Give God a call, Pavarotti has died

Bono: “I spoke to him last week… the voice that was louder than any rock band was a whisper. Still he communicated his love. Full of love.”

The Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti died at his home in Modena today. He was 71 years old.

Pavarotti once famously asked Bono’s housekeeper to “Tell God to give me a call” when he found it difficult to get hold of U2′s singer. He was trying to get U2 involved in his charity concert ‘Pavarotti and friends‘ for Bosnia’s war children. When Bono did get involved, the collaboration produced the single Miss Sarajevo. Bono later duetted with the opera legend on various occasions, including the performance of Ave Maria shown above.

Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year.

Ave, maestro.

• Bono’s memories on U2.com (BBC audio)

Japan welcomes U2

Hi, Promo Bono here. After being stuck in a box on a shelf in Vertigo Air for God-knows-forever, I’ve managed to sneak my way into Japan via Adam Clayton’s man purse. It’s time for Promo Bono to get in on some Vertigo tour fun!

The band and I arrived in Tokyo on Monday and were greeted by Japanese fans at Haneda Airport. The band, whose last visit to the country was in March 1998 during the PopMart tour, were warmly welcomed. I snapped this pic of The Edge at the airport from inside a pocket in Adam’s purse:

Looking good, yes?

The band will perform the first of three shows at Saitama Super Arena tonight. Because entrance into the venue is in numeric order, fans have been instructed not to show up at the venue before 6 pm when doors open. The show will begin at 7 pm without an opening act.

On Friday, U2 will appear on Japanese television to perform two songs, “Window in the Skies” and “Vertigo.”

I intend to (secretly) run around in Japan with the band as much as my little Promo Bono legs will allow me, so come back to read about our adventures.

NYC 4: “We’ll shine like stars…”

Welcome to moodswing central. Fans attending multiple shows in New York got to see plenty of different sides to U2′s lead singer.

From run-of-the-mill Bono on the 7th, to pissed off Bono on the 8th, to distracted and going-through-the-motions Bono on the 10th and absolutely determined to kick ass Bono on the 11th. We can’t possibly predict which of the ‘nice bunch of guys’ exactly will be fronting U2 on the 14th. You let us know.

Maybe it wasn’t The Edge’s smoothest show of the tour, but this time Bono didn’t snark. (His ‘I really enjoyed that, The Edge.’ earlier in the week came out a little cutting.) The man was too busy enjoying himself on stage. All smiles, all fun and happy banter.

During Sunday Bloody Sunday, he picked a little girl off the shoulders of her father in front row, and made her sing ‘no more’. Later, he gave her his COEXIST bandana as a memento. At another point during the show, a German fan was the lucky recipient of Bono’s pricey specs.

But the moment we were sure this was a special one came when Bono finally pulled out the fan-favourite ‘shine like stars in the summer night’-verse of With or without you, for the first time since God knows when. Trainspotters world wide wet themselves for sheer ecstasy.

The chorus of ’40′ echoed through the ‘Gardens’ (as Bono kept calling the MSG) for the longest time. Then the lights came on and for your U2log.com editor-in-chief at least, it was the end of Vertigo 2005. Thank you, Madison Square Garden, thank you, New York.