u2 on late late show

u2 appeared on the late late show on rte tv in ireland on friday night. it was the last show for host pat kenny and u2 played magnificent, gave him presents and did a full-band interview.

part 2 with larry and bono discussing bono's political pals is pretty excellent.

also, this may be the tannest version of u2 ever.

video: magnificent + interview part 1



video: interview part 2



audio: mp3 of magnificent on late late show is here

u2 performed at the island records party last night (videos + photos)

irish times seems to confirm u2 will be on the late late show tonight as well:

U2 MADE a surprise appearance on stage in London last night in support of the record label that first offered them a recording deal. Island Records has been celebrating its 50th anniversary with a week-long series of gigs in London and U2 made an unscheduled appearance at the Shepherd's Bush Empire venue in between sets by Baaba Maal and Cat Stevens, who was introduced on stage by Bono.

The band joined Sengalese singer Baaba Maal for a version of their One song before performing a cover version of Bob Marley's One Love.

The band then played a version of their hit Vertigo.

U2 have often spoken of their huge debt to Island, which signed them in 1980 after a series of other labels turned them down. The band's success in the mid-1980 largely kept Island afloat. The venue they played in only fits 1,000 people but they received an ecstatic reception.

U2 will make an appearance on tonight's Late Late Show before beginning their world tour in Barcelona at the end of June.

--irish times

there is a photo gallery here:



larry: "when did adam grow that beard?" note bono's peace train outro in vertigo vid above. actually, 2 minute mark of vertigo and on saves it. with that dance move...

pic via + click for more

later

zap

"ultimately free is the enemy of good, " - paul mcguinness

someone zap that guy with a laser. (in his defense, he may have been listening to coldplay's leftrightleftrightleft at the time of that statement).

also: u2 to perform on ireland's late late show on friday? (yes please).

i don't know

saint. of course.

lasers. maybe.

very

brian eno launches luminous. okay maybe now i believe the luminous times thing, hee.

anton corbijn is directing a movie starring george clooney. go anton.

this is the bass player:



Adam Clayton on stage at Slane Castle in the first ever concert at Slane Castle in 1981. U2 were the support act while Hazel O'Connor topped the bill Photo credit:Andy Spearman
more here. (via u2log).

later

37 days

no

related:
round 1 of the people of montauk vs. the surf lodge
round 2
but, hmmm, they DO have some interesting concerts booked for this summer
still, no tee pees for you, ha ha.
rogan gregory and dude from the beastie boys. we hate you all. apparently.

long story short: this place opened last year in montauk (where my parents and the world's awesomest dog, rosie, live) and i am just generally amused by how much people here don't like it. the other day i saw rosie in the back room making the above bumper sticker.

anyway ...

[mp3] now it's on - grandaddy
i spent one summer really enjoying the dreamy chilled out vibe of this band. loved their cover of the beatles' revolution, too. they broke up in 2006. [buy]

[mp3] our final role as birds - all smiles
from ex-grandaddy (and modest mouse) guitar player jim fairchild's second solo album "oh for the getting and not letting go." [more]

i'd totally buy this but i'd just have to put it in storage

oh, plus, i can't play guitar.

mansons guitar shop: official manson/bellamy signature guitars now available.

Master luthier Hugh Manson, and guitarist Matthew Bellamy, the 21st century’s first real guitar hero, enjoy world recognition from the unique creations Bellamy has used to front the powerhouse trio, Muse. Under a long standing agreement, these guitars have remained special one-off creations only available to the Muse guitarist, songwriter and frontman. Incorporating unique finishes and electronics such as MIDI controlling screens, Fuzz Factory internals, many of these instruments have become famous in the band’s live set with several earning themselves unique identities. The “DeLorean” and The Bomber are now legendary instruments.

i really hope the edge and the bellamy get some alone time with each other's guitar effects when they, um, tour together this fall. maybe muse can show u2 how to use twitter? (der)

and ... arctic monkeys going full on black sabbath for new album. (well that is not what the actual quote says, just the headline, but yeah.)

can we add these arctic monkey guys to the u2 opening act list? maybe?

later

lame (?)

GQ: BUILT FOR THE BEACH
This summer, it’s all about the ‘70s…short-cut swim trunks, So-Cal-style tank tops, and zip-front windbreakers. NFL rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez heads to the shore (photographs by Carter Smith)

okay, granted, you are hot, mark sanchez. but are you going to be the quarterback or the team mascot? please complete one actual pass in one actual nfl game before ever doing this again. sanchez, you are on the jets, not the yankees. come on. seriously, you are interrupting my bono time.

though, it is more than a little amusing that you do shoots like this and the quarterback on new york's other team does commercials like this:




related

not related ... other guy, please leave the bono out of this. thanx.

[mp3] so it seems - blackbud
these guys have that epic, melodic, guitar rock thing down pat. new album out june 8. [myspace]


later

early warnings

[mp3] early warnings - foreign born
new tune from foreign born's upcoming album person to person [pre-order].

these guys got compared to baby u2 in a review from pitchfork back in 2007. kind of a bizarre reference for this band. but i ended up chatting briefly with the band's singer matt popieluch way back when because, well, the pitchfork thing was funny.

2007 flashback:

Pitchfork just gave your album On the Wing Now a very fine review and included Arcade Fire, R.E.M. and several U2 and Bono references. Be honest, those U2 references freaked you out just a little. Didn't they?
Matt: No! They were right on the money! Just like always.

People also like to compare you guys to Echo and the Bunnymen. But I feel like you have a jam band aura about you, too. If you had to pinpoint a few bands as influences, which ones would you highlight?
Matt: U2, U2 and umm U2, for sure.. anything they did. What kind of question is that?!!

Who was the first band or artist you ever really loved as a kid and why?
Matt: Whatever Bono was up to, I was completely dialed in, even at 5 or 6. If he sneezed I was blown away. Sometimes it's not easy having him as your "rock guardian angel laureate."

more ... september, 2007 q&a with matt from foreign born

i like this band.

(photo via)

later

u2 magnificent (remixes) ep

is now on itunes (u.s.)

lebrono

woah, lebrono has been working out. woah.


is this the best photoshop job ever? no. it's not. only because it is not photoshop. it is muckrosoft paint. and if you mock it, you will only be reinforcing my negative image of you.

yeah, that's lebrono james. and i made it. and it took me, like, a couple of seconds, so if you don't like it, well okay then.

below is from this blog: clevescene.com

Simmons/Gladwell on LeBron and Definitions of Success

If you haven't read the epic Bill Simmons/Malcolm Gladwell email conversation, do so. It's fascinating stuff, even if, at times some of the theories espoused are maddening, far-fetched, and ill-conceived. There's also a lot of brilliant discussion and thought-provoking ideas.

Among the many topics they tackle is LeBron James. Namely, what drives him, is he the NBA's Bono, and just where is the King going?

Here's a snippet of the Sports Guy's take:

But you mentioned watching a documentary about the Police and realizing that Sting carried that band; the others were talented in their own right, only it bugged the hell out of them that Sting was better, and he was a blowhard to boot, so that led to many of their problems (and the band's ultimate demise). Then you look at U2: same four guys grow up together with a natural pecking order in place; everyone understands their own limitations; everyone gets that Bono is the alpha dog; and really, over everything else, that explains why they have chugged along for three solid decades without ever breaking up. (Hell, none of them ever even made a solo album. They were and are a band. Period.) Well, I thought about this. I analyzed it from every angle. And in my opinion, LeBron has a chance to be U2 or Springsteen in Cleveland. Now that he's winning, and now that the Cavs know how to build around his personality — in a nutshell, finding complementary players who won't be threatened by him, enjoy basketball, enjoy life and aren't afraid of failing — this could just go on and on for as long as he wants. Other stars will take less to play with him. Older players will take the minimum just to play with them for one season. Basically, it will be like Bruce deciding, "Hey guys, we're going on tour again," and the rest of the E Streeters dropping whatever they were doing to join him. Why? Because you don't turn down Bruce Springsteen. I don't believe LeBron can replicate Jordan's force of personality, and I don't think he can match his ferocious day-to-day competitiveness, because nobody can. But he's more fun to play basketball with, and he's more fun to hang out with. Like a cross between Jordan and Magic, if you will.

To which Gladwell responds:

And that's the thing I worry about with LeBron. You say that this could go on for as long as he wants, but the truth is these things rarely go on for as long as anyone wants. U2 is a weird exception. In most cases, John turns on Paul, Axl gets fat and Kurt Cobain commits suicide....

more ...

related:
sports guy's world
lebron james
bono

edge talks to rolling stone about the u2 tour (scan may 28, 2009 issue)

as has been posted previously on several fan sites, yes, in an article in rolling stone, the edge did mention "luminous times" as a possible candidate for the set list on the upcoming tour.

What will the set lists be like?
Edge: We're talking about resurrecting songs we haven't played in a long time. I have a list of every U2 song - some I can't remember anymore - even some of the B sides that we've never played live. We were thinking how much fun it would be to play something like [Joshua Tree outtake] "Luminous Times." Certain songs from the last couple of tours, we may not play again. We want to find songs that feel fresh and valid.

i don't think most rational people would read that and assume that u2 will play that particular song, but certainly we can assume that this means, genuinely, any song from u2's catalog could be in the set list mix at this stage. considering that the band played songs such as the ocean (not very well. bono.) and an cat dubh on the last tour, this revelation about unlimited possibilities is not surprising, but is reassuring.

here is the scan of the article:

(click image to enlarge)




How much will the show change night to night?
Edge: Our shows start to kind of connect in a very emotional and organic way, and those connections between songs, the segues, start to become like mini-movements or acts within a play. So one or two songs will be different per night, but not like eight songs per night.

so ... do we think that this one or two different songs per night will just be a rotation of three or four songs or so? or will they have more than that in the mix? we'll see.

not that i, like, *care* or anything ...

pop star pants thing update

what is this?



seriously. i need to know.

related

you know i don't care anymore

it cant be so bad
what you want that you do not have

duh, i know you know, but:

there is a new wilco album that leaked and is now streaming here. i wonder what would happen if u2 released a song with these lyrics: "u2, u2, u2, u2 will love you baby." yeah.

there is a free live coldplay album here.

there are two mp3s from the just out pearl jam 2008 christmas single over here.

apparently neil mccormick's i was bono's doppelganger (killing bono) book is being made into a movie. i liked the baby u2-ish details in that book, but i wonder about a movie. it's really neil's life story. we'll see how much u2 gets in and who plays them.

i am a bad u2 fan because i'm not getting too amped up about what a semi-put together stage looks like or what songs edge claims they are thinking about possibly playing. it's not that i am in "no spoiler" mode, i honestly just ... am going to wait and see what happens in barcelona. baby. 46 days! (i think.)

these two remind me of each other

b.

scans of u2 cover story in the spring 2009 issue of fordham magazine. via + more scans here.

or you can read a digital version of the magazine online on fordham's website.

previously: it's f.u. time!

not really related: mess with the fordham ram, you get the horns

this photo is sort of old

it's from 2007.

happy mother's day to the moms and happy 49th b-day today to the b-man.

51 days until barcelona :)

look at the claw now, still making progress.

- later -

woah

off topic. this vid is awesome.



[mp3] the funeral / band of horses

happy weekend -

apparently some people think this random butt shot is out of place in the magnificent video

it doesn't really bother me.

"he's now wearing eye shadow, so it's getting a little scary."

-says ali. ha ha HA. (3:15 in.)

Socially Conscious, Rock & Roll Fashion from EDUN from Sonja Shin Hodgkins on Vimeo.

via

related: bono eyeliner q&a

if a video falls in the forest and only the band's fans even *really* care, did the forest really exist or are we on planet ... wait, huh, whaa?

nothing against this video. i like it fine. i don't get the white sheets. YET. i'm sure they are there for a reason and someone will enlighten me.

magnificent video is out. see it here or here or here:



i am a way deep thinker, so mostly i like the videos where the members of u2 walk around looking all hot and shit. this one qualifies.

my initial reaction to this song way back when, was "fuck yeah." still pretty much feel that way.

also, FUCK YEAH, BONO!

later

purple socks >> red carpet

at 'the model as muse: embodying fashion' costume institute gala at the metropolitan museum of art on may 4, 2009 in nyc. article / photos

vidz

u2.com: pretty cool behind the scenes vid of making of magnificent video

also, this adam vid is another behind the scenes look



the bono interviewing george clooney: extended video on cnn.com

bono also wrote this short piece on george clooney for time mag

bobble head vs. bo bo head

wilco is offering up a download of their version of the woody guthrie song "the jolly banker" on wilcoworld.net - worth a look just to check out the purchase (or not) options :)

coldplay is giving away a free live cd. details here.

the bono-clooney smug off smack down interview is tonight on cnn.

[mp3] battalions - loxsly

late - o

shoot

photographer ben baker shot a bunch of corporate power players, including the (red) board for a story in the current issue of fortune magazine.

brief behind the scenes timelapse-type video here and more photos + details here.

"You can imagine the PR work to get a rock star’s schedule in line with the whole board, and not wanting it all about Bono, but that is the hook ...

...We shot them before they went to dinner in NYC and made sure plenty of drinks were available."