Concerns Arise over Belfast Gig

They won't arrive in Belfast for three weeks but already U2 have stirred up a major political controversy.

The Irish supergroup have included a musical and pictorial tribute to the victims of the 1974 loyalist bombings of Dublin and Monaghan as part of their stage set for the new iNNOCENCE and eXPERIENCE tour which is currently playing to packed audiences at London's O2 area.

u2 at 02

October 26, 2015

One decade and two albums since they last released a memorable song, U2's triumph is in producing one of the most unforgettable arena shows most people will have seen - despite the body of old favourites being peppered with mediocre new tracks the band couldn't even give away for free without suffering a backlash.

With the help of a giant, movable, immersive video wall - that not only turns the gig space into an IMAX cinema, but allows the band to walk inside and become as one with the graphics - their

Songs Of Innocence

actually feel a worthwhile part of this performance rather than a burden. Yes, the latest material sounds a bit humdrum on an iPhone, and coming first out of the blocks here

The Miracle of Joey Ramon

e is loud and rocky but not quite in 'thrilling opening number' territory. From here on, though, the deeply personal roots of the latest album connects with the audience unexpectedly well, laregely thanks to the vivid, eye-filling illustrations accompanying them on the screens. Iris features images of Bono's mother - who he reminds the faithful died when he was 14 - while

Cedarwood Road

allows the singer to walk down his Dublin childhood street, after a glimpse into his bedroom with Clash and Kraftwerk posters on his wall. The songs blossom as their meanings emerge through the pixels as much as the lyrics.

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If there is a downside to all this, the 'Innocence + Experience' tour - which moves to Glasgow next week after several more London dates - does at times risk becoming simply The Bono Show. It's hard to imagine a U2 gig focused around anything other than their earnest, irrepressible and divisive lead singer, of course. Yet from the moment he enters the arena under a spotlight with a strut down the catwalk stage (as Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr and The Edge quietly take position while nobody notices), this performance is even more about the frontman than usual. When he turns

Bullet The Blue Sky's

traditional anti-war protest into a monologue about the dubious merits of his own status as a globetrotting millionaire charity campaigner, it's walking a fine line between a rare sign of celebrity self awareness and the most awkward kind of self obsession, and probably falls into the latter.

Besides all this, however, the old songs are what most people have paid money to hear - and they sound as good as ever.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

is stripped back with Mullen using a marching drum, the Achtung Baby era songs are simultaneously rasping and groovy, and

Where The Streets Have No Name

- as it segues out of Zooropa - still deserves to act as the spiritual lynchpin of any U2 gig.

Vertigo

might be their last bona fide hit, but as a touring group if not a recording one, U2 are still finding new ways to thrill their fans.

Another Party on the Auxiliary Stage

All the best songs are co-written by God

Ready to Launch

Spring 2015

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — It was definitive arena rock, loud and clear, filling Pacific Coliseum here with surging sound. The Edge blared a distorted two-chord guitar riff, Larry Mullen Jr.’s tom-toms and cymbals landed hard on the backbeat, Adam Clayton’s bass throbbed down below, and Bono was unleashing “woo-oohs” in exultant falsetto. U2 has taken over the coliseum for a month of full-scale rehearsal to assemble its “Innocence and Experience” tour, which starts at Rogers Arena here on May 14, and the band was charging through “Elevation.” The stage was an austere geometry of fluorescent tubes; the song was triumphant. “Wow, that’s four years since we played that?” Bono said as the last chord faded. “Not bad!”

Making Invisible

Auchtung, Y'all

Adam Interviewed on the Late, Late Show

Doo Wop

Angel of the North Come this Way . . .

u2, mick, and fergie: Gimme Shelter

Love Me Do (Bono sneaks in some Fab Four)

Vertigo Unplugged

Bono: Only Trade Can Eradicate Poverty

HE has spent years haranguing governments to increase public spending on aid, claiming it would end world poverty.

But Bono has finally changed his tune, admitting that the way to solving extreme poverty is through trade rather than aid.

In a remarkable turnaround, the rock star has told business leaders it is the private sector that holds the key.

The U2 singer, whose real name is Paul Hewson, was instrumental in persuading politicians including David Cameron to pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of the country's income on aid. 

But speaking at a UN aid conference in New York, Bono acknowledged that the private sector has a bigger role to play in development than governments.

Addressing business leaders, he said: 'I'm late to realising that it's you guys, it's the private sector, it's commerce that's going to take the majority of people out of extreme poverty. And, as an activist, I almost found that hard to say.' Tory MP Peter Bone last night said: 'I'm delighted to hear that Bono is finally seeing sense. If you look at a country like India, it is private-sector investment, not aid, that is making the difference.

'Our overseas aid tends to be sticking-plaster stuff - it does not go to the heart of the problem of trying to create open markets to attract investors who will transform societies.

'For some people, aid is almost a religion - they think there is something morally right about taking taxpayers' money and giving it to someone else. It has been obvious for many years that trade not aid is the key, and if Bono has finally reached that conclusion it is greatly to his credit.' Bono, who was one of the stars to take part in the 1984 Band Aid charity single, played a key role in persuading G8 leaders to sign up to the spending target at 2005's Gleneagles summit.

He urged demonstrators to 'turn up en masse' to put pressure on world leaders to agree the deal. And he piled emotional pressure on leaders, such as Tony Blair and George Bush, saying they were playing with 'the lives of all the people who will go to bed hungry tonight'.

The pressure appeared to have paid off when every G8 leader signed up - but only the UK has actually met the target, at vast cost to the taxpayer.

The US spends less than 0.2 per cent of its income on aid, and some G8 countries spend less than they did when they signed the agreement.

Britain's foreign aid budget has risen from £8.4billion in 2010 to £12billion this year.

Mr Cameron has faced criticism from his own party for sticking to the target while imposing spending cuts at home. A recent biography claimed he kept the pledge partly over fears he would be criticised by Bono if it was dropped. Critics fear the target has become a byword for waste, with a report finding ministers splurged almost £100million a day on aid in December 2013 to meet it. The Commons international development committee found the money seemed to have been 'rushed out at the end of the year'. Individual projects - such as almost £4million for an Ethiopian version of the Spice Girls - have also been criticised.

A spokesman for Bono's aid foundation ONE last night insisted the star, who also played at Wembley's 1985 Live Aid concert, had 'always recognised the important role that governments and the private sector must both play in the fight against extreme poverty'.

Bono and The Edge open the O2 Arena

A Hidden Gem

-
Here today, gone tomorrow
Crack the bone, get to the marrow
To be a bee and the flower
Before the sweetness turns to sour

What we have we're gonna keep, always
What we've lost we don't need, always
What is it that won't let you sleep, always
 

Paul Simon Triggers an Inspired Version of Streets