May 11, 2008
Brad Pitt Helps Bono Celebrate 48th Birthday in Monaco
By Peter Mikelbank, People Magazine,
Even by Monaco standards, it wasn't your ordinary dinner party for 12 on Friday night - though there was cake and champagne.
To celebrate his 48th birthday, U2 frontman Bono held a small dinner party at Sass' Café in Monaco. On the guest list: Brad Pitt, Monaco's Prince Albert II and The Edge.
"It was really quite a surprise," the café's maitre de tells PEOPLE. "It wasn't organized in advance. We only got called on it that afternoon."
Despite Pitt's presence, Angelina Jolie, who had visited Bono in Eze with her children last Sunday, remained at home.
The sit-down dinner, arranged by Bono's wife Ali Hewson, began with red wine at 10 p.m., according to staff, even before The Edge arrived for the evening. The meal was followed by a champagne toast and strawberry cake lit with candles; a staffer described the party as "tres speciale."
No word on what gifts Bono received - but what do you give a man who has his own rock band and has already been nominated for the Nobel Prize?
Copyright © 2008 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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May 10, 2008
U2 tower now ready for Elevation
Irish Independent,
After years of planning, wrangling and rowing, it finally looks like the landmark U2 tower is finally set to get off the ground. Plans for the Liffey highrise remain on course even though a formal agreement with the developers has still not been struck.
The Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) said negotiations between it and the preferred bidders -- a consortium including U2 members -- "are due to be completed shortly."
The DDDA expects "construction of the tower to begin by the end of this year or early next year," a spokesman said.
Geranger Ltd. was chosen by the DDDA as the preferred bidder for the €200m project on Britain Quay in October, beating off competition from Sean Dunne's Mountbrook Homes.
Geranger, a consortium consisting of Ballymore Properties, developer Paddy McKillen and the members of U2, plans to build a skyscraper soaring 60m higher than the Spire.
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April 26, 2008
U2 Scrap Work And Start Again
Rockers U2 are scrapping all the tracks they have written for their next album to start all over again - ditching a year's worth of work.
The band has been working on the follow up to 2004 LP How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb for the past 12 months, but they're far from happy with the results.
Guitarist The Edge reveals bandmembers have mostly messed around in the studio - and they have now decided to get stuck in and finish the record.
He tells CMUMusic.com, "We went into this project allowing ourselves the indulgence of making music without thinking about where it was going to end up. We're starting to get serious now".
© 2008 Contactmusic.com Ltd. All rights reserved.
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April 20, 2008
Temple Bar chief backs U2 plan for Clarence
By Colin Bartley, Independent.ie,
THE architect at the centre of the 1990s regeneration of Temple Bar yesterday said if ambitious plans like those for U2's Clarence Hotel were on the table back then he would have backed them.
James Howley, who oversaw much of the regeneration of the cultural centre of Dublin, told a hearing of An Bord Pleanala into plans to transform the Clarence site: "It is important to understand the meaning and essence of the term conservation, which is often mistakenly confused with those of preservation."
Mr Howley came out strongly in favour of the project and said: "None of the six buildings on the site is of high architectural merit, neither in external appearance nor interior design."
The conservation of the hotel was the main focus of discussions at the third day of the hearing, when final oral submissions were heard. Meanwhile opponents argued that the plans amount to the demolition of the listed hotel.
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April 15, 2008
Bono's huge hotel plans
Rocker Bono wants to spend a staggering $237.2 million turning the hotel he owns in his native Dublin, Ireland into a spectacular city resort.
The U2 frontman and bandmate The Edge bought the 156 year old Clarence Hotel in 1992.
Now the pair have hired award-winning architect Sir Norman Foster to draw up plans for a spectacular overhaul of the 49-room hotel - with designs which include a glass atrium in the shape of a Viking long boat.
The plans have been passed by the city council, but have been met with opposition from locals, who object to the partial demolition of several historic local buildings.
Bono and The Edge will have to appear before a planning board in the next week.
A source tells the New York Post, "This meeting, like the hotel project, is very important to him and he is in Dublin to make sure everything goes well."
Copyright © 2008 World Entertainment News Network.
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