VIDEO: BONO & THE EDGE ACCEPT THE PALM SPRINGS FILM FESTIVAL VISIONARY AWARD

U2.COM : 'Flash Of Colour'

'It was a penniless city, dull and grey. But for me, as a kid, it was David Bowie and then Johnny Lydon that gave this flash of colour...'

North Side Story tells the story of U2's earliest days in Dublin. Commissioned from the Hot Press team in Ireland, it covers the formative years from 1978 to 1983, from the first single, 'U23', to the live album, Under A Blood Red Sky. 

Below, in our latest edited extracts, Gavin Friday, recalls Dublin in the 1970's and how The Virgin Prunes grew up with U2.

North Side Story is available with a 2014 U2.com subscription. At 274 pages, this heavyweight book of rare photos, original interviews, diaries, letters and profiles comes with 'North & South Of The River, Wandering In U2's Dublin', a poster-size map charting U2's Dublin. Subscription benefits also include: exclusive music (for example subscribers can now download the song 'Ordinary Love' ); a dedicated subscriber site streaming every U2 track with unique video & archived news; the opportunity to enter ticket presales if the band tour and 25% off your first purchase in our Store. 

Find out more and get your own copy of North Side Story here.  Over to Gavin Friday.
'Dublin in 1978 was a grey, dull, miserable place. It was recession all the way. But you don’t think about things like that when you’re a kid. You don’t know that this is heavy – which it was. 

As teenagers, the Northside of Dublin was primarily where we hung out. There was this invisible Berlin Wall at O’Connell Street, so Northsiders never really ventured Southside. But punk rock changed that. It created this scene where you’d have to go to show off your clothes or hang out in Advance Records on South King Street. So it was then we started going Southside – and also because gigs were happening over that side of the city.

The way I remember it, there was incredible violence in Dublin at the time. I mean, I chose to dress quite flamboyantly from an early age so the amount of beatings I got was incredible, even going down to the bus, never mind when I was in the city centre. It wasn’t just punk rockers or people like that. It was like this sort of time-bomb waiting to go off, like the younger generation had had enough of this old Ireland. It felt like this wasteland. Gangs of bootboys: they weren’t as stylish as the skinheads in their Dr. Martens and their tight jeans; these were just yobs, you know? I remember going to a U2 gig in the Baggot Inn, and this crowd that called themselves the Black Catholics came and started throwing stuff at the stage. I think Bono jumped down and went for them. But I would usually get the hidings. I can’t fight. Verbally I can set a house on fire, but it was always Bono and Guggi that defended me.

And there was no money. I’m talking about no money. To go in and see gigs there was always a toss up, ‘Will we walk in and see The Ramones and then we’ll have money to get a bottle of beer and a bag of chips – or do you get the bus?’ It was a penniless city, dull and grey but for me, as a kid, it was David Bowie and then Johnny Lydon that gave this flash of colour.  And we joined that club very quickly and then we hung out in town a lot more. 

Trinity College became a  big
 centre for us because Dik Evans, who is The Edge’s brother, was lead guitarist
 in The Virgin Prunes, and he had accommodation there. So that became like our hangout: if you missed the bus home there would be six or seven of us sleeping on the floor in Dik’s room. The Buttery in Trinity was quite a vibrant place for gigs. So Trinity was our HQ along with the Coffee Inn. That was a very big meet and greet place, it’s where everyone gathered, and it would be like six slices of bread and chips between four. That’d fill you up. 

To tell the truth, I was
 a little bit more advanced than the punks who hung out at Advance Records. A good friend of mine – ‘Tommy the bottle of milk’
 we called him – ran the Virgin Prunes fan club. We had a fan club before we even played a gig! His Dad worked in the BNI, which operated the ship route between here and England, so I used to go over on day trips to Liverpool. We’d have a shopping list for all me mates so we’d go over and come back with a load of records as well as getting cool trousers that you couldn’t get in Dublin. 

There was another quirky thing that very few people know about. At one stage, early on, U2 had a residency in this really bad hotel in Sutton Cross, and they had to do a two-hour set, where they were doing some of their new songs and some covers. And Bono used to be bolloxed and sweating and he’d say, ‘Gav, will you go up?’ and I’d do two Ramones songs, or whatever, with U2 backing me. That was the first time I got up on stage.

Now, the first gig The Virgin Prunes played was in a disco in early ‘78, and the backing band was all of U2, plus Dik and me and Guggi. There was no Strongman. No one else. And to camouflage them - I had worked in Dublin Meat Packers  - I covered their heads with this sort of sheep’s carcass netting and put white coats on them: they looked like something from Devo. We played a 22 minute version of ‘Satisfaction’, really slowly, just to provoke everyone. It was after that gig Dik joined us and we got our own bass player and drummer – and that was the real genesis of The Virgin Prunes...'

Gavin has signed a limited number of deluxe editions of his recent album 'catholic',  which is available on triple tri-coloured vinyl.

U2's best years still to come, insists Bono

Despite the band being formed almost 40 years ago and members hitting their mid-50s, the Dublin rocker vowed the group still had the ability to forge classic songs.

"I'm humbled that in our little post-punk combo from the northside of Dublin, to think that maybe our best work might be to come, even if the odds are against us," he said.

"There's no one, no band, who has done their best work, who has been around for 30 years," said Bono, attending the Palm Springs Film Festival in California.

"That's not true for filmmakers, that's not true of a novelist, that's not true of a poet, so why should that be true of a rock 'n' roll band?"

Fans will be hoping that it is true when they buy the new album due out in April, which has been hailed as a return to U2's roots.

Bono admitted that he used song-writing to fill a void within him, and that it was a form of therapy. He said his ability to write and perform depended on what was happening in his personal life.

"Performing for me comes on like a twitch, really. I have no choice. The songwriting piece is different. It comes out in two ways: despair and attempt to put things right that have been wrong, or joy, just ebullience, you know, it's just overflowing."

source : http://www.independent.ie/

AIDS: Bono thanks US for bipartisan leadership

AIDS: Bono and the Edge accepted the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Visionary Award this week on behalf of U2 with a speech on the power of activism and American bipartisan leadership in delivering more antiretroviral treatment to AIDS patients. This is the first time the award was given to someone other than a filmmaker, and Bono took the opportunity to speak about his band’s advocacy work. The following is a transcript of his entire speech, which Bono delivered at the awards gala on Saturday night. 

I guess this is an award for not shutting up and sticking to what you’re good at. This is kind of an award for being a pain in the arse, isn’t it? That’s what this is. And we do understand that people find it insufferable when artists stray out of their box, but for a lot of us in this room, that is the definition being an artist, straying out of your box.

It is worth mentioning that more people live off their imaginations in California than any other place in the world. No other geography comes close. People around here like to ask questions about the real as well as the imaginary world, and this, of course, is the start of being annoying. Demanding answers is when you upgrade to the proper pain in the arse status of the activist, although some people here have managed to do the activist thing without being annoying.

I am of course thinking of Jane Fonda. How could you not? I’m thinking of Meryl Streep in “Sophie’s Choice.” Steve McQueen has challenged intolerance his entire career. Idris Elba, Naomie Harris were activists long before they took on the giant lives of the Mandelas. Julia Roberts, before she took on “Erin Brockovich,” she was an activist and is an activist, and an extraordinary movie star, the definition of, I would say. And we’d like to pause for a minute to consider our Chairman, Tom Hanks, and his stigma-defying, game-changing role in “Philadelphia.” And what Matthew McConaughey has done again now in “Dallas Buyers Club.” Extraordinary performances.

HIV/AIDS has stolen so many lives in this country. 650,000 to be exact, and 23 million lives outside of this country. What people like Harvey Weinstein and groups like amfAR did for the domestic AIDS problem, ONE and RED and many others are trying to do for the global AIDS crisis. Our one simple belief is that where you live should not decide whether you live.

Now our leader in this campaign lost a son to the disease. His name was Nelson Mandela, the greatest activist of them all. His genius was a refusal to hate, not because he hadn’t experienced rage, but because he thought love would do a better job. His cleverness was to put aside tribalism and partisanship, the kind of partisanship, I think you’ll agree, that has betrayed this great nation and the great American idea at the heart of it, even in the last couple of years.

It’s ironic that by following an African’s example, American and European AIDS activists like ONE were successful in encouraging Democrats and Republicans here in the US to put aside their differences and work together on what is turning out to be the largest health intervention in the history of medicine. Thank you, America.

You probably don’t know this, but there are now 10 million lives in the developing world saved by antiretroviral therapy, and American taxpayers have paid for about three quarters of them. Thank you, America. 7.8 million sentient souls are alive because of AIDS drugs that the United States of America paid for, and they are not just alive, but allowed to thrive, to have healthy kids, to be alive to raise those kids, to work, to contribute to their economies. And we’re at the tipping point — amazing to be able to say this — we are actually at the tipping point if we keep up the pressure.

We are within reach of declaring the first AIDS-free generation. What a thought. What a thought for this community. And it’s down to the activism of this generation, actors, directors, producers, musicians, but also students, doctors, nurses, priests, NASCAR drivers, soccer moms, CEOs, NGOs, politicians, people who just don’t normally hang out together not just hanging out together but working together. And that’s what it takes.

Edge and myself have had our mind and our values shaped by some important books and scribes, but for us, in truth, it was movies and music that kindled that fire and put our imaginations on a course to meet you tonight. So thank you to the visionaries in this room, and you all know that a vision without a promise is just a fantasy, and we’re not interested in that. Thank you and good night.

source : http://www.one.org/

U2.COM : Special Award

Edge and Bono were guests at the Palm Springs International Film Festival over the weekend, honoured for the band's social and political work.  

With Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts among the stars on the red carpet, this was the first time the Sonny Bono Visionary Award had been awarded to artists beyond the film world. They wanted, said Festival Chair Harold Matzner,  to celebrate U2  'for their humanitarian work against extreme poverty, disease and social injustice.'

Here's some highlights from the speeches, after Bono and Edge received the award from Naomie Harris and Idris Elba, stars of Mandela:Long Walk To Freedom.

'I know I can speak for the band when I say how honoured we feel to even be invited to be here tonight, let alone to be the first musicians ever to receive the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.'  Edge

'I understand that people find it insufferable when artists stray from their box, but for a lot of us in this room that is the definition of being an artist. It is worth mentioning that more people live off their imaginations in California than any other place in the world.' Bono

'Our simple belief is that where you live should not decide whether you live. We are within reach of declaring the first AIDS-free generation.' Bono

'Thank you to the visionaries in this room. You all know that a vision without a promise is just a fantasy and we're not interested in that.' Bono

Some 25 years ago journalist Steve Pond visited Dublin to interview the band for Rolling Stone. Steve was on hand again this weekend, speaking to Edge and Bono for The Wrap.  
'The idea of U2 writing a song for a Mandela movie could make people think they’re going to get a big political song. But “Ordinary Love” isn’t that at all.
Bono: Maybe they were thinking we should write a big anthem, a “Pride (In the Name of Love).” But we were more focused on the eros and the agape. A complicated love story, which is this film, deserves a complicated love song. And that’s kind of our specialty.  ‘Cause when things get too straight, in terms of writing a love song, we start getting embarrassed. We come from that Roy Orbison school of dark love songs.
Edge: And the great arc of the story is to see how he emerged after his captivity as this wise sage who had incredible judgement and incredible ability to forgive and to move forward into the future. A visionary....'

On Sunday the musicians joined the actors for a Q&A in the festival’s 'Talking Pictures' programme. Highlights here. 

PALM SPRINGS: PE catches up with U2's Bono and The Edge

"Charming" Bono jumps into wedding photoshoot

An Irish couple gained a "special momento" of their wedding day when Bono posed for pictures with them in Dalkey.

Sinead O’Sullivan and David O’Connor were just finishing up their wedding photographs when they bumped into Irish rock star Bono.

The couple were walking back from the Coliemore Harbour in Dalkey to their reception when they happened to cross paths with the "very charming" star.

Photographer Carol Ryan told Independent.ie that the couple were "a little bit stunned" to "bump into" Bono on their wedding day. "He was walking with his daughter (but) he was happy to jump into some shots".

Ryan, who is in touch with the couple, says they are "delighted" with the attention their "special momento" is getting, adding that Bono was "really nice" to the couple.

source : http://www.independent.ie/

U2 return to 'spiritual home' with new album

U2 are said to be returning to their “spiritual home” by releasing their new album via Island Records, according to PA.

The record label discovered the Irish group in the late 1970s but they left just over seven years ago, when their relationship turned sour after label boss Jason Iley was moved to Mercury Records and the band were unhappy with his successor. They later followed their former label boss to Mercury.

Earlier this year, parent company Universal closed down Mercury and moved most of the acts to their new company Virgin/EMI, although it was not announced which label would house U2. 

But now, a source has confirmed that the band will head back to Island Records, which has had a change in management since their departure. The source said the band were “going back to their spiritual home”.

Reports recently claimed that U2 would release their new album in April 2014 and an announcement could be made at Super Bowl XLVIII in February with representatives for the band currently negotiating a deal with brands to announce the LP. Bassist Adam Clayton recently confirmed that the group were planning to wrap up recording by the end of this year. 

Earlier this year, U2 were reportedly spotted entering a New York studio with Coldplay's Chris Martin, fuelling speculation that the singer may appear on the band's new album. All four members of the rock group were seen at the Electric Lady Studios in New York in May, where Danger Mouse was reportedly mixing the new material.

source : http://www.nme.com/

U2.COM : 'Ordinary Love' - New Video By Oliver Jeffers & Mac Premo

'Ordinary Love' - New Video by Oliver Jeffers & Mac Premo

A couple of weeks back the band dropped by the New York studios of Oliver Jeffers and Mac Premo, the creative duo behind the 'Ordinary Love' lyric video.

Oliver and Mac have now come up with a new cut of the video, designed to accompany the Paul Epworth version of the song.

With 'Mandela:Long Walk To Freedom' opening all around the world, this seemed like the perfect moment to share this latest visual take of 'Ordinary Love' . 

CHRISTMAS EVE TRADITION: BONO BUSKS IN DUBLIN FOR 5TH STRAIGHT YEAR