July 2015 Archives

Duo plays "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "Out of Control" with cover band Unforgettable Fire to stunned fans at New York club

by Andy Greene, Rolling Stone

U2 have spent the past couple of months bringing special guests - an Elvis impersonator, a Canadian U2 cover band, Lady Gaga - onto the stage at their own shows. But on Wednesday night, they brought the act to a higher level when The Edge and Adam Clayton joined the New York-based U2 tribute band Unforgettable Fire at The Cutting Room, a club in New York that seats 450 people.

Making the appearance even more special, the show was part of U2 fan site @U2's 20th anniversary celebration. Nobody involved with the event knew that half of U2 would even appear at the party until moments before they walked onstage. "It was mind-boggling," @U2 founder Matt McGee tells Rolling Stone. "Our whole crew has been trading texts all morning saying, 'Did that really happen?'"

U2 have released a new short film, that premiered on the Sundance channel Thursday night, July 9. The video piece was broadcasted right after the third season premiere of "Rectify".

Woody Harrelson starred as "Aaron Brown", a prisoner who is about to be released to meet his real life daughter, Zoe Harrelson, at the prison gates in a desert location. The U2 song "Song for Someone", from their new album "Songs of Innocence" was played in the background. Vincent Haycock directed this nearly 8 minute film.

Watch it below:

"A lot of my early memories of teenage years were of violence, and the sheer fear of leaving the house, going to catch the bus," frontman says

by Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone

Bono and the Edge broke down U2's songwriting process and recalled the rough North Dublin roots that inspired the Songs of Innocence cut, "Cedarwood Road," in a revealing interview for Song Exploder.

The song gets its name and story from the street Bono grew up on, but it began -- like many U2 tracks -- with a guitar riff the Edge came up with at home. In speaking about these initial steps, the Edge noted he sketches songs on GarageBand and works with drum loops Larry Mullen Jr. recorded for the demo process.

"My job is to find a way to inspire Adam and Larry and Bono, so I don't often care to finish out a piece fully," the Edge said. "I just want to get something down that I think is a great starting point and then I know that whatever I come up with, they'll come up with something better. So I just need to get it going where its identity is clear and it's got some kind of vitality and point of view that's interesting."