Bono phones in to last ever Mystery Train

‘God bless you and the babies too!’

Bono paid tribute to radio DJ John Kelly on the last ever Mystery Train on RTE radio 1 on Thursday evening. Phoning in from France ‘under an orange moon, thinking of Enniskillen’, he talked to Kelly about the — wait for it — ‘extraordinary’ show, which has been prematurely axed in a recent RTE programming shake up, as well as congratulating him on the imminent birth of his twins.

Listen to Bono’s call. (mp3)

Later on during the show Bono rang in again (as did The Edge), off air, to request ‘Death is not the End’ by Dylan, or Gavin Friday, but Kelly didn’t have it on him. However, he had played the track earlier in the week in memory of Paschal Hanvey (Gavin’s father), who passed away a year ago this Wednesday.

We’re very sad to see a great, eclectic and unpredictable show like gentleman John’s go off air and wish him the best of luck, wherever the tracks may take him.

The good news is, John Kelly announced he will be back on air in October, on Lyric FM (1.30 – 2.30pm, Monday to Friday), with a different type of show. He encourages listeners to join him there.

Bono and the Edge appear on Late Late Show

The Edge and Bono both appeared on RTE’s Late Late Show’s Tribute to Jim Sheridan presented by Pat Kenny on Friday evening.

Bono revealed the band had been working in London on using string sections for three on three tracks but had to bin it because ‘the songs were crap’. The Edge said they would have to start from scratch to rework them. (quotes paraphrased from memory)

After being interviewed by Kenny, they were joined by Daniel Lanois to perform Falling at your feet.

Earlier in the day, Bono appeared on ArtZone on Lyric FM, RTE, in a taped interview (windows media) in which he talks very briefly about Peter and the Wolf and the sadness involved in drawing the pictures. There’s also an interview at USA Today. Check the right hand column for an additional real audio excerpt.