News: February 2001 Archives

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February 27, 2001

U2 Make It A Beautiful Night

2.27.01 - Brit Awards 2001

Last but not least it's U2's turn.

Noel Gallagher has paid passionate tribute to U2, before presenting the band with the Outstanding Contribution award, at the close of The Brits.

Gallagher said from the stage: "This award is for a band who've apparently had a great impact on music. They've certainly had great impact on my record collection!"

U2 made a lengthy thank you speech, notably praising the Brits for awarding it to "an Irish band".

Bono praise The Beatles, although he added they contained three Irishmen. Similar tribute was given to Oasis, with Bono adding "they've got two Irishmen in their band!" Noel Gallagher was seen to raise a celebratory fist at the end.

The band then ripped through a storming, 4-song set, bringing the Brits 2001 to a monumental climax.

Beginning with 'One' which was dedicated to Craig David, the band then unleashed a huge 'Beautiful Day'. 'It was followed by 'Until The End Of The World", Bono making a trademark, if somewhat confused venture into the crowd, eventually reappearing as the song closed.

'Mysterious Ways' brought the event to an end, a fitting climax for a band and event that shows no signs of relinquishing their massive influence on the music of Great Britain.

Thanks for joining the best live coverage of The Brits 2001. See you all next year!

Posted by Jonathan at 02:58 AM | Comments (0)

February 24, 2001

Bono Sings at Burial of Enigmatic Painter Balthus

2.24.01 - Reuters

By Jean-Bernard Sieber

ROSSINIERE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Balthus, the highly respected realist painter of often erotic work, was buried on Saturday in this Swiss village close to the chalet were he spent the last 23 years of his long and productive life.

Bono, lead singer of the Irish rock group U2, sang for some 350 mourners including French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan and Australian supermodel Elle McPherson.

The French, Italian and Swiss governments also sent representatives to the church ceremony in honor of the enigmatic painter who is among the few to have his works exhibited in the Louvre museum in Paris while still alive.

Balthazar Klossowski, Count de Rola, died last Sunday.

The man who hid behind an artist's name and kept quiet about much of his private life was born on February 29, 1908.

He had been ill but left the hospital the night before he died to see once more his large chalet in the area of Gstaad where he lived with his second wife, Japanese artist Setsuko.

After the ceremony in the village church, two horses pulled a carriage with the coffin draped in black. The artist was buried at the foot of a hill on a plot owned by the Balthus Foundation, some 300 meters (yards) from the chalet.

Balthus, whose claim to an aristocratic title is doubted by some, had a daughter Harumi with Setsuko as well as a son who died in childhood. From his first marriage he had two sons.

He and his family moved to Rossiniere in 1977 after having resided in the antique Villa Medicis in Rome since 1961 while heading the cultural center.

Child Prodigy With Famous Friends

Balthus' advanced age hides the fact that he was a child prodigy. The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke helped publish his first drawings when Balthus was only 13.

Born in Paris the son of a Polish father and a Russian Jewish mother, Balthus grew up in Berlin and Geneva before returning to Paris. Rilke, Matisse and Pierre Bonnard were among the famous friends of his parents.

He had his first exhibition in Paris in 1934 where he caused a stir with his erotic "Guitar Lessons." Pablo Picasso, Andre Derain and Joan Miro collected his works.

Miro called Balthus, who never attended an art school, "the greatest realist painter of his age."

Balthus was known for his provocative paintings of young women, often with surreal elements in the background.

Unlike most of his famous contemporaries, Balthus remained faithful to figurative art. His later works showed adolescent girls absorbed in romantic dreams.

The scenes in his paintings were in the "fin de siecle" style of the last century, bourgeois and slightly decadent salons, where girls are reading or sitting near an open fire.

The atmosphere of his work has been compared to the ambiance evoked by the books of French writer Marcel Proust. Balthus painted some 350 works, sketched a thousand drawings and compiled 50 sketch books.

While living largely as a recluse, Balthus was a welcome guest in modern high society and lately struck friendships with modern singers and actors.

At a birthday party in 2000, Tony Curtis and David Bowie were among the guests and U2 performed.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:02 AM | Comments (0)

February 22, 2001

U2: One Song, Three Awards

2.22.01 - The Irish Times

By Kevin Courtney

U2 scored three Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, joining Eminem, Steely Dan, Macy Gray and Destiny's Child on the list of big winners.

U2 won Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Rock Performance, all for their chart-topping single, Beautiful Day.

It was the Dublin band's only release that was eligible for a Grammy Award and it won in all three categories in which it was nominated.

"It's a very unique emotion I'm feeling right now," said Bono. "I think it's called humility. I'm completely not used to it."

"On a personal level, this century has been going so well for us," added The Edge. "We see ourselves as just another Irish boy band," joked Bono, backstage at the Awards. "Actually it's hard to find four people this good-looking who are willing to write and record and perform together.

Wednesday's awards bring to 10 the total number of Grammys won by U2.

"It's funny," continued Bono, "We've won a few of these before but I don't remember really wanting it the way we wanted it tonight. We really wanted a Grammy this time. But I also felt a little guilty at first because our song was up against Macy Gray's 'I Try' and I think that's a beautiful song from an amazing singer."

The 43rd annual Grammy Awards were dominated by the Eminem controversy, with the ceremony being picketed by members of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the National Organisation For Women.

The Detroit rapper won three Grammys: Best Rap Album for The Marshall Mathers LP, Best Rap Solo Performance for 'The Real Slim Shady', and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for 'Forgot About Dre'.

"I want to thank everybody who could look past the controversy and see the album for what it was - and for what it wasn't," said Eminem.

U2 were the only Irish nominees to win a Grammy this year; The Corrs, Maire Brennan, Phil Coulter and The Chieftains went home empty-handed.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:05 AM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2001

U2's Bono Talks About 'Beautiful Day' At The Grammys

2.20.01 - Launch

(2/20/01, 1 p.m. ET) -- U2 is set to perform at the Grammy Awards tomorrow night (February 21). The band's "Beautiful Day" is up for song and record of the year, and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal.

U2 frontman Bono told LAUNCH that the band knew "Beautiful Day" was a special song that people would relate to right from the beginning. "It seemed to lift everyone up when we listened to it. There was a kind of ordinary despair about the verse, you know? It wasn't like a Popsicle. It's an interesting idea, I think as well, that you can lose everything, lose a relationship, lose your possessions, lose everything and... It's just a nice thought to plant that sometimes when people are right at the bottom is when they really discover who they are and what they're capable of."

-- Darren Davis, New York

Posted by Jonathan at 03:07 AM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2001

Bono Nominates Relief Agency For Cash Award

2.18.01 - Belfast Telegraph

By Gary Grattan

ROCK superstar Bono has nominated international relief and development agency Goal - which has an office in Belfast - for the world's largest humanitarian award worth $1m.

The U2 singer has written to the Conrad N Hilton Foundation in Los Angeles to recommend that the charity be presented with that organisation's annual humanitarian award.

The award was set up "to honour a volunteer, charitable or non-governmental organisation that has made extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering". In his letter, Bono says that he first encountered the work of Goal in Ethiopia during the major famine of 1984/85.

"Goal was one of the first agencies to respond to the terrible plight of the Ethiopian people and has remained with them to this day," he wrote.

Goal director John O'Shea said it was a great honour to be nominated.

"While we are not in this business for awards or recognition - our only concern is for the poorest of the poor in the Third World - everyone is delighted to have been nominated," he said.

"It is especially pleasing to have been nominated by Bono because his commitment to humanitarian and environmental causes is well-known worldwide."Goal was founded in Dublin in 1977 by Mr O'Shea and four friends and since then has responded to almost every major disaster across the globe.

In the last 24 years it has raised more than 80m pounds for third world programmes and sent over 700 volunteers to 20 countries.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:10 AM | Comments (0)

February 08, 2001

U2 Take London

2.8.01 - Q4music.com

'Rock Stars Still Walk Among Us'

Dateline:::::: 8 February 2001: Last night, U2 played a one hour, 20 minute set in front of a collection of fan club die-hards, media/arts world figures and fibrillating competition winners at London's Astoria Theatre. Q4music, in spite of the temptations posed by touts offering £800 for a ticket, squeezed by through a coterie of disparate celebrities to witness the Dublin band's first UK show of a comparable size since they played Hammersmith Palais in June 1983. What a long time ago that was.

Few bands can claim to have since compiled such a canon and proved so regularly masterful at playing it live. While U2's last live music campaign - the PopMart tour of 1997/1998 - caused a brief but real crisis in the band (technical problems and under rehearsal led to a disastrous Las Vegas debut in April 1997 and left bassist Adam Clayton feeling "extreme fear" for the first precarious batch of concerts) the Astoria show concentrated on core rock band skills - riffs, charisma, top-notch songwriting - pulling off an admirable renosing of Pop material (Discotheque, segueing into Staring At The Sun, was a revelation) and an, if anything, even more successful incorporation of pre-Eno-watershed songs.

Illustratively, a surprise 11 O'Clock Tick Tock gave way mid-gig to an even more unexpected I Will Follow. Angular and unfunky they remain, but urgent and, more importantly, performed as if the band can't see the join between these youthful studies in texture and dynamics and their later, most fully conceived songs (without question, One and The Ground Beneath Her Feet). The impression created by latest album All That You Can't Leave Behind - that U2 can finally embrace all the bands they have been and feel embarrassed by none of them - is brought into even sharper focus. U2 have been freed from the constraints of ideology; all they do now is rock'n'roll.

Every way that U2 could have messed up tonight - 1) posing like a band you can only see with binoculars; 2) wearing the superannuated PopMart get-up they've inappropriately sported on their TV spots over the last two weeks; 3) slacking off because they're preaching to the converted - they didn't. Sporting T-shirts and jeans, the band reclaimed a sartorial dignity befitting their ages. Bono looked his leanest in 12 months. During Bad, the slowburning Unforgettable Fire track they ended the pre-encore section with, he tightrope-walked the crowd-rail, grasped the proffered hands and leaned back, trusting both audience and stomach muscles not to give out.

Bono revived another old Bono trick: weaving in lyrics from other people's songs. Hence Joy Division's Transmission, The Teardrop Explodes' Reward (now wouldn't Julian Cope just hate that) and Craig David's Walking Away (quoted during One, and on reflection, practically the same song - naughty Craig). The old Bono arrogance ("Hello, we're the best band in the world") was back and rather beautifully encapsulated in the moment he took out his mobile phone and shared All I Want Is You with a mystery callee (doubtless the wife).

Highlights, then: Desire (shuffly and semi-acoustic, foregrounding the lyrical lewdness of "the fever when I'm inside her") and Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of (assured and delicate). Lowlights: Mysterious Ways (they buggered up the beginning) and, er, that's it. Finale: "40", a trigger to owners of Under a Blood Red Sky to sing "how long to sing this song" for about an hour. Conclusion: some real rock stars still walk among us, thank Christ. - Danny Eccleston

The Set List

Until The End Of The World
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Last Night On Earth
Discotheque
Staring At The Sun
New York
11' O'Clock Tick Tock
I Will Follow
Desire
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Mysterious Ways
One
All I Want Is You
Bad
"40"

The Guest List

Mick Jagger, rock legend ...Although he seemed to be text messaging throughout.

Salman Rushdie, hermit author Risked a high-profile night out (at least it wasn't on the Edgware Road).

John Hurt, he of the fag-ridden voice Had the best seat in the house, next to someone who looked remarkably like Marianne Faithfull

Elvis Costello, of the classical/pop crossover Should this be the sort of thing he'd like?

Stephen Hendry, snooker prodigy Looked fairly bemused by beery London gig-goers

Roy Keane, Man U captain and maniac Pushed a Q staffer out of his way (in character), then apologised (out of character)

Dave Stewart, silly pop man Wore a luminous orange puffa jacket. Do you think his beard is really that black?

Alex James, best bass player "in the house" Wore ska-style olive Harrington jacket. Was misbehaving with Keith Allen as usual

Keith Allen, professional gumby See above

Ed O'Brien, Radiohead's gentle giant Nicked swirly guitar tips. Probably

Colin Greenwood, Radiohead's gentle dwarf Wore "so this is what we should be doing!" expression throughout

Neil Hannon, aka The Divine Comedy After many years of trying, he's grown a little beard.

Herbie Knott, Lara Waldeck & Colin Stone, Q4music competition winners Appeared to be having a fairly good time.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:13 AM | Comments (0)

February 01, 2001

U2 Again Revise Tour Schedule

2.1.01 - Sonicnet

Band adds two dates, reschedule tour others on Elevation 2001 Tour.

Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen reports:

U2 keep tinkering with the dates for their upcoming Elevation 2001 Tour, and Tuesday added two dates and rescheduled two others.

The two new dates are a second date in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 26 and a fourth Boston show on June 9. Tickets for the Fort Lauderdale show go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m. ET, with the Boston show up for sale on Saturday at the same time, according to the band's official Web site.

The band's show in Hartford, Connecticut, originally set for June 9, has been moved to June 3. Tickets for that show also go on sale on February 2. That switch bumps the show in Buffalo, New York, which had been set for June 3, to May 31. Tickets for Buffalo go on sale shortly, the Web site said.

U2, revived by the success of their latest album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, have added several dates to their original tour itinerary as shows in several cities quickly sell out (see "U2 Add More Dates To North American Tour"). Last weekend, a fourth Chicago show on May 16 sold out, as did shows in Albany, New York, and Houston.

Revised U2 dates, according to www.u2.com:

3/24 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ National Car Rental Center
3/26 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ National Car Rental Center
3/29 - Charlotte, NC @ Coliseum
3/30 - Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
4/2 - Houston, TX @ Compaq Center
4/3 - Dallas, TX @ Reunion Arena
4/6 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Arena
4/9 - Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome
4/10 - Calgary, AB@ Pengrowth Saddledome
4/12 - Tacoma, WA @ Dome
4/13 - Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place
4/15 - Portland, OR @ Rose Garden
4/17 - San Diego, CA @ Sports Arena
4/19 - San Jose, CA @ Arena
4/20 - San Jose, CA @ Arena
4/23 - Anaheim, CA @ The Arrowhead Pond
4/24 - Anaheim, CA @ The Arrowhead Pond
4/26 - Anaheim, CA @ The Arrowhead Pond
4/28 - Phoenix, AZ @ America West Arena
5/1 - Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
5/3 - Cleveland, OH @ Gund Arena
5/4 - Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
5/6 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mellon Arena
5/7 - Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena
5/9 - Milwaukee, WI @ Bradley Center
5/10 - Indianapolis, IN @ Conseco Fieldhouse
5/12 - Chicago, IL @ United Center
5/13 - Chicago, IL @ United Center
5/14 - Chicago, IL @ United Center
5/16 - Chicago, IL @ United Center
5/24 - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
5/25 - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
5/27 - Montreal, QC @ Molson Centre
5/30 - Auburn Hills, MI @ Palace of Auburn Hills
5/31 - Buffalo, NY @ HSBC Arena
6/2 - Albany, NY @ Pepsi Arena
6/3 - Hartford, CT @ Civic Center
6/5 - Boston, MA @ Fleet Center
6/6 - Boston, MA @ Fleet Center
6/8 - Boston, MA @ Fleet Center
6/9 - Boston, MA @ Fleet Center
6/11 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Union Center
6/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Union Center
6/14 - Washington, DC @ MCI Center
6/15 - Washington, DC @ MCI Center
6/17 - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
6/19 - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
6/21 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Continental Airlines Arena
6/22 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Continental Airlines Arena

Posted by Jonathan at 03:16 AM | Comments (0)

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