Gavin Friday on the tension of playing Dublin

Gavin Friday talks to U2.com just before the Dublin shows. Can you feel the tension?

Slideshow: U2 at Croke Park, July 27, 2009

Our photoset from U2′s gig at Croke Park in Dublin on July 27th, 2009

U2 360 Dublin, July 27, 2009

Setlist

1. Breathe
2. No Line on the Horizon
3. Get on Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day
6. New Year’s Day [ Video ]
7. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (Snippet: Movin’ on Up)
8. Stay [ Video ]
9. Unknown Caller
10. The Unforgettable Fire
11. City of Blinding Lights
12. Vertigo
13. I’ll Go Crazy Remix (Snippets: Relax, Two Tribes)
14. Sunday Bloody Sunday (Snippet: Rock the Casbah) [ Video ]
15. Pride
16. MLK
17. Walk On (Snippet: You’ll Never Walk Alone)
18. Where the Streets Have No Name (Snippet: All You Need Is Love) [ Streets ]
19. One
20. Bad (Snippets: 40, Fool to Cry) [ Video ]
21. Ultraviolet [ Video ]
22. With or Without You (with Shine Like Stars verse)
23. Moment of Surrender

U2 360 Dublin, July 25, 2009

Setlist

1. Breathe
2. No Line on the Horizon
3. Get on Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day (Snippet: Here Comes the Sun)
6. Mysterious Ways [ Video ]
7. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (Snippet: Stand by Me)
8. Angel of Harlem (Snippet: Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough)
9. In a Little While [ Video ]
10. Unknown Caller [ Video ]
11. The Unforgettable Fire
12. City of Blinding Lights (Snippet: Rain)
13. Vertigo (Snippet: Thunderstruck)
14. I’ll Go Crazy Remix (Snippet: O Come All Ye Faithful)
15. Sunday Bloody Sunday (Snippet: Rock the Casbah)
16. Pride
17. MLK
18. Walk On (Snippet: You’ll Never Walk Alone)
19. Where the Streets Have No Name
20. One
21. Ultraviolet
22. With or Without You
23. Moment of Surrender [ Video ]

U2 360 Dublin, July 24, 2009

Setlist

1. Breathe [ video ]
2. No Line on the Horizon
3. Get on Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day (Snippets: Here Comes the Sun, Blackbird)
6. Elevation [ video ]
7. Desire
8. Stuck in a Moment [ video ]
9. The Auld Triangle (a tribute to Ronnie Drew) [ video ]
10. One
11. Until the End of the World (Snippet: Break on Through) [ video ]
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. City of Blinding Lights
14. Vertigo (Snippet: Do You Remember Rock n Roll Radio)
15. Crazy Tonight (Snippet: O Come All Ye Faithful) [ video ]
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday (Snippet: Rock the Casbah) [ video ]
17. Pride
18. MLK [ video ]
19. Walk On (Snippet: You’ll Never Walk Alone)
20. Where the Streets Have No Name (Snippet: All You Need Is Love)
21. Bad (Snippets: Fool to Cry, 40) [ video ]
22. Ultraviolet [ video ]
23. With or Without You
24. Moment of Surrender

Extra Dublin and Gothenburg dates added to U2′s tour

U2 have added an extra show in Gothenburg, tickets went on sale straight away. The second Dublin date has also been announced as well as the opening acts for both shows: Glasvegas and Kaiser Chiefs. Public ticket sales start March 20. For more information see our spreadsheet, or check U2gigs.com.

Update March 14: An extra Amsterdam date was added during the public on sale.

Part 2 of Sean O’Hagan’s U2 video diary

Having started his journey in Fez, Sean O’Hagan’s video diary now captures the band in recording sessions in Dublin, London and New York.

Watch the video on guardian.co.uk

In the interview published alongside the video, Bono mentions U2′s intention to release another album this year. Earlier interviews had already hinted at a dusk/dawn type of album combo.

The future is another question for another interview. How long can U2 stay meaningful? Where will rock’s greatest adventure end? For now, there is enough material left over from the sessions for an album that, Bono says, will be released before the end of the year. It will be “a more meditative album on the theme of pilgrimage”.

U2′s sessions in Fez: the video

The Observer’s Sean O’Hagan, a long time friend of the band, spent 18 months following them from Fez to Dublin, as they recorded New Line On The Horizon.

He’s captured his travels on film and in part one of this exclusive – but brief- footage the band begins sessions in a converted riad in Morocco.

Watch the video on guardian.co.uk

Continue reading »

Bono salutes the Chairman of the Board

In Bono’s first column for the New York Times, the singer – perhaps against type-cast – muses on believability, duality, “hubris and humility, blue eyes and red” in a new, less certain year.

“If you want to hear the least sentimental voice in the history of pop music finally crack, though — shhhh — find the version of Frank’s ode to insomnia, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road),” hidden on “Duets.” Listen through to the end and you will hear the great man break as he truly sobs on the line, “It’s a long, long, long road.” I kid you not.”

Forget the petrol pump attendant. If Bono hadn’t been in a band, he would have made an a-list blogger.

U2 announces new album ‘No Line on the Horizon’

Mark your calendars! U2.com reports that ‘No Line on the Horizon’, the new studio album from U2, will be released on Monday 2nd March, 2009.

They write:

Written and recorded in various locations, No Line On The Horizon is the group’s 12th studio album and is their first release since the 9 million selling album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, released in late 2004.

Sessions for No Line On The Horizon began last year in Fez, Morocco, continued in the band’s own studio in Dublin, before moving to New York’s Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and finally being completed at Olympic Studios in London.

The album calls on the production talents of long-time collaborators Brian Eno and Danny Lanois, with additional production by Steve Lillywhite.

Billboard runs the story and has a quote from a ‘source’ who heard songs in their early forms: “…amazing and a little out there. I hope they don’t change anything.” (Read more.)