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August 31, 1997
Adam Clayton on MSN Chat
Adam on MSN Chat, August 31, 1997
questions now over
in the #U2_Questions room.
go, is
this gonna work? Is this what it feels like to be Michael Jackson?
sucesseful U2-related single on the US chatrs on this decade - give you & Larry
the
satisfaction of proving you two can survive without the "other two" :-)?
jobs. We realized
it was because of U2 it was received so well.
it was
easier to communicate between the two of us.
you let
them????
One?
pay attention
to tuning or timing. But I've learned to count til 4 since then.
life...which would
it be?
record. I
couldn't narrow it down any clkoser than that. Could be a Miles Davis record.
and I
admire your standing, you looked proud and very cool... This kind of behaviour
comes from
your mother or your father?
good genes come in our family -- maybe from our grandparents.
with
those basslines? Are the songs built around your lines or is it theother way
round?
a chord
sequence that just needs a bass part added to it. Other times we'll take a bass
part that happens
in a rehearsal situation or a sound check and we'll work
some chords over that. Please was a case where we put some chords over that.
know
who's good at what -- I'm really pleased that Bono took the job that he took and
that I took the
job that I took.
young?
younger than the
rest of us.
memorable
basslines like in New Years Day or With or Without You?
were a few
more where those came from.
all it's worth.
you?
is he draws
on a broad base of experience that's based on everyone he's involved with. He
takes little bits
and we're all the same in many ways.
it
universal.
for you to
listen to your own music?
making I'll
listen to quite a lot because we're trying to learn how to play it live and I'm
still moving things
around in my head with it.
You realize
that your initial instincts about it are absolutely true.
studio
recording?
candidate
for that. Discotheque is a different live version.
somehting
pretty good. Maybe a truck driver or something. I like being on the road.
in as
much as it's much easier to pose in front of a mirror than in front of your
friends and family.
home
and everything catches up with you.
fantastic and
wellworth it.
don't really
know why.
been swept
away.
chased by the
paparazzi.
someone
pulled in front. It is senseless. It's a complicated issue because we all like to
read the
newspapers.
things like
that, they're an influence on what we were doing around the time of Joshua Tree.
was great as
well.
making
music videos?
them.
videos are
about, but hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
screen
for fun?!
as yet, maybe
sometime in the future.
things
before. Doing TV shows can be fun. We used to do it a lot a few years back. I
think it's better
to be performing at these things than in the audience.
the song
a step further - Lady with the spinning head being a fine example. Others, like
Lemon -
Version Dub - areproduced with hardly anything from U2's original encarnation of
the song.
What is U2's real involvement with the DJ's that remixes the song?
normally
they only really want a vocal so you send them a DAT and then they build up the
rest
themselves.
with them. It's
kind of nice that they're a surprise because it's never what you expect to hear.
fans out there
that want to buy them. I don't like overpriced bootlegs that are ripping the fans
off. If they're
good quality recordings of a show then I'm happy enough that people have access
to those
things.
of tolerate it,
providing no one's getting ripped off.
Hook who
used to be in Joy Division was an influence in that he showed me something
different he could
do with a bass.
early
days, electric bass playing, showed me how you could funk it up with rhythm and
melody. I
aspire to move between those three spirits when I'm playing.
'overzealous' fans at
shows? Also, do you think the Internet has made fans more overzealous, or does
it just seem
that way?
moved by
an experience -- that's what it's all about. But there is a tendency for people
to be obsessive.
opportunity to talk about that I'm happy to take it.
to do that
as well. But there are people taking it to extreme -- an autogrtaph, a photo, a
video recorder,
and could you fill this bag up with old clothes.
see on
Achtung Baby?? :)
apprehensive about
revealing myself in such a way. But I got into the spirit of wickedness, I
suppose. I objected to
the censorship that happened in some countries. I think nude photography is
absolutely
appropriate and shouldn't embaraass anyone.
at
myself as a man and looking at penises. It's a hard thiing to overcome but it's
good. I only
wish I had an erection at the time.
Please,
which we've just rerecorded for the single. Playboy Mansion always brings a smile
to my face.
it?
notices that I'm
well turned out.
the
road?
together. Every
so often youlook at that and go 20 years, it's like being married.
value it and
think it's an amazing achievement.
over the
years?
enthusiastic and active
-- a lot of that came from fighting for our lives, living hard to mouth.
evyer
performance counted. I was fueled up on adrenalin. Now the music has become a lot
more
important to me -- the playing of it. Listening to Larry, supporting Bono --
that's important.
Now my concentration is more on 1-2-3-4 hwere we go rather than any athletic
ambitions I
might have.
insightful to say .
. .
very rock 'n'
roll.
thoughts
and feelings nad if I was to write something that's what it'd be about because I
would not write
something that would compromise relationships and
loyalties.
a time
limit -- youwonder if you can plan for that eventuality, whatever that is.
theatre
somewhere. It's kind of the only thing we know how to do.
him. I've
read some of his work and I know he's got a feisty attitude about some things.
and he was
very switched on to what was going on.
precious.
tour?
Rolling Stones
do what they do very well and they have an amazing history. It's amazing that at
this stage they
want to get up on stage and is a real testament to their friendship.
at the end.
over the
radio waves?
there's a
new band comes up with a different sound. I don't know what's going to happen to
Hanson
when their voices break. I certainly like looking at the Spice
Girls.
the inside
of the gig and usually we have the same furniture that travels so I don't think
I've been going
anywhere for the last year, I've been in the same place goiong backwards and
forwards.
we've met him a
couple of times.It's a question of tempos 'cuz those guys work at slower tempos.
wanted to get him to a remix of Discotheque at the time but in the end he said
that the speed
of this is too fast for rap or hip hop.
tend to reflect
what you're doing which is the show is the most important thing and the show
happens at
roughly the same time every night and there can't be a problem that can't be
gotten over.
with the
citizens.
accomplished
something tha thas been very hard and has tkane a lot of hard work.
of go back in
there and make another great record.
some of that
first stuff was recorded and I'm not sure how interseting it is.
drawer.
between a
journalist who has simply researched your history and one that is truly a fan?
questions that
sometimes you haven't thought about. A journalist who's really reserached
yourhistory is a lot
more academic in their approach and you tend to respond more academically.
lot of people
don't really like going to stadiums. But since we've come to Europe and are
playing genearl
admission we've found we've gotten a younger,
more aggressive audience that's ready to party.
music. If
we'd stayed oding what we were dong on the Joshua Tree I think we we would've
gotten older
musically.
us
different musically and every other which way,.
the same
every night, so for us it's how the audience reacts.
and the
music is a catalyst for that to happen.
are now?
which I had in
those days. In reality, it's a surprise and a wonder to me that we actually have
achieved the
things we have achieved and there's still more to come.
because it just
might happen.
questions?
just got in
with the Labour government.
very
important coming at the end of this century, people who have control over our
lives are people
you'd actually like to sit down and talk to.
joining the
chat. Don't forget to come back to the site for tour updates, live chats, and
live show
cybercasts.
Adam on MSN Chat, August 31, 1997
questions now over
in the #U2_Questions room.
go, is
this gonna work? Is this what it feels like to be Michael Jackson?
sucesseful U2-related single on the US chatrs on this decade - give you & Larry
the
satisfaction of proving you two can survive without the "other two" :-)?
jobs. We realized
it was because of U2 it was received so well.
it was
easier to communicate between the two of us.
you let
them????
One?
pay attention
to tuning or timing. But I've learned to count til 4 since then.
life...which would
it be?
record. I
couldn't narrow it down any clkoser than that. Could be a Miles Davis record.
and I
admire your standing, you looked proud and very cool... This kind of behaviour
comes from
your mother or your father?
good genes come in our family -- maybe from our grandparents.
with
those basslines? Are the songs built around your lines or is it theother way
round?
a chord
sequence that just needs a bass part added to it. Other times we'll take a bass
part that happens
in a rehearsal situation or a sound check and we'll work
some chords over that. Please was a case where we put some chords over that.
know
who's good at what -- I'm really pleased that Bono took the job that he took and
that I took the
job that I took.
young?
younger than the
rest of us.
memorable
basslines like in New Years Day or With or Without You?
were a few
more where those came from.
all it's worth.
you?
is he draws
on a broad base of experience that's based on everyone he's involved with. He
takes little bits
and we're all the same in many ways.
it
universal.
for you to
listen to your own music?
making I'll
listen to quite a lot because we're trying to learn how to play it live and I'm
still moving things
around in my head with it.
You realize
that your initial instincts about it are absolutely true.
studio
recording?
candidate
for that. Discotheque is a different live version.
somehting
pretty good. Maybe a truck driver or something. I like being on the road.
in as
much as it's much easier to pose in front of a mirror than in front of your
friends and family.
home
and everything catches up with you.
fantastic and
wellworth it.
don't really
know why.
been swept
away.
chased by the
paparazzi.
someone
pulled in front. It is senseless. It's a complicated issue because we all like to
read the
newspapers.
things like
that, they're an influence on what we were doing around the time of Joshua Tree.
was great as
well.
making
music videos?
them.
videos are
about, but hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
screen
for fun?!
as yet, maybe
sometime in the future.
things
before. Doing TV shows can be fun. We used to do it a lot a few years back. I
think it's better
to be performing at these things than in the audience.
the song
a step further - Lady with the spinning head being a fine example. Others, like
Lemon -
Version Dub - areproduced with hardly anything from U2's original encarnation of
the song.
What is U2's real involvement with the DJ's that remixes the song?
normally
they only really want a vocal so you send them a DAT and then they build up the
rest
themselves.
with them. It's
kind of nice that they're a surprise because it's never what you expect to hear.
fans out there
that want to buy them. I don't like overpriced bootlegs that are ripping the fans
off. If they're
good quality recordings of a show then I'm happy enough that people have access
to those
things.
of tolerate it,
providing no one's getting ripped off.
Hook who
used to be in Joy Division was an influence in that he showed me something
different he could
do with a bass.
early
days, electric bass playing, showed me how you could funk it up with rhythm and
melody. I
aspire to move between those three spirits when I'm playing.
'overzealous' fans at
shows? Also, do you think the Internet has made fans more overzealous, or does
it just seem
that way?
moved by
an experience -- that's what it's all about. But there is a tendency for people
to be obsessive.
opportunity to talk about that I'm happy to take it.
to do that
as well. But there are people taking it to extreme -- an autogrtaph, a photo, a
video recorder,
and could you fill this bag up with old clothes.
see on
Achtung Baby?? :)
apprehensive about
revealing myself in such a way. But I got into the spirit of wickedness, I
suppose. I objected to
the censorship that happened in some countries. I think nude photography is
absolutely
appropriate and shouldn't embaraass anyone.
at
myself as a man and looking at penises. It's a hard thiing to overcome but it's
good. I only
wish I had an erection at the time.
Please,
which we've just rerecorded for the single. Playboy Mansion always brings a smile
to my face.
it?
notices that I'm
well turned out.
the
road?
together. Every
so often youlook at that and go 20 years, it's like being married.
value it and
think it's an amazing achievement.
over the
years?
enthusiastic and active
-- a lot of that came from fighting for our lives, living hard to mouth.
evyer
performance counted. I was fueled up on adrenalin. Now the music has become a lot
more
important to me -- the playing of it. Listening to Larry, supporting Bono --
that's important.
Now my concentration is more on 1-2-3-4 hwere we go rather than any athletic
ambitions I
might have.
insightful to say .
. .
very rock 'n'
roll.
thoughts
and feelings nad if I was to write something that's what it'd be about because I
would not write
something that would compromise relationships and
loyalties.
a time
limit -- youwonder if you can plan for that eventuality, whatever that is.
theatre
somewhere. It's kind of the only thing we know how to do.
him. I've
read some of his work and I know he's got a feisty attitude about some things.
and he was
very switched on to what was going on.
precious.
tour?
Rolling Stones
do what they do very well and they have an amazing history. It's amazing that at
this stage they
want to get up on stage and is a real testament to their friendship.
at the end.
over the
radio waves?
there's a
new band comes up with a different sound. I don't know what's going to happen to
Hanson
when their voices break. I certainly like looking at the Spice
Girls.
the inside
of the gig and usually we have the same furniture that travels so I don't think
I've been going
anywhere for the last year, I've been in the same place goiong backwards and
forwards.
we've met him a
couple of times.It's a question of tempos 'cuz those guys work at slower tempos.
wanted to get him to a remix of Discotheque at the time but in the end he said
that the speed
of this is too fast for rap or hip hop.
tend to reflect
what you're doing which is the show is the most important thing and the show
happens at
roughly the same time every night and there can't be a problem that can't be
gotten over.
with the
citizens.
accomplished
something tha thas been very hard and has tkane a lot of hard work.
of go back in
there and make another great record.
some of that
first stuff was recorded and I'm not sure how interseting it is.
drawer.
between a
journalist who has simply researched your history and one that is truly a fan?
questions that
sometimes you haven't thought about. A journalist who's really reserached
yourhistory is a lot
more academic in their approach and you tend to respond more academically.
lot of people
don't really like going to stadiums. But since we've come to Europe and are
playing genearl
admission we've found we've gotten a younger,
more aggressive audience that's ready to party.
music. If
we'd stayed oding what we were dong on the Joshua Tree I think we we would've
gotten older
musically.
us
different musically and every other which way,.
the same
every night, so for us it's how the audience reacts.
and the
music is a catalyst for that to happen.
are now?
which I had in
those days. In reality, it's a surprise and a wonder to me that we actually have
achieved the
things we have achieved and there's still more to come.
because it just
might happen.
questions?
just got in
with the Labour government.
very
important coming at the end of this century, people who have control over our
lives are people
you'd actually like to sit down and talk to.
joining the
chat. Don't forget to come back to the site for tour updates, live chats, and
live show
cybercasts.
Posted by Jonathan at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)
August 28, 1997
Leeds Popmart concert
Leeds Popmart concert, August 28, 1997
By Simon Williams, New Music Express
U2 Leeds Roundhay Park
"... It isn't called PopMart any more. No sirree. For us Blighty bleeders who don't, like, comprehend the whole bally Yankee supermart/market concept, U2 have craftily updated their whole touring promotion and, according to the legion of posters smeared across the derelict pubs and shops lining the route to Roundhay Park, rechristened it PopSport. Oh, and there's a bloody big football on the posters as well, just in case we haven't noticed just how adroitly they've transferred their cultural allegiances from the US of A to the U of, uh, K. So there's this huge lemon, right. And the yellow skin peels away to reveal a sort of vast silver citrus-shaped disco ball. And then the ball trundles along this catwalk into the audience and then it stops and the top half sort of slowly lifts off and U2 are standing there and this metal ladder appears and the band walk down and all this equipment has suddenly appeared at the end of the catwalk and the band sort of launch into 'Discoth?que', like, in the middle of the crowd and it's just the start of the encores and, no ociffer, I'm pot nissed, it really, really did happen...
...As did many other things tonight, not all of them quite so jaw-droppingly amazing, but still pretty damn saucy. See, from the moment they dramatically appear stage-right and stride along an alleyway through the sodding audience to a final, carefree version of 'Rain' just over two hours later, U2 pretty much blow every conception of live performances and their alleged limitations out of the water. Light years ago, their cursed Red Rocks farrago (remember the white flags? The mullets? The manic bleat preaching?! Lawks!) catapulted the freaky foursome into the shameful realm of the rawk arena. Over a decade on, we have our own new generation of big stage bastardos, with Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and The Charlatans already booked into suddenly credible binocular-friendly venues before Crimbo. And rest assured that none of them will provide entertainment on a scale anywhere near as staggering as this.
The plot is pretty simple: for the old crowd pleasers (see 'I Will Follow', '(Pride) In The Name Of Love', 'New Year's Day') the theme is stripped down and euphoric; for the later efforts (see the majority of the quite literally tune-unfriendly 'Pop' album) the spectacle is all and, more often than not, utterly spectacular. And here's the rub. U2 used to be more substance than style Now they're more style than substance and represent older men getting to grips with younger people's dance-dazzled sounds. Somewhere in the middle you'll find PopSport in all its awesome, gizmo-grinning glory. "George Harrison says you shouldn't be here!" yells Bono, a man who obviously snorts the tabloids. "It's all big fucking hats and lemons!" It is, too, courtesy of The Edge's camp cowboy attire and one large bright yellow bugger stage-left, but when U2's retort is the gentlest of touches of 'My Sweet Lord' at the close of 'Mysterious Ways' you realise just how much they're enjoying this whole supposedly hard-nosed corporate touring fandango.
The highlights, then: Bono doing his traditional dance-with-a-girlie-from-the-audience act during a bionic 'Miami', and offering her a cigar; the cloud-bursting lasers for 'Bullet The Blue Sky'; the way in which Bono subverts all the Big Rock bollocks by dragging the crowd down into a 'Radio Ga Ga'-style mass clapalong; a stack of screamingly familiar genre-buggering songs which we haven't got time to detail because our minds are too busy being boggled by the cheeky, funky things in U2's life. And oh yeah, one other small-but-rather significant bit: somewhere in the middle of the set Bono and The Edge are at the far end of the catwalk with their acoustic guitars, duetting on 'Staring At The Sun'. Bono has already beamingly ordered the crowd not to laugh at his fretboard, uh, dexterity. In a few minutes The Edge will be striding solo on that same catwalk, bellowing 'Singing In The Rain'.
Throughout the entire experience fans will be waving flowers. Dads will be shouting along. Geezers will be hugging each other. Mothers will be clapping. Small girls will be quivering. And small boys? Hey, we all know about small boys and their jiving, jumpers for goalposts, right? Yes."
Copyright © 1997 New Musical Express. All rights reserved.
Posted by Jonathan at 04:34 AM | Comments (0)
August 26, 1997
U2 - A Sort Of Belfast Homecoming
Belfast Popmart concert, August 26, 1997
U2 - A SORT OF BELFAST HOMECOMING (A postscript to TRiSH)
By Dan McGinn
It's 5.40pm and the taxi cab has pulled up outside my house in north Belfast. The sun has disappeared. The wind is blowing and the weathermen are predicting rain.
But as I'm ferried through the streets of the city, I know Belfast couldn't give a toss. Rain or shine - we're here to celebrate. U2 are back in Northern Ireland for the first time in over a decade and we're going to tell them how much we missed them.
As I walk up Royal Avenue, past Belfast City Hall, up Bedford Street and Dublin Road, the crowds thicken.
My Walkman is tuned into BBC Radio Ulster's `Evening Extra' news programme which in between reports of the Irish and British governments' meeting over the peace process and farming news carries regular updates on U2's arrival.
We are told the band were met by about 30 journalists at Belfast International Airport where Bono spoke to them about their excitement at the prospect of playing Ulster again - especially in the wake of the recent IRA ceasefire.
"This is our second home. We've been wanting to play Belfast for such a long time and it is going to be one of the highlights of this tour."
"Belfast audiences are notorious for the reception they give to bands. In fact, Irish audiences are notorious. We have our clapometer out for the Belfast and Dublin shows just to see who's the loudest."
`Evening Extra' presenter Mark Carruthers dissects U2's career with rockjournalist Stuart Bailie as we wisk through Queen's University, skimming the outskirts of the Botanic Gardens and the Stranmillis Road - the heart of the student district.
Some enterprising students and local restaurants have organised parties and barbecues and the dodgy merchandisers are doing a steady business under the nose of the RUC traffic cops.
The crowd has now become a sea of concertgoers converging on the entrance to the Botanic Gardens concert site in tiny residential Ridgeway Street. A crowd of luvvies stand on the roof of the Lyric Theatre (which gave Liam Neeson his first break into acting) for an impromptu U2 party.
Within a matter of seconds, I'm in the concert grounds and make a beeline for the merchandise stall. Yes, TRiSH, I was also at Wembley last Friday and was gobsmacked by the show. My only regret was that I was too lazy to buy a programme and a T-shirt.
It costs #25 and the assistant (God bless her) says thanks to me when I produce a wrinkled #20 note and a #5 note.
"You wouldn't believe how happy we are to see a fiver. Thank you so much, "you absolute sweetheart!"
I pick my spot - stage right by one of the spotlight towers and settle down, hoping the grey blanket of cloud will not burst like it normally does in this city.
Behind me, residents in Ridgeway Street overlooking the concert site from a hill are also holding impromptu garden parties - peering over their garden fences, through open windows and on balconies at the concert site.
The rest of us mere mortals are jealous to the teeth. Bastards, they get the concert for free and if this is the first of many concerts at this site, they'll have the most desired properties in Belfast.
I mean, just think of it - U2 playing in your back garden. That giant arch, a view of the huge screen, the wall of sound - all between your garden hut and the fence.
Ash come on around 7pm - local boys made good from Downpatrick (and a new guitarist - a girl called Shauna). They swoop around the stage like a reminder of early U2 playing `The Girl From Mars,' `Goldfinger,' `Oh Yeah' and "the one that was used in the Heineken ad" as they call it.
Howie B spins discs, trip hop style - throwing in some unexpected tunes `Ob La Di, Ob La Dah', The Verve's `Bittersweet Symphony' and 1997 Eurovision Song Contest winners, Katrina and the Waves' old hit `Walking On Sunshine'.
A quick fix of Larry and Adam's reworking of `The Theme From Mission Impossible' and Howie B segues (horrible word) into `POP Music'.
The crowd erupts as the screen lights up with various PopMart logos and eventually the image of our four heroes making their way through the Belfast crowd.
The Edge has his `I Know This Is Camp But I'm Having A Blast' look about him, Adam is his usual cool self dressed someone in a nuclear power plant and Larry has his trademark `Don't Fuck With Me' frown.
Bono shadowboxes like a demented Barry McGuigan in his blue robe. The party has begun.
The set list for Belfast (Tuesday, August 26) was as follows:
1. POP Music: As in Wembley on Friday, a triumphant entrance by the band
2. MOFO: A breathtaking fusion of distorted image, colour and sound
3. I Will Follow: Belfast erupts. This is a U2 song we remember when they played the McMordie (now Mandela) Hall in Queen's University Students' Union
4. Gone: The Edge's guitar oozes anguish. There is something desperately defiant about this live version of the song. But the first few lines could almost be U2's apology to Belfast fans for not having played there in over a decade. `You get to feel so guilty/you get so much for so little, then you find that feeling just won't go away. You're holding onto every thing so tightly/till there's nothing left for you anyway...' Extremely poignant. We were up with the sun and weren't coming down..
5. Even Better Than The Real Thing: A real crowd pleaser. Bono adds a verse of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's `Two Tribes' (very appropriate given where the band is playing). His first words to the crowd as the song starts is the chant "Belfast! Belfast! Belfast! We'll kiss your ass!"
6. Last Night On Earth: The shopping cartoon holds the Belfast audience spellbound. U2 clearly has the audience in the palm of its hand.
7. Until The End of the World: A really thumping version. It strikes me how much clearer U2 sound tonight in an open park venue than at Wembley Stadium. I then realise the lights piercing the Belfast sky two miles up into the air and it seems to have done the trick. The grey bank of cloud has broken up. The crowd goes wild when a light aircraft flies through the centre of wall of light.
8. New Year's Day: Another crowd pleaser. Edge's keyboard sounds melancholic.
9. Pride (In The Name of Love): There's something very moving about this version tonight. Perhaps, it is because Martin Luther King is a symbol of inspiration for those who have struggled for peace and equality not just in the US but in Northern Ireland. The song just reaches to us....
10. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For: Bono, in his intro, declares: "What a night! Thanks, Belfast, for letting us play this city atsuch short notice when it looked like we couldn't play our own. Funny old world, isn't it?" The crowd are really sucked into the song, prompting Bono and the Edge to lead into Ben E. King's `Stand By Me'.
11. All I Want Is You: As in Wembley, the response to this version is ecstatic. What's happening? Is that a lump in my throat?
12. Straing at the Sun: TRiSH is right in her Wembley reviews about Bono's guitar playing. The harmony works well too. As they make their way to the mikes, Bono declares: "Highly appropriate, isn't it, that we brought a lemon to the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, don't you think?"
13. The Edge's Karaoke - The guitarist gets the biggest laugh of the night. "This is not a rebel song. It's an Elvis song. I want to sing this one for Ian (Paisley), David (Trimble), Gerry (Adams), John (Hume), Mo (Mowlam) and Tony (Blair)." He launches into a spirited rendition of `Suspicious Minds' as in Wembley, last Friday (proof that Elvis isn't dead, he's just pretending to be Irish). Never was a song more uncannily accurate for our politicians in Northern Ireland...
14. MIAMI! : Bono gets to pout and preen in his Fidel Castro gear. He plucks two stunning blondes from the audience, telling them after lighting their Havana cigars: "Sorry girls, gotta go back to work!"
15. Bullet the Blue Sky : Segues (there's that horrible word again) well into the Joshua Tree song. We have the West Side Story/America bit too!
16. Please: Undoubtedly the show stopping moment in the Belfast gig. Bono introduces the song quite simply. No lecture, just "Please stop the fighting. You know what this song is about..." The song is charged with emotion from Bono's impassioned singing, The Edge's guitar wailing with pain and Larry's pounding drums. There is a taste of `Sunday Bloody Sunday' in The Edge, Adam and Larry's playing and `In the Name of the Father' in Bono's singing. The green blocks on the screen marching towards and eventually devouring the orange are all the more affecting, given the site on which this conert is being held - the Ormeau embankment where nationalist and unionist, green and orange, Catholic and Protestant nearly came to blows during the 12th of July marching controversy prior to the IRA ceasefire. In his roll call of months, Bono gets fixated on September - the date when all-party talks involving Sinn Fein (the IRA's political wing) will take place for the first time. Please Northern Ireland, get up off your knees....
17. Where the Streets Have No Name: A rousing version. We sang our hearts out as we did at Wembley. The Underworld/`Born Slippy'-style chant of the lines from `The Playboy Mansion' brings the first part of the show to a thrilling climax.
18. Lemon (The Perfecto Mix): Having seen the tour at Wembley, I wondered if the glitterball lemon effect would work in a park. I was about to be (gladly) proved wrong....
19. Discotheque/Black Betty: The spaceship cartoon, followed by the band's spectacular re-emergence from the glitterball lemon simply astounds the Belfast crowd who whoop along with delight. The song is rollicking good fun.
20. If You Wear That Velvet Dress: I remember being slightly disappointed by this at Wembley but tonight, even if the moon wasn't shining clealry, Bono's voice was.
21. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me: Camp. Sleazy. Schlocky. There's millions of adjectives to describe this. I notice halfway through the song how Bono has developed a Tom Jones style wiggle of his hand as he sings. The transformation to Las Vegas casino singer is almost complete....
22. Mysterious Ways: At last, Bono and the Edge are giving as much attention as possible to us stage right. As he launches into the song, the lead singer also pays tribute to "the good people who live in the houses surrounding Botanic Gardens for their generosity in allowing us to play here tonight". A crackingly good version. God, I'm almost tiring of praising them.....
23. One/Unchained Melody: Bono heralds the end of the concert with this emotional parting shot to the Belfast crowd. I don't think I've heard a better live version of this song or its accompanying burst of the Righteous Brothers' `Unchained Melody'. In his intro, Bono tells us: "You know, to be one is a great thing but to respect differences may be even greater, don't you think?"
For one night, 40,000 people in Northern Ireland were happy to come together and acknowedge that we "are one but not the same". It was quite simply a magical evening - a definite highlight of the PopMart tour for the band and fans alike.
We believed Bono when he said: "Good night, Belfast. We'll never forget tonight."
And you know what? I reckon, it's a night Belfast is unlikely to forget either......
Posted by Jonathan at 04:31 AM | Comments (0)
August 22, 1997
Wembley Popmart concert
Wembley Popmart concert, August 22 & 23, 1997
Fan Review By TRiSH on Alt.Music.U2
It's 1.10am and i have just got home after Wembley. WOW.
The 1st support act were AudioWeb; a solid "manchester" band. Great music guys. But when you talk does every second word have to be "f*ck"...?
The 2nd support act were the Longpigs. I thought they were ok - my husband liked them more than i did. But this was ok; i liked AudioWeb more than he did. :) AudioWeb were good for a boogie.
Then Howie B did his thang (sic). I must say that, after some of the comments made about the Howie "interval" in this group, i was not particularly looking forward to this. My preconceptions were misfounded and to quote a friend of mine, he was STORMIN'. I mean to get his album on monday...
Then came the moment we had all been waiting for; "4 boys from Dublin".
The set was sonically superb: The sound was crisp and STORMIN'. (That word again...) And Bono's voice was as good as i have ever heard it. (Top? What top?... :) And the visuals were astounding.
The whole concert was astounding. I suspect it was one of - if not THE BEST - POPMART to date... And the thing that really made it? IT WAS AT WEMBLEY.
If you've never been to a concert at Wembley it will be hard for you to appreciate what a huge factor this is. 72,000 people (sold-out and packed up to the rafters) all shoulder to shoulder - even the seats around the standing-only pitch were standing!- and singing so LOUD and IN UNISON that Bono was awed by us.
The Setlist:
- POPMusic - as they enter. (Boy did we scream!)
- Mofo
- I Will Follow - you should have heard us!!!
- Gone
- Even Better Than The Real Thing
- Last Night On Earth (Bono - "this isnt the last night on earth; its the first night in THE stadium...")
- Until The End Of The World - awesome. (And Bono proved he sure can PLAY GUITAR like a guitar hero, even.)
- New Year's Day (Possibly THE highlight of the show. The best i have ever heard it performed. And I suspect everyone in London heard us sing it. The walls of Wembley were shaking!)
- Pride (In The Name Of Love) (This is where we got EVEN LOUDER and continued WITHOUT BONO for about 5 minutes!!! Oooo-oooo-oooo-oooo Oooo-oooo-oooo-oooo Oooo-oooo-oooo-oooo Oooo-oooo-oooo-oooo... Bono just stood and grinned at us and held out the mic - it was OUR show!)
- Neon Lights
- I Still Havent Found What I'm Looking For (Bono couldnt get us to shut up here either - he wanted to go into the next song and couldn't! :)
- All I Want Is You. (And then we REALLY erupted! All singing with him all the way.)
B Stage - Staring At The Sun (Acoustic version - B & Edge only) (Very very good. That acoustic guitar intro sounds like something familiar that i can't quite put my finger on...)
- Edge - Karaoke - Suspicious Minds :))
- MIAMI!!!!!! (In a fidel castro outfit)
- Bullet The Blue Sky. (WOW. Again i was half expecting not to like the new version as i love the old so much but they just blew us away.) (They didn't do "I want to live in America" on the end.)
- Please. (Good but not as good as Rotterdam. I wanted the In The Name Of The Father bit but he didnt do that. Still, i cant have everything in life.)
- Where The Streets Have No Name/End of Playboy Mansion part. (72,000 bellowing every word along with them.)
-Lemon (Perfecto Mix)
- Discotheque/Black Betty (It is impossible for me to describe how MIND BLOWINGLY GOOD this was!!!) (The lights! The COLOURS! The sound!!!) (Also had a section of "Love To Love You Baby" in it.)
- If You Wear That Velvet Dress. (Interestingly he didnt sing the scratched at my door/drawn its curtains verses.)
Encore. -Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me (Bono took off his glasses, kissed the camera and put his glasses on the lens for the camera to see through!!)
- Mysterious Ways
- One (Achingly beautiful - 72,000 singing along and meaning every word, Wembley awash with lighter flames.)
- Wake Up Dead Man (Bono alone in a spotlight. First verse first chorus only)
2 hours of solid perfection. And i'm going back tomorrow.
Wembley Stadium Night 2
It's 1.15am and i just got home from Wembley Night 2. Remember i said i thought last night was good?! (Huge grin)
How can i explain to you about tonight?....It's very difficult because i think we have just been to one of the greatest U2 gigs of ALL TIME.
For years I have listened to my husband say, "there will never be another gig as good as Wembley 13th June 1987." (The Joshua Tree.) Half an hour ago, after driving home in stunned silence, he said, "that was as good as 1987."
You see, if last night was electric, tonight was THERMO-NUCLEAR. If last night was 9.5 out of 10, tonight was 17!!!
The Setlist was very very similar to last night but nothing was the same. Everything was MORE..
-POPMusic - as they enter.
- Mofo (At the point in the song where the lyrics go, "now i'm still a child (but) no one tells me no," Bono yelled "Tell me No!" "No!" we all yelled back. "No!" Bono shouted. "No!" we yelled back, "No!" he shouted. "No!" we replied ...."No!" "No!" "No!" "No!") (Then he sang "Move me a mountain!" after the woo me sister/brother/mother/father part.)
- I Will Follow - again, you should have heard us!!! (Those new lyrics? The part i caught says "You took a hold of me, You put the soul in me, I will Follow...!!!!")
- Gone (A STORMIN' song - even better tonight than last night. Bono has sure learnt to PLAY THAT GUITAR!!!)
- Even Better Than The Real Thing (Before starting to sing, Bono said, "We're on Holy Ground!!!")
- Last Night On Earth (You know the middle section - the part that was replaced in the single by the "You got to believe in someone" bit? Tonight Bono sang these words just there; "this isn't the last night on earth; its the last night at Wembley, its the last night at Wembley Stadium, the last night i dream at Wembley, I used to come to this town, I was broke and feeling down, I used to dream, I still dream of Wembley Stadium, the world turns and we get dizzy, slipping away.") (Then, at the end of the song, from the B-stage, Bono crowd dives, red guitar in hand! And ends up a good 25' from the stage! manages to make his way back there then stands there in the crowd, doing the chord fingering while he gets members of the audience to strum the strings for him!)
- Until The End Of The World - Totally Awesome. Totally totally awesome. (Bono makes it back up onto the B stage and swings the red guitar around above his head like a battle axe as he walks back to the main stage.) ("I kissed your lips and broke *my* heart...")
- New Year's Day (Again, as last night, the walls were shaking as we sang.) (After the song Bono says, "Wembley, this place is supposed to be cool. Well i don't think you're cool; I think you're HOT!!!")
- Pride (In The Name Of Love) (Again, this is where we got EVEN LOUDER and continued WITHOUT BONO!!! Oooo-oooo-oooo-oooo Oooo-oooo-oooo-oooo Oooo-oooo-oooo-oooo Oooo-oooo-oooo-oooo... Bono just stood and grinned at us and held out the mic - it was OUR show!) ("One man* washed-up* on an empty beach...") (NO "Neon Lights" tonight.)
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For ("Take me to church now!!! Take it higher!!!) (Like, we needed asking to? :) We took it higher.) "You broke the bonds and you loosed the chains, Carried the cross of my shame of my shame, You know I *believe* it, *I still do*...."
- All I Want Is You. (sigh...)
B Stage - Staring At The Sun (Acoustic version - B & Edge only) (This version really is the business.)(Bono kisses Edge as he walks off the B stage.)
- Edge - Karaoke - Daydream Believer (Introduced with the words, "This ain't Rock n Roll; this is suicide!!!) (This was the karaoke we wanted!!!! We erupted! Edge held out the mic to us and let 72,000 of us sing it to him.) (Edge, to us, afterwards, "You're an amazing set of bast*rds!!!")
- MIAMI!!!!!! (In a fidel castro outfit) (The link between these two songs is amazing - as is the temple of lights built by the spotlights throughout Bullet.)
- Bullet The Blue Sky + two lines of "America" (It was a lot clearer tonight.)
- Please. (Good version tonight - more intense than last night.)
- Where The Streets Have No Name/End of Playboy Mansion part. (Mind-numbingly brilliant; 72,000 bellowing every word along with them.)
Lemon (Perfecto Mix)
- Discotheque/Love To Love You Baby/Little Black Dress/Black Betty. (Again, it is impossible for me to describe how MIND BLOWINGLY GOOD this was!!! Definitely one of the highlights of the evening - and tonight we were boogie-ing to it!) (My husband did make the most worrying comment of the evening at this point, however, when he said, "what a cute bottom Edge has in his white jeans..." Although i agree with him wholeheartedly!!! :)
- If You Wear That Velvet Dress. (Again, the shortened version. Brilliant.In fact these last two sections of the show were just incredibly intense throughout.Yesterday, the first half of the show ruled. Tonight it was the second.)
- WITH OR WITHOUT YOU. (For me, the highlight of the show. The PASSION.... The INTENSITY...)
(2nd?) Encore. -Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me (Bono took off his glasses, sang "They want you to be Jesus, they want you" (words and music stopped mid line) and just looked the camera full in the face, all vulnerability and questioning, the camera holding the image of him doing this on the screen for 20 or 30 seconds... Then he restarted that verse and sang, very clearly, "They want you to be Jesus, to go down on one knee, but they'll want their money back if you're alive at 33." Later he acted out dragging a mic stand down the B stage as if it were a very heavy object and then "impaled himself upon it, mimicking a death scene. I found it a very uncomfortable moment. Well done Bono.) (And then there's the small matter of him playing air-guitar during The Edge's solo at the end. That image will stay with me a long long time. :)
- Mysterious Ways (Oh i could say a lot about this! It was funny, reverent, irreverent, touching, and spiritual all at the same time. The funnies? Well last night he nicked Adam's cigarette from his mouth and took a drag on it during this song. I think Adam must have told him off for that. Bad move, Adam; he got a smooch from behind tonight instead! Then Bono moved across to Edge and "flirted" with him whilst Edge played guitar, at one point mimicking a belly dancer.) The spiritual? "My love is growing strong, my love is big and my love is strong - she moves in mysterious ways, we move through miracle days, Spirit moves in mysterious ways, lift my days, light up my nights, lo-o-o-ove.")
- One (Achingly beautiful again. A blue guitar not a red one now.) "It's too late, tonight, to drag the *dirt* out into the light". "Have you come here to play Jesus, to the lepers in your *bed*?" "Sister.... Where's my brother?..." With these word at the end: "Do you hear me calling love, do you hear me call Hear me knocking, knocking at your door Do you hear me coming love, hear me come Hear me scratching, Will you make me crawl? Aaa-haa-aaa, Aaaa-haa-aaa......(etc)" )
- Unchained Melody. (Bono alone in a spotlight.)
It was an AWESOME evening. I am still totally blown away by it. This was everything and more than i'd ever dreamed of. Thankyou Bono. And Edge - who played a stonker tonight. As did Adam and Larry too. Everyone seemed more.... (i have no adjective for this. MORE will have to do.) It was a poignant evening in many ways too. There was much hugging going on between the band members. Lots of comradely arms around each other. Lots of smiles - from all 4 of them.
Bono's closing words still haunt me: "We won't be returning this time".
Posted by Jonathan at 04:46 AM | Comments (0)
August 10, 1997
Edge Chats on MSN
Session Start: Sun Aug 10 22:04:10 1997
[22:04] *** Now talking in #U2_Auditorium
[22:04]
Edge! We'll be starting in just a couple of minutes. Remember,
we'll be
showing the answers here in this room, and you'll need to
[22:04]
page,
otherwise known as #U2_Questions).
[22:04]
Edge!
[22:05]
the
tour?
[22:05]
together some live tracks that will probably be released with te next
single...
[22:05]
[22:05]
something on TV at the end of te tour
[22:06]
[22:06] *** Tonster is now known as Edge
[22:06]
[22:06]
places where you hadn't been. (South America, South Africa, etc ) ?
We'd
like you to play some oldies too.
[22:06]
[22:06]
[22:06]
[22:06]
[22:06]
influence or even interfere with what happens in the studio? do you
ever
look at a song and wonder. 'how are we going to do this live?' would
you
ever alter a song solely for the reason of making it easier to
recreate on
stage?
[22:07]
almost
every song is rearranged for live because
[22:07]
[22:07]
[22:07]
2
acoustic guitars and 2 voices.
[22:07]
record,
[22:07]
album
or further on the tour?
[22:07]
an
acousic arrangement it would be for an enitre record.
[22:08]
to
explore fully.
[22:08]
[22:08]
Pop Art ?
[22:08]
- it
seems that music, like art, is starting to look back on itself.
[22:08]
and we're going to try to go where it leads us.
[22:09]
[22:09]
on
the road? Are you working out any new songs now, like you did on
Zooropa?
[22:09]
[22:09]
off I
have to work on some songs in hotel rooms.
[22:09]
[22:09]
[22:09]
exuberant, well thought out theme, and yet I think its essence goes
above
people's head, so what exactly is PopMart?
[22:09]
open air stadiums -it's a big show and it's really a setting as much
as it a
theme for the concert.
[22:10]
ourselves in as a big band playing big stadiums...
[22:10]
too
seriously.
[22:10]
the
sheer commerical size of what we're undertaking.
[22:10]
[22:10]
material on their web pages??
[22:11]
as
long as it's not resold because I don't believe that music on the
internet is
bad for music...
[22:11]
[22:11]
made
available, the music industry thought that blank tapes would
[22:11]
churning out copies for their friends.
[22:11]
[22:11] *** Jabba is now known as JabbaD
[22:11]
just
another place for people to discover new things.
[22:12]
[22:12]
[22:12]
recorded a few years ago, called Slow Dancing.
[22:12]
studio.
[22:12]
the
right time for the right project, it'll come up.
[22:13]
[22:13]
stadiums?
Edge?
[22:13]
taken on that challenge.
[22:13]
tour
we'll play smaller venues.
[22:14]
[22:14] *** Grok sets mode: +o Grok
[22:14]
that I wrote for Bono
to sing - I ended up singing it on the album because I was just
working it out, really.
[22:14]
that one.
[22:14]
got around to it.
[22:15]
[22:15]
Burrough's
death?
[22:15]
seemed so full of
light when we met him for the Last Night on Earth video.
[22:15]
and smart and
sharp and if I was half as bright as he was at his age, I'd be very
happy.
[22:16]
[22:16]
won't play a song
like "Bad" live because you feel it has been played too much over the
last fifteen
years. The same could be said for Pride, yet you ARE playing
it...why?
[22:16]
feel we can
make sense of in this tour, in Popmart.
[22:16]
of our old songs,
bur we've chosen the ones we have because they work - they make
sense.
[22:16]
[22:16]
read wire?
Have you figured out what it IS yet? ANd if so, what do you think of
it?
[22:16]
[22:17]
[22:17]
for personal
purposes?
[22:17]
you.
[22:17]
[22:17]
tour yet and
do you plan on putting any Zooropa tunes on the tour in the future?
[22:17]
just we found
ourselves leaning towards other tunes.
[22:18]
just figure
out if it's going to make sense in the context of what we're doing.
[22:18]
[22:18]
when the
Lemon wouldn't open!
[22:18] *** JabbaD is now known as Jabba
[22:18] *** drizzy is now known as socruel
[22:18] *** ^BadCop^ is now known as ^BaadCop^
[22:18]
that it would
happen at some point on the tour.
[22:18]
[22:18] *** Elmira is now known as WoodNymph
[22:18]
[22:18]
witnessed one
event in history, what would you want to have seen?
[22:19]
wouldn't have
liked to have lived at any other time.
[22:19]
[22:19]
and Hum
[22:19]
[22:19]
[22:19]
song on the
radio you get a tinggle like you're about to go on stage
[22:19]
dog? I can tell
you it's all true.
[22:20]
[22:20]
Belfast?
[22:20]
show and a great day.
[22:20]
[22:20]
[22:20]
idea.
[22:20]
[22:20]
live right now?
(asking for someone who can't be here now)
[22:20]
playing different
arrangement ideas.
[22:21]
[22:21]
concerts?
[22:21]
people make
recordings and give them to fhier friends - as long as people don't
get ripped off.
[22:21]
[22:21]
[22:21]
around.
[22:21]
[22:21]
[22:22]
going to be giving it
to the radio probably in another 3-4 weeks and it's a new version of
Please.
[22:22]
[22:22]
u2 now?
[22:22]
[22:22]
[22:22]
albums that you
will be singing lead vocals?
[22:22]
I'll do any more
lead vocals, but maybe.
[22:24]
[22:24]
tour so far?
[22:24]
worked and no
one had been killed trying to get out of the lemon and that we'd
remembered all the
songs and that we hadn't had a big argument...
[22:24] *** ^BaadCop^ is now known as A_BadCop_A
[22:24]
[22:24]
[22:24]
professional level
still as strong as it was in 1977 or whatever?
[22:24]
everyone does
what I say, that's the important thing.
[22:24]
[22:24]
in your travels
with u2?
[22:24]
along the way, it's
hard to say which is the coolest.
[22:24] *** mactire is now known as grommet
[22:25]
it's so
different to where I grew up, but it changes, you know, I love
America.
[22:25]
[22:25]
[22:25]
involved in
producing future U2 albums???
[22:26] *** WoodNymph is now known as Elmira
[22:26]
because
they're fantastic to work with.
[22:26]
and what
they were doing at the time.
[22:26]
[22:26]
[22:26]
have a laugh.
[22:26]
[22:26]
business that's rough
even when you're young?
[22:26]
[22:27]
[22:27]
songs for Pop.
However, only one brand new song has emerged - "Holy Joe" so far on
the B-sides.
What about the other songs? Will they ever hit the surface?
[22:27]
finish them first.
[22:27] *** Carmen is now known as TazCJM
[22:27]
[22:27]
like Bjork and
David Bowie?
[22:27]
there's no plans to
work with either Bjork or Bowie.
[22:27]
[22:27]
third leg of the
tour?
[22:28]
We can't really
say just yet.
[22:28]
[22:28]
out?
[22:28]
[22:28]
[22:28]
[22:28]
the fact that
every show is different and every time we play, there are new
discoveries.
[22:29]
[22:29]
Microsoft
network for your website?
[22:29]
most other
websites.
[22:29]
Microsoft Network
seemed like the perfect partner for us to put this together with.
[22:29]
[22:29]
relation ship
within U2 for over 20 years?
[22:29]
[22:30]
[22:30]
touring?
[22:30]
regular life again.
[22:30]
[22:30]
helsinki ..did you
get the birthday cake me and steve made for you
[22:30]
[22:31]
[22:31]
Or are you going
to go back to smaller venues
[22:31]
decided what we're
going to do next time.
[22:31]
[22:31]
lately?
[22:32]
Loving Criminals,
Nina Simone's early recordings.
[22:32]
[22:32]
[22:33]
[22:33]
life with U2
did you ever imagine you'd come this far and stay in the business for
so long?
[22:33]
[22:33]
years, but I
never thought that we'd be still so into it all after being together
for over a dozen years.
We're still aiming to make the perfect record.
[22:33] *** Moirai is now known as Elmira
[22:33] *** [MusIciaN is now known as thanks
[22:33]
-and thanks for
tuning in.
Posted by Jonathan at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)
August 01, 1997
Excerpts from HOT PRESS magazine interview with Bono
Excerpts from HOT PRESS magazine interview with Bono (August 1997)
By Mike Edgar in Sweden
ME: It's fantastic that you're coming to play Belfast as well as Dublin. Do you feel a special affinity with the North?
Bono: It's funny 'cos as a band, we're a mixed-up bunch of kids. We come from all traditions. I think we represent the whole of Ireland, in that sense, North and South. I think when we play the North, it will be extraordinary and I hope that both communities will take us to their heart because we feel a part of both communities.
ME: You're interested in the Tibetan situation and you've done a lot of work for War Child and all the rest of it but when you look at Northern Ireland, do you despair at the situation to a degree where you can be interested any more? Or do you take an active interest in it?
Bono: Of course, we take an interest in it! But I would hate to be the boring rock n'roll pain in the arse who shoots his mouth off about subjects he doesn't know anything about. I understand that these situations are complex. People in the South don't fully understand the situation up North. I am conscious of that. So I won't shoot my mouth off about it! I'm just really excited about the ceasefire and I think there's people on both sides... ..from what little I know....who want to make a difference. I'm sure there's an old guard on both sides that are sticking their feet in but they're part of the last century -we're onto the next.
ME: That's a good quote. Ash are, of course, playing support for the U2 gigs in Ireland. Do you like them?
Bono: I'm a real fan of theirs. I don't know what they think of our group but I'm a fan of theirs. There's some really smart songwriting going on in that band. I'm proud that they're playing with us. But I'd like to point out that they're not just there because they're Irish; they're there because they're a great pop group.
ME: How do you feel about the controversy about the Landsdowne Road gigs in Dublin? It must have been a very frustrating experience?
Larry: Yeah. I think different people in the band had a different reaction to it. I found it kind of strange and funny at the same time. Obviously, we wanted to play but if it hadn't happened we would have found some alternative. But we're happy that it's now on ....
Bono: It's mad. Three posh individuals holding up 80,000 rock fans. People in Europe were laughing up their jumpers at us. And so whereas Larry may have found it funny, I found the episode a little embarassing. I thought the court case sent out a very odd message to the world. But, you know, fair enough. I'm really happy that it all worked out in the end. We were very excited when we heard the good news that we'd got the go-ahead. It was a very good day. We played for two-and-a-half hours in the rain in Leipzig, in the former East Germany. It was a brilliant gig, one of the best ones. The point is that it does matter to U2. I'm proud of our country and I think that in the last 10 years, Ireland has really gotten exciting - not just in Dublin, but throughout the island. I'm proud that when people think of Ireland, they think about music, literature, film-makers ... They don't think about banks, about boring things.
ME: It seems bizarre that just three people might be able to stop so many thousands of people from having fun.
Bono: I'm sure it will be a pain in the arse for those three sweethearts having to put up with us. But we have stadiums for sport. And music only occupies a few days in the year in these places. These stadiums have to serve the whole community. And to me music people are as important as sports people.
ME: Perhaps it's good that the controversy happened because you're actually stuck to your guns and, by taking the case to the Supreme Court in Ireland, hopefully forced a change. Otherwise, what is it going to be like if some other top band wants to visit Ireland and the kids are denied again?
Bono: I hope so. I really hope so. Because Irish audiences are amazing. Whoever you're talking to - Oasis, George Michael - they always mention that. And it would be terrible if they felt it was gonna be too much trouble getting planning permission. Why do you need planning permission to put on a gig? I want planning permission to mow your lawn, missus! But I'm delighted it went our way. It's great to play your home town.
ME: After a few years away from treading the boards of the world's stadiums, were you chomping at the bit to get back to it or did you feel nervous anticipation?
Adam: Nervous anticipation (laughs). But we felt both, really. It's great to be back on those stages - but it is a strange thing to be doing it!
ME: Do you ever get sick of playing the old hits? Bono: The great thing about being spoilt rotten and having success at an early age and all that bollocks, is that you don't do anything you don't want to do. That's probably what make us SUCH a pain in the arse but I can tell you this, we would not be playing `Pride (In the Name of Love)' if we didn't want to play it. What we're trying to do when we put our set list together is tell a story, if you like, and `Pride' is part of our story. I'm really proud of those songs. It was a real test to play `I Will Follow'.
ME: Throughout your career, you've constantly reinvented yourself, redefining the very concept U2 is.
Bono: You've got to keep yourself interested, right? Because what happened to all those rock dinosaurs of the 1970s was that they got loaded, they got their fancy cars and they started owning fish farms in Wales! This is a problem. Living in Wales is a gret thing but, for heaven's sake, don't own a fish farm if you're in a band! They started to chill out and get it together in the country and they started repeating themselves and eventually by giving the people what they thought they wanted, the people eventually decided they didn't want it anymore. That's always a problem. So you have got to keep yourself going. You've got to be selfish. Our effort to reinvent ourselves, as it is called, is nothing other than our musical curiosity in action.
ME: Some people think that Oasis should take a leaf out of your book and experiment a little more.
Bono: Noel Gallagher has just as much musical curiosity as us but you have to remember that Oasis are only on thier third album, so give 'em a chance! In the 80's, it was a crime to be in a big band in England. You know, you were knee-capped for wanting to be in a big band. Thank God, in the 90s,people are more optimistic. All that old cynicism is gone and they want Oasis to succeed. But sometimes I think people expect too much of Oasis. Let them go at their own pace.
ME: A lot was made of the episode where you rang NME to defend the PopMart tour against the paper's criticisms.
Bono: The funny thing about that is they rang me. That's actually the truth. But the way it comes out is that I rang them. I was actually happy to answer some of the criticisms because the truth of the matter is that in Los Angeles, when we started out on this tour, we were a bit ropey. What can I tell you? It's our band, we can be crap if we ant to. What happened was we didn't have as much time to get our shit togetther as we'd have liked. We'd just taken possession of a whole pile of cosmic junk, including a 150 foot drive-in movie screen and a 40 foot lemon and all that kind of thing. It was all a bit much really. But I didn't care because it's not a Broadway show and I just thought `It's OK, we've always been a bit crap at the start of our tours'. That's part of the fun of it. We're not overly slick. Some journalists came over and got into the spirit of it and could see the potential of PopMart. But some people thought `They're a big band. They're charging in. They should be better than this'. And they gave us a bit of a kicking. So I defended myself with a speech from the dock.
ME: Are you nervous before going on stage to thousands of people?
The Edge: We get worried. And then blind panic sets in and stays with you until you actually set foot on the stage and then you just get completely intoxicated by the reception of your audience and your fine.
ME: You're never tempted to take anything for nerves?
Bono: You don't need to do drugs if you're in this band, I'll tell you that! To be honest with you, I woke up about seven in the morning - which wasn't the plan 'cos I only got to bed about five - and I thought that's very bad news for tonight. And that's when the fear began. I spent the whole day trying to get back to sleep. I watched some Swedish documentary about mental hospitals - they've some strange telly over here! I was actually terrified. Sometimes I feel so sick, I want to vomit ... it gets that bad. But then sometimes you walk out and it feels like you're at home in your living room. A funky living room, mind you: a 40 foot lemon and all!
ME: There's a bit of everything thrown into the PopMart show. You're up running around the big stage one minute and the next, you're ona small stage together doing an acoustic vibe, then you're back all huddled together like a wedding band. It's a cocktail, isn't it?
Bono: It's a heady cocktail! We're still the wedding band from hell; we're the Kelly Family from outer space! Over the last 15 years, we've done some good things and we've done some bad things. But this show is all about the good things.
Posted by Jonathan at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)
How U2 Can Look Like This
Sunday Telegraph, August 1997
How U2 Can Look Like This
They're no ordinary models, he's no ordinary designer - U2 and a half-Belgian, half-alien are fashioning history, finds Julia Robson.
HE'S big, he's bearded and he's Belgian, and he is about to make his mark on frock-and-roll history. Since launching his cult, clubwear label "W & L. T." (Wild & Lethal Trash) on the Paris catwalks three years ago, Walter Van Beirendonck has become the patron saint of the fashion victim.
Beirendonck's designs - padded, pocketed, space-age PVC workwear, with a hint of sci-fi cartoon hero - coupled with his son et lumiere Ridley Scott-style shows, have also set a new precedent for fashion productions. But it is his current project, swapping Paris catwalk for 74,000-seater stadium, and male models for supergroup U2, which may prove his most prestigious collection to date.
The story began last January, at the W. & L. T. fashion show, where U2's resident stylist, Sharon Blankson, sat in the front row taking notes. She was attending the menswear shows on a mission, to find clothes suitable for U2's forthcoming "PopMart" world tour. Her task, until the show, had proved fruitless. Hurrying back to Dublin, she played the band a tape of the show.
A week later Walter was summoned, shown a "virtual reality" impression of the PopMart stage set and asked to come up with sketches, pronto. Beirendonck, the unlikeliest-looking fashion guru, (Rasputin meets Jolly Green Giant), reveals how it was a toy that inspired him to think big.
"My brief was to come up with clothes that blended in with the stage set and PopMart theme. The band wanted something totally different from the usual leather 'rock' costumes. I came up with the idea of Action Man'. By using a muscle print as the base on every costume, I then played on a cartoon-hero theme, personalising each costume and basing them on the individual characters of U2."
Walter transforms Bono into "Bonoman", "Muscleman", "TV Man", "Walking Target" and, finally, "Fly 2000". Bass guitarist, Adam Clayton becomes bright orange, bionic "Popman". Guitarist, The Edge, is "Electric Cowboy", complete with huge 3ft plastic stetson, designed by British milliner Stephen Jones. Drummer Larry Mullen beats out his rhythm in a "Hitman" ensemble of Action Man khakis.
This week British fans will see his costumes come to life, as U2 begin the four-date UK leg of their sell-out tour. On Friday night, as Wembley Stadium shudders to several million watts of power and singer Bono struts down the 100ft runway, under a 100ft glowing arch and out of a 40ft high self-propelled mirror-ball lemon, the ultimate "gasp factor" remains, courtesy of Walter.
"The way U2 are constantly experimenting with graphics and art, as well as music and sounds, is similar to my approach to fashion. You'll find something aggressive next to something poetic on their album - the same happens in my collections.
"I found them totally down to earth, professional and human," says the designer, who in the past has described himself as half-Belgian, half-alien. "Bono, particularly, knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted to be involved with every aspect of the design. He performs through his clothes."
Even those sitting at the back will witness the spectacle of the set and clothes thanks to a 56ft-by-170ft screen, the world's largest-ever video backdrop. This also will show computer animation created by musician/performance artist Brian Eno.
"The time limit was the most nerve-racking factor. I'm used to working to deadlines, but getting everything finished within six weeks (the time allocated) was a miracle. "At the final rehearsal in Las Vegas I could see the muscley body-print worked incredibly well. When Bono took off his jacket he looked nude, but "even better than the real thing" - like U2's song.
"I finally got to see the show last month in Werchter, Belgium. Bono shouted to the audience that the show was 'made in Belgium' because the stage had been built there, not just the clothes. He dedicated the last song to me, One, which is my favourite. The crowd roared and I felt fantastic."
Copyright © 1997 Sunday Telegraph. All rights reserved.
Posted by Jonathan at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)