U2 will be sunning themselves in the South of France this summer, as they make it their base for their upcoming European tour.
The band and their families have holiday homes on the Cote D’Azur and will have a private plane at Nice Airport to jet them to gigs in Barcelona, Milan, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and London as their U2360 Tour kicks-off on June 30. Read the rest of this entry »
Scottish singing sensation SUSAN BOYLE has hired the man credited with making rockers U2 one of music’s biggest moneymakers as her manager.
The star, who took the world by storm with her extensive vocal range on U.K. reality show Britain’s Got Talent, has hired veteran music moneyman Ossie Kilkenny.
Boyle has already pledged to release her debut album through the show’s judge Simon Cowell’s label, Syco; but the 48 year old singer has decided to augment her management team to include Kilkenny, 62 – the financial guru hailed by Bono and his bandmates.
A source tells the British newspaper the Daily Mirror, “Susan wants to work with Simon, but she and her family have also chosen to bring in Ossie Kilkenny as manager.”
Irish chat show host Pat Kenny, who’s filled the chair of the country’s most popular program, “Late Late Show,” for the past 10 years, retired last Friday night and received one heck of a going away gift – an appearance by U2 on his final broadcast, and the gift of a very rare guitar from The Edge. 
The band performed their latest single, “Magnificent,” and chatted with Kenny about any number of topics, including, naturally, the upcoming tour which they intend to be groundbreaking in every way.
“We haven’t seen (the stage) yet but we’ve seen some footage of it as it’s been built in Belgium and I have to say I looked at it today and thought, ‘Oh my God we’ve actually designed the Eiffel Tower!’ It’s this huge thing. It’s pretty amazing,” Edge revealed.
Though the new tour has sold out pretty much all over the world, drummer Larry Mullen says that playing at home is an extra special event. They’ll get the chance to do that at Croke Park for three nights at the end of July. (“U2360” will make its world debut in Barcelona on June 30.)
“Expectations are always high, particularly in your homeland, but you know, that’s what we do. We fly the flag wherever we can. And nowhere prouder than in our homeland,” said Mullen.
“So you take the pressure on, understanding that your family and your friends are expecting great things. They hear about all the stuff you do around the world and they want you to come home and show that you can do it for them as well.”
Though Ireland’s Celtic Tiger economy of a few years back has certainly taken a lickin’, U2 fully intends to spread the word about their country during their travels – they’ll be on the road for nearly two years when all is said and done.
“Larry was saying just a few days ago…I thought it was smart…that we have to, wherever we go, whether it’s Barcelona, whether it’s Chicago, just tell people about this little gem, this little jewel on the north Atlantic and how extraordinary its people are and how innovative and how smart they are and they’ll get their way out of this mess. We’re just going to tell them that nightly,” Bono says.
U2 made a surprise appearance onstage in London tonight (May 28).
The band took to the stage at the O2 Academy Shepherds Bush, joining African artist Baaba Maal just after he played his set as part of the Island Life gigs which are taking place at the venue this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the acts’ label Island Records.
Having played a full set with his band, Maal returned to the stage kicking off his version of Irish band’s ‘One’ before the full U2 line-up joined in acoustically.
Praising Maal’s “nobility”, Bono declared he was “the spark of Africa”, before the pair slipped into a short version of Bob Marley’s ‘Feel Alright’ – another Island Records artist.
The U2 frontman then declared “We’ve got one more in us”, before his band launched into ‘Vertigo’, thanking their former record label at the songs climax.
Yusuf Islam, aka Cat Stevens, is now set to headline the gig tonight.
- NME.COM
Irish rockers U2 have released the video for their second single, “Magnificent”, off of their successful new album “No Line on the Horizon”.
Unlike the video for the first single “Get on Your Boots”, which had images of outer space and sexy girls in military uniforms, “Magnificent” takes a softer approach.
Directed by Alex Courtez (who also directed “Boots”), the band is seen walking through the streets of Fes, Morocco with the desert sun beating down on them. They walk with the locals as white sheets drape the surrounding buildings. Also, they are seen playing in a Moroccan house. Their guitars and amps are propped against the mosaic walls.
As per their official website, U2.com, “Magnificent” will be remixed an astounding four times. Versions of the song by Soha, Adam K, Redanka, Peter Tong, and Fred Falke are available for downloading.
U2 are no strangers to the mythical city of Fes. They recorded parts of their new album there and on the song “Fez: Being Born”, the Moroccan vibe is evident.
Let’s hope they bring a little bit of Morocco with them on their upcoming tour! But for now, satisfy your U2 craving with their “Magnificent” video.
Rock group U2 will this week support the first global awareness campaign to spotlight multiple sclerosis.
World MS Day, to be launched on Wednesday, will involve more than 160 events in 51 countries.
U2’s contribution is their hit song Beautiful Day, which is providing the campaign soundtrack.
The aim is to highlight the plight of people with the disease, raise donations for patient charities and research funding, forge links between MS organisations, and urge action from politicians.
- Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited
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