June 2013 Archives

By Ray Waddell, Billboard

U2 manager Paul McGuinness had a long and fruitful relationship with late, great architect/set designer Mark Fisher, who passed away on Tuesday (June 25) and was invovled with every U2 tour since 1991. Here's his thoughts on Fisher's "genius."

"I had known Mark in a previous life. Before I managed U2, back in 1973 I worked on a movie called "Zardoz," made in Ireland by the director John Boorman. It's kind of a cult movie now, sci-fi, Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling were in it. In those days, Mark Fisher was a student at the Architectural Association in London. He and a couple of other kind of hippies from the Architectural Association worked on that movie building inflatable buildings -- it was set in the future. I always thought [the Rolling Stones tours] was where they developed the technology, and John Boorman must have heard about it and brought them in. That was the first time I met him, and then some years later he cropped up in rock 'n roll. We started working with him in 1991 and he was involved in every production since then."

By Jessica Chasmar, The Washington Times
(Originally posted June 18, 2013)

First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters Sasha and Malia dined with U2 singer Bono and his family in Dublin this afternoon after visiting Glendalough, Irish media reported.

Finnegans pub has hosted its share of famous visitors, including Salman Rushdie, Mel Gibson and Penelope Cruz. About 60 invited guests were inside before the first family arrived, the Irish Times reported.

"I thought this was a secret," Bono said to the crowd waiting outside, an Irish news website reported.

Fish and chips, cottage pies, smoked bacon and cabbage and chicken with mozarella were said to have been on the menu, Independent.ie reported.

Flurry of activity for band as Danger Mouse finishes mixing at Electric Lady

By James Sullivan, Rolling Stone

U2 brought a flurry of activity to New York City over the past several days, stoking rumors about the band's next album. All four members - Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. - were at Electric Lady Studios on Friday, where Danger Mouse was completing his mixing work on the new, untitled album, reportedly due in the fall. Coldplay's Chris Martin was spotted at the studio as well, though whether he was actively participating or just hanging out is unclear. Late in the day on Friday, the band went onto the Electric Lady rooftop to record an acoustic version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" for an art project called Inside Out.

U2 have been working steadily on this album since before wrapping their 2009-2011 world tour. They originally planned on releasing a second series of songs from the No Line on the Horizon sessions titled Songs of Ascent, but it appears they've scrapped that idea in favor of fresh material. They worked briefly with Lady Gaga producer RedOne, but soon settled on Danger Mouse.