U2 in full flight

Get ready for the wind beneath their wings. The Edge talks to Launch on the follow up to ATYCLB: “Right now, my instinct is to make a very raw kind of guitar, bass, drums–an album with a lot of attitude and a lot of that kind of life force, vitality that I associate with guitar bands in full flight. That’s kind of the feeling I want to put into our next record.” (via Thomas @ U2star.com)

Ho-Ho Bono

The Irish Mirror reports that Bono was seen Christmas shopping in trendy Dublin store Brown Thomas recently. He picked up designer clothes and gifts for his children during an hour-long visit. One onlooker commented, “He was just strolling around and didn’t seem to have a care in the world.”

Bono The Builder

The Irish Independent reports that Bono and the Edge intend to build a new Euro 5m facility for the City of Dublin Working Men’s Club in exchange for the club’s existing building near the Clarence Hotel. The U2 stars have offered to build a new club to members’ specifications, giving them a bar area, invalid toilets, snooker tables, and a concert hall.

The Clarence Hotel will be expanding its facilities into the current club property, which is only two doors down from the hotel on Wellington Quay. A spokesperson for the hotel would not comment on how the additional space will be used.

Rocha and Roll

Across the river from the Clarence Hotel is the very cool Morrison Hotel. Fashion dynamo John Rocha, who co-designed the Morrison Hotel’s interior, recently spoke to the Irish Independent (reg. req.) about his career as a designer in Dublin and the famous friendships he has formed along the way, including that with Bono, Adam Clayton, Gavin Friday, and Guggi.