R&R in Tokyo

I know many fans are curious to know what the band have been doing in Japan when not performing or doing media interviews. Larry Mullen spent some time shopping in Gwen Stefani’s favorite area of Tokyo, Harajuku. He shopped at Kiddy Land, a famous toy store, presumably for gifts for his children…Adam Clayton visited with Eric Clapton, who is also touring in Japan now and staying in the same hotel as U2…Bono enjoyed a traditional Japanese meal at Gonpachi with his friends Gavin and Guggi. Kanye West was also seen at the same restaurant. Rumour has it that Kanye will perform with U2 for the final show in Japan on Monday…Edge, the zen master, has been keeping a low profile, meditating and such.

All band members have been generously signing autographs and posing for photos with Japanese fans around the city. The band seem to be truly enjoying their visit to Japan.

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.

Drummer in the City

larry-gawker.jpg

New York loves U2, and U2 love New York. A Bono sighting in the Big Apple is a rather common occurrence these days. An Edge or Adam Clayton sighting isn’t completely unheard of either. A Larry Mullen sighting, however, is a rare thing because, despite his pretty-boy looks, Larry has the magical ability to move among common-looking people without getting noticed often — which is why we took note of a sighting of the U2 drummer in the city posted at Gawker.com. We can only imagine what Larry was doing in Soho (uhh…shopping?), but we do suspect that he noted the large photo of his friend Bono in the window of the Morrison Hotel Gallery on Prince Street, where there is an exhibition of rock photography by Neal Preston taking place through June 2nd.

Guggi opens at Osborne Samuel Gallery, Bono attends

Bono, Ali Hewson, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Paul McGuinness and Gavin Friday attended the opening of an exhibition of work by the painter Derek ‘Guggi’ Rowan, at the Osborne Samuel Gallery in London tonight. Bono introduced his friend’s paintings to the guests, including Maurice Saatchi, brother of art mogul Charles.

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The Most Photographic Village Ever

We have given our image discussion group at Flickr.com a new name — The Village — and a new reason to join it: we’ve been adding a lot of photos to the pool for members’ review.

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Two Shots of Adam, One Shot of Larry

As previously reported, Nancy Sinatra has recorded a version of “Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad,” for her self-titled album due to be released on October 4th in Europe. What has not yet been reported are the names of the two guests Ms. Sinatra enlisted to contribute to her version of the song: one Mr. Adam Clayton on bass and a Mr. Larry Mullen Jr. on drums. (Their contributions were confirmed by a rep for Sinatra’s record company.) An album sampler containing a clip of the track (in RealAudio) is available at Sanctuary Records.