“The thing about U2 that nobody seems to get,” says Bono, “is that the very things people think about us, which is the megalomania and the immodesty, they’re so far from the truth. People don’t see that. We had will.i.am doing some work on the new album and he was shocked by the absence of ego. He said: ‘Your fans have bigger egos than you do.’

Discuss.

Photo copyright cvodb, 2008

Garvey says it was the first song the band ever learnt together:

“We were huge U2 fans… it was the first thing we ever played together as nippers”, said Garvey. “It was too lovely a thing that we’d also covered it many, many moons ago.”

You can listen to Guy Garvey being interviewed by XFM’s Ian Camfield, and you can also hear Elbow’s lush cover of ‘Running To Stand Still’ on the XFM website.

The War Child album ‘Heroes’ will be released on February 16th.

The tracklisting in full:

1. Beck (Bob Dylan: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat)
2. Scissor Sisters (Roxy Music: Do The Strand)
3. Lily Allen (The Clash: Straight To Hell)
4. Duffy (Paul McCartney: Live And Let Die)
5. Elbow (U2: Running To Stand Still)
6. TV On The Radio (David Bowie: Heroes)
7. Hot Chip (Joy Division: Transmission)
8. The Kooks (The Kinks: Victoria)
9. Estelle (Stevie Wonder: Superstition)
10. Rufus Wainwright (Brian Wilson: Wonderful/ Song For Children)
11. Peaches (Iggy Pop: Search And Destroy)
12. The Hold Steady (Bruce Springsteen: Atlantic City)
13. The Like (Elvis Costello: You Belong To Me)
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs (The Ramones: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker)
15. Franz Ferdinand (Blondie: Call Me).

As you all know Matt runs atU2.com. Over the past few months he’s been busy writing his book ‘U2 – A Diary’ and he’s just handed in his manuscript – we know how that feels!. He’s now looking for pictures to illustrate the book. You’ll find all the details on his book blog. But he’s looking for the following in particular:

• The “fan displays” at the Vertigo Tour gigs.
• Photos of Bono changing his shoes during “I Will Follow” at the July 7, 2005, show in Berlin.
• Photos of the PopMart Lemon getting stuck in Oslo, August 1997.
• Photos of U2 fans in line at Point Depot for tickets, November 1989.

Think you can help?

“Do the maths,” says Bono. “It costs about $5 a week to pay for the two pills a day it takes to keep someone with HIV alive.”

And, talking about the work the band has been doing on their new album Bono reveals, yes, here it comes, ‘The Edge is on fire’:

“World music this is not,” he says, though U2 fans will “feel the difference”. Polyrhythmic is the word he chooses with a self-deprecating laugh. “U2 in dancefloor shock. Normally when you play a U2 tune, it clears the dancefloor. And that may not be true of this. There’s some trance influences. But there’s some very hardcore guitar coming out of The Edge. Real molten metal. It’s not like anything we’ve ever done before, and we don’t think it sounds like anything anyone else has done either.”

U2log.com predicts the album will come out sounding just like U2, just the way we like it.

Read more and find out about Bono’s number one in Ghana…

{photos by Otto Kitsinger}

Nineteen U2 fans and photographers including our own Ruth Barohn have donated their best shots of the band (and one of their friend) to the 2nd photo auction in support of the African Well Fund‘s ‘Build a well for Bono’s birthday’ charity, organised by Phil Romans. Last year’s auction raised an amazing $11,000, so get bidding to top that number.

The photo auction starts April 14th, and will last for 7 days. The first auction starts at 12pm EST, and each auction will subsequently start at one minute increments.

Go check out the auctions on eBay.

The fans, from the US, Canada, the UK, France and Australia all used to post their poems in a poetry forum, The Heart, which was part of U2’s official fansite back in 2001-2003.

Today is the book’s launch day, so check out the book’s MySpace and buy it at Lulu.com.

All donations to the African Well Fund go directly to Africare (one of the leading private, non-profit, charitable organisations assisting Africa) to fund water projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Friday night U2 performed two songs, “Vertigo” and “Window in the Skies,” on the rooftop of TV Asahi in Roppongi, a posh area of Tokyo. The performance was aired live on the Japanese television show “Music Station.”

Hundreds of U2 fans gathered outside the studio in hopes of hearing the performance, but were disappointed to hear little over the traffic noise on the streets and the helicopters that were filming the performance. Only Larry’s intro to “Vertigo” could be heard faintly.

Video
Vertigo
Window in the Skies

These videos will likely be removed on YouTube by TV Asahi, so watch them while you can.

PRESS RELEASE
HELLO! HELLO! OVATION’S BACK WITH VERTIGO!
September 6, 2006 – Kingston, Ontario

The music industry was shocked earlier this year to hear about the demise of ETS Travel Services, an industry pioneer dating back to 1973. Attention shifted immediately to the hundreds of clients who had booked with ETS, and were now searching for answers regarding their purchased U2 ticket packages! As one of the major selling outlets for ETS, Ovation Travel felt the effects of their closure first hand. Friends quickly found themselves without work, and the existing OTX staff struggled to keep our own product moving forward. Despite the confusion and hardship, we did not forget about those left in limbo that we had the chance to help! Ovation immediately contacted The Next Adventure (TNA) and offered our assistance to the U2 community, and to help solve the dilemma. The folks at TNA graciously promised to take care of everyone who had booked with the former ETS, providing quick answers to concerned U2 fans. With Ovation’s help, those fans were contacted and once again given the chance to see U2 live in concert!

Ovation Travel’s hassle-free U2//Vertigo packages are available from Brisbane to Honolulu, as the tour treks its way across the Pacific Ocean. Check out our website at www.otx.ca for the latest in hotel accommodation packages, or pre-concert Experiences. For those planning to attend the tour finale in Hawaii, Ovation offers a special once-in-a-lifetime package; a Spectacular Hawaiian Luau. A celebration of U2 for the closing show of the U2//Vertigo 2006 tour. Be part of the U2 Hawaiian Fan Luau at Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park on December 8 in Honolulu! This spectacular event will be the largest fan gathering of the entire U2//Vertigo tour. Enjoy dining, dancing and a party that lasts all night featuring a live performance by a premiere tribute band. The fun starts at 4:00 pm, and the lights go off at 2:00 am. Authentic Hawaiian Hula and Fire Dancers will perform, with the entire event hosted by a special celebrity guest. U2 Fan Luau packages include general admission tickets to the December 9th U2 concert at Aloha Stadium, with special guests Pearl Jam. We feature exciting packages from US$49.95 (with a special early-bird price of US$35.00 for fans already attending the concert itself) for the Official U2 Hawaiian Fan Luau. Also available are a limited number of U2//Vertigo General Admission packages at US$169.95, including the Hawaiian Luau.

ABOUT OVATION
Started in 1969, Ovation Travel Experiences is an organization made up of fresh minds, seasoned industry veterans, and some key employees of the former ETS Travel Services, providing you with over 100 years of combined music and travel experience. We have provided entertainment travel packages to literally thousands of clients both locally and internationally. For more information on Ovation Travel Experiences, please visit our web site at www.otx.ca. For more information on OTX event packages, contact info@otx.ca.

The marathon will be streamed on WBWC.com from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. EST. Email your song requests to Mary and Todd at request@wbwc.com.

Use this link to listen to the marathon in RealAudio.

Popbitch doesn’t mention which charity, but U2 fans will recognise these items would be part of the Red campaign to heighten AIDS awareness as mentioned here on U2log.com in the past.