U2 to Play for Peace?

Travis frontman Fran Healy is organizing a free peace concert in London’s Hyde Park next month. According to The Mirror, Healy has asked U2 to join the list of performers, which includes Coldplay, the Stereophonics, and Ms Dynamite.

A U2 spokesman said that the band have not been formally approached to play at the concert.

70 thoughts on “U2 to Play for Peace?”

  3. Proposed set list: Out of Control–Until the End of the World–Electric Co–The Fly–Kite–Stuck in a Moment–If God Will Send His Angels–Stay–Gone–Please–One.

  4. Proposed set list: Out of Control–Until the End of the World–Electric Co–The Fly–Kite–Stuck in a Moment–If God Will Send His Angels–Stay–Gone–Please–One.

  13. wouldn’t it be too much of a cliche to include Peace on Earth in that setlist?? Also I’d love to hear Electrical Storm live so this would be a good occasion. Oh and if you include that, why not Beat on the brat(for Saddam), Surrender and Daddy’s gonna pay for your crashed car (for george W.), another 12 minute version of Bad AND MOFO!!!
    PEACE!!

  14. wouldn’t it be too much of a cliche to include Peace on Earth in that setlist?? Also I’d love to hear Electrical Storm live so this would be a good occasion. Oh and if you include that, why not Beat on the brat(for Saddam), Surrender and Daddy’s gonna pay for your crashed car (for george W.), another 12 minute version of Bad AND MOFO!!!
    PEACE!!

  15. In regards to the slipped disk issue..I sat behind Bono, Ali and their daughters this past Saturday at the Lion King in New York. He seemed to be in a bit of pain when he sat down. Those theatre seats can be quite uncomfortable though.

  16. In regards to the slipped disk issue..I sat behind Bono, Ali and their daughters this past Saturday at the Lion King in New York. He seemed to be in a bit of pain when he sat down. Those theatre seats can be quite uncomfortable though.

  17. The people of Iraq will be full of joy when Saddam’s finally gone.

    US + Britain = Democracy.

    Sorry B-man, don’t be ignorant.Anyone trust Saddam???

    IMO: don’t sing for peace now, sing for Enduring Freedom.

    Why don’t give a big democracy-concert in Iraq…when these people are liberated.

    Flame me;O)

  18. The people of Iraq will be full of joy when Saddam’s finally gone.

    US + Britain = Democracy.

    Sorry B-man, don’t be ignorant.Anyone trust Saddam???

    IMO: don’t sing for peace now, sing for Enduring Freedom.

    Why don’t give a big democracy-concert in Iraq…when these people are liberated.

    Flame me;O)

  25. People, you must understand that military involvement would very likely even cause more destruction and harm to the people of Iraq and the rest of the world. We cannot bomb people into democracy. Is this war really about liberation? No way.
    I doubt U2 will play but it would be great of they did

  26. People, you must understand that military involvement would very likely even cause more destruction and harm to the people of Iraq and the rest of the world. We cannot bomb people into democracy. Is this war really about liberation? No way.
    I doubt U2 will play but it would be great of they did

  27. But abstaining from military involvement will make it all the more likely that Saddam Hussein will obtain nuclear weapons. That will surely make the world a more dangerous place. I’m all for peace myself, but not the cheap peace obtained through appeasing tyrants. Real, lasting peace comes not through capitulation but through victory.

  28. But abstaining from military involvement will make it all the more likely that Saddam Hussein will obtain nuclear weapons. That will surely make the world a more dangerous place. I’m all for peace myself, but not the cheap peace obtained through appeasing tyrants. Real, lasting peace comes not through capitulation but through victory.

  29. Ahh! For crying out loud. I’m not gung ho on war myself but how else do you expect to get this dictator out of power? By asking? Do these know it all rock stars and celebrities even think things through? “Give peace a chance”… yeah it sounds good, but how does peace work with a man that is totally unreasonable? Bono said he’s not a hippie when he was doing the Oprah show. Prove it man. Don’t get involved with this garbage. I have a wonderful idea for U2. Slag this crock of a concert off and SPEND THE DAY IN THE STUDIO MAKING A U2 ALBUM!

  30. Ahh! For crying out loud. I’m not gung ho on war myself but how else do you expect to get this dictator out of power? By asking? Do these know it all rock stars and celebrities even think things through? “Give peace a chance”… yeah it sounds good, but how does peace work with a man that is totally unreasonable? Bono said he’s not a hippie when he was doing the Oprah show. Prove it man. Don’t get involved with this garbage. I have a wonderful idea for U2. Slag this crock of a concert off and SPEND THE DAY IN THE STUDIO MAKING A U2 ALBUM!

  31. it saddens me to see that people in support of the proposed military action on iraq are in the same breath, u2 fans – please, you are eating up what the media is feeding you, wholesale. do you think that the notion of “shock and awe” is ethical? it isn’t even war – it is the complete obliteration of CIVILIANS. you are all morons if you think that is the only way to get rid of saddam hussien (who once got props from the US, including arms care of donald rummsfeld.) everything you know is wrong people. why isn’t the US attacking north korea, with their FUNCTIONING arsenal of nuclear weapons and pre-emptive threats? perhaps because they are not seated atop a massive oil reserve. if u2 take on this gig, they will be making a stand in the name of a true cause. not to mention that bush stole florida, the election and has his squinty little sights on the rest of the world. america = the world’s biggest rogue nation.

  32. it saddens me to see that people in support of the proposed military action on iraq are in the same breath, u2 fans – please, you are eating up what the media is feeding you, wholesale. do you think that the notion of “shock and awe” is ethical? it isn’t even war – it is the complete obliteration of CIVILIANS. you are all morons if you think that is the only way to get rid of saddam hussien (who once got props from the US, including arms care of donald rummsfeld.) everything you know is wrong people. why isn’t the US attacking north korea, with their FUNCTIONING arsenal of nuclear weapons and pre-emptive threats? perhaps because they are not seated atop a massive oil reserve. if u2 take on this gig, they will be making a stand in the name of a true cause. not to mention that bush stole florida, the election and has his squinty little sights on the rest of the world. america = the world’s biggest rogue nation.

  33. this discussion is interesting. I think it must be said that most people who are anti-war are not hippies and neither do they support capitulation in this crisis. However, it is neither cowardly, unwise or indeed unamerican to suggest that the motives of the Bush administration are questionable. Anyone who has read Michael Moore’s book on the matter know what I am talking about. Family Ties! Let’s do the entire world a favour and get rid of Saddam and Bush.

  34. this discussion is interesting. I think it must be said that most people who are anti-war are not hippies and neither do they support capitulation in this crisis. However, it is neither cowardly, unwise or indeed unamerican to suggest that the motives of the Bush administration are questionable. Anyone who has read Michael Moore’s book on the matter know what I am talking about. Family Ties! Let’s do the entire world a favour and get rid of Saddam and Bush.

  37. the Us administration does NOT want to free the people of Iraq. It’s just a disguise. They’ve been changing reasons as to why they need to bomb iraq a couple of times now… they’re just desperate for saddams blood.

  38. the Us administration does NOT want to free the people of Iraq. It’s just a disguise. They’ve been changing reasons as to why they need to bomb iraq a couple of times now… they’re just desperate for saddams blood.

  39. Cipher, back to oil huh? You detractors certainly love to over simplify everything with your “all about oil” nonsense. This all stayed pleasant until you opened your mouth. Save your insults for preschool you baby.

  40. Cipher, back to oil huh? You detractors certainly love to over simplify everything with your “all about oil” nonsense. This all stayed pleasant until you opened your mouth. Save your insults for preschool you baby.

  41. spoke – enough! judging by your frequent posts, you seem so close to u2, why don’t you tell us what Bono personally thinks! Don’t america have weapons of mass destruction? Oh sorry, thats right George “W” Bush is a good guy. He wouldn’t use his weapons for any harm, nah. GWB is a really cluey, switched on guy, who seems to have the intelligence of a muppet. I guess he knows how to feed good old american patriotism. BTW – has he given up on getting Bin Laden? No that’s right, he wants to finish his daddy’s dirty work whilst he can still feed off the Sept 11 emotions. God bless America. Haven’t seen so much childish/bullying behaviour since year 3 primary school!

  42. spoke – enough! judging by your frequent posts, you seem so close to u2, why don’t you tell us what Bono personally thinks! Don’t america have weapons of mass destruction? Oh sorry, thats right George “W” Bush is a good guy. He wouldn’t use his weapons for any harm, nah. GWB is a really cluey, switched on guy, who seems to have the intelligence of a muppet. I guess he knows how to feed good old american patriotism. BTW – has he given up on getting Bin Laden? No that’s right, he wants to finish his daddy’s dirty work whilst he can still feed off the Sept 11 emotions. God bless America. Haven’t seen so much childish/bullying behaviour since year 3 primary school!

  43. spoke – enough! judging by your frequent posts, you seem so close to u2, why don’t you tell us what Bono personally thinks! Don’t america have weapons of mass destruction? Oh sorry, thats right George “W” Bush is a good guy. He wouldn’t use his weapons for any harm, nah. GWB is a really cluey, switched on guy, who seems to have the intelligence of a muppet. I guess he knows how to feed good old american patriotism. BTW – has he given up on getting Bin Laden? No that’s right, he wants to finish his daddy’s dirty work whilst he can still feed off the Sept 11 emotions. God bless America. Haven’t seen so much childish/bullying behaviour since year 3 primary school!

  44. spoke – enough! judging by your frequent posts, you seem so close to u2, why don’t you tell us what Bono personally thinks! Don’t america have weapons of mass destruction? Oh sorry, thats right George “W” Bush is a good guy. He wouldn’t use his weapons for any harm, nah. GWB is a really cluey, switched on guy, who seems to have the intelligence of a muppet. I guess he knows how to feed good old american patriotism. BTW – has he given up on getting Bin Laden? No that’s right, he wants to finish his daddy’s dirty work whilst he can still feed off the Sept 11 emotions. God bless America. Haven’t seen so much childish/bullying behaviour since year 3 primary school!

  45. Re: everything. To think that civilians will be deliberately targeted is nonsense although anything to strengthen otherwise weak arguments is acceptable for some people. Why not North Korea? Perhaps because they can volley 300,000 shells (chem & bio enabled if they desire) at South Korea in the first hour of a conflict, that’s why. If it is ‘all about oil’, then why didn’t the United States take the Iraqi oilfields in 1991? Probably should have in hindsight, but the UN mandate did not allow it and the coalition would’ve fallen apart. A consortium of 8 diverse media outlets together determined that had Mr. Gore’s recount been fully carried out, Mr. Bush still would have won the state of Florida. Get over it. Oh yah, and Michael Moore was quoted as saying that because the passengers of the hijacked September 11 airliners were white, they cowered…had they been black, they would’ve overpowered the agressors, hence I conclude that he is a bigot. Remember that there would be zero diplomacy efforts if not for the threat of force. Even France would agree that peace through strength is the only strategy for dealing with a tyrant bent on defying the world, however, the genocidal maniac Mr. Hussein seems determined to take us all down the road to hell one way or another. Doing absolutly nothing in the name of being anti-war is not an option. This situation could get very nasty but in the end, western values that I hope we all share, that being humanity and the individual rights of all people will prevail, and Saddam, will not.

  46. Re: everything. To think that civilians will be deliberately targeted is nonsense although anything to strengthen otherwise weak arguments is acceptable for some people. Why not North Korea? Perhaps because they can volley 300,000 shells (chem & bio enabled if they desire) at South Korea in the first hour of a conflict, that’s why. If it is ‘all about oil’, then why didn’t the United States take the Iraqi oilfields in 1991? Probably should have in hindsight, but the UN mandate did not allow it and the coalition would’ve fallen apart. A consortium of 8 diverse media outlets together determined that had Mr. Gore’s recount been fully carried out, Mr. Bush still would have won the state of Florida. Get over it. Oh yah, and Michael Moore was quoted as saying that because the passengers of the hijacked September 11 airliners were white, they cowered…had they been black, they would’ve overpowered the agressors, hence I conclude that he is a bigot. Remember that there would be zero diplomacy efforts if not for the threat of force. Even France would agree that peace through strength is the only strategy for dealing with a tyrant bent on defying the world, however, the genocidal maniac Mr. Hussein seems determined to take us all down the road to hell one way or another. Doing absolutly nothing in the name of being anti-war is not an option. This situation could get very nasty but in the end, western values that I hope we all share, that being humanity and the individual rights of all people will prevail, and Saddam, will not.

  47. cipher, I make mine your words, if you allow me. I naively thought that at least half of you went to these demonstrations on Feb 15. I am almost expecting that somebody (‘spoke’, say) come to this discussion and say that Bush should be nominated to teh Nobel Peace Prize. C’mon… wake up guys. Somebody said that the iraqi population will be set free after Saddam is gone. And now I ask, which population after this war?

  48. cipher, I make mine your words, if you allow me. I naively thought that at least half of you went to these demonstrations on Feb 15. I am almost expecting that somebody (‘spoke’, say) come to this discussion and say that Bush should be nominated to teh Nobel Peace Prize. C’mon… wake up guys. Somebody said that the iraqi population will be set free after Saddam is gone. And now I ask, which population after this war?

  51. I think U2 fans are a diverse group of people. I disagree with Cipher that if you are in support of military action how can one call themselves a U2 fan. Bono recently said on the Larry King show that even he does not follow everything he writes about. Some of the things he writes and sings about are “big ideas” that he wishes he could live up to. Anyway for the sake of U2 I do not want to see Bono as a posterchild for every cause that comes down the road. Get back to your day job and do not forget you are only 1 crap album away from fading away

  52. I think U2 fans are a diverse group of people. I disagree with Cipher that if you are in support of military action how can one call themselves a U2 fan. Bono recently said on the Larry King show that even he does not follow everything he writes about. Some of the things he writes and sings about are “big ideas” that he wishes he could live up to. Anyway for the sake of U2 I do not want to see Bono as a posterchild for every cause that comes down the road. Get back to your day job and do not forget you are only 1 crap album away from fading away

  55. I’m always amazed at how quickly people want to associate one or two things to a complex political situation 12 years in the making. It must be as simple as American oil lust. After all, the US has a long history of stealing the resources of our conqured lands. (For those unaware, that was sarcasm) Instead the US rebuilt those countries into economic world powers. (Ask Germany and Japan next time you are at a G8 summit) Then still others claim this is just simple revenge for a father’s failings. If you seriously believe one man would create a massive deficit and near global depression to finish off what his Dad started… you are just as mad as Sadam. Maybe 12 years of active avoidance of UN resolutions, horrific murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, and ruthless violence to all who dare to question him might have earned Sadam a smart bomb with his name on it. And even though a few well placed missles could end this, the US will spend billions to launch an attack that tries to carefully pick the bad guys off from the innocent civilians they are shielding themselves with. Here’s an idea. Instead of protesting against war, why not protest against the UN that allowed this to go on for so long. Take away America’s military muscle and all you have is a dictator hell bent on killing a lot of people. Good luck trying to remove that without a war.

  56. I’m always amazed at how quickly people want to associate one or two things to a complex political situation 12 years in the making. It must be as simple as American oil lust. After all, the US has a long history of stealing the resources of our conqured lands. (For those unaware, that was sarcasm) Instead the US rebuilt those countries into economic world powers. (Ask Germany and Japan next time you are at a G8 summit) Then still others claim this is just simple revenge for a father’s failings. If you seriously believe one man would create a massive deficit and near global depression to finish off what his Dad started… you are just as mad as Sadam. Maybe 12 years of active avoidance of UN resolutions, horrific murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, and ruthless violence to all who dare to question him might have earned Sadam a smart bomb with his name on it. And even though a few well placed missles could end this, the US will spend billions to launch an attack that tries to carefully pick the bad guys off from the innocent civilians they are shielding themselves with. Here’s an idea. Instead of protesting against war, why not protest against the UN that allowed this to go on for so long. Take away America’s military muscle and all you have is a dictator hell bent on killing a lot of people. Good luck trying to remove that without a war.

  59. Ok, so, you leave Saddam alone, in peace. Let him go about his weapons creation. Then 1 day he fires warheads w/ Anthrax a Israel. Israel then uses nuclear weapons to remove Saddam and all the poor Iraqi civillians from Earth. Then every muslim in the world goes F’ing nuts, really nuts, killing jews and infidels everywhere. I think peace is wonderful, but how does leaving Saddam alone solve anything?

  60. Ok, so, you leave Saddam alone, in peace. Let him go about his weapons creation. Then 1 day he fires warheads w/ Anthrax a Israel. Israel then uses nuclear weapons to remove Saddam and all the poor Iraqi civillians from Earth. Then every muslim in the world goes F’ing nuts, really nuts, killing jews and infidels everywhere. I think peace is wonderful, but how does leaving Saddam alone solve anything?

  61. Mooh, it was actually two japanese cities with the nukes, hiroshima and nagasaki and tokyo with firebombing etc, but the amount of lives lost would have been much less than a land invasion which would have really been the only alternative. Read up on the military commanders, social mindset, etc at that time. Post wwii we gave them aid and though we imposed some limits on them they and western europe were a heck of a lot freer than eastern europe after wwii.

    Saddam has had bio/chem weapons for decades, hasn’t used them against ppl except kurds in his country and possibly in 91 against us troops. He’s had the capability to hit israel with anthrax for a while, if you remember in 91 iraqi scuds landed in israel, not to mention their anthrax probably isn’t refined enough to be airborne and a missle is a fairly crap delivery system for it.

    I think there is a line between no war and war. What a lot of ppl are protesting is the US going in with no smoking guns, with no UN approval, after it went down that avenue. Why put in a resolution asking for inspections to determine material breach if you don’t care about inspectors? I don’t think that war is necessarily the best option, but something needs to be done… as some have pointed out other countries have far worse HR records (china, nk, some like zimbabwe etc are getting close) and others are more of a threat (NK has 1-2 nukes supposedly and has publicly stated they would strike the US, plus all the bio checm aimed at SK and which could be used on japan as well, including ~60k us soldiers in those two areas). Their is no compelling argument why war is *needed* now why the threat is so great… if the US is so sure they can get proof of things then we should wait and have the int’l support that will be there. At this point we would feed anti-western sentiment and enlargen the big bully image.

  62. Mooh, it was actually two japanese cities with the nukes, hiroshima and nagasaki and tokyo with firebombing etc, but the amount of lives lost would have been much less than a land invasion which would have really been the only alternative. Read up on the military commanders, social mindset, etc at that time. Post wwii we gave them aid and though we imposed some limits on them they and western europe were a heck of a lot freer than eastern europe after wwii.

    Saddam has had bio/chem weapons for decades, hasn’t used them against ppl except kurds in his country and possibly in 91 against us troops. He’s had the capability to hit israel with anthrax for a while, if you remember in 91 iraqi scuds landed in israel, not to mention their anthrax probably isn’t refined enough to be airborne and a missle is a fairly crap delivery system for it.

    I think there is a line between no war and war. What a lot of ppl are protesting is the US going in with no smoking guns, with no UN approval, after it went down that avenue. Why put in a resolution asking for inspections to determine material breach if you don’t care about inspectors? I don’t think that war is necessarily the best option, but something needs to be done… as some have pointed out other countries have far worse HR records (china, nk, some like zimbabwe etc are getting close) and others are more of a threat (NK has 1-2 nukes supposedly and has publicly stated they would strike the US, plus all the bio checm aimed at SK and which could be used on japan as well, including ~60k us soldiers in those two areas). Their is no compelling argument why war is *needed* now why the threat is so great… if the US is so sure they can get proof of things then we should wait and have the int’l support that will be there. At this point we would feed anti-western sentiment and enlargen the big bully image.

  63. is this a joke about bush having been legitimately elected? do you know how many african americans and people with names RESEMBLING criminals were NOT PERMITTED to VOTE?
    please. and who’s brother is the governor of florida? why it’s jeb bush! no way! it was all fair and perfectly legal. never mind that the judge appointed to the supreme court handing down the decision was IN CHARGE OF BUSH’S FREAKIN’ CAMPAIGN! geez, no conflict of interest there! wake the hell up over there. here in the rest of the world we suffer the consequences of america’s self appointed stance as the world’s cop. it will not be in my name if the “coalition of the willing” (and i’m getting flamed for oversimplification? how’s tha for emotive language?) go in and MURDER the people of iraq who have already suffered under 10 years of sanctions which have, at the last count, killed half a million children prevented from recieving medicines to treat the sky-high rates of luekemia. as someone eloquently laid out above, there are other ways to depose saddam – namely any of the west’s secret services. one minute, rummsfeld turns around and offers hussein exile (as if, after all, he isn’t really that dangerous and DOESN’T have to be killed at all costs) the next minute, he’s spouting off about how germany and france “aren’t really europe”. what the? there’s enough spin there to power a carousel. there is no denying that at times of war, an election will almost always favour an encumbant. that is the plain and simple reason behind the proposed actions – playing with people’s lives in a massive power game. the US has constantly switched sides throughout history to whoever it is most convenient to have as an ally – their loyalty is not worth the paper it’s written on (see: Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, et al). during the vietnam war, people changed the world – the protest movement was the catalyst that ended the war. continue to go out there make your voice heard, if you are opposed to this war you are in the company of millions. now, i agree that u2 fans come in every shape and colour, however, if you are on the side of geroge.w.bush (then it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume you supported his father and reagan before him – prime targets of bono’s at the time) then don’t run into me at a gig.

  64. is this a joke about bush having been legitimately elected? do you know how many african americans and people with names RESEMBLING criminals were NOT PERMITTED to VOTE?
    please. and who’s brother is the governor of florida? why it’s jeb bush! no way! it was all fair and perfectly legal. never mind that the judge appointed to the supreme court handing down the decision was IN CHARGE OF BUSH’S FREAKIN’ CAMPAIGN! geez, no conflict of interest there! wake the hell up over there. here in the rest of the world we suffer the consequences of america’s self appointed stance as the world’s cop. it will not be in my name if the “coalition of the willing” (and i’m getting flamed for oversimplification? how’s tha for emotive language?) go in and MURDER the people of iraq who have already suffered under 10 years of sanctions which have, at the last count, killed half a million children prevented from recieving medicines to treat the sky-high rates of luekemia. as someone eloquently laid out above, there are other ways to depose saddam – namely any of the west’s secret services. one minute, rummsfeld turns around and offers hussein exile (as if, after all, he isn’t really that dangerous and DOESN’T have to be killed at all costs) the next minute, he’s spouting off about how germany and france “aren’t really europe”. what the? there’s enough spin there to power a carousel. there is no denying that at times of war, an election will almost always favour an encumbant. that is the plain and simple reason behind the proposed actions – playing with people’s lives in a massive power game. the US has constantly switched sides throughout history to whoever it is most convenient to have as an ally – their loyalty is not worth the paper it’s written on (see: Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, et al). during the vietnam war, people changed the world – the protest movement was the catalyst that ended the war. continue to go out there make your voice heard, if you are opposed to this war you are in the company of millions. now, i agree that u2 fans come in every shape and colour, however, if you are on the side of geroge.w.bush (then it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume you supported his father and reagan before him – prime targets of bono’s at the time) then don’t run into me at a gig.

  65. Cipher, please shut up about Florida. It was almost three years ago! I’ll admit, had Democrats voted correctly, Gore would have won. But they didn’t! You party designed the ballot and your party botched it up. Look at your fellow Democrats if you want to see the real reason Bush is in office. It’s done. It’s over. Get your freaking priorities straight. And Cipher have the honesty to admit why you’re really against going to war… you’re still holding a grudge against Bush. It’s clear you’re against anything he does.

  66. Cipher, please shut up about Florida. It was almost three years ago! I’ll admit, had Democrats voted correctly, Gore would have won. But they didn’t! You party designed the ballot and your party botched it up. Look at your fellow Democrats if you want to see the real reason Bush is in office. It’s done. It’s over. Get your freaking priorities straight. And Cipher have the honesty to admit why you’re really against going to war… you’re still holding a grudge against Bush. It’s clear you’re against anything he does.

  67. Cipher, it seems you hold a lot of blind hatred for President Bush and those who support him. One wonders how someone filled with such rage could call himself a U2 fan.

  68. Cipher, it seems you hold a lot of blind hatred for President Bush and those who support him. One wonders how someone filled with such rage could call himself a U2 fan.

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