April 2015 Archives

A local blogger (Bob Mackin) in Vancouver writes about U2's current rehearsals: "The rehearsals at the home of the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants are under tight security and secrecy. The glass doors at the main south entrance of the arena are obscured by interior black curtains and part of the north parking lot is closed. Initially, the Pacific National Exhibition wouldn't even confirm the tenant was U2. The sounds emanating from the afternoon and evening sessions are unmistakably U2. On April 21, I happened by during multiple takes of "Raised By Wolves"... Read more.

Here's a clip of Bob Mackin's recording of U2's "Raised by Wolves" during their live soundcheck in Vancouver on Tuesday:

Heavy metal act trolls Irish rockers after their 'Opiate' vinyl accidentally appears in 'Songs of Innocence' packages

by Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone

This past Record Store Day was once again packed with unique, limited edition releases, but one of the stranger collectibles happened entirely by accident: Some pressings of U2's Songs of Innocence deluxe vinyl edition, released in celebration of Record Store Day, inexplicably contained a copy of Tool's Opiate EP instead. The mix-up appears to have only affected a few customers at one U.K. record shop, but that didn't stop Tool from trolling U2 about the error.

"Nice freakin' try, U2," the 10,000 Days band posted on their official site. "Some very lucky people who purchased U2's Songs Of Innocence during a recent record store release found instead a copy of Tool's 1992 Opiate EP inside. Kind of makes you believe in mysterious higher powers, doesn't it?"

by Greg Moskovitch, Tone Deaf

As much as we here at the Tone Deaf office love Record Store Day, we must admit it can be an upheaval, even when things are going to plan. From making sure you get to your favourite stores before they sell-out of your choice picks, to battling the maddening crowds, it can be a stressful ordeal.

That's why you've got to feel extra sorry for the poor souls who made it to their local record store in time to pick up a highly coveted vinyl copy of arena mega-stars U2's Songs Of Innocence, which you may remember as that album that showed up in your iTunes library without explanation last year.

What happened? Well, if you're yet to pierce the seal of your own copy of Songs Of Innocence on vinyl, you may want to go and double check that you got the right album. As FACT reports, several copies of the record somehow ended up with Tool's 1992 Opiate EP inside the sleeve.

Twitter user Kristin Waite first tweeted about the error, writing, "Reports of a misprint/press/packaging of U2 [Songs Of Innocence] release for event - some getting 2013 Tool LP." Waite appropriately hash-tagged her missive with "#oops".

In the new book, Sons + Fathers, Adam Clayton felt like a member of the Rolling Stones when he received his very first bass guitar. Read more here.

The famous Dublin studios where U2 recorded some of their earliest and best-loved albums has been demolished.

by Sam Griffin, Independent.ie

The Windmill Lane studios, located in Dublin's south inner city, was the iconic site for a host of top international music acts who recorded tracks going back to the 1970s, when they were opened by Brian Masterson.

The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, REM, Sinéad O'Connor and Elvis Costello all recorded in the studios.

However, it was U2, who recorded parts of 'The Joshua Tree' album at the site, who were best associated with Windmill Lane.

Bulldozers and wrecking balls moved in over the weekend with just the iconic graffiti walls still surviving after the weekend's work.

The actual studios were moved out of the buildings and relocated to Ringsend some time ago. The buildings were then purchased by property investment company Hibernia REIT, who bought the loans held against the Hanover Building on Windmill Lane for €20.16m, as well as an adjoining one-acre development site for €7.5m.

Watch the Monkee's surprise karaoke performance at the Los Angeles PopMart show

by Andy Greene, Rolling Stone

U2's 1997 PopMart stadium tour got off to an extremely rocky start. In a decision they now admit was absolute madness, they booked the thing long before their new album Pop was complete. When the sessions lasted far longer than expected they had little time to rehearse for the tour, and opening night in Las Vegas was a mini disaster. In front of a packed Sam Boyd Stadium on April 25 they were clearly off their game and even had to re-start "Staring at the Sun" after botching the initial attempt.

Things were running much smoother by the time the tour hit Los Angeles two months later. By that point they'd dropped new tracks "Do You Feel Loved" and "If God Will Send His Angels," added in the oldie "All I Want Is You" and radically stripped down "Staring at the Sun." One winning element they kept from opening night was a very un-U2 segment of the show called "Edge Karaoke." Midway through every gig, everyone but the Edge would leave the stage and he'd lead the crowd in a singalong version of "Sweet Caroline" or "Daydream Believer."