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.
guggi
Hot Press reviews new U2 album
Hot Press’s Peter Murphy reviews How to disable an atomic bomb in this weeks’ Hot Press, the leading Irish music magazine. The article is available online for subscribers and gives the album 8.5 out of 10:
“But when early reports telegraphed this as Edge’s record, they were obviously referring to his choirboy melodic instincts as much as an addiction to noise. Atomic Bomb is positively Spector-esque in its ambition, although curiously enough, it’s not a showy record, the playing being mostly subservient to the songs.”
Bono Boogies
How does one close a day in which one speaks to a political party about the importance of aiding Africa? By booging down, of course!
Last Wednesday, after his address at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, Bono headed to London to catch a DJ set by his friends Gavin Friday and Guggi at Soho’s Nag Nag Nag club. There he enjoyed the masterful spinning of tunes with the likes of Shane MacGowan and a pack of Virgin Prunes fans who had spent their afternoon queueing to get Friday’s and Guggi’s signatures on the Virgin Prunes’ re-releases at a London record store.
Good times. Good company.
It’s a beautiful day: The Seven Towers come down
Dublin’s notorious ‘Seven Towers’, made famous in U2’s song Running to Standstill, are being torn down this week.
More than 3,000 people watched as cranes started their work while U2’s Beautiful Day played in the background on Saturday at noon.
At a wake for the flats on Friday night, ex-Virgin Prunes Gavin Friday and Guggi — who grew up in the area, made a speech and then sang their song ‘Sweet Home Under White Clouds‘, announcing it a ‘traditional Ballymun ballad’.
The Ballymun flats are being dismantled to make room for houses as part of the largest urban regeration programme in Europe.
(Source: GF, The Observer)
Mute Records announce Virgin Prunes re-release
Mute Records have announced the release of 5 remastered Virgin Prunes CDs.
Formed from ‘Lypton Village’ the same creative gang that spawned U2) in Dublin in mid-1977, for a time the Virgin Prunes were “the most overtly subversive rock group ever to come out of the genre”.
The 2004 Mute re-releases are the first Virgin Prunes CDs to be remastered under the careful guidance of by the band’s former frontman Gavin Friday.
Virginprunes.com will be previewing the new CD artwork and expanded tracklisting over the coming months starting today, with the cover of ‘A New Form of Beauty’.
Featuring Guggi in war paint, this whacked out Hunky Dory-type headshot may well remind you of a certain Boy… It’s all in the eyes.
The release date for the 5 CDs is set for September 27th.
Edge and Ono to open art exhibition
The Edge and Yoko Ono will open ‘In the time of shaking‘, an art exhibition at the Irish museum of Modern Art this Thursday, May 6. The event is invitation only. In The Time of Shaking will be open to the public on Friday, May 7.
The exhibition is in aid of Amnesty International. Amnesty will benefit from the sale of the art works and a limited edition book featuring the work of contemporary Irish artists, including Louis Le Brocquy, Amelia Stein, Guggi and Sybille Ungers.
The exhibition is in the East Wing of the Irish Museum of Modern Art from Friday 7 May until Sunday 23 May.
(source: RTE guide)
Irish Hospice Foundation Thanks Gavin Friday
All four members of U2 attended a special dinner to honor Gavin Friday last Friday at Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel. The Irish Hospice Foundation arranged the event to recognize and thank Friday, who was the driving and creative force behind the Peter and the Wolf project.
Update 23/3: Several of the evening’s guests performed live, including Bono who sang Sinatra’s ‘You make me feel so young’ to his friend. But it was The Edge who apparently stole the show, playing wild and wondrous bass on the Virgin Prunes’ classic ‘Art Fuck’. Brother Dik assisted on guitar, while Gavin and Guggi took care of vocals.
Bono Opens Art Exhibition
Last night in Dublin, Bono opened a new exhibition of Italian artist Francesco Clemente’s work at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Bono agreed to open the exhibition because he is a major fan of Clemente’s work, possessing several of the artist’s paintings in his home.
Attending the event were friends Gavin Friday, Guggi, and Paul McGuinness. Photos at ShowBiz Ireland and Recirca.com.
Justin Rocks Their Bodies
Bono, Ali, Edge, and Guggi attended Justin Timberlake’s private concert at Vicar Street in Dublin Saturday night. According to The Mirror, Bono and Edge joined Timberlake for a pint of Guinness after the show. Photos at Getty Images and ShowBiz Ireland.
Guggi’s World
Guggi reminisces about the shenanigans he and his Lypton Village friends used to pull in the Sunday Independent (reg req):
“Bono’s very first car, we wallpapered it and broke all the lights for his birthday surprise when he was 19! We used to do this kind of stuff to each other. Another member of U2, we tried to push his car into the Liffey with him lying down in the front of the car!”