‘Thank you, we’re here every Tuesday night…’

Are U2 considering a residency stint at the O2 venue in London? This is what Rolling Stone and other publications are speculating.

It’s the rumour that won’t die, innit? We first heard of it (from the proverbial reliable sources) straight after the band’s last tour and it’s popped up again and again over the last couple of years. Now that bastion of investigative journalism, The Sun, claims McGuinness told them:

“It’s got great potential for U2 and because it’s undercover you can do a run of shows in the autumn.”

It also cuts down on gear, trucks and drivers, which the band might no longer be able afford due to thieving fans, downloaders, Steve Jobs, hippies, ISPs! *

Where there’s smoke there’s fire? True or not, the question remains: could you cope with a 20+ gig U2 residency in *your* town?

*) Why not blame bloggers, too?. I bet McG loves Andrew Keen.

G8: Are you ready to Rostock?

Bono: “I missed Woodstock, and now I’m not going to miss Rostock! If
the G8 heads think that they can ignore this campaign, they are making a very big mistake.”

Bono, celebrating his 47th birthday today, is set to rock the German city of Rostock during the G8 summit on June 7. He’ll be sharing the ‘Music and Messages’ bill with Die Toten Hosen, Herbert Groenemeyer and other German artists. The gig, part of Germany’s ‘Deine Stimme Gegen Armut‘ movement has been dubbed ‘P8′. The musicians are urging the G8 leaders to keep their promises regarding commitments on aid to Africa. Tickets were sold online at the simply lovely price of 2.50 euros on May 2. Needless to say there are none left.

• Blogging G8: Missed Woodstock? Don’t miss Rostock!
• Konzert in Rostock (German)
• Official press release (English, pdf)

Eyes from the frontline

When you’re done reading all that, get your teeth in Bono’s poem/lyric penned for Gégé Katana, as published on U2.com. Bono read out his tribute at City Hall in Dublin on May 1st, as he presented the Front Line Award for Human Rights to Gégé.

Miss Katana works on behalf of victims of sexual violence and founded the Solidarity Movement of Women Human Rights Activists in Uvira in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Who knows, we may see these words again, on U2′s next album perhaps?

Bono’s Greatest Gig Ever

The Guardian have asked a panel of artists and writers to describe the concerts that changed their lives. Bono picks a gig by The Clash, at Trinity College in Dublin, 1977:

Can’t remember the set list, can’t remember much about the music, to be honest. I just know that everything changed that night, and I’m sure it was not just for me.

It wasn’t so much a musical event. It was more like the Red Army had arrived, on a cold October night, to force feed a new cultural revolution, punk rock. Marching boots and the smell of sulphur.

As I sat in the box room and stared out the window the next day, it was very clear. The world is more malleable than you think; reality is what you can get away with.

(read more)

What is your greatest gig ever?

Rough Trade Night, Paradiso, Amsterdam

If you happen to be in Amsterdam this upcoming weekend, you could do worse than dropping in the Paradiso saturday night. On Saturday the 27th of November, Rough Trade Records will take over this beautiful church converted into club, which helped break many an artist break in the Netherlands.

The “Rough Trade Night” will feature British Sea Power and most of the almost ethereal Low as well as the Delays, Eastern Lane, David Kitt and Baxter Dury.

British Sea Power we definitely found an interesting band the first time I saw them in a similar setting, and I’m quite happy to see them again. Low initially captured our interest after the “In the Fishtank” EP they did with the Dirty Three. Their gig I saw at the Paradiso a while ago was nothing short of amazing, with nearly every member of the audience practially holding their breath at the fragility of their sound. Then there’s the Delays. They’ve been raved about and people have recommended them to me, but I’m afraid they totally failed to capture me at the Isle of Wight Festival earlier this year. Hopefully the small club setting will do them more justice this time around. Eastern Lane, David Kitt and Baxter Dury all come with their own recommendations, that they’ll hopefully live upto. I personally can’t wait for this “rising star” studded night for a mere 12,50.

Additionally, Fabchannel are doing a webcast of the night.

The Edge has a new ‘thing’

Niall Stokes of Hot Press reviews U2′s BBC1 gig on the Hot Press website and quotes Bono telling Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley: “We fucked it up a couple of times, but I think we got away with it.”

Stokes also mentions a conversation with The Edge in which the guitarist explains to him he has as a new trick up his sleeve:

“Across the other side of the room, Edge is beaming – clearly satisfied that a good night’s work has been done. I compliment him on his slide playing. “We’ve had to invent a new thing,” he tells me, “so I can switch from normal chords to playing slide in the middle of a song. It’s tiny, and fits on the tip of the finger. I’ll show you…””

Unfortunately, Stokes does not elaborate on Edge’s thingie.

LATE SCRATCHING

Here’s the hand written setlist for the recent Irving Plaza gig. It seems ‘Real Thing’ was scratched from the set at the last minute …. Thanks to U2.com

click image for larger version

Start spreading the news

There’s a U2 gig in Noo Yawk on December 5. If you’re not going then it may be worthwhile tuning into the radio station with the clever name, ‘Edge102′, and have a listen to the gig online.
Tune in here.