Daily Digest for August 26th

delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
generic (feed #11)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)

U2360 – Luzhniki Stadium – Moscow, Russia


photo by @kardanik
For the first time in their career, U2 play the capital of Russia. Security at the stadium is very strict and the place is full of police and military. In the afternoon, police shut down the Greenpeace, ONE Campaign and Amnesty International stands at the stadium. One Amnesty International activist is reported to have been arrested. Police claim the activists organised an ‘illegal rally’. However, as at every U2 show, these volunteers are actually authorised to set up stands and distribute information. In a Greenpeace blog post about the matter it’s stated “U2’s management are puzzled” by the situation and Bono’s been informed of what went on.
The head of Amnesty International in Russia, Sergei Nikitin, has stated that police detained five volunteers who were distributing leaflets and displaying banners for holding an unsanctioned protest at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium. “I am very sorry about what happened … it overshadowed the concert,” Nikitin said. The activists were later released without charge.
It rained quite hard hard during the show which is attended by Mikhail Gorbachev, “a great hero of mine”, Bono says, “I’ve known him for over 10 years.” Most of the new songs were dropped from the set, except Return of the Stingray guitar and the band delighted the crowd by playing Knocking on Heaven’s Door with Russian rockstar Yuri Shevchuk. Shevchuk has become a significant figure in Russia’s opposition movement since he delivered a rare public rebuke to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in May.
Reports from fans inside the GA area say Russian police wouldn’t allow the fans to leave the GA area and clashed with U2 security. Fans claim Russian soldiers hindered U2 security when they wanted to move the barricades to let fans out. Other people stepped in to separate Russian solders and U2 security.
Unprecedented security measures at U2 concert
Setlist

Daily Digest for August 25th

delicious (feed #1)
generic (feed #11)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
generic (feed #10)
delicious (feed #1)
generic (feed #5)
twitpic (feed #3)
Shared 3 photos.
360FromTheEdge: http://twitpic.com/2hz0sn IMG00030-20100822-1225.jpg 360FromTheEdge: http://twitpic.com/2hz0kr IMG00037-20100822-1238.jpg 360FromTheEdge: http://twitpic.com/2hz0x2 IMG00063-20100823-0027.jpg
twitpic (feed #3)
Shared 3 photos.
360FromTheEdge: http://twitpic.com/2hz0sn IMG00030-20100822-1225.jpg 360FromTheEdge: http://twitpic.com/2hz0kr IMG00037-20100822-1238.jpg 360FromTheEdge: http://twitpic.com/2hz0x2 IMG00063-20100823-0027.jpg
generic (feed #11)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)

Bono meets Russian president Medvedev


The Russian president Medvedev met Bono for tea on the terrace of his holiday villa near the Black Sea resort town of Sochi. Besides their banter about Led Zeppeling the two spoke about the prevention of polio, which has resurged recently in Central Asian region south of Russia, and treatments to end the spread of HIV from mothers to their babies. The meeting lasted just over an hour, with Medvedev and Bono being filmed for around 15 minutes and then speaking off the record, according to a Kremlin spokesman.
Official Kremlin tweet and picture
(AFP report includes photos.)
More photos at NPR

Daily Digest for August 23rd

delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
generic (feed #11)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
twitpic (feed #3)
360FromTheEdge: http://twitpic.com/2hig9e

"Pop-pop-pop"

No….not that Pop… 😉
After saturday’s announcement of U2360 tour dates in Australia en NZ, today LiveNation & Michael Coppel have revealed Jay-Z will be joining U2 as “the very special guest” on these dates.
Let’s see if we can expect Jay-Z bringing some “Pop-pop-pop” on stage with U2, as during his surprise cameo in Berlin last year (Jay-Z from 2:50, pop-pop-pop @ 3:21)

(I might soon be ‘popped’ for noting that I can’t help Jay-Z somehow reminding me of Steve Urkel)

Daily Digest for August 22nd

flickr (feed #2)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
delicious (feed #1)
generic (feed #11)