Get your piece of rock history as Bono's old Merc goes on eBay

Dave Lawlor with his metallic-bronze Mercedes 450 SEL 
at Park West, Dublin. The Mercedes was owned by Bono 
until he auctioned it off for charity in 2000

THIS is one set of wheels with a true rock 'n' roll history.
If the cowhide-patterned interior isn't a strong enough hint as to its famous past, then there are other, firmer clues.
The logbook for the 30-year-old metallic-bronze Mercedes 450SL still carries the name of 'Paul Hewson', better-known as Bono, U2's frontman.
"It's been restored to its former glory and it is now a vintage car," said the current owner, Dave Lawlor, the manager of the music venue Fibber Magee's on Dublin's Parnell Street.
The vehicle has already driven through its fair share of auctions, but will shortly be going up for sale again on eBay. Mr Lawlor said he planned to donate around €5,000 of the sale money to charities for schizophrenia.

Another time another place in Phoenix...

Bono to unite East and West for Mikhail Gorbachev's 80th birthday

A GALA concert to mark the 80th birthday of international elder statesman Mikhail Gorbachev and raise £5 million for children's charities will be held at London's Royal Albert Hall next March, it has been announced.

The concert and fund-raising campaign was launched by Mr Gorbachev's grand-daughters, Ksenia Gorbacheva and Anastasia Virganskaya, at a press conference at the Royal Albert Hall.

For concert promoters, bigger isn't always better

Huge stadium performances like the U2 concert coming to Baltimore next summer are becoming increasingly rare.

When U2 plays M&T Bank Stadium next year, it will be a major financial and promotional coup for a city that hasn't had a stadium headliner in two years. But don't expect an encore any time soon. With strong regional competition and weak sales for concerts nationwide, the stadium isn't likely to book musical headliners when the Ravens aren't in season for the next few years, stadium officials said.
"No one's beating down our doors, I can tell you that much," said Roy Sommerhof, vice president of stadium operations at M&T. "There's a lot of uneasiness in the concert business."

U2 guitarist brings an Edge to wife's art project

Louis le Brocquy

U2 guitarist Edge and his choreographer wife Morleigh Steinberg have collaborated to create a music and dance piece inspired by the work of artist Louis le Brocquy.
'Cold Dream Colour', which makes its world premiere in Dun Laoghaire's Pavilion Theatre on November 12, marks the 94th birthday of the Dublin-born artist recognised as the foremost Irish painter of the 20th century.
Californian Steinberg, who married musician Edge in 2002, revealed she has been fascinated by Le Brocquy's art since she moved to Ireland 15 years ago and had asked his permission before embarking on the work.
"I asked him if he had ever seen his paintings danced? His face lit up and he replied, 'It would be an honour'," she said.
The show will be presented by Steinberg herself, along with other dancers including her sister Roxanne Steinberg, Grant McKay, 'Oguri' and Katherine O'Malley.
It is hoped that Le Brocquy will attend the show's opening. Tickets are on sale at the theatre box office at €18, €22 and €35.

- Ken Sweeney Entertainment Editor

Irish Independent

U2 - Desire (Lovetown, Sydney, maybe the best live version)

U2 360° Heading to Baltimore, St Louis : U2.COM official!!!

Two more dates have been added to next year's North American leg of U2 360°.

On June 22nd the band will play at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD with special guests Florence and The Machine.

On July 17th the band will play at Busch Stadium in St Louis, MO with special guests Interpol.

Tickets for both shows  go on sale to the general public next Monday November 8th at 10am (local)  but U2.com subscribers can enter a special advance PRESALE beginning this week.

Subscribers will be emailed ahead of this presale with details of timings.

Interested in becoming a U2.com subscriber and entering the ticket presales?

Here's all the details you need - including news of 'U2:Duals'. This is a limited edition CD, not for sale at retail, featuring U2 collaborations with other artists.

source : http://www.u2.com/tour/presale

Kings of Leon top bill at Slane anniversary gig

AMERICAN ROCK band Kings of Leon were yesterday confirmed to headline the 30th anniversary concert at Slane Castle next summer.
The four-piece will play the historic Co Meath venue on May 28th next, three decades after Thin Lizzy headlined the first Slane gig, supported by U2.
Having the band playing was “inevitable”, venue owner Henry Lord Mountcharles said.
Having the Tennessee act, consisting of three Followill brothers and a cousin, to headline the anniversary concert was a “really good fit”, he said.
“Their musical journey is special. They have openly admitted that Thin Lizzy was one of their primary influences, and [Thin Lizzy] opened the first Slane in 1981.Thirty years later, that had a poignancy to me,” Lord Henry Mountcharles said.
He has consulted U2, who have had Kings of Leon as a support act on tour, about the US outfit.
Lord Henry has walked though the estate listening to the band’s latest album to try to imagine how it might sound. He concluded the songs on the Come Around Sundown album, at No 1 in the Irish charts, have “all the stuff that works in the venue”.

It's official : U2 to play M&T Bank Stadium June 22

Rockers U2 will bring their colossal 360-Degrees tour to M&T Bank Stadium on June 22, the Baltimore mayor's office confirmed Sunday.

The production, which reportedly takes road crews three days to break down, transport and set up, will be the first major concert at the stadium in years. The in-the-round show features a 150-foot futuristic four-pronged claw, a circular video screen that expands and contracts, and several mechanized bridges. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was expected to announce the performance at 7 a.m. today on a radio show.

The 360-Degrees tour began in Europe in 2009, came to FedEx Field last September and is expected to lap the world before its last scheduled date in Pittsburgh July 26. The English indie group Florence and the Machine is the opening act for the Baltimore gig. U2 will be the first top-tier live show at the stadium since country star Kenny Chesney performed there in May 2008. In previous years, the stadium has also hosted the HFStival, among other concerts.

source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/

RUMOR : Bono @ Mikhail Gorbachev’s 80th birthday gala concert?

Liz Hurley and Hugh Grant are just two of the stars involved in former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s 80th birthday gala concert at the Royal Albert Hall next March, but U2 frontman Bono is set to be the biggest hit.

‘Bono is involved in the planning of the Gorby 80 party and will be performing a big surprise,’ says Gorbachev’s 23-year-old granddaughter, Anastasia Virganskaya. ‘My grandfather loves U2 – he went to their concert in Moscow last year.’

source : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/