U2 on Fridaynight with Jonathan Ross

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U2 recording their performance for the BBC’s Fridaynight with Jonathan Ross, as posted to Twitpic by Ross (@wossy) That’s actor Clive Owen in the foreground.

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And here’s Bono fixing Clive’s tie.

According to Ross they played Get On Your Boots and Breathe. A U2log contributor in the audience let us know the band also recorded Boots for their Comic Relief appearance in March.

Bye bye Basquiat

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | U2 selling Basquiat masterpiece

Bono on G8 failures

BBC Newsnight on the outcome of the G8 conference. Both Bono and Bob Geldof comment. Geldof summarises eloquently: ‘What happened over the last few days is bollocks.’

Show us the $%&%!! money

Bob and Bono want to know what happened to the G8 pledges. The BBC’s Gavin Esler talks to the two of them.

Holey moley, U2 in ‘worst lyrics ever’ chart

U2′s ‘mole’ has made it into the BBC 6 worst lyrics chart after a public vote. Sitting uncomfortably at #10 in this dubious list, among clunkers by Snap, Black Sabbath and Toto, are the following lines from Elevation:

“I’ve got no self control, Been living like a mole now, Going down, excavation, High and high in the sky, You make me feel like I can fly, So high, Elevation”

I can’t say I object. What are your worst-U2-lyrics-ever picks?

Rise, Sir Bono

Oh, he already has.

All kidding aside, we have it on good authority the former Bono Vox of O’Connell Street will be receiving his knighthood in a private ceremony in Dublin this morning.

• … and RTE are on it too.

• BBC coverage with pictures
• IHT: ‘He thought I was becoming a Jedi’
• U2.com: ‘A knighthood for Bono’

The Edge parts with 1975 Gibson Les Paul

According to the BBC, the Edge has given his favourite guitar, the 1975 Gibson Les Paul, to the Music Rising organisation for the Icons of Music auction. The charity replaces instruments lost or destroyed when Hurricane Katrina hit the US.

Says the man: “I wanted to give something really significant that would mean a lot for me to give,” says the U2 man. “It deserved something that I would miss.”

Why not read this study of The Edge’s Guitar Delay or buy the auction’s catalogue while you recover?

You can get a look of the guitar in question from April 3 to 6 when it goes on display in Dublin’s Clarence Hotel after which it will be auctioned off online at www.juliensauctions.com on April 21st. Starting bid is $60,000. Ask the wife before you remortgage your property.

Other items on auction are The Edge’s worn sneakers, his woolly hat, his necklace, as well as a signed Bill Clinton saxophone, Larry Mullen’s tom drum ($8,000), Bono’s Irish Falcon guitar ($80,000) and handwritten Bruce Springsteen lyrics ($2,000). Personally, we’ve always liked the look of that Hamilton Ventura watch Bono used to sport in the 90s. Would he care to part with that?

The Joshua Tree’s powerful impact

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of The Joshua Tree, Andrew Collins looks back on the album and its powerful impact.

“But for an instance, U2 had the world in the palm of their hand. None of the irony that would dog them in the 90s, less of the piety that still puts people off them, and more of the wonder. They had such a profound, moving, mobilising, even politicising effect on the young, grant-assisted, long-haired me, I will probably always love them, like the old Stones fans love the Stones.”

Read the full review and enjoy more of BBC 6 Music’s trip down the memory lane.

Where were you when you heard it first?

Join the queue like everybody else

The BBC is blogging from the World Economic Forum in Davos. Their reporter Tim Weber mentions tight security on site:

‘Without a badge, you won’t get far here. For some, though, the staff might be tempted to make an exception. But they don’t. As I rush out of the conference centre to go to a briefing, Bono walks up and as he is without a bag or other accessories, he tries to jump the queue at the x-ray machine. But he is turned back firmly by a security guard. Just as she does so, she hesitates. “Bono?”, she asks. He nods. She smiles – but points him to the badge reader regardless.’

• More Bono in Davos on the BBC’s WEF blog.
• Washington Post: Blair, Bono tout helping Africa at forum
• Guardian blog: Hope and hot air

Bono: “Maybe the rock will have to go…”

Can we have a hallelujah on that? Oh, there’s more to it: “Maybe the rock has to get a lot harder.” Hmm.

Rock. Hard place. Stuck? Bono’s talked to Jo Whiley on BBC 1 over Christmas, the audio of which you can listen to on the BBC website. Well, you could, if the damn link to the mp3 was working. Luckily Atu2blog.com’s transcribed the most newsworthy bits of the hour-long show. (update: BBC download is now working.)

“[...] our band has certainly reached the end of where we’ve been at for the last couple of albums. I want to see what else we can do with it, take it to the next level; I think that’s what we’ve got to do.”

We’re pretty sure the next level will sound just like U2.