Archive for the ‘U2’ Category
U2 call rural craftsman to repair broken Grammy
A rural craftsman was amazed when international rock stars U2 phoned him and asked him to repair their broken Grammy award.
The trophy – awarded for the band’s 1987 album The Joshua Tree – had split into three pieces including the gramophone horn.
So the band’s managers simply searched “trophy craftsmen” online and found Stuart Allcock, who runs a small shop in Taunton, Somerset.
Mr Allcock said he felt ”dizzy” to receive the call but was disappointed to discover the award was made of cheap cast iron that was sprayed gold.
U2 make fans’ Christmas as they reveal plans for their next album
IRISH rockers U2 have delivered a late Christmas present to their loyal fans this weekend by promising to release a new album by June.
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Independent at Leopardstown Races yesterday, U2 frontman Bono revealed the band had been working hard on new material in the run-up to Christmas and are hoping to have a new chart-topping album on shelves before the summer.
U2, The Decade, & Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone has their own musical decade list.
When it comes to their 100 Best Songs of the Decade, U2 shows up with the following:
#9 “Beautiful Day”
#36 “Moment of Surrender”
#64 “Vertigo”
When it comes to the 100 Albums of the Decade, all of their albums of this decade made the list:
#13 All That You Can’t Leave Behind
#36 No Line on the Horizon
#68 How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
When it comes to their readers’ poll, “Beautiful Day” was #3 on the Top Singles of the Decade list, with No Line on the Horizon coming in at #15 and All That You Can’t Leave Behind at #6 on the Top Albums of the Decade list. The band comes in third on their Top Artists of the Decade readers’ poll.
And here’s a free remix of “I”ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” for download if you are interested.
Top Ten Everything of 2009
TIME decided to provide a top ten list for just about anything you can think of.
Some highlights and observations:
- Our previous president, despite his ability to sound pretty awkward while speaking, had the top quote of the year – a very eloquent and noble quote at that.
- U2’s “No Line on the Horizon” has the number three song of the year. In the clip they provide, Bono sound very strange as he says to the band, “Lets go fellas . . .”
- Out of that massive list, I didn’t see anything about top ten tours, concerts or live acts of the year, which U2 surely would have made the top five.
- A cover of Texas Monthly made the number three magazine cover of the year. The magazine usually has some great covers, but I wasn’t as impressed as they were with their pick.
- Friday Night Lights comes in at number seven for the Top 10 TV Series. Thank goodness DirecTV and NBC was able to save this show. I felt it was important for the show to finish last season, so this season is nothing but gravy for me. Lost comes in at number six btw.
The Name Engine
The Name Engine® provides the correct name pronunciations of athletes, entertainers, politicians, newsmakers, and more. Even well-known names are often pronounced in different ways, leaving you to wonder what the correct pronunciation is. You’ll find the right answer here. Better yet, you’ll actually hear the right answer.
For instance:
You know, this would have came in really handy for Jerry Jones. Just listen to Jerry try to pronounce the name Bono, as in Bono of U2. It gets worst every time he tries to say it.
U2 Confirms 2010 North American Tour Dates
No Texas cities included
U2 360 TOUR 2010
Presented by BlackBerry
NORTH AMERICAN ITINERARY
6-June Anaheim, CA Angel Stadium On sale soon
12-June Denver, CO Invesco Field On sale Nov. 6
16-June Oakland, CA Oakland-Alameda On sale Nov. 2
County Coliseum
20-June Seattle, WA Qwest Field On sale soon
23-June Edmonton, AB Commonwealth Stadium On sale Nov. 2
30-June East Lansing, MI Spartan Stadium On sale soon
03-July Toronto, ON Rogers Centre On sale Nov. 2
06-July Chicago, IL Solider Field On sale soon
09-July Miami, FL Land Shark Stadium On sale soon
12-July Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field On sale soon
16-July Montreal, QC Venue to be announced On sale soon
19-July New York New Meadowlands Stadium On sale soon
Bag of Randomness
- It’s been a busy couple of days. Monday was the U2 concert, and on Tuesday I escorted WifeGeeding to get her a prosthetic-eye. The swelling from her surgery a few months ago has subsided, so this is the next step in the process. I’ll be posting more on that in a few days. After the new prosthetic is made, out next step will to get a peg implanted.
- I wasn’t feeling well at all yesterday, and it didn’t help that getting a new prosthetic-eye made is an all day process. As soon as I got home around 5:00 PM, I went straight to bed. Heck, I’m only up right now (1:00 AM) because I had to use the bathroom, and I didn’t want to leave y’all without a post. That’s right BagOfNothingNation – I’m doing this for you. Prepare for lots of typos and grammatical errors – not that there isn’t many of those everyday.
- Someone made a comment yesterday that they didn’t get what all the fuss was about regarding U2, and I can totally see where they are coming from because there are a lot of things that I just don’t understand why people go so crazy after. But I’m not going to take the time to post a link on a person’s website who happens to love a particular subject on why that subject sucks.
- For me, I not only love the sounds and beats of their music, but the lyrics of their songs strike my soul and have helped me at different stages of my crazy and drama filled life. Many Christ followers understand what I’m talking about, and I know that some other Christ followers roll their eyes at that. It may be a turn off for a lot of people that the band is politically active, but that’s another reason I love them. I also love that they play live and don’t do any lip-synching. These are just a few reasons why I like them, I could go on and on. I’m not trying to convince you to like them, to each his or her own, but I’m just trying to give you an idea why I like them.
- Readers of my website know that a lot of what I post and write about is reflective of my personality. They know when they come to this little section of the Internet every day that they will see postings about U2, religion, politics, my family and fur-children, geeky stuff, and various pork products. It just comes with the territory. I try to post a variety of things so that if you don’t like something, you can skip it and find something else that may relate to your taste. Sometimes I try to be funny, sometimes I try to be a bit opinionated, but I try to approach it all with grace, and I hope that should you find something you disagree about and want to comment, you can afford me the same respect.
- As I mentioned before, U2 and Oprah was in the area on Monday. What was strange and so surreal, was that Oprah actually anchored our early evening news doing everything from national to local news. It was like a weird dream. Details here.
- I did hear she attended the U2 concert on Monday night. Heck, there were quite a few celebrities in attendance other than our local sports athletes such as Tony and Eva Longoria Parker, Jessica Simpson, and the biggest surprise of them all . . . Tiger Woods. There was a moment in the concert when I thought I heard Bono dedicate a song to him, but I thought I must have been light-headed at the time (I didn’t drink much water that day because I didn’t want to have to go to the restroom during the concert), but sure enough.
- Peter King of Sports Illustrated was there (he’s my favorite sports columnist) and he tweeted that 83,000 was the attendance (and that he didn’t know Texas was so U2nutty), but the Dallas Morning News stated there were only 17,000. I’m going to side with the national media on this one.
- The stadium just is not a good concert venue. The sound was phenomenal where I was located, but I heard a lot of complaints in the upper levels. I bet is sounded great in the open air in Chicago and New Jersey.
- U2’s stage is so big/tall that it still couldn’t fit under the JerryTron video board even after it was raised an additional 20 feet. It would have been better if the stage could have been set up in the middle of the stadium.
- In all honesty I think I can hit that video board with a punt. Granted the punt would go very far, but I’m most certain I can get it that high. Here’s a view of what the board looks like from the bottom.
- Since I didn’t know the next time I would get a view of the stadium from field level, I recorded video of all angles from the middle of the stadium. I might post that video later.
- Cowboys entrance
- Another moment when I thought I was light-headed and didn’t hear things right was when Bono started to name off different suburbs in the area. I totally got Fort Worth, but when I hear Richardson and Fair Park I was wondering if someone lit up and I just didn’t know it and these were the effects I was feeling.
- Bono is looking old, but he’s still the coolest person in the universe under 5′7″.
- I stood the entire time and I never got tired, which surprised me, and I felt like this was the quickest U2 concert I ever attended – it just blew by.
- Don’t get me wrong, I loved the concert, but out of the three that I have attended I didn’t enjoy this one as much. Maybe it was because WifeGeeding couldn’t attend because she wasn’t feeling well, or maybe it was because I wanted a different selection of songs. The show, stage, special effects, Bono’s vocals, Edge’s guitar playing, and everything was just great, but it just didn’t move me as much as the first two, and I was in the nosebleed sections of those other two.
- I purchased a parking pass when I bought my tickets and was quite thankful – lot four was quite close to the venue.
- Those RedZone tickets were worth every penny. There was a special section for RedZone members at the will call window, which there wasn’t a line for, we got to bypass any long stadium entry lines because we had our own line, we had our own concessions, merchandise, restroom area, sitting area, and of course it put us close to the stage. We were given a wristband to wear so we could get to these special marked locations.
- As I stated, I thought Muse was OK. Maybe if I were more familiar with their work I would have like them more. It wasn’t that I didn’t like them, they seemed really talent, but they didn’t blow me away.
- You may be surprised, but I didn’t buy one bit of merchandise.
- After Muse finished it was interesting to see that each leg of the stage had three spot light operators that were seated and strapped in for the entire show.
- The one thing I always wanted was to get a picture with Bono, and finally it has happened.
- I didn’t take my good/older camera to the concert, so I was left experimenting with my new camera and ended up with a lot of blurry images. You can view all of my pics here in high-res (slideshow here). A few of the better pics are posted below and from yesterday. I’m curious to knew if there are any that you really like. One of my readers had a different vantage point and you can view his pics here.
I Love U2
I’m wayyyy too tired to give a review right now, but here are some random thoughts and some pictures I took to hold you over.
- RedZone tickets are the bomb. I never had to wait in a line to enter the stadium and we had our own concession and restroom area just outside of our standing area. Worth. Every. Penny.
- Muse was the opening act, and they were OK.
- WifeGeeding was too sick to go, which made me very, very sad. And since all my in-town friends already had tickets, I was left scrambling trying to find someone that would appreciate this event.
- Bono gave a shout out to Tony Romo, Jason Witten, and George W. Bush. But I don’t think Dubya was in attendance. Heck, Bono even gave a shout out to a lot of the surrounding cities like Plano, but he never made it around to Lewisville or Mineral Wells.
- I saw an old college friend, the one that just happen to introduce me to U2 and their greatness.
- One dude was dragged away from the area, it took four men to pull him away.
- The special effects and use of technology was amazing.
- More to come later.
Click to enlarge.
Bag of Randomness
- I remember roaming the library in elementary school and always being intrigued by the “Where The Wild Things Are” book only to be disappointed and a bit confused when I opened it up. But I have to admit that the movie has caught my attention even thought I have no desire to see it.
- One thing that makes the commercial so appealing is the song “Wake Up” by the Arcade Fire. That song was also the song U2 walked on stage to at the beginning of all their Vertigo concerts.
- The U2 concert is tonight at JerryWorld. I want to describe my emotions, but I can’t.
- Earlier this year, or maybe it was last year, the Miss USA pageant had that bit of a controversy with the conservative Miss California answering a question from the flamboyant Perez Hilton. Now the Miss America pageant is going to have Rush Limbaugh as a judge. I may be the only person that finds this a bit interesting.
- I heard Joe Buck ask Troy Aikman, “Can you imagine what Tony Romo is going through . . .” I’m thinking if anyone could imagine what Romo is going through it’s Troy Aikman.
- I’m not sure who would have ever drafted Austin Miles to be on his fantasy football team, but whoever did had one heck of a day.
- 50 years of space exploration
- Someone on The Amazing Race confused Jackie Kennedy for Queen Elizabeth.
U2 travels in a very nice jet
Something that I will experience tonight
U2, Faith without the Christian rock label
U2 has a respected and admired career in rock ‘n’ roll, a type of music notorious for rewarding artists who sing about more base things than the world and one’s place in it.
The band — or in some cases just frontman Bono — has played pop star, pariah, prodigal son and proselytizer. But the spirituality coursing through 30 years of U2’s music has never earned U2, who play the Toyota Center on Wednesday, the tag of Christian rock band, a stigma of sorts in mainstream music. The band has deftly kept its spiritual and secular sides in proportions that wouldn’t limit its reach.
Greg Garrett, a professor at Baylor University and author of We Get to Carry Each Other: The Gospel According to U2, suggests Christian rock has become a toxic phrase in pop “for a good reason. We have Christian art in which the art is less important than the Christian part.
“U2’s beliefs filter into their work, but that’s not their primary reason for making music.”
The Rev. Genevieve Razim, associate rector at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, says, “as an Episcopalian, I always had a hunch that cool and Christian were not mutually exclusive; U2 affirmed that for me.
“There were so many messages from the media that being a Christian meant being rigid and square and intolerant, and here was this rock band asking bigger questions and expressing their faith.”
So the band has for years made songs about peace, justice, spirits and mysteries, and done so in a way that suggests an inclination toward elevation, from its early use of psalms to a panoramic worldview today.
U2: faith in the ear of the hearer
A handful of my readers will appreciate the Baylor connection in this article.
American religion has adopted the rock band U2.
Its lyrics can be heard coming from pulpits. Its music ringing out in sanctuaries. Its videos show up in Sunday school classes.
Rabbi Steve Lebow of Kol Emeth in Marietta, said, “I taught a class on rock and roll and spirituality. When you do a search of which band has the most biblical allusions and spiritual themes, U2 comes up as number one.”
Jake Hill started teaching a class at Atlanta’s Saint James United Methodist Church in September called the theology of U2. It attracts about 15 people on Wednesday nights.
“Most of their songs have a message of unity, we are all in this together to make this work,” Hill said.
He was inspired to teach the class after one of Saint James’ pastors showed him a book titled “We Get to Carry Each Other: the Gospel According to U2” (Westminster John Knox Press, $16.95).
He has long known about the band’s spiritual leanings, looked for references to faith in their music, and the book helped pull that together, he said.
Greg Garrett, the author, teaches English at Baylor University and writing at an Episcopal seminary. He was writing for a music magazine and interviewed the band in their early years.
U2 stuff on USA Today
And they will be in town in less than a week – it will be Christmas in October for me.
U2 world tour yet to turn a profit
It is one of the world’s most popular live events but U2’s massive 360° tour has still not turned a profit.
The concerts have generated €205m in ticket sales so far, but Paul McGuinness, the band’s manager, said that the tour has not yet broken even because the daily running costs are more than €500,000.
The band started the tour in Barcelona at the end of June, followed by North America for a string of concerts that began at Chicago’s Soldier Field on September 12.
“When do we hit the break-even point? We haven’t hit it yet,” McGuinness told Billboard, the American music trade publication last week. “But we will between now and the end of this leg. Not exactly gravy, because whether we’re playing or not, the overhead is about $750,000 (€511,245) daily.”
With more than 120 trucks transporting three stages that cost $40m to build and up to 500 staff on the payroll, U2’s tour is being touted as the most expensive rock’n’roll expedition ever mounted.
Just 12 more days until the play in Dallas Arlington.
Megan Fox, U2 to kick off new ‘SNL’ season
LOS ANGELES – The 35th season of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” will start with a bang.
Megan Fox will host the show, while rock legends U2 will be the Sept. 26 kick-off episode’s musical guest, “SNL” comedian Bill Hader revealed to Access Hollywood on Wednesday.
Fox will be promoting her next film, the Diablo Cody-penned dark comedy “Jennifer’s Body,” out Sept. 18. U2 is in the midst of their U2 360 world tour in support of their latest album, this year’s “No Line On The Horizon.”
