putting it on?'

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Imelda May & Bono - Desire & Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) O2 Dublin 16/12/11



U2.COM : Desire in Dublin

'You might recognise this one...' said Imelda May, as her band struck up the opening chords of  'Desire', towards the end of her sell-out show in Dublin tonight.

At which point Bono walked on stage to join her at the mic and the audience at the O2 went ballistic.

'Lover, I'm off the streets
I'm gonna go where the bright lights
And the big city meet
'With a red guitar, on fire
Desire...'


The great reception for 'Desire' was followed with another as Bono stayed on stage to join Imelda for the Darlene Love classic 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)'.

Lit up the twittersphere too: @Jenny_Egan:'Imelda May was amazing in concert and when BONO came out it made my night :)'

@Jason_OC: 'Bono just turned up on stage and did 2 tracks with imelda may!!! Desire!!!! Amazing...'

 'Mams at imelda mays concert and bono just walked out..'
tweeted @AoifeReilly91 'worried she might keel over with excitement.'



Monday, December 12, 2011

New video: Bono on “Huckabee”

In case you missed it, Bono sat down recently for a great interview with Governor Mike Huckabee which aired Saturday night during his Fox News show “Huckabee.” They discussed the recent World AIDS Day event hosted by ONE and (RED) and the progress being made in bringing about the beginning of the end of AIDS. Governor Huckabee also discussed his involvement with ONE over the last 4 years.

You can watch the interview in 2 parts here:





source : http://www.one.org/

Saturday, December 10, 2011

U2.COM : 'So Cruel...'

Davis Guggenheim's documentary 'From The Sky Down' about the making of Achtung Baby, is released on DVD/Blu-ray next week.

This haunting solo performance of 'So Cruel' is a taste of what's to come.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

U2.COM : 'Distortion'

'The idea  that I could sit there with the greatest singer in the world and stick distortion on his voice made me laugh.'

Second part of our interview with Flood recalling the 1991 recording of Achtung Baby. Here Flood  tells Brian Draper about the tensions in Berlin, how he helped Bono find his voice for The Fly and why it felt like 'standing on top of Everest' when they finally finished the album.

Read Part One of this interview.

U2.com: How much pressure did you feel, working on those sessions?

It was really tense, but in a way I had the easiest role of the lot. Technically I was just the engineer. There were a lot of tensions  within the band - but I only found out about that later, because none of it was being brought in to the studio. That’s what sets U2 apart. And even though it was all very difficult, it was only because nothing was seen to be working. That doesn’t mean to say people weren’t trying; it was like you were beating your head against a brick wall, and your face was getting more and more bloody.

U2.COM : Win A Trabbie!

Ever fancied your own Trabant ? Custom-designed with that unique Achtung Baby era look ? Here's the competition you've been waiting for.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary edition of U2's seminal 1991 long-player, the band's visual geniuses - designer Shaughn McGrath and photographer Anton Corbijn - are inviting artists to submit photographs or artwork which would feature on the sleeve of Achtung Baby -  if it was being released today.

'Achtung Baby embodies a multitude of ideas and styles which are represented through the album cover artwork mosaic. The squared collage of photos symbolise the spirit of the album, the 90s and the changes in Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall... If Achtung Baby was released today, what photographs and/or artwork would be part of the collage?'

Shaughn and Anton will select 15 submissions which will be created into a collage and featured  here on U2.com and promoted across U2's social media channels. Winners will  receive their own copy of the final collage, a deluxe box-set and a digital camera. A sixteenth - 'People's Choice' - winner will be decided by you.

And (did we mention this ?) one overall winner will receive that custom designed, original Achtung Baby styled Trabant car.

Start making your art or shooting your photos now - submissions need to be in by January 23rd.

This is where you'll find all the details.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Bono: ‘A decade of progress on AIDS’

As part of his efforts to raise awareness this World AIDS Day and to draw global attention to the fight for the beginning of the end of HIV and AIDS, Bono wrote a fantastic op-ed article for the New York Times this morning.

Drawing on personal experiences of what he has witnessed over the past 10 years, he led a discussion about what politicians, businesses and ordinary people alike have done to provide treatment that has saved millions of lives.
Bono focused particularly on what American has done to lead the long fight against the virus when he said, “How did we get here? America led. I mean really led.”
Speaking poignantly to just how far we’ve come in the battle to stop HIV in its tracks, he wrote:
“Yet today, here we are, talking seriously about the ‘end’ of this global epidemic. There are now 6.6 million people on life-saving AIDS medicine. But still too many are being infected. New research proves that early antiretroviral treatment, especially for pregnant women, in combination with male circumcision, will slash the rate of new H.I.V. cases by up to 60 percent. This is the tipping point we have been campaigning for. We’re nearly there.”
He continued with a special thanks to the bipartisan efforts shown by congressmen, presidents –- including PEPFAR founder President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama — media organizations and people around the world who have joined together to call for the end of AIDS for good.
And finally, Bono ended with a call to action. Declaring that the total defeat of HIV is as great a feat as the first landing on the moon, he said.
“America’s boldest leap of faith is worth recalling. And the thing is, as I see it, the Eagle hasn’t landed yet. Budget cuts … partisan divisions … these put the outcome in jeopardy just as the science falls into place. To get this far and not plant your flag would be one of the greatest accidental evils of this recession.”
 source : http://www.one.org/

Thursday, December 1, 2011

A Decade of Progress on AIDS

  I’LL tell you the worst part about it, for me.
It was the look in their eyes when the nurses gave them the diagnosis — H.I.V.-positive — then said there was no treatment. I saw no anger in their expression. No protest. If anything, just a sort of acquiescence.
The anger came from the nurses, who knew there really was a treatment — just not for poor people in poor countries. They saw the absurdity in the fact that an accident of geography would deny their patients the two little pills a day that could save their lives.