Bono on Charlie Rose

A discussion about philanthropy and rock music with Bono, lead singer of the band U2 and founder of the ONE Campaign

Julian Lennon Contribution to the New U2 Album

In this recent interview, Julian Lennon - a close friend of the band - discusses his possible artwork contributions to the new U2 album scheduled to be released later this year.  This could involve the album cover or photos for the CD insert.  Julian mentioned that he was on the road with U2 over the years.  This made me recall the São Paulo show I was at during the 360° Tour, where Bono sang him Happy Birthday since he was in the crowd.  In any event, check out the interview below.

This follows up an earlier interview about the use of his images for the album artwork, "I've talked to the U2 boys to ask when I can release all of these," he said. "I'd very much like to put a book together but they've asked me to hold back. They're considering using the images for their artwork on the new album. It should be out mid to late next year."

Possible Hints: Upcoming U2 Tour

I finally received my copy of From the Ground Up: U2360° Tour Official Photobook - U2.com Music Edition. As a member of the U2.com 'club', this book/photos/CD compilation was a benefit for membership renewal. I wanted to make sure my membership was up-to-date so that I can have access to pre-sale tickets for the next tour. Considering that the next tour will be an arena tour, general admission floor tickets (assuming they'll have GA), will be harder to come-by since it's a smaller ticket allocation compared to larger number available for football stadium pitches. Lately, Bono, Edge, and Larry have been quoted about a summer or fall release of their new album. If the new album is released later this summer as the band mentioned, then ticket sales for a possible opening spring 2014 tour will commence this fall/winter.

The Killers - With or Without You (Cover)

A very beautiful cover of With or Without You by The Killers from last night's concert from the O2 Arena in London, England.

It is widely known that Brendan Flowers (lead singer of The Killers) is a big fan of U2 and cites them as an influence.  Below is another U2 cover, If God Will Send Us His Angels, and his cameo appearance with U2 at their Las Vegas show during the 2005 Vertigo Tour to perform In A Little While (great version)!

Talk by the Designer of Bono's Laser Jacket: Moritz Waldemeyer

A couple of months ago, I made a presentation to Pecha Kucha about My Adventures in General Admission.  Upon reminiscing, I came across this Pecha Kucha talk by Moritz Waldemeyer - the designer of Bono's laser jacket used during the 360° tour. According to the Pecha Kucha website:

Moritz wowed us with his amazing designs — including a jacket for Bono for the latest U2 concert tour and a new coffee cum laser dancing table for Wallpaper, an exclusive here as the magazine is not out yet!

Widely recognised as one of the most innovative and exciting designers of his generation, Waldemeyer, aged 34, was born in East Germany. He moved to London thirteen years ago where he trained as an engineer at Kings College and completed his Masters degree in 2001. Since then, he has collaborated with many of the world’s top architects and fashion designers including Ron Arad, Zaha Hadid and Hussein Chalayan. His work is a fusion of technology, art, fashion and design.

U2360°: The Official Story of the Greatest Spectacle in Stadium-Rock History

According to NME.com, U2 are going to be releasing a new book about their recent 360° World Tour.  It will be entitled U2360°: The Official Story of the Greatest Spectacle in Stadium-Rock History, and to be written by Dylan Jones (GQ magazine editor).  The documentary book will be published by Random House and to be released for late fall 2012.  According to the publisher, it will be a "land mark event":

U2360°: The Official Story of the Greatest Spectacle in Stadium-Rock History will be a land- mark music publishing event. It will contain exclusive contributions from the band, from manager Paul McGuiness, from world renowned show designer/director Willie Williams, who has worked with R.E.M., David Bowie, Laurie Anderson & many more, and from architect Mark Fisher. The book will contain exclusive photographs from tour photographer Ralph Larmann and selected behind the scenes photographs by Eoin McLoughlin (Random House, 2012).

Upon further research, this Official tour photobook is being sold under the title From The Ground Up: U2360° Tour Official Photobook.  My guess is that the NME article had a preliminary title when it released its article on the web.  Luckily for German fans, the book is now available for order on the German Amazon site for €39.99.  For the rest of the world, McNally, Amazon, and Chapters/Indigo are taking pre-orders for this book, which will be released November 27, 2012.

In any event, for all us U2 fans, this will be a welcome early-Christmas / holiday gift!  I'll be very interested to read which cities the book highlights and if it offers any new insights that we do not know about already.

New U2 Album in 2013

As I mentioned in a previous post back in January 2012 about a 2013 album release, Mercury Records has confirmed that U2 will be releasing a new album next year!   This is news that we've been waiting for.

Here on in, the slow drip of rumours will trickle into the public sphere.  Next, barely coherent fan recordings of demos being played by Bono outside of his French summer home will emerge.  We'll hear of stories from lucky fans who were picked up in Bono's Maserati as they stood outside of U2's recording studio in Dublin, and were treated with a preliminary listen to the new album.

Afterward, an album single will be leaked on the internet, and then the whole record will appear on the web a few weeks before the actual release - prompting a debate between purists (who will wait until the official release) and insatiable fans (who desire anything U2 related as soon as possible) about the merits of downloading leaked material.  Then there will be the actual album release, and hopefully followed by a pre-tour starting in the fall (2013) in small and unexpected venues.  Die-hard fans will begin to renew their U2.com memberships to gain access to pre-sale tickets at the same time.  Details for venues and tour dates will permeate and a tour to be confirmed in the winter (2014).  We will begin to draw up a tour schedule ourselves and picking out which cities to visit on the first leg of the tour and start booking accommodation and flights accordingly.  Once the tour hits the ground, and we are in the GA line for that first concert, I'll look back on today, and remember the one line in that gigwise.com article which prompted this posting, "Mercury Records also confirmed new albums from Metallica, U2 and Noah and the Whale, which will all contribute towards a good year [2013] for the record label."

 Those on the outside may think this is strange behaviour.  For us, this is normal every four years!  I can't wait for 2013...