YouTwo.net: August 5, 2001 (long)
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In this issue: Two great articles by Sharon Stancavage which discuss the
lighting and stage setup for the Elevation Tour. @U2 think they have
broken a story -- but have they really? (Editor's note: http://www.atu2.com
is the BEST all-purpose U2 site online. It's been at the top of my list
for several years. Kudos to Matt and all for rewriting U2 history!!) Also,
information on U2 recording in Austria, and news of Elevation opening act
PJ Harvey's return to the US. Finally, lots of news about U2's 'Beautiful
Day' being used as the new opening theme for ITV's soccer show.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Stories:
Newsday: U2 mention in Radiohead article (8-5-2001)
Sunday Times: The hype - and the truth - about how U2 really got their name
(8-5-2001)
Montreal Gazette: U2 mention in Radiohead article (8-5-2001)
Sunday Times: The Critical List for Rock (8-5-2001)
YouTwo.net: U2 recording in Austria (8-4-2001)
Entertainment Today: U2 mention in Joe Strummer article (8-4-2001)
Dallas News: U2 mention in Perry Farrell article (8-4-2001)
Billboard: PJ Harvey Plots North American Return (8-4-2001)
Guardian: Saturday night TV will never be the same again (8-4-2001)
Independent: ITV puts football firmly back into the prime time (8-4-2001)
Irish Times: ITV soccer show gets 7 p.m. slot (8-4-2001)
Rolling Stone: PJ Harvey Comes Back to U.S. (8-4-2001)
NZ Herald: U2 mention in MTV article (8-4-2001)
WJXT: City Gears Alltel For Tim McGraw Concert (8-4-2001)
ctnow: Mick Chose A Virgin (8-4-2001)
MTV: Bono, Wyclef, Joe Perry Lend Hands To Mick Jagger Solo Album (8-4-2001)
MTV: PJ Harvey To Tour U.S. In September (8-4-2001)
Denver Post: Events, nature and tours (8-4-2001)
Billboard: Foo Fighters (8-4-2001)
Entertainment Design: Part 5 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
Entertainment Design: Part 4 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
Entertainment Design: Part 3 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
Entertainment Design: Part 2 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
Entertainment Design: Part 1 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
Reuters: U2 to perform at VMAs (8-4-2001)
U2Swisshome.com: Edge pick, Elevation Air pictures (8-4-2001)
Lighting Dimensions: Part 3 - The Elevation of U2 (8-3-2001)
Lighting Dimensions: Part 2 - The Elevation of U2 (8-3-2001)
Lighting Dimensions: Part 1 - The Elevation of U2 (8-3-2001)
NME: U2 Ticket Prices Elevate (8-3-2001)
Mirror: Slane Hits Right Note With Rock 'N' Roll Room (8-3-2001)
@U2: It's The Hype! ... It's Feedback! ... It was U2(Malahide) all along
(8-3-2001)
ITN: Rolling Stone Mick reveals solo project (8-3-2001)
ITN: ITV gives football a Premier spot (8-3-2001)
LA Times: Remy Zero compared to U2 (8-3-2001)
Leinster Leader: Elevation #1 in Ireland (8-3-2001)
Leinster Leader: U2 #3 in Ireland (8-3-2001)
Reuters: Who's Townshend, U2's Bono Star on Jagger Album (8-3-2001)
Sporting Life: PL Chief Delighted with Prime Slot (8-3-2001)
This is London: Beautiful Day for ITV soccer show (8-3-2001)
IHT: Jagger album due out in November (8-3-2001)
The Sun: Big Match Switches to 7pm (8-3-2001)
The Times: Saturday with Des splits nation (8-3-2001)
Mirror: Football: Lynam is a winner in TV war (8-3-2001)
Radio Undercover: Mick Jagger finishes solo album #4 (8-3-2001)
Football365: ITV to show Prime-Time Highlights (8-3-2001)
Beautiful Game: Prime time slot for Match of the Day (8-3-2001)
Ananova: ITV football move kicks viewing into new era (8-3-2001)
The Age: Jagger signs up for solo album (8-3-2001)
Live Daily: Jagger album due out in November (8-3-2001)
Wall Street Journal: Drummer shortage (8-3-2001)
Ceefax: Marie Frank admires U2 (8-3-2001)
Teletext: Peppercorn names U2 as a hero (8-3-2001)
U2.com: Part 1 - Elevation 2001: Even Lightning Doesn't Stop This Band
(8-2-2001)
U2.com: Part 2 - Elevation 2001: Even Lightning Doesn't Stop This Band
(8-2-2001)
Telegraph: Sport on TV: Lynam the highlight of ITV line-up (8-2-2001)
Newsweek: U2 mention in Grubman article (8-2-2001)
Boston Globe: Helms makes Bono joke during hearing (8-2-2001)
Boston Herald: OK assured for Egan as envoy to Dublin (8-2-2001)
Ananova: Missy Elliott and NSync added to MTV Video Awards line-up (8-2-2001)
BBC: Stone's solo comeback (8-2-2001)
BBC: Fatboy tops MTV birthday vote (8-2-2001)
Billboard: Jagger Inks With Virgin For November Solo Set (8-2-2001)
AP: Celebrity Birthdays (8-2-2001)
Celtic to see U2 in Holland (8-2-2001)
Irish Times: No Progress at Genoa Despite Bono (8-2-2001)
YouTwo.net: Arnhem Setlist II (8-1-2001)
St. Petersburg Times: Off the top (8-1-2001)
Sky News: Fat's The Way Slim! (8-1-2001)
ShowbizIreland: U2 go to hardback... (8-1-2001)
Farrell Thanks Bono on new album (8-1-2001)
Irish Times: Slane Castle reopens its doors after 10 years (8-1-2001)
Sunspot: Clinton attended U2 concert (8-1-2001)
Sonicnet: 'NSYNC, Missy Elliott To Perform At Video Music Awards (8-1-2001)
Chicago Tribune: Bono endorses Radiohead's innovations (8-1-2001)
Allstar: 'NSync, Missy Elliott To Perform At MTV Video Music Awards (8-1-2001)
Independent: U2 mention in MTV article (8-1-2001)
Billboard: U.K.'s Atomic Kitten Claws Back To No. 1 (8-1-2001)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsday: U2 mention in Radiohead article (8-5-2001)
Condensed from Newsday:
At its most fragile, the music approximates the beeps and squeaks of an
intensive
care unit's monitoring devices.
The quintet's 1997 album "OK Computer" was such a strikingly original work that
taste-makers began talking of Radiohead as the group that would finally wrest
the
title of best rock band in the world away from U2.
But since "OK Computer," the only thing this stylish and demanding group has
generated more than acclaim is confusion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday Times: The hype - and the truth - about how U2 really got their name
(8-5-2001)
The hype - and the truth - about
how U2 really got their name
Chris Ryder | David Quinn
Anoraks on a U2 fansite think they have caught the Fab Four
telling porkies about how they got their name. After an
investigation, Sue can refute the claims.
"Thanks to an old newspaper clipping from 1978, we can say
that it's time to change the party line on how and when U2
became U2," cried the geeks on @U2 last week. "The story
which has been passed down . . . is wrong."
Matt McGee, the lead anorak, explained that the official legend
is that the Dublin band won a talent contest in Limerick in 1978
as a five-piece called The Hype. The fifth member was Dik
Evans, The Edge's brother. Shortly afterwards Dik left and the
foursome changed their name to U2. But the intrepid McGee
dug up a clipping from The Evening Press in 1978 showing the
winning foursome called U2.
But if McGee had referred to Eamon Dunphy's authorised
biography of the group, Unforgettable Fire, he would have been
put straight. It points out that prior to the talent contest, The
Hype was a five-piece with Evans. At a concert in Howth, he
left halfway through so the band became the four-piece U2 for
the second half of the show. They had already entered the
Limerick talent contest as The Hype. "The first thing Adam
[who managed the band at the time] did on arrival was change
the band's name. . . to U2," wrote Dunphy.
So, no big conspiracy theory.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montreal Gazette: U2 mention in Radiohead article (8-5-2001)
Condensed from the Montreal Gazette:
Radiohead was set to become
the biggest rock band in the
world after 1997's OK
Computer. "The new U2,"
went the accolades, "the
saviours of rock." To which
singer Thom Yorke and his
not-so-merry men coughed up
a lung, stared blankly into the
camera and issued a deadpan
"no comment" before staging their quiet revolution.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday Times: The Critical List for Rock (8-5-2001)
The Critical List for Rock
Neil Finn's Band of Strangers
The former Crowded House frontman has,
bravely or stupidly, formed a band of his fans
(picking them from audition tapes), who will
play the entire set with him. Whether he has
also hired security men to rush the stage, bar
staff to wait hours for a beer or professional
musicians to stand in the audience and heckle
remains to be seen.
Adelphi, Sheffield, Wed; Picket, Liverpool, Thu; Pop Factory,
Porth, Wed 15
U2
Having more or less successfully reapplied for
the job of greatest rock'n'roll band in the world,
and having put that dirty great lemon back in the
fruit bowl in Bono's kitchen, U2 kicks off the UK
leg of a doubtless vast world tour.
Evening News Arena, Manchester, Sat, Sun 12
Knebworth 01
Now run by the men from the Ministry (of Sound), Knebworth is
headlined by Jamiroquai, one of only a handful of crossover
names in a bill of dance-music stars and DJs that includes
Judge Jules, Tall Paul, Dreem Teem, Roni Size, Todd Terry and
Lo Fidelity Allstars.
Knebworth Park, Sat
Mark Edwards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YouTwo.net: U2 recording in Austria (8-4-2001)
Thanks to Peter for the following:
During U2's stay in Austria, Bono recorded a
duet with Andrea Bocelli. The Edge and Bono
also recorded an acoustic version of 'Stuck
In A Moment'.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entertainment Today: U2 mention in Joe Strummer article (8-4-2001)
Condensed from Entertainment Today:
And make no mistake about it, Joe Strummer, is without a doubt, a true rock ?n?
roll legend. As the driving force behind the Clash, one of the greatest, most
influential rock groups ever to come out of England, the London native has
accomplished everything there is to accomplish in the music business since he
started out in the mid-1970s. During the Clash?s amazing 10-year run from 1976
to 1986, Strummer and company released hit songs (?Rock the Casbah?), double
albums (London Calling), triple albums (Sandanista!), and toured American
stadiums with the Who. Rolling Stone Magazine even picked the Clash?s London
Calling as the best album of the ?80s ? ahead of classic recordings by artists
such as Bruce Springsteen, U2, Prince and Michael Jackson.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dallas News: U2 mention in Perry Farrell article (8-4-2001)
Condensed from the Dallas Morning News:
Perry Farrell isn't the first rocker to
dabble in techno. David Bowie, U2
and Madonna beat him to the
sampler years ago.
Yet in many ways, the techno
infusion on his new CD, Song Yet
to Be Sung, rings truer than what
we're accustomed to hearing from
rock acts. Instead of blatantly copping a style, the singer
seamlessly works techno into his vibrant collage of sounds.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Billboard: PJ Harvey Plots North American Return (8-4-2001)
PJ Harvey Plots North American Return
U.K. rock outfit PJ Harvey will
return to North America for a
brief, seven-date headlining tour,
kicking off Sept. 4 at New York's
Hammerstein Ballroom.
Beforehand, the Polly Jean
Harvey-led band will play a
handful of international festival dates, as well as an Aug. 19
support slot for recent North American tourmates U2 at
London's Earl's Court.
As previously reported, the group's most recent Island album
"Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea" is up for the
U.K.'s Mercury Music Prize, alongside releases from such
artists as Radiohead, Gorillaz, Basement Jaxx, Turin Brakes,
Super Furry Animals, and more. Album track "This is Love"
can be heard on the Universal soundtrack to the forthcoming
film "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." The set is due Aug.
14, while the film hits U.S. theaters on Aug. 24.
Here are PJ Harvey's tour dates:
Aug. 3: Odemire, Portugal (Sudouste Festival)
Aug. 5: Benicassim, Spain (Benicassim Festival)
Aug. 19: London (Earl's Court)
Aug. 24: Reading, England (Carling Weekender)
Aug. 25: Leeds, England (Carling Weekender)
Sept. 4: New York (Hammerstein Ballroom)
Sept. 7: Boston (Orpheum Theatre)
Sept. 8: Philadelphia (Electric Factory)
Sept. 10: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Sept. 13: Chicago (Riviera Theatre)
Sept. 18: San Francisco (Warfield)
Sept. 21: Los Angeles (Palladium)
-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guardian: Saturday night TV will never be the same again (8-4-2001)
Condensed from the Guardian:
Saturday night TV will never be
the same again
Entertainment stalwarts to take a back seat as ITV
gives football highlights an early evening primetime
slot
Matt Wells, media correspondent
Friday August 3, 2001
The Guardian
The days when weekend television was the preserve of Cilla
Black and Bruce Forsyth are over. Now Saturday night is
football night. In a dramatic shake-up of traditional Saturday
evening viewing that is likely to result in living room bust-ups
around the country, ITV announced yesterday that it will screen
its new English Premiership football highlights show in the heart
of the peak-time schedule.
Since it secured Premiership highlights from the BBC in a
three-year deal worth £183m, ITV has ploughed millions into its
highlights show. Some £500,000 has been earmarked for
marketing alone, U2 has remixed its hit Beautiful Day for the
theme music, and pundits Terry Venables and Ally McCoist
complete the presenting team. Coca-Cola is sponsoring the
coverage in a package worth £50m over three years, the biggest
broadcast sports sponsorship deal in the UK.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Independent: ITV puts football firmly back into the prime time (8-4-2001)
Condensed from the Independent:
ITV puts football firmly back into the prime time
By Nick Harris
03 August 2001
Goodbye peak-time Cilla, hello to a lorra lorra football. After a
year of planning, ITV finally announced yesterday that from 18
August its new version of Match of the Day will be broadcast
every Saturday evening at 7pm.
The show, which will be presented by Des Lynam and called
The Premiership, will feature highlights of that afternoon's
Premier League matches. The theme tune will be a specially
commissioned remix of U2's "Beautiful Day".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irish Times: ITV soccer show gets 7 p.m. slot (8-4-2001)
Condensed from the Irish Times:
ITV soccer show
gets 7 p.m. slot
ITV ended months of speculation yesterday by
announcing a 7 p.m. slot for its new Premiership
highlights show. It means the new Des Lynam-fronted
The Premiership will be competing with BBC's
prime-time entertainment schedule.
The tune for the 7 p.m. show will be a remixed version
of U2's Beautiful Day. The show will form part of a
package of programmes built on the Premiership
highlights, for which ITV has paid £183 million over
three years.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rolling Stone: PJ Harvey Comes Back to U.S. (8-4-2001)
PJ Harvey Comes Back to U.S.
September tour to hit select major cities
Fresh off her triumphant support slot on U2's Elevation tour,
PJ Harvey is set to return to the U.S. with a series of solo
dates in September.
The artist, who recently received a nomination for Britain's
prestigious Mercury Music Prize for her Stories From the
City, Stories From the Sea album, will hit mid-sized venues
across the country on her jaunt.
Moris Tepper -- who has played guitar for the likes of
Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits, Frank Black and Robyn
Hitchcock -- will open for Harvey.
PJ Harvey tour dates:
9/4: New York, Hammerstein Ballroom
9/7: Boston, Orpheum Theater
9/8: Philadelphia, Electric Ballroom
9/10: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
9/13: Chicago, The Riviera
9/18: San Francisco, The Warfield
9/21: Los Angeles, Palladium
JOLIE LASH
(August 3, 2001)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NZ Herald: U2 mention in MTV article (8-4-2001)
Condensed from the New Zealand Herald:
Then, seven years later, along came MTV with its theory
of promoting pop music by playing songs non-stop
accompanied by video footage.
Artists from Madonna (who with four entries has the
highest number of entries in the chart), to Bjork and U2
(who have three each) have not looked back since.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WJXT: City Gears Alltel For Tim McGraw Concert (8-4-2001)
City Gears Alltel For Tim McGraw Concert
Hometown boy Tim McGraw will take center stage at the Alltel Stadium tonight,
but not
everyone is happy to see him there.
Sheri Stone is one of the thousand of Tim McGraw fans who will
pack into Alltel Stadium to enjoy the show.
"I've been waiting. I love Tim McGraw," Stone said.
But there wasn't a lot of love from the Jaguars when the concert
was first announced. The concert is taking place a week before
the first preseason game, and the Jaguars are worried about how
that would affect the condition of the field.
SMG General Manger Bob Downey said that a lot of the concern has been lifted
since
they are taking extra precautions to make sure the field is protected. Plywood
is down
around the stage area that will be re-sodded once the concert is over.
"The show is covering the cost. We figured we would go ahead and re-sod it, but
it's not
going to be out in the area where players play and other activity goes on,"
Downey
(pictured, right) said.
For the rest of the field where concert fans will be sitting, a hard plastic
barrier called Terra
Plastic has been put down.
The team's concern is that once the Terra Plastic is removed, the field would
have dirt
spots in it. Stadium officials say that the affected areas will clear up in a
matter of days
once all of the plastic is removed.
This isn't the first time concerts and football have clashed. In 1997, U2 played
days before
a football game, and even though it rained most of that week, the field was in
good
condition in time for the Jaguars to pull off a win.
The Jaguars and SMG officials will meet once the stage is removed Saturday
afternoon.
Coach Tom Coughlin really didn't have anything to say regarding the concert and
field
problems.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ctnow: Mick Chose A Virgin (8-4-2001)
Mick Chose A Virgin
Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger has signed a deal to
produce his first solo album in eight years.
The unnamed album is due out in November, Virgin Music
Group Worldwide announced Wednesday. It will be Jagger's
fourth solo collection and the first since "Wandering Spirit"
was produced by Atlantic Records in 1993.
Among the stars he has worked with for the new album are
U2's Bono, Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliott and Matchbox 20
vocalist Rob Thomas, Virgin said.
"We could not be more thrilled that Mick has chosen Virgin
as the home for his solo career," Vice Chairwoman Nancy
Berry said. "He is a legend whose timelessness is only
furthered by his creativity, focus and drive."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MTV: Bono, Wyclef, Joe Perry Lend Hands To Mick Jagger Solo Album (8-4-2001)
Bono, Wyclef, Joe Perry
Lend Hands To Mick Jagger
Solo Album
08.03.2001
With his much-anticipated
fourth solo album due in
November, Rolling Stones
vocalist Mick Jagger continues
to add to his celebrity guest
list as he puts the finishing
touches on the LP.
Among the latest stars to step
into the recording booth with
the Jagger-meister are U2's
Bono, who provides additional
vocals on one song;
Aerosmith's Joe Perry, who
plays guitar on various tracks;
and Wyclef Jean, who produced
one cut, Jagger's publicist said.
Also on the still-untitled record
are Matchbox Twenty's Rob
Thomas, who sang and
co-wrote several songs, as well as Lenny Kravitz and Pete
Townshend. Marti Frederiksen, who produced and co-wrote
Aerosmith's Just Push Play, will also receive co-writing credit on
the Jagger disc (see "Mick Jagger Finds A Muse In Britney
Spears").
Rapper/producer Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott won't be on the
album, though she did meet with Jagger last month to discuss
the project, the publicist said.
Next year, the Rolling Stones will celebrate their 40th
anniversary. While both Jagger and drummer Charlie Watts
have said they're interested in a world tour, no dates have been
scheduled. The Rolling Stones also have no immediate plans to
record a follow-up to 1997's Bridges to Babylon.
?Jon Wiederhorn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MTV: PJ Harvey To Tour U.S. In September (8-4-2001)
PJ Harvey To Tour U.S. In
September
08.03.2001
Fresh off a stint opening for U2
and a string of European
festival gigs, PJ Harvey will
return to the U.S. in
September for a handful of
dates.
Nearly a year after the release
of Stories From the City, Stories
From the Sea, Harvey and her
band will kick off the
seven-date jaunt on
September 4 in New York and
wrap it up on September 21 in
West Hollywood, California,
according to Harvey's label
publicist.
"This Is Love," from Stories,
will appear on the soundtrack
to Kevin Smith's new film, "Jay
and Silent Bob Strike Back" (see " 'Jay And Silent Bob' Lure PJ
Harvey, Bloodhound Gang").
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Denver Post: Events, nature and tours (8-4-2001)
Condensed from the Denver Post:
Events, nature and tours
Friday, August 03, 2001
Fiske Planetarium
Regent and Kittredge Loop drives, CU-Boulder campus. 303-492-5001,
www.colorado.
edu/fiske. "The Big Bang," 8 p.m. today; "U2," 10 p.m. today; "Kids in Space," 2
p.m. Tuesday; "Boulder Skies," 8 p.m. Tuesday; and "Stars & Lasers," 10 a.m.
Wednesday. Laser shows: $5; matinees and star shows: $4 adult, $3 children
and seniors. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.Monday-Friday.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Billboard: Foo Fighters (8-4-2001)
Foo Fighters
Prior to setting off on a short
European tour, the Foo Fighters
will treat 300 lucky fans to a rare
club show Sunday (Aug. 5) at the
Troubadour in West Hollywood,
Calif. Winners were chosen from
a pool of E-mail entries submitted to the group's official Web
site. Afterward, the Foos will hit the Bizarre Festival in
Weeze, Germany, on Aug. 17, followed by the U.K.'s
V2001 Festival on Aug. 18-19, and a support slot for U2 at
Dublin's Slane Castle on Sept. 1.
As previously reported, the group is writing material for a
new album, which will be the follow-up to 1999's "There is
Nothing Left to Lose" (RCA). Frontman Dave Grohl and
drummer Taylor Hawkins reportedly spent time last month in
a Los Angeles recording with ex-Nirvana bassist Krist
Novoselic, L7's Donita Sparks, and Queens of the Stone
Age's Josh Homme. No word on what, if anything, from
those sessions may be officially released.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entertainment Design: Part 5 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
Style consultant/head of wardrobe: Sharon Blankson
Wardrobe assistants: Karen Nicholson, Fintan Fitzgerald
Head rigger: Bart Durbin
Rigger: Joe Favor
Carpenter/Bono stage assistant: Adam "AJ" Rankin
Carpenters: Alan "Woody" Doyle, Seth Goldstein, Flory Turner, & Bob Madison
Lighting
Lighting crew chief: Garry Chamberlain
Lighting techs: Craig Hancock, Russell "Bits" Lyons, Mark Hitchcock, & Raffaele
Buono
Automated lighting tech: Adam Finer
PIGI effects projectionist: Brian Beasley
PIGI programmer: Myron Moore
Video crew chief/lead projection: Clarke Anderson
VT op/camera engineer: Stefaan Desmedt
Lead LED screen tech: Olivier Clybouw
Projectionist/LED tech: Stefaan Vanbesien
Head of cameras: Mark O'Herlihy
Audio
Audio technician/crew chief: Joe Ravitch
Audio monitors: Dave Skaff, Don Garber
Audio technicians: Tom Ford, Niall Slevin, & Jason Kirschnick
Projection & Screen Visuals
Video director: Willie Williams
Creator of screen imagery: Catherine Owens
Producer: Maria Manton
Artists: Noah Clarke, Joe King, Mark Logue, Marcus Lyall, John Maybury,
Catherine
Owens, Mark Pellington, Adam Smith, Jennifer Steinkamp, Willie Williams, &
Michelle
Yu
WYSIWYG programming: Tom Thompson
Suppliers [partial]
Radios: AAA Communications; Ron Martinelli
Trucking/Europe: Atkinson & Sanders; Shoe Sanders
Set construction: Brilliant Stages151; Tony Bowern, Charlie Kail
Audio: Clair Bros Audio Inc152.; Greg Hall, Troy Clair Audio Rent AG; Jurg
Huegin
Carpentry: Joseph Haggerty & Sons, Inc.
U.K. & U.S. lighting supplier: Light & Sound
Design153; John Lobel
Media 100 digital media delivery systems: Prelite Studios
PIGI effects projection: Fourth Phase154, NY and London; Anne Johnston
Set construction: Tait Towers155; Michael Tait, Winky Fairorth
Vari*Lites supplier: Vari-Lite Production Services156
Video supplier: XL Video157/Nocturne Europe158; Chris Mounsor
Variolift motors: Show Distribution159
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entertainment Design: Part 4 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
Rather than traditional IMAG, another idea came into play, one that Williams
says he got
"after years of standing behind video directors and engineers, seeing what they
were
seeing. They have their little engineering rack with four black-and-white camera
shots. It
always amused me that you could have these really fascinating pictures on the
monitors
and then spend an awful lot of time and money cutting it up into something less
interesting." The person cutting up the monitor shots is the director, the
visual mediator of
the performance. "All the pictures you see are mediated through another person;
I wanted
to take that person out of the equation," Williams concludes.
So they did. Elevation features IMAG without a director. "There are four video
screens
above the stage and four long-lens cameras in the house -- each camera picks up
one of
the band members and has a direct feed to one of the screens," he notes. "I talk
to the
camera operators and set up the shows on the engineering monitors and then we
present
them all to the audience raw." Instead of relying on the vision of the director,
the IMAG on
Elevation is surveillance-esque, presenting the band in black and white rather
than color.
"With regular IMAG, there's always this terrible fear of missing things, whereas
with these
pictures, because they're there all the time and the same band member stays on
the
same screen all night, you don't feel like you're missing anything if you look
away," he
adds. Audience members can check out the IMAG when they want to see something
close up, but the rest of the time, they can watch the show unencumbered by a
video
director's vision. "I think it's both intellectually and artistically a very
strong idea and will
probably be one of the most influential things to come out of this tour," Fisher
says. The
audiences also seem to be enjoying the "unmediated IMAG." "It was a very hard
sell in
some ways to management and promoters," Williams says. "They were skeptical at
first,
but when you see it, it's one of those ideas that is a complete no-brainer."
Moving to the audio aspects of the show, the band has continued its long
relationship with
Clair Brothers Audio Inc., also of Lititz, PA, and is currently out with the
I-4/I-4 B [bass]
Line Array System. "The reason we're with Clair Brothers is because they have
the best
sound system available worldwide," says O'Herlihy. "The I-4/I-4B is the latest
technology
available for the type of arena tour we're doing." Crest 10004 amps power the
I-4s, while
the I-4Bs work in tandem with QSC 9.0 amps. O'Herlihy mixes the show on a Midas
XL4
fully fitted automated recall console and uses a Yamaha O2R to take care of some
of the
overflow inputs. Monitor engineers Don Garber and Dave Skaff mix on two ATI
Paragon
monitor consoles, and the band uses a combination of in-ear monitors from Future
Sonics, as well as several Clair AM wedges and the newer Series II wedges.
U2 concluded the North American leg of the Elevation tour in July, then took it
to Europe,
where they'll be until the end of August. There is also talk that the band may
return to
selected US cities this fall.
U2 Elevation Tour 2001 Credits [partial]
Show designer: Willie Williams
Architect: Mark Fisher
Tour production manager: Jake Berry
U2 production manager: Steve Iredale
Stage manager: Rocko Reedy
Audio director: Joe O'Herlihy
Lighting director: Bruce Ramus
Production assistants: David Herbert, Helen Campbell
Crew chief and drum tech: Sam O'Sullivan
Guitar techs: Dallas Schoo, Stuart Morgan
Tour tech: Rab McAllister
Bono tech: Dave Rouze
Style consultant/head of wardrobe: Sharon Blankson
Wardrobe assistants: Karen Nicholson, Fintan Fitzgerald
Head rigger: Bart Durbin
Rigger: Joe Favor
Carpenter/Bono stage assistant: Adam "AJ" Rankin
Carpenters: Alan "Woody" Doyle, Seth Goldstein, Flory Turner, & Bob Madison
Lighting
Lighting crew chief: Garry Chamberlain
Lighting techs: Craig Hancock, Russell "Bits" Lyons, Mark Hitchcock, & Raffaele
Buono
Automated lighting tech: Adam Finer
PIGI effects projectionist: Brian Beasley
PIGI programmer: Myron Moore
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entertainment Design: Part 3 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
"While we're in production, Willie and I have great thinking sessions," Owens
explains.
"Generally, I get my inspiration from the album, how it sounds, as well as from
the band.
At the same time, I'm out there watching what else is going on in the art world
and youth
culture and gathering my own feelings." "A lot of the look was also borrowed
from the rave
culture," Williams says. "The overall effect is this abstract, textural
feeling." One of the
simplest yet most startling images from the PIGIs is the finale, which features
handwritten
lyrics. "I wrote out the closing refrain to the last song onto the PIGI film,
and it was
reversed out, so now it's white on black," Williams explains. "These words
scroll over the
audience and run like closing credits, and it's amazing just how emotional that
is."
Owens had a smaller budget than on the two previous tours. "On one hand, it was
great
that it was going to be minimal, but on the other hand, it meant that the work
had to be a
lot more defined and, in many ways, more cleverly put together," she says. "The
thing
about a big budget is that if you throw enough mud at it, something will stick.
Whereas
now, every little piece has to work."
Owens, worked with four video artists -- three from England and one from America
-- and
stayed close to the minimalist theme. "Slick production was not going to have a
place in
anything, so consequently, everything was handmade -- very rough and ready in
its origin,
and then we'd make it technologically work in post-production," she says.
Although the
work is done by hand, it's far from graffiti-like. "We did a lot of the work by
hand, straight
onto the film, and that was really wonderful and exciting," she notes. "It
wasn't random or
sloppy, it's quite lovely linear work, very much related to the making of a pure
image and
less related to graphic design."
For the videowall artwork, Owens had the same challenge as Fisher -- creating
dimensions that worked visually. "The videowall was really wonderful, because it
was a
completely mad, almost unworkable scale," she notes. "There was a lot of
re-aspecting of
the images, and that was technologically fascinating. We were sitting in a
studio in
London trying to work out how on earth we were going to make images look like
they
weren't squashed."
A significant amount of the videowall artwork was also done onsite, during
rehearsals.
"We really lucked out big time -- Media 100 in London gave us an onsite editing
suite for
rehearsals, so we used the videowall as our monitor, had our fantastic Apple G3
titanium
laptop, and literally sat there creating images," she explains. "Bono would say
at
lunchtime 'Catherine, I think I really want this,' so we'd make it up in the
afternoon and
have it for rehearsals."
U2 is known for making political statements, and one of their strongest comments
is
made during a film that runs on the videowall. "It's a film that proceeds the
song 'Bullet in
the Blue Sky,' which was written about the Contras in El Salvador, but it's had
several
lives since then," says Williams. "Now it seems to really bear relevance to the
whole
gun-control issue, and what was so promising now seems to be in danger." The
band
wanted to comment on the issue, so Owens and onsite editor Mark Logue created a
video
piece that precedes the song, concerning a speech from NRA president Charlton
Heston.
"It certainly avoids lecturing, but it's pretty clear where they stand," notes
Williams.
Working with the videowall and the projection is the lighting rig, which follows
the "forward
to basics" theme. The truss configuration is deceptively simple -- four straight
trusses
with a high trim that varies from 50' to 12' in height, as well as a circle
truss that hangs
over the pit of the stage. The automated lighting package can be described in
two words:
Vari*Lite 2416s. There are 54 of them, and their colors work in harmony with the
videowall. The conventional lighting package featured fresnels at one point,
until they were
replaced by eight custom fixtures comprised of DWE lamps Williams designed on a
napkin. "I wasn't getting much use out of the fresnels, and although they're a
great look,
it's the wrong show for them," he explains. To complete the rig, Williams and
Ramus
turned to a cornucopia of specials, including a custom-made ripple drum from
Light and
Sound Design, Lowel Omni and Tota lights, and a wide variety of strobes.
The final piece of the visual equation is a clever spin on a concert cliche.
"One thing that's
just driving me insane is that every rock show you go and see now has big video
screens
on either side running something that looks like an HBO special," laments
Williams.
"Now, every band is playing in front of a video screen with meaningless images
on it.
Every singer has a mate with a DV cam, and all the same ideas come up over and
over
again." Not only that, but, on another level, the video can focus audience
attention away
from the stage as well as the talent. "What occurred to me was that the audience
must
feel, on some level, that the most interesting thing that's happening in the
building at that
moment will be on the screen," Williams adds. The easiest solution would be to
simply
eliminate the IMAG, but "because a lot of the indoor venues are really big, and
the tickets
are expensive, it was deemed necessary to have some sort of video
reinforcement,"
Williams says.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entertainment Design: Part 2 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
"The stage was created as a response by the band to the thought that they were
trying to
get back to a much simpler, more elemental show that their core fans would
identify
with," Fisher explains. It is 80' wide by 100' deep and features an open center,
which is
filled with fans. "Adam [Clayton], the bass player, suggested that we remove the
center of
the stage and fill it with audience members," says Williams. The pit holds 300
fans, who
queue up for the chance to get up close and personal with the band. "What's
lovely is
that, for people who want it, it's injected that old-fashioned kind of concert
energy into the
show," Williams notes. The main floor is general admission, with tickets that
cost less
than those in the arena bowl proper. "Because U2 realizes that their audience
stretches
from 18-year-olds to 55-year-olds, they have such an enormous demographic, and
the
way we're doing things addresses that," explains Williams. "If you want a
top-price ticket,
if you want to come and know you have a reserved seat and a nice view, you can
do that.
For people who want that real concert energy, there's the floor -- and those are
the
cheapest tickets too -- the tickets nearest to the stage are the least
expensive."
The staging of Elevation also limited the number of scenic pieces that could be
used.
"With a show done in the round, you can't really have any scenery," Fisher
contends,
"because what is background scenery for one person is a sightline obstruction to
another.
Creating a stage with a form that reads in the arena and says something about
the
intentions of the band is the biggest challenge that Willie and I faced."
Sightline considerations were one of the critical elements of the stage design.
"The
adoption of the heart shape was the major breakthrough, and what I brought to it
at that
point was setting the scale a bit in the arena and getting all of the dimensions
right so
that it worked on a practical level," says Fisher. "They've set records in every
arena
they've been in because the sightlines are so good, which is very nice." The key
to the
sightline equation? "The stage is very low - the highest point is 7' high." The
dimensions
of the stage bring the band closer to the audience and create a clublike
feeling. The stage
itself, as with most projects that Fisher creates, was built at Tait Towers in
Lititz, PA.
The staging works hand in hand with the video elements of the show. Integrated
into the
stage is a unique videowall, constructed by Brilliant Stages, which dramatically
rises out
of the stage to its full height. "We showed Bono a number of alternatives to
doing the
video, and he kept coming back to this particular idea that he had, because he
thought it
was stronger than any of our ideas; he was probably right in the end," says
Fisher. The
video, which is buried under the stage and lifted through the same sort of
electric action
that moves the blades of a forklift, is comprised of 13 sections that in total
measure 8'
high and 64' wide. "You can use one panel at a time, the whole thing, or
different
combinations, and that's really enhanced the videowall," says Williams. The
videowall,
which is a Barco D-Lite provided by XL Video, actually has more LEDs in it than
the
infamous PopMart wall, which measured 55' x 170'. "The amount of backlight that
comes
off of that thing is ridiculous," says Williams.
Another aspect of Elevation's visual equation is projection. "I've been looking
at the PIGIs
for several years and thinking that their time would come," Williams notes. "In
previous
productions, I've worked with film projection, and most recently, with Bryan
Adams, I used
70mm film loops, which I ended up making myself. But the problem with projection
is that
it's never bright enough."
Enter four PIGI projectors from E/T/C Audiovisuel, with some design
modifications,
courtesy of Fourth Phase Lighting placed in four corners of the arena. "The
PIGIs are so
bright; they only have a 7K bulb, but the aperture is 7" square, so an enormous
amount of
light comes out," Williams explains. Instead of projecting the PIGIs onto a
screen,
Williams had a different idea. "I thought this would be an opportunity to use
the whole
room as a projection surface," he explains. The gently moving images glide over
most of
the arena, saturating the room with lines and textures. "Some of the PIGI work
is
computer-generated, but a majority of it is hand-drawn," asserts Owens.
From the sultry silhouette of a woman dancing during "Mysterious Ways" to
abstract
graphics and handwritten words in "With or Without You" to abstract line
drawings in "Get
Yourself Together," [sic] the various images dominate the production. "A lot of
the content
is abstract and very textural," Williams notes. To create the content for the
videowall, as
well as the PIGI projection, Williams turned to visual artist Owens.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entertainment Design: Part 1 - In the Name of Simplicity (8-4-2001)
In the Name of Simplicity
U2 Tones Down Its Past Excesses for the Elevation Tour
August 02, 2001
Sharon Stancavage
U2 has returned to the concert scene after a hiatus of several years, and it is
a decidedly
different production. The name of the tour may be Elevation, but in 2001, U2 has
come
down to earth. The production excesses that were staples of Zoo TV and PopMart
are
gone, replaced by a relatively streamlined arena show that includes elements of
video
projection, IMAG, and a unique videowall. So, although the theme might be back
to
basics, the show is anything but.
As with 1992's Zoo TV and 1997's PopMart tour, Elevation melds the ideas of show
designer Willie Williams, architect Mark Fisher, curator of visual imagery
Catherine
Owens, lighting director Bruce Ramus, audio director Joe O'Herlihy, and,
possibly most
significantly, the band itself. Williams, Fisher, Owens, and Ramus have all been
a part of
the U2 family for years, and their experiences in the past have given them the
opportunity
to create a concert experience that is greater than the sum of their individual
contributions.
The preproduction of a U2 tour starts well before the band is out of the studio.
"In general,
the band starts making the album, then Willie gets called in," explains Owens.
"Then he
feeds some ideas to me and Mark Fisher." The nature of the album, in combination
with
the initial thoughts of the band, led the creative team in a very different
direction from past
U2 tours. "Because of the album, which is very simple and intimate, I felt,
before actually
speaking with the band, that this tour really needed to be about the
performance, rather
than the spectacle," explains Williams. "And that indeed was very much their
intent as
well." While Zoo TV and PopMart were both memorable, groundbreaking concert
tours, it
was time to try something different. "The clearest idea was that this should be
a
back-to-basics tour, which explored what Bono described as 'going through and
coming
out the other side' -- getting back into basic rock and roll, having gone all
the way through
the very artistic projects they've done in the past," explains Fisher.
To some, a stripped-down tour might conjure up visions of PAR cans, a drum
riser, and
little else. But this is U2. "It's far from being a retreat," says Williams.
"U2, being the
people they are, would never be content to just go out and stand on the stage
and play
some songs." Nevertheless, they did want to go back to basics, after the
over-the-top
technology that was a highlight of their last two tours. "The past tours really
revolved
around showing people things they hadn't seen before on an enormous scale. This
time,
it's 2001, and now all of that technology and design talent is readily available
-- if you want
a spectacular show, it's something that you buy now," Williams says.
Another major difference between Elevation and recent outings is that it is
primarily an
arena tour. Zoo TV and PopMart both played stadiums, and going back indoors was
an
integral part in going back to basics for the band. "The change from stadiums to
arenas
was an ideal opportunity to break the cycle of things getting bigger and bigger
every
time," Williams notes. "It was also my intention to maximize the contact between
the
band and the audience. Ever since Zoo TV, U2 has had a B stage out in the house,
which
is now completely de rigueur in the industry; every band you see now has a B
stage."
U2 is known for pushing the creative boundaries, and rather than just settling,
the creative
team began exploring new ideas for the design of the stage. "We always have the
discussion about playing in the center of the hall and we always throw it out
for the same
reason -- the power of a rock show really depends on being unidirectional to
some extent,
and anything that diminishes that would be a danger," admits Williams. "So I
assumed
that we'd be on one end of the hall, which indeed we are." Even so, the show is
sold in
the round. "We are at one end of the arena, but they sell seats all around it,
which is a
return to the way that the indoor shows were organized in 92, so this isn't the
first time
they've done shows like this," says Fisher.
Of course, there's more to the design than just a standard stage sitting at the
end of the
arena. "We wanted to produce a very simple, sort of elemental stage," explains
Fisher.
"But we knew that we wanted to have some kind of symbolism. So, we fished and
eventually found some ideas in the work that was being done for the video
graphics."
Rather than a multi-dimensional set, the team found their answer in the clean
and
uncluttered shape of a heart. "We worked out a number of other ideas in order to
give the
band things to compare it with, but basically we fixed on the heart-shaped stage
early on
in the project," Fisher says. Although Elevation is stylistically quite removed
from
PopMart, part of that tour can be found in the stage itself. "The stage was
actually the
same shape as the PopMart arch lying down, which is kind of funny," says
Williams.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters: U2 to perform at VMAs (8-4-2001)
Condensed from Reuters:
THURSDAY, SEPT. 6
NEW YORK - The 18th annual MTV Video Music Awards, at the Metropolitan Opera
(news - web sites) House, 8 p.m. EDT. English DJ FATBOY SLIM leads the
contenders
with nine nominations. U2 (five nominations) and ALICIA KEYS are among the
performers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2Swisshome.com: Edge pick, Elevation Air pictures (8-4-2001)
A great picture of the European Elevation Air can be found at
www.u2swisshome.com.
The direct link is
http://home.datacomm.ch/u2swisshome/pictures/23zurich/elevationair.jpg
The picture was taken at Zurich Kloten airport on July 23.
Also, a picture of a pick that Edge used in Zurich on July 23
for at least the first encores, maybe even the whole main set. It's at
http://home.datacomm.ch/u2swisshome/pictures/23zurich/edgepick23july01.jpg
(courtesy of Serge Ulrich)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lighting Dimensions: Part 3 - The Elevation of U2 (8-3-2001)
Overall, the color palette of the show is simple. "A lot of the color comes from
the PIGI or from the video wall," Williams notes. There are also numerous color
washes provided by the VL8s. "The
VL8s don't do a huge range of colors, but the ones they do are really
beautiful," adds Ramus. While white light is a dominant presence in the show,
limited colors do show up in songs like the blue
washes in "Mysterious Ways," the congo in "Gone" and "In a Little While," or the
intense red that appears in "Bullet the Blue Sky."
For lighting control, Williams and Ramus are each on tour with their console of
choice. Williams is on an Avolites Pearl, while Ramus uses a Jands console. "The
Hog 1000 is a Hog(TM) operating
system with a simple, intelligent Aussie layout," explains Ramus. "It has
buttons rather than touch-sensitive screens, which I much prefer. It has a less
powerful effects engine, and only two
DMX lines, and it isn't particularly attractive, but I love it."
After an extensive tour of North America that ended in July, the band moved on
to Europe, where they will be out until late this month. With Elevation, U2 has
come full circle and returned to
something akin to its roots, presenting fans with a smaller, but still
memorable, production. "Certainly, the first 10 years of U2's career were
entirely based on the relationship between the band
and the audience," Williams explains. "To see that it's still there to such a
great degree, when we now live in a world that's much more cynical, really
surprised me."
U2 ELEVATION TOUR 2001
Show Director
Willie Williams
Lighting Director
Bruce Ramus
Architect
Mark Fisher
Curator of Visual Imagery
Catherine Owens
Lighting Crew Chief
Garry Chamberlain
Lighting Technicians
Raffaele Buono, Adam Finer, Craig Hancock, Mark Hitchcock, Russell Lyons
PIGI Projection
Brian Beasley
Digital Media Delivery Systems
Media 100
WYSIWYG Programming
Prelite Studios
PIGI Effects Projection
Fourth Phase NY and London
Video Supplier
XL Video/Nocturne Europe
Lighting Supplier
Light & Sound Design UK & US/Fourth Phase
Vari*Lite Supplier
VLPS Lighting Equipment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lighting Dimensions: Part 2 - The Elevation of U2 (8-3-2001)
MYSTERIOUS WAYS
There's also a large quantity of unconventional fixtures, including 30 modified
police beacons that stun the audience with their intensity in "Where the Streets
Have No Name." Their secret lies in
their positioning. "They're placed sideways in groups, so you get kind of a rain
effect, because they're all going the same way, but they're out of sync with
each other," Williams explains. The rig
also contains some DWEs for audience lights, a smattering of ETC Source Fours,
and some Lowel-Light Omni and Tota lights, as well as a few surprises, like huge
black custom fixtures created
by Light & Sound Design/Fourth Phase in Los Angeles.
"My favorite thing in the show is something that [LSD vice president] John Lobel
made for me, which we've been talking about for several years," Williams
explains. "I wanted to do an R.E.M.
show where we had all handmade fixtures, but they didn't do the tour in the end,
so the idea was still floating around." This time, it came to fruition. "John
made what I call the 'ripple drums' -- a
naked 5kW fixture which is essentially inside a trash can with holes in it. The
fixture's painted
black and the trash can revolves slowly and just puts out this extraordinary
beamage." There are four of Lobel's ripple drums, placed in each corner of the
stage, which transform the room during
the song "Bad." "It's a beautiful, simple effect that carries the entire song."
The final key was the addition of 24 fresnels. "I liked their look at the time
-- they have a visual language of their own that makes a statement that they're
not a high-tech instrument," Williams
comments. "Also, we customized them to some degree by painting the barndoors
gold, which gave them a pleasantly stylish, Gucci feel." During the early dates
of the tour, the fresnels dominated
the first part of the show. "Most of the time they were on at approximately 50%,
creating a wonderful brown, low color temperature light which the band loved.
It's very flattering," he notes.
But the fresnels also had a downside that Williams discovered once the show got
out on the road. "We liked the fresnels very much, but Bono wondered, since
everything else in the show had a
very contemporary feel, if the fresnels introduced an element of nostalgia -- in
the mind of the public, they're usually related to another era," Williams
comments. Looking objectively at the show,
he also noticed that he was underusing the instruments. "They're a great look,
but this is the wrong show," he concluded.
So Williams made the proverbial sketch on a napkin and went back to Lobel,
custom instrument fabricator extraordinaire. The new fixture, dubbed the
"fornow," is a four-DWE Mole striplight,
housed in a very squat and deep wedge-shaped box. "The new instrument gives the
stage a much more contemporary feel and I'm quite sure a good section of the
audience doesn't even realize
that these are lights at all until we turn them on. Most importantly, the light
they put out is much more appropriate for the show, being less friendly and more
aggressive."
PREEMINENT PROJECTIONS
As the show progresses, the color temperature changes, and the many hues of
white are replaced by arena-encompassing E T C Audiovisuel PIGI projectors,
supplied by Fourth Phase New
Jersey.
interesting," notes Williams, who had been eyeing the units for several years.
"They work as texture, and they work as audience lighting as well." Much to
Williams' surprise, the PIGIs have
become an integral part of the production as well as the lighting system. "After
years of always trying to fill up the space between the stage and the roof with
beams of light, video screens,
scenery, or other visual effects, the PIGI projectors allow me to do quite the
opposite. By using the entire room as a projection surface, it's possible to
leave the air space above the musicians
entirely empty. The stage becomes a delicate, static bubble within this gigantic
universe of visual movement. It all looks very fragile, which has great power
when coupled with the enormous noise
the band is making."
Before exposing the PIGIs to the rigors of the road, Williams had some
modifications done. "I had them made similar to the way I've had film projectors
made in the past, so that the projector sits
on its back, and the light comes out of the top -- the lens is pointing upwards.
Then there's a mirror on the top that's operated by a crew person, so you can
point the beam where you need it."
This makes the modified PIGI rather like an automated mirror fixture that's
manually adjusted by an operator.
The images used are the work of Irish artist Catherine Owens, and a team of
fellow artists in England, who mixed hand-drawn linear images with more organic
looks, giving the show a unique
visual direction. The final visual element in Elevation is the video wall
[supplied by XL Video/Nocturne Europe] that rises up out of the stage for use
throughout the show. "Everything works
hand-in-hand with the lighting rig," Owens explains. Working in partnership with
the video wall are the Vari*Lites. "When we add the video wall, that's when the
Vari*Lites come into their
own," Ramus says. The video wall, which stands 8' high, is also used as a
stunning source of dominant color. "If you run the video wall with pure color on
it, which we do a couple of times, the light
that comes off it is amazing," says Williams.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lighting Dimensions: Part 1 - The Elevation of U2 (8-3-2001)
The Elevation of U2
The Band Rides High with a Scaled-Back Production
Lighting Dimensions, August 1, 2001
Sharon Stancavage
"U2 walks onto the stage with all of the house lights on -- with every light in
the building on -- and plays the first song," explains the band's longtime show
designer Willie Williams. "And it
absolutely brings the house down." But this is not the U2 from the mid-to-late
90s. Gone are the set pieces the size of a small house. Gone is the video wall
that used enough electricity to power
southern California. Gone are the stadiums.
What's left? A design that proves the old adage: Less is more.
The design team behind U2's current Elevation tour is the same that amazed
audiences in 1992 with Zoo TV and in 1997 with PopMart -- Williams, lighting
director Bruce Ramus, curator of
visual imagery Catherine Owens, and architect Mark Fisher. "This time, the band
wanted to strip down a bit, make it smaller, and go indoors," Ramus explains. "I
was really interested in trying to
do something small and simple with such a huge band, and that's how it's turned
out."
Creating something innovative, however, was definitely a production goal. Says
Williams, "We have the luxury of all this fabulous equipment and every year
there's something new. That
ultimately makes the job harder because the equipment is available to everybody.
So you tend to see the evolution of rock shows as based around whatever piece of
equipment was perfected that
year."
Instead of following the trends, Williams looked at the project in a different
light. "I believe the ideas should come first, then you find the equipment to
put them into play, rather than seeing what's
out there and building a show around it." The philosophy behind Elevation is the
same as the last two tours: "It's about doing something that genuinely pushes
the boundaries and maybe points, in
some small way, toward something new." Everything in Elevation is new, from the
heart-shaped stage that has an open pit filled with fans in the center, to the
13-piece video wall that appears
from inside the stage, to the stunning projections that engulf the arena.
FOR SIMPLICITY'S SAKE
Williams and Ramus began work on the lighting rig in the virtual realm. "Before
production, Willie and I did about four days at Prelite Studios in San
Francisco, a WYSIWYG studio," Ramus
explains. "In pre-programming, we set up the rig in a CAD situation, and we
essentially drew it. The set and the lights were animated through WYSIWYG." The
Cast Lighting program "is
especially useful for getting to see the rig in advance of rehearsals and for
making decisions about looks and songs and what might or might not work," Ramus
comments. "We get the basic
structure of the show into the consoles and then when it comes time to program
it in real time you already have something there that you can work with."
Williams and Ramus were at Prelite in
February and, a few scant weeks later, in rehearsals.
For Ramus, the challenge wasn't what to do, but what not to do. "A lot of
production rehearsals are about trying to figure out what not to use -- a show
like this is about restraint," he notes. "The
bulk of the rig is very simple, and my truss configuration is very dull."
Ramus has a different view of the truss configuration. "We wanted to get away
from trying to be clever with the truss configurations and the actual design of
the rig," he notes. "We wanted it to be
really un-designed, so it's just straight trusses and it works great."
The rig consists of a 20'-diameter [6m] circle truss above the pit of the stage
and four straight trusses [two measuring in at 48' [15m], the other two at 54'
[16m]] over the stage, which are used
with ChainMaster's Vario-Lift motors [supplied by Show Distribution of Quebec]
to change the trim height from an average of 50' [15m] down to 12' [4m]. "The
Vario-Lifts allow the system to
be out of the way when you need it to be and perfectly in place and in your face
when you need it to be," Ramus says.
Williams and Ramus, searching for the perfect automated fixture, went shopping.
"The Vari*Lite(r) VL2416(TM) [commonly known as the VL8] won," Williams says.
The wash light is precisely
what he needed for U2. "The really dangerous moving lights are the sharp-edge
beams. They can do so much, and because they're available to everybody, you see
the same effect in every show,
particularly the revolving gobos. As much as you promise yourself you won't do
it, if it's five in the morning and you have four songs left to program, you
will put in revolving gobos," he chuckles.
There are 54 VL8s out on Elevation, the only automated fixture in the rig.
"They're not necessarily ideal, but there are certain things that they do really
well, the things I need," Williams adds.
"Outside of the Vari*Lites, the bulk of the rig is either architectural or for
specific effects," Williams explains. "Everything is built into the stage -- on
either side of the runway is a 6" gutter which
has 300 T3 quartz lights built into it, which gives us a wonderful, even
footlight, and there's about 400 Egg Strobes and Star Strobes built in there as
well."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NME: U2 Ticket Prices Elevate (8-3-2001)
U2 TICKET PRICES ELEVATE
With just over a week to go before U2 kick off the UK leg of their ELEVATION
WORLD TOUR, tickets are already reaching three times their face value
on Internet auction sites.
Tickets for one of the London Earl's Court shows - running from August 18-23 -
are reaching just under £125 pounds (US$175) each. The tickets were
sold at £45. The tickets for all nine of the UK arena shows, as well as two
massive gigs at Slane Castle outside of Dublin, were snapped up by eager fans
within minutes of going on sale.
Such was the demand for the first of the 80,000 capacity Slane shows (August
25), that there were mini-riots amongst fans on the streets of Dublin.
Meanwhile, BBC London Live are set to broadcast live from backstage at Earl's
Court on August 19, the second U2 show. Broadcasting between
4pm-6pm (BST) they promise interviews with the band just before they take to the
stage. For more details see http://www.bbc.co.uk/londonlive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mirror: Slane Hits Right Note With Rock 'N' Roll Room (8-3-2001)
August 2, 2001
Slane Hits Right Note With Rock 'N' Roll Room
Pat Flanagan
Slane Castle is to become a shrine to rock 'n' roll, it was revealed yesterday.
Owner Lord Henry Mountcharles said a room at the castle is to be dedicated to
Slane concerts of the past 20 years.
The room will be crammed with memorabilia and photos of stars who made Slane the
Irish home of rock.
On display will be mementos of gigs by Thin Lizzy, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Bruce
Springsteen and Robbie Williams.
The 18th century castle, which was gutted by fire 10 years ago, reopened to the
public yesterday.
The first visitors were greeted by Lord Henry and Lady Mountcharles and their
family -- just over three weeks before the U2 sell-out concerts take place.
And the guests were delighted to be given a personal tour of the refurbished
mansion by the proud owner.
Lord Mountcharles said: "It's fabulous to have the castle back to it's former
glory, I've been waiting for this day for ten years."
"The room that was originally my father's study, will have a huge display of
photos of the concerts and other recent events held here. People will be able to
visit the dining room where Bruce
Springsteen played the entire set before that memorable concert in 1985.
He added: "This is very much a family affair, my sons Alexander and Wolfe are
doing the tours and I'm only back up. It's just fantastic to see the castle back
to the way it was before the fire, in
fact, it's bigger and better than it ever was."
And the first visitors in a decade to the historic castle were impressed with
one of the most important stately homes in Ireland.
Mum-of-three Patricia Lynch, 37, said: "I live in the area and it's great to see
it back to its former glory. It's a great place to spend a day."
Roenna Connelly, 27, from Drogheda who now lives in Australia said: "They've
done a wonderful job. It's a magnificent home in a wonderful setting."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@U2: It's The Hype! ... It's Feedback! ... It was U2(Malahide) all along
(8-3-2001)
It's The Hype! ... It's Feedback! ... It was U2 (Malahide) all along
Old newspaper clippings from 1978 help revise history - it was U2 who won the
1978 Limerick talent contest.
@U2, July 30, 2001
Matt McGee
The party line about U2 becoming U2 needs to be re-written.
The story which has been passed down from the first generation of U2 fans to the
current one, retold countless times in interview after interview, year after
year is...we ask your pardon...wrong.
As it's been told, the story goes something like this: the band originally
formed as a 5-piece band, with Edge's brother Dik included. They were originally
called Feedback because -- as Bono has
often said -- that's the sound that came through the amps. They changed their
name to The Hype, and The Hype entered and won a talent contest on St. Patrick's
Day, 1978, in Limerick, which
led to their first studio sessions and got the band's name on the fledgling
music scene in Dublin. As the story continues, it was shortly after the talent
contest victory that Dik Evans left, and The
Hype changed their name to U2...the same 4-piece we know and love today. And the
rest was history.
Good story, but not quite accurate.
A newspaper article from The Evening Press (which co-sponsored the talent
contest) shows Bono, Edge, Larry, and Adam holding their trophy -- the caption
below the picture refers to the
band as "U2" and the accompanying article lists them as "U2 Malahide."
In other words, Dik had already left the band and the band was already using the
U2 name when they won.
If you're not a U2 historian, it may not mean anything to you and you probably
don't think the news is all that remarkable. In fact, from one eyewitness
account, it doesn't hold a candle to the news
that U2 won the contest in the first place. Talk about remarkable....
"To be honest, we were all dumbfounded when they won, because truly, they were
awful!"
So says Fran Kennedy, who, in 1978, was the guitarist in a 4-piece band called
The Doves -- one of the bands U2 beat in that talent contest during Civic Week
festivities in Limerick.
The contest featured 36 bands performing in one night. The bands were separated
across several venues around Limerick, and eight were selected for the finals
the following night in front of a live
audience at the Savoy Cinema.
Kennedy, who is now in his 40s and works as a freelance illustrator, doesn't
remember any of the songs U2 played at the finals, but does remember a few other
things about the four guys from
Dublin.
"I remember Bono as being quite loud and brash," he told @U2. "He wore a
double-breasted jacket with brass buttons and epaulettes. We honestly thought
that their [U2's] sound was absolutely
awful! They were very basic musicians, not really in control of their
instruments. They were little more than beginners at that time."
Kennedy says that, while most of the bands competing hung out together, U2 kept
to themselves away from the competition.
"U2 Malahide as they were called, didn't mix with any of us. They were a little
younger than all the others. I don't know why. I think it may be that up to
then, they had not met any working
musicians. I remember chatting with one of The Village group about U2, [and] we
both agreed that they wouldn't be in the top three. They did seem to get sort of
special treatment from the judges.
Two of the judges, one from Hot Press magazine and a guy from RTE Radio chatted
to U2 at the interval. They didn't speak to any of the others."
Kennedy's band, The Doves, was a cover band that did songs by The Byrds, The
Beatles, The Eagles, Van Morrison and popular chart songs at the time. Their
finals performance, Kennedy says,
included "Hotel California" complete with a note-for-note duplication of the
guitar solo. But he admits that doing covers may not have been the way to win
the talent contest.
"We didn't appreciate the importance of originality back then," he says, "and we
felt that we would do well because we were all pretty good musicians."
© @U2/McGee, 2001.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ITN: Rolling Stone Mick reveals solo project (8-3-2001)
Condensed from ITN:
Rolling Stone Mick reveals solo project
Mick Jagger has signed up for his first
solo deal in eight years after recording a
new album with a string of stars.
Jagger's fourth solo collection - which is
as yet untitled - will be released in
November.
It is the first since his critically-acclaimed
Wandering Spirit back in 1993.
Among those he will collaborate with are
U2's Bono, Lenny Kravitz and Missy
Elliott.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ITN: ITV gives football a Premier spot (8-3-2001)
ITV gives football a Premier spot
ITV have announced that its Premiership
highlights football programme will be
given a 7pm kick-off time on Saturday
evenings.
The show, to be called 'The Premiership',
replaces Match of the Day following ITV's
£183 million, three-year agreement to
broadcast highlights.
Des Lynam will present the programme,
which will use a specially-commissioned
remix of U2's Beautiful Day, with experts
Terry Venables and Ally McCoist
alongside him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LA Times: Remy Zero compared to U2 (8-3-2001)
Condensed from the LA Times:
E-BRIEFING
Web Week
Wednesday
Chat--6 p.m.: Alabama-based Remy Zero has been compared to Radiohead,
U2 and Queen. Chat with these alternative rockers, who will appear on HBO's
"Reverb." AOL subscribers can access by going to keywords "AOL live."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leinster Leader: Elevation #1 in Ireland (8-3-2001)
Condensed from the Leinster Leader:
Top 5 singles
1. Elevation
U2
2. Lady Marmalade
Christina Aguilera
3. There You?ll Be
Faith Hill
4. Angel
Shaggy Feat Rayvon
5. Perfect Bliss
Bellefire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leinster Leader: U2 #3 in Ireland (8-3-2001)
Condensed from the Leinster Leader:
Best sellers
Chart compiled by Top Twenty
Ltd. Naas and Newbridge
1. This Is The Day Christy Moore
2. The Invisible Band Travis
3. All That You Leave Behind U2
4. Dance Parade Ibiza Various
5. Romanza Andrea Bocelli
6. Uncovered Various
7. Survivor Destiny?s Child
8. Devil?s Night D12
9. Hybrid Theory Linkin Park
10. 2001 Dr. Dre
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters: Who's Townshend, U2's Bono Star on Jagger Album (8-3-2001)
Who's Townshend, U2's Bono
Star on Jagger Album
By Jonathan MacKenzie
LONDON (Reuters) - Old "Rubber Lips" is back with a new solo album studded with
some the brightest stars in rock 'n roll, Mick Jagger's agent said on Thursday.
Playing on the as-yet-untitled album are venerable guitarist Pete Townshend of
The
Who, while U2's Bono lends his vocal talents assisted by Lenny Kravitz and pop
diva
Missy Elliott, Bernard Doherty of LD Publicity said.
The album, to be released in November, will be the Rolling Stones frontman's
first
solo effort in eight years, and despite help from some of pop's finest it will
be Jagger's
work alone, Doherty stressed.
Jagger, 58, has written all the material on the album, which includes some cover
versions of previously-recorded hits.
Jagger and Townshend are said to relish the opportunity to work together. The
pair,
who each cracked the music scene in the 1960s, have been friends for years and
both have homes in the plush southwest London suburb of Richmond.
"They've known each other since the '60s and they have always been mates,"
Doherty
said.
The album will be Jagger's fourth solo effort and the first since 1993's
critically
acclaimed "Wandering Spirit."
Other band members past and present have released solo albums. Acclaimed lead
guitarist Keith Richards released a solo album in the 1980s and two in the early
1990s. He is joined by rhythm guitar-playing sidekick Ronnie Wood, who has
included original artwork on his solo efforts, and drummer Charlie Watts, who
plays
frequently with his own jazz quartet.
Former bassist Bill Wyman's eponymous 1982 album spawned an international
smash hit with "Je Suis Un Rock Star."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sporting Life: PL Chief Delighted with Prime Slot (8-3-2001)
Condensed from Sporting Life:
PL CHIEF DELIGHTED WITH PRIME SLOT
By Mark Bradley, PA Sport Chief Soccer Writer
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has
hailed ITV's decision to return top-flight football highlights
to prime-time Saturday evening viewing as the best
possible boost for the Premiership.
With U2 having recorded a re-mix of Beautiful Day as the
theme tune, The Premiership will unashamedly try to
attract a family audience in a slot normally reserved for
light entertainment shows such as Blind Date.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is London: Beautiful Day for ITV soccer show (8-3-2001)
Beautiful Day for ITV soccer
show
by David Bond, Sports News Correspondent
Des Lynam today unveiled ITV's £300 million
answer to Match of the Day - to be screened at
7pm on Saturdays.
Lynam, who quit the BBC
after becoming frustrated
at Match of the Day's late
night kick-off time, is
fronting the new 75-minute
highlights programme,
called The Premiership. It
will include all the goals
from matches earlier in the
day.
Lynam, 58, said today: "I
am delighted that
Premiership football has
been given a prime-time
slot on Saturday nights."
The presenter, who
defected to ITV two years
ago for a contract worth
£5million, will be joined by
former England coach
Terry Venables and
ex-Scottish international
Ally McCoist.
The famous MOTD theme tune will be replaced by
a version of U2's hit Beautiful Day.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IHT: Jagger album due out in November (8-3-2001)
Condensed from the International Herald Tribune:
Mick Jagger has signed a deal to produce his first solo
album in eight years. The as-yet-unnamed album is due
out in November, Virgin Music Group Worldwide said. It
will be Jagger's fourth solo collection, and the first since
"Wandering Spirit" was produced by Atlantic Records in
1993. Among the stars he has worked with for the new
album are U2's Bono, Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliott and
the Matchbox 20 vocalist Rob Thomas, Virgin said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sun: Big Match Switches to 7pm (8-3-2001)
Condensed from The Sun:
Big Match Switches to 7pm
DES "Mr Soccer" Lynam has finally got his way.
He always wanted BBC1's Match Of The Day
moved to a prime-time TV spot. Now he has
finally won - but with his new employers, ITV.
Yesterday they unveiled revolutionary plans to
screen highlights of six Premiership games at
7pm on Saturday. Sky will continue to screen
live Premiership games.
Des, 58, will be in charge with soccer pundits
Terry Venables and Ally McCoist alongside him.
There will also be an updated late-night
Saturday show and another on Monday
evenings hosted by Gabby Yorath.
Here Des talks to The Sun's OLIVER HARVEY
about his Move Of The Day.
It will give fans a voice and we'll have
managers, players and football journalists
taking part. I hope viewers like the new theme
tune, too - a version of U2's Beautiful Day.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Times: Saturday with Des splits nation (8-3-2001)
Condensed from The Times:
Saturday with Des splits nation
BY ADAM SHERWIN
MOVE over Cilla: Des Lynam is taking over the prime-time
Saturday night slot in a football-packed ITV schedule that may
divide the nation?s households.
The Premiership?s theme tune will be Beautiful Day by U2. Those
who rue the start of the football season, already begun in Scotland
and only two weeks away in England and Wales, may feel
differently.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mirror: Football: Lynam is a winner in TV war (8-3-2001)
FOOTBALL: LYNAM IS A
WINNER IN TV WAR
DES LYNAM has finally won his bitter battle to screen
Premiership football early on Saturday evenings.
The suave presenter, who defected from BBC to ITV two
years ago, yesterday announced the channel's Saturday
highlights programme called The Premiership - as
exclusively revealed in The Mirror - will be shown at
7pm.
It is a major gamble by ITV as they take on the
traditional light entertainment spot and it has delighted
Lynam after he failed to convince the Beeb to move
Match of the Day when they had the highlights contract.
"It is what I campaigned for without success at the
BBC," he said. "Showing The Premiership at 7pm
allows people to get together and watch it as a family.
"What is more entertaining than the Premiership on
Saturday evening at prime time?"
The new show is part of a package of programmes built
on the Premiership highlights ITV won after paying
pounds 183million over three years.
As also revealed in The Mirror, a remixed version of U2's
Beautiful Day will be the theme tune and there will be a
second highlights programme later in the evening - also
hosted by Lynam.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio Undercover: Mick Jagger finishes solo album #4 (8-3-2001)
Condensed from Radio Undercover:
Mick Jagger's 4th solo album has been scheduled for
a November release.
Jagger is yet to christen the album but has signed
up with Virgin Records to release it. Virgin VP Nancy
Berry says "We could not be more thrilled that Mick
has chosen Virgin as the home for his solo career. He
is a legend whose timelessness is only furthered by
his creativity, focus and drive. We look forward to
this partnership with Mick with the goal of making
this new album his greatest solo success yet."
The Strolling Bone frontman has put together an
allstar cast for the release including matchbox
twenty's Rob Thomas, Lenny Kravitz, Bono from U2
and Wyclef Jean.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football365: ITV to show Prime-Time Highlights (8-3-2001)
Condensed from Football365:
ITV TO SHOW PRIME-TIME
HIGHLIGHTS
'The Premiership' To Kick Off At 7pm
ITV's replacement for Match of the Day is to be broadcast in a
regular prime-time slot, with a 7pm kick-off on Saturday
evenings from the start of this season.
Presenter Des Lynam had, during his BBC days, campaigned for
Match of the Day not to be sidelined to a starting time of
10.30pm or later. And after ITV bought up the Premiership
highlights package in a three-year deal worth £183m, they
announced today that they had moved their new show forward
to a 7pm start time.
This will be called 'The Premiership', hosted by Lynam alongside
Terry Venables and Ally McCoist, with the theme tune being a
specially-commissioned remix of U2's Beautiful Day. A second,
updated and extended show will then be broadcast later on
Saturday night, while there will further highlights shown on
Mondays during a football debate programme.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beautiful Game: Prime time slot for Match of the Day (8-3-2001)
Prime time slot for Match of the Day
Thursday 02 August 2001
ITV's replacement for Match of the Day is to be broadcast in a regular
prime-time slot, with a 7pm kick-off on Saturday evenings from the start of
this season.
Presenter Des Lynam had, during his BBC days, campaigned for Match of
the Day not to be sidelined to a starting time of 10.30pm or later. And after
ITV bought up the Premiership highlights package in a three-year deal
worth £183million, they announced that they had moved their new show
forward to a 7pm start time.
This will be called "The Premiership', hosted by Lynam alongside Terry
Venables and Ally McCoist, with the theme tune being a
specially-commissioned remix of U2's Beautiful Day. A second, updated
and extended show will then be broadcast later on Saturday night, while
there will further highlights shown on Mondays during a football debate
programme.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ananova: ITV football move kicks viewing into new era (8-3-2001)
Condensed from Ananova:
ITV football move kicks viewing into
new era
ITV has announced a 7pm slot for its new Premiership
highlights show on Saturdays.
The new programme will be called The Premiership and will
go head to head with BBC1's prime-time entertainment
line-up.
The Premiership will be hosted by Des Lynam. Its theme
tune will be a remixed version of U2's Beautiful Day.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Age: Jagger signs up for solo album (8-3-2001)
Jagger signs up for solo album
AP
LONDON
Thursday 2 August 2001
Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger has
signed a deal to produce his first solo
album in eight years, the rock group's
record label announced today.
The as-yet-unnamed album is due out in
November, Virgin Music Group Worldwide
said. It will be Jagger's fourth solo
collection, and the first since Wandering
Spirit was produced by Atlantic Records in
1993.
Among the stars he has worked with for the
new album are U2's Bono, Lenny Kravitz,
Missy Elliott and Matchbox 20 vocalist Rob
Thomas, Virgin said.
``We could not be more thrilled that Mick has chosen Virgin as the
home for his solo career,'' Vice Chairman Nancy Berry said.
``He is a legend whose timelessness is only furthered by his
creativity, focus and drive.''
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Live Daily: Jagger album due out in November (8-3-2001)
Condensed from Live Daily:
Mick Jagger has signed with Virgin Records Worldwide as a solo artist, the label
announced. His first Virgin release--and his first solo album in eight years--is
scheduled for
release in November. Among his collaborators for the album are Bono, Pete
Townshend
and Rob Thomas.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wall Street Journal: Drummer shortage (8-3-2001)
Condensed from the Wall Street Journal:
There is a serious drummer shortage afflicting the new and struggling acts that
hope to be next year's R.E.M. or U2. Unreported by labor economists, the
crunch follows decades of neglect and mistreatment of the men and women
who pound skins and bang cymbals. Hidden at the back of the stage while
guitarists and singers shine out front, rarely consulted on matters of musical
direction and treated like sidemen instead of bandmates, resentful drummers
are withholding their services, making unsettling demands and, in some
cases, simply putting down their sticks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ceefax: Marie Frank admires U2 (8-3-2001)
Thanks to Anne for the following from a Ceefax
interview with Danish songwriter Marie Frank:
*****
Which artists do you currently most admire?
"Neil Young for his songwriting. And Bob Dylan for keeping stuff to himself -
he's still a mystery. Emmylou Harris - a woman who's been in the business for
a long time. U2, Sean Colvin, Ben Harper, Beth Orton, Dido..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teletext: Peppercorn names U2 as a hero (8-3-2001)
Thanks to Anne for the following from a Teletext
interview with the band Peppercorn:
*****
Peppercorn, who are your heroes?
"Bob Marley, Bill Withers, Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix, Salif Keita, U2... I
love that song I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2.com: Part 1 - Elevation 2001: Even Lightning Doesn't Stop This Band
(8-2-2001)
31.07.01
Elevation 2001: Even Lightning Doesn't Stop This Band
U2?s Veteran Soundman Joe O?Herlihy on how a freak lightning
strike nearly put paid to a recent show - and what it's like to have
been at 1,000 U2 shows.
Joe O?Herlihy may have worked with U2 for more than two decades
and may have been responsible for the sound at a thousand
shows, but he takes nothing for granted. His worst nightmare
nearly came true just a few weeks ago.
?I had my biggest scare, perhaps of all my U2 shows, just a few
weeks ago in Stockholm. Ten minutes before the band were due to
come on stage there was a bolt of lightning which put out one of
the power supplies - it meant that all the settings on my consul
went haywire.
?It was bordering on a nightmare for me, actually more like hospital
treatment.?
Joe has different settings for up to fifty songs that, conceivably,
U2 might decide to perform on any given night - though he
estimates that it is ? 145;really only from about 40 that they are
likely to vary on any night.?
While there are around 25 songs which appear regularly on the
Elevation 2001 tour, he also has to be prepared for the chance of
another ten or fifteen.
?They are the ones which just might make the odd appearance
depending - usually - on what Bono suddenly decides.?
After years of working with Larry, Edge, Bono and Adam, Joe has
an intimate understanding of the sonic requirements of the U2
catalogue and, during two months of rehearsals in Dublin prior to
the March opening of the current tour, he came to understand the
latest material and prepare the computerised settings for the live
shows.
As seems to be the way with the current tour, despite the eleventh
hour drama in Stockholm, he and his team got down to work on the
sounddesk after the shock of the lightning bolt and - to cut a long
story short - the band managed to open the show only fifteen
minutes late. Fans had no idea of the off-stage drama and
O?Herlihy managed to avoid hospitalisation, even going on to
enjoy the show. As has happened so often with the current shows.
?This tour seems to be a celebration of the fact that we are back
under a roof again, there is this extraordinary emotional
connection here that we haven?t achieved in the same way before.?
he says. ?U2 have always made a connection, always been the
great communicators, but at the moment there is a particularly
special emotional experience being shared between the artists
and the audience.?
The stage design enhances this, he adds, ?there is an intentional
intimacy - it?s music from the heart to the heart.?
And personally for Joe, using a new sound system designed
especially for indoor arenas, the experience has been a technical
boon compared to previous tours. ?For me, looking after the sound,
it is wonderful to be back indoors again because we are using a
new system from Clare Brothers which has made an enormous
difference to the sonic proportions and capability we have, far
superior to anything before. ?Technically, in one foul swoop, we
have a one thousand per cent improvement...?
As if to prove that this is not just some audio-tech enhancement
that the audience are oblivious too, he cites the way that Bono is
increasingly being quoted word for word in concert reviews:
?Journalists can hear exactly what he is saying, vocal intelligibility
has never been as good as this.?
Joe first looked after sound for U2 in 1978, September 25th to be
precise, at the Arcadia Ballroom in Cork City. ?That was my first
show and I?ve been there every since.?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U2.com: Part 2 - Elevation 2001: Even Lightning Doesn't Stop This Band
(8-2-2001)
So what?s different today ?
?The difference you see is simply one of musical maturity, they
have grown up as their music has grown up. ?The band are as
committed to each other and to their music as ever and that spirit
filters through the whole touring party. Sure, life has changed a lot
for them with partners and marriages and children since I first
knew them, since they first got together as like a school gang. I
think that gang has not essentially changed - even though the
school has a little bit.?
What does he recall of that first show ?
?They were the first band on of five in a college competition and, as
with most opening acts, they were only playing to a handful of
people as everyone got their drinks or hung up coats. ?But I
remember that everyone knew immediately that this was
something special - as soon as Bono started running around the
audience with his fifty foot microphone lead.?
It was something to do with their identity as a band he recalls,
something about the way they became greater together than their
individual constituent musical roles suggested.
?Onstage they seemed to take on a different entity, there was
something coming from within which was bigger than it should
have been. ?Aand they were playing their own songs too,? he adds.
?Which was mainly ?cos they couldn?t play anyone else?s.?
That sense that Larry, Adam, Bono and Edge, who have become
some of Joe?s oldest friends, still become something that
transcends their individual selves when onstage, is still there. And
this from a man who has seen them play more than anyone outside
the band except manager Paul McGuinness.
?They still have that something bigger within when they play....and
I?ve only ever missed about seven U2 shows!?
And the live performance of songs from All That You Can?t Leave
Behind offer an emotional experience equal to any that U2 have
offered down the years. ?Standing at the mix during the show as I
do, it is great to see the reaction of fans as I look around,
particularly the fact that they already know the new songs as word
perfectly as they do the old songs. It means that there is a
seamlessness between the older material and the new songs, that
feelgood factor is in the new songs as much as the old.?
So, after a thousand and more U2 shows - he has never kept a
running tally - does Joe ever get the slightest bit tired of hearing
U2 play.
?Never, I never get tired of hearing them playing. I?m on this one
for the big voyage and what I felt when I first saw them I still feel
now, that this was a band intent on really making it happen.?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Telegraph: Sport on TV: Lynam the highlight of ITV line-up (8-2-2001)
Condensed from the Telegraph:
Sport on TV: Lynam the highlight of
ITV line-up
By Paul Fox (Filed: 01/08/2001)
DESMOND LYNAM will host a lunch in London today to
launch ITV's coverage of the FA Barclaycard
Premiership. That's what the invitation says - the
new sponsors get top billing but one important fact is
obscured, ITV have bought access to only recorded
highlights and live coverage remains with Sky.
ITV have spent £183
million over three
years for a
revamped version of
BBC's Match of the
Day. That title
remains the
copyright of the BBC,
who will go on using
it for their coverage
of the FA Cup.
So ITV's first priority
has been to find a
new title. The Premiership has been suggested, but I
cannot believe that Brian Barwick, ITV's head of
sport, would go with something so boring.
Then there is the theme music. Match of the Day's
catchy little tune composed for the 1970 World Cup
remains in the BBC catalogue. ITV have scheduled
the U2 hit Beautiful Day.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsweek: U2 mention in Grubman article (8-2-2001)
Condensed from Newsweek:
The Grubman blood ties go a long way toward
explaining the ongoing tabloid feeding frenzy around Lizzie
several weeks after the incident. Allen Grubman is perhaps
the music industry?s wealthiest and most powerful attorney,
with such superstar clients as Madonna, Bruce Springsteen,
Elton John, U2 and Sean (Puffy) Combs. And so it wasn?t
much of a leap for folks to slap his daughter with the
?spoiled rich girl? label. There?s a cruel Web-site game that
depicts Lizzie repeatedly plowing over club patrons with a
bloody SUV. So far, Daddy has been powerless to stop the
onslaught.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston Globe: Helms makes Bono joke during hearing (8-2-2001)
There were several moments when the session took on a bizarre air.
Bob Dole, the Kennedy, panelists give support to Egan
By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 8/1/2001
ASHINGTON - Richard J. Egan
yesterday received the support of
US Senator Edward M. Kennedy and
key members of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee as the
Massachusetts businessman cruised
toward final approval as the next
ambassador to Ireland.
Senate's former Republican leader, wandered in and took
a seat on the dais. Helms, a 79-year-old, recommended that Egan get to
know Bono, the lead singer for the rock band U2 and an Irish peace
activist.That brought a chuckle from the crowd.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston Herald: OK assured for Egan as envoy to Dublin (8-2-2001)
OK assured for Egan as envoy to Dublin
by Cosmo Macero Jr.
Wednesday, August 1, 2001
WASHINGTON - State Department officials predicted that
billionaire EMC founder Richard J. Egan could win full Senate
approval as U.S. ambassador to Ireland by the end of the week after sailing
through
confirmation hearings yesterday.
U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who had expressed concerns about Egan's
understanding of Irish issues, said he will back the nomination. After Egan
appeared
before a Foreign Relations subcommittee yesterday, Kennedy (D-Mass.) said the
technology entrepreneur had ``demonstrated a strong commitment'' to the Irish
peace
process - currently on the brink of dissolution.
``I believe Mr. Egan will do an effective job,'' Kennedy said.
At the relaxed and speedy Senate hearing, U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, who famously
scuttled the diplomatic posting of former Gov. William F. Weld, urged Egan to
look up
U2 front man Bono in Ireland.
``This man has as much character as anybody I've ever met,'' the North Carolina
Republican said of the Irish rocker. ``He's a good man and a student of the
Bible.''
Panel members never brought up Egan's recently disclosed brush with military
justice
- during which he served time in a U.S. Marine brig for going AWOL.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ananova: Missy Elliott and NSync added to MTV Video Awards line-up (8-2-2001)
Missy Elliott and NSync added to
MTV Video Awards line-up
Missy Elliott and NSync have been added to the line-up of
artists performing live at the MTV Video Music Awards.
They will join U2 and Alicia Keys on the bill at the awards
ceremony.
The event takes place at New York's Metropolitan Opera
House on September 6, and will be broadcast live by MTV.
Additional details of artists performing at the ceremony are
due to be announced shortly.
The show will be seen on all of MTV's channels around the
world, reaching over 353 million households.
In the UK, the show will air exclusively live on MTV UK and
Ireland at 1am, with a repeat on September 7 at 9pm.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BBC: Stone's solo comeback (8-2-2001)
Stone's solo comeback
Mick Jagger has signed up for his first solo
recording deal in eight years, and has made a
new album with a string of fellow star names.
His first solo project since 1993's Wandering
Spirit will be released in November and is yet
untitled.
The veteran singer has worked with U2's Bono,
Lenny Kravitz and rap star Missy Elliott on the
as yet untitled album.
It will be only the star's fourth solo collection
of songs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BBC: Fatboy tops MTV birthday vote (8-2-2001)
Condensed from the BBC:
Fatboy tops MTV
birthday vote
Fatboy Slim - with wife Zoe Ball - also set to triumph at
the MTV music video awards
Fatboy Slim's Praise You video has been voted
the best of all time by viewers of MTV, on the
20th anniversary on the cable music channel's
launch.
Michael Jackson's groundbreaking 14-minute
Thriller video came a close second in the poll
carried out through MTV's website.
Overall, [Michael] Jackson had three entries in the top
100 videos list. Madonna - a heroine of the
MTV generation - had the most with four
entries. They included the videos for Material
Girl and Like a Prayer.
Bjork and U2 had three
tracks. George Michael
had two as a solo
artist and a third with
Club Tropicana from
Wham.
Eminem was one of
many acts which
achieved two entries,
one of which, The Real
Slim Shady, came in at
number three.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Billboard: Jagger Inks With Virgin For November Solo Set (8-2-2001)
Jagger Inks With Virgin For November Solo
Set
Mick Jagger's first solo record in eight
years has found a home at Virgin Records,
the label confirms. Although a title has yet
to be announced for the follow-up to
1993's "Wandering Spirit," a November
release date is promised. The Rolling
Stones frontman has spent the bulk of the
year working on the project in New York
and London with a variety of
collaborators, including U2 frontman Bono, Lenny Kravitz,
the Who's Pete Townshend, and matchbox twenty vocalist
Rob Thomas.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AP: Celebrity Birthdays (8-2-2001)
Condensed from AP:
Aug. 8: Producer Dino DeLaurentiis is 82. Actress Esther Williams is 78. Country
singer
Mel Tillis is 69. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 64. Actress Connie Stevens is 63.
Movie director
Peter Weir is 57. Actor Larry Wilcox (``CHiPS'') is 54. Actor Donny Most
(``Happy Days'')
is 48. News anchor Deborah Norville is 43. Guitarist The Edge of U2 is 40.
Singer JC
Chasez of 'N Sync (news - web sites) is 25. Singer Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees is
25.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celtic to see U2 in Holland (8-2-2001)
Thanks to John for the following:
On Sky Sports last night Celtic played Manchester United in a Ryan Giggs
Testimonial, the comentator mentioned that Martin O'Neill (Glasgow Celtic
manager) and the whole Celtic team would play in Holland, and after the game
they would go and see U2 in Holland. I am sure Bono will say something to
welcome his favourite team.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irish Times: No Progress at Genoa Despite Bono (8-2-2001)
No Progress at Genoa Despite Bono
Contention
by Vincent Browne
So Bono was upset by my castigation last week of his antics at the G8 summit in
Genoa. I
wrote of him and his fellow pop singer Bob Geldof: The spectacle of Bob Geldof
and Bono
bear-hugging G8 leaders in Genoa on Saturday was revolting.
It was not just the manic presumption that they would have an iota of influence,
nor the
phoniness and the crass attention-seeking of the exhibition that was
stomach-churning.
It was their giddy association with the rulers of the world and their eloquent
dissociation
from the tens of thousands who had gathered to protest against the unfairness
and
inequities of the new world order.
Instead of responding directly to the criticism, he gave an interview to
Saturday's Irish
Independent. This was followed by a letter from an offended Bono in a Zurich
hotel which,
because, I am told, it is off the record, I feel unable to quote from - although
why it is off the
record I don't know since it repeats more or less the same sad fantasies
revealed in the
star-struck interview. I will not quote from the letter, just the interview.
Bono is of the view that he shapes world events. He told the Irish Independent:
summits (of
world leaders) work for us, politicians are listening to our arguments. He
claimed he had
worked on the MAP (Millennium Africa Plan) at Jubilee 2000 (described in the
article as his
organization) with the African leaders who came to Genoa to make their arguments
at the
G8 summit.
He promised to be at the next G8 summit in Canada and the reason for this
summitry
apparently is that when G8 leaders look into each other's eyes, well, anything
is possible.
That's what he said. Honest to God. Had it not been for the letter I would have
thought the
Irish Independent had got carried away.
Jubilee 2000 is an international organization bringing together groups
throughout the world
campaigning for the write-off of all Third World debt. Bono is used by them to
get publicity.
Jubilee 2000 lobbies international institutions such as the IMF and the World
Bank and
governments throughout the world on the debt relief issue.
All very laudable. But the contention that Bono influences world leaders, such
as George
Bush, Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin, Jacques Chirac and the rest on Third World
debt or on
world trade policy or on anything else is sheer fantasy. Indeed the idea that
anybody
anywhere outside the US influences US policy on anything is also fantasy as the
recent
instances of American global vandalism demonstrates.
In the last few months they have promised to break an international treaty on
nuclear arms
control, they scuttled a small-arms control agreement, they have abandoned an
environmental treaty and, most recently, they have sabotaged an agreement to
control the
use and proliferation of chemical weapons and threatened to boycott a UN
conference on
racism.
As for the effectiveness of Bono's endeavors at Genoa, nothing whatsoever was
achieved on
debt relief, the AIDS package was a fraction of what is required, no progress at
all on
opening up world trade to the poorer nations, nothing on environmental
protection, no budget
on arms control, nuclear or otherwise. Nothing.
Bono explained away the jubilation with Vladimir Putin and Tony Blair by
claiming that just
as a photograph was being taken Vladimir told a joke about something, that's why
they
were laughing. But why were they hugging? Was it because of another joke or the
same
joke and is it just Russian leaders, whose hands are mired in the blood of tens
of thousands
of Muslims, that one hugs when they tell jokes?
But let's be kind and accept that Bono just got carried away. As a publicist for
Jubilee 2000
he has added to pressures for relief of Third World debt.
Entirely by coincidence, I came across a report in Harvard College Gazette of
Bono's
address to the Class Day ceremonies on June 6th last. Unfortunately, there is a
picture of
Bono giving the stiff right-arm victory salute, but that aside, he spoke
eloquently about the
plight of the Third World and of the necessity for debt relief.
He referred to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the West poured in
money to
prop up Mobutu during the Cold War to keep Africa safe from communism; Mobutu
personally appropriated almost all the loans, and the impoverished people of the
Congo
were expected to pay it back.
There were curious bits to the speech too: I am a singer. You know what a singer
is?
Someone with a hole in his heart as big as his ego. When you need 20,000 people
screaming your name in order to feel good about your day, you know you're a
singer.
Rubbing shoulders with the rulers of the world can't be bad either or, better
still, a little
platonic bearhugging.
By the way, I wrote to Bono several months ago asking him to do an interview for
The Irish
Times. I heard nothing until the other day. Maybe it is because I am not enough
of a fan.
The invitation is still open, man.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YouTwo.net: Arnhem Setlist II (8-1-2001)
Thanks to Stephane for the following setlist
from Arnhem II:
Elevation
Beautiful Day
Until the End of the World
Mysterious Ways
Kite, New York
11 O'Clock Tick Tock
Sunday Bloody Sunday
When I Get Home / Stuck In a Moment
Staring at the Sun
Happy Birthday (sung for Anne from Belgrade)
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
All I Want is You
Where the Streets Have No Name
Pride
Bullet the Blue Sky
With or Without You
One/Unchained Melody
Walk On
Out of Control
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Petersburg Times: Off the top (8-1-2001)
Condensed from the St. Petersburg Times:
Off the top
By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 31, 2001
UNSETTLED: "You know, I'm watching his progress
on e-mail. There's something very sad about that." --
U2's Bono, on keeping track of his fourth child's
first-year progress while on tour.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sky News: Fat's The Way Slim! (8-1-2001)
Condensed from Sky News:
Fat's The Way Slim!
Fatboy Slim's low budget film for his single
Praise You has been voted the best music video
ever.
The bizarre shoot, which featured people
dancing in a cinema lobby, beat Michael
Jackson's mega bucks Thriller into the top slot
in a poll to celebrate MTV's 20th anniversary.
Bjork and Irish rockers U2 managed to get three rankings with
Eminem just one of many acts managing to get two billings
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ShowbizIreland: U2 go to hardback... (8-1-2001)
U2 go to hardback...
Fans of Irish group U2 will have the ultimate encyclopedia
about the band after next month when a 300-page book
on the band will be released for their 25th anniversary.
The book will be the A to Z of the band and will be a must
for all U2 fans around the world. It will have over 2,000
separate entries on the band from their school days,
family homes, road crews, producers, first gigs, celebrity
pals and political connections.
Music writer Mark Chatterton, a former editor of the U2
fanzine Silver and Gold is the author of the book.
He spent several years interviewing many of the bands
closest associates such as Barry Devlin, Steve Averill and
Jackie Hayden.
The book will be published by Firefly and starts when the
band first got together in 1976.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farrell Thanks Bono on new album (8-1-2001)
Thanks to David for the following:
In the liner notes of Perry Farrell's new album "Song Yet To Be Sung"
Farrell thanks Bono.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irish Times: Slane Castle reopens its doors after 10 years (8-1-2001)
Slane Castle reopens its
doors after 10 years
By Elaine Keogh
Slane Castle in Co Meath reopens to the public later
this week nearly 10 years after it was partially
destroyed by fire.
Castle owner, Lord Mount Charles, believes the
reconstructed and restored building is "bigger and
better" than before the November, 1991 fire.
Standing in a new room on the top floor, Lord Mount
Charles takes a break from overseeing the final
preparations for the opening, and says he is
considering calling this new room "The Phoenix Room"
because "the first file created after the fire I called the
Phoenix file."
The castle was designed by two of the country's most
famous architects, James Wyatt and Francis Johnson,
and built in the late 18th and early 19th century. A
Gothic Revival ballroom was its heart before the fire.
Fire-fighters spent hours ensuring the fire did not engulf
the room and it subsequently became the first to be
restored.
All of the castle's internal features have been
reproduced in the style of that time. "An example of this
is that all the windows and plasterwork in the ballroom
are brand new, and I defy you to tell me the difference,"
Lord Mount Charles says.
Skilled craftsmen from Meath and Louth have done the
bulk of the work, while Lady Mount Charles oversaw the
interior decoration, endlessly searching for appropriate
materials to re-create the decor.
Aside from fire damage, the team's biggest challenge
was rampant dry rot. After a decade the castle is ready
to reopen and is seen as a project of regeneration -
especially for those who saw it immediately after the
fire.
"It was an awful sight; it was very, very emotional to see
it during the fire. I thought I would never see the day
when it would be completed," says builder Mr Noel
Baldwin.
Architect Mr Jim O'Farrell says the restoration work
was a magnificent example of its kind. "Working on this
project has been a great privilege. It has been a joy and
a worry too, but we had a great team. Henry Mount
Charles supported us and was with us every step of the
way."
The castle was not insured and annual open-air
concerts have contributed to the cost of the restoration.
This year, U2 are playing two sell-out concerts and in a
strange twist of fate they played support to Thin Lizzy at
the first concert 20 years ago and recorded their album
The Unforgettable Fire in the castle some years before
the actual fire.
Does Lord Mount Charles worry he is tempting fate by
having the band perform there again? "No, there is a
wonderful feeling of regeneration and what happened,
happened. I have been drinking water from the Holy
Well here for years and in a sense this renewal is
spiritually driven." "It is the 20th anniversary of the first
show and that the castle is back, braver and better than
ever, is kind of a statement, I would have thought."
Slane Castle reopens tomorrow and will open daily until
August 17th when it will close to prepare for the U2
concerts. Opening hours are 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. -
admission is £5, with concessionary rates available.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunspot: Clinton attended U2 concert (8-1-2001)
Condensed from Sunspot.net:
Invitations keep streaming in. Clinton activities so far have
included: A stop by Game 3 of the NBA Finals, a jam session
with a jazz saxophonist in New York, a seat behind rocker
Joan Jett at a New York Liberty WNBA game, a trip to a U2
rock concert with Chelsea, a spot in the winner's circle at the
Belmont Stakes, a chat with actor Warren Beatty at a Los
Angeles Lakers basketball game, an extravagant evening at
New York's 21 Club (where comedienne Whoopi Goldberg
sent Clinton's table a $1,200 bottle of 1982 Chateau Lafitte
Rothschild).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sonicnet: 'NSYNC, Missy Elliott To Perform At Video Music Awards (8-1-2001)
'NSYNC, Missy Elliott To Perform At
Video Music Awards
Pop superstars join previously announced performers
U2, Alicia Keys.
'NSYNC and Missy Elliott have been added to the list of
performers for the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, the
network announced Tuesday.
The pair of pop superstars ? whose latest albums are
Celebrity and Miss E ... So Addictive, respectively ? join
previously announced performers U2 and Alicia Keys.
More additions to the roster are expected shortly.
Fatboy Slim tops the list of VMA nominees with nine
nods for the Spike Jonze-directed clip "Weapon of
Choice," which features a fleet-footed Christopher
Walken (see "Video Music Awards Nominations: Fatboy
Slim, Missy Elliott, 'NSYNC, 'Lady Marmalade' Lead The
Pack").
The 18th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be
broadcast on MTV from New York's Metropolitan Opera
House at Lincoln Center September 6 at 8 p.m. (live
ET/tape delayed PT).
? Joe D'Angelo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Tribune: Bono endorses Radiohead's innovations (8-1-2001)
Condensed from the Chicago Tribune:
'It's difficult justifying being a rock
band'
By Greg Kot
Tribune rock critic
Published July 31, 2001
When Radiohead plays Wednesday at Hutchinson
Field in Grant Park, it will put an exclamation point on
an extraordinary 10-month run for the British band,
perhaps the unlikeliest mainstream success story in
rock since the '70s heyday of psychedelic
conceptualists Pink Floyd.
Radiohead's 1997 album, "OK Computer," changed
the landscape for mainstream rock. Major labels went
hunting for the "new Radiohead," and tastemakers
such as REM's Michael Stipe and U2's Bono
endorsed the British quintet's innovations: a bold
merger of anthem rock, skewed tunefulness,
thoughtful introspection and haunted sonic
atmosphere.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allstar: 'NSync, Missy Elliott To Perform At MTV Video Music Awards (8-1-2001)
'NSync, Missy Elliott To Perform At MTV Video
Music Awards
July 31, 2001, 12:10 pm PT
'NSync and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott
have added their names to the performers
list for the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
on Sept. 6 in New York.
The two acts join the previously
announced U2 and Alicia Keys as
performers, and more acts and presenters
will be announced in the coming weeks.
As previously reported, Fatboy Slim leads
the nominations with nine, including the
coveted Best Video of the Year award (allstar, July 23).
-- Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna
We've said our piece, now you tell us yours. Sound off about
this article at the CDNOW Message Boards.
Missy Elliott Check out CDNOW Message Boards!
Fatboy Slim Check out CDNOW Message Boards!
Alicia Keys Check out CDNOW Message Boards!
N Sync Check out CDNOW Message Boards!
U2 Check out CDNOW Message Boards!
Comments, scoops: allstar...@cdnow.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Independent: U2 mention in MTV article (8-1-2001)
Condensed from the Independent:
Then, seven years later, along came MTV with its theory of
promoting pop music by playing songs non-stop accompanied
by video footage. Artists from Madonna (who with four entries
has the highest of any performer in the chart), to Bjork and U2
(who have three each) have not looked back since.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Billboard: U.K.'s Atomic Kitten Claws Back To No. 1 (8-1-2001)
Condensed from Billboard:
U.K.'s Atomic Kitten Claws Back To No. 1
Liverpool pop threesome Atomic Kitten
sold nearly 142,000 copies to score its
second consecutive U.K. No. 1 yesterday
(July 29) with a cover of the Bangles'
"Eternal Flame" (Innocent/Virgin). Rival
female trio Destiny's Child had to settle for
a No. 2 debut with the single
"Bootylicious," which hit No. 1 on The
Billboard Hot 100 last week.
Across Europe, MCA's Shaggy wears both of Music &
Media's chart crowns, with "Angel" featuring Rayvon topping
the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles tally and "Hotshot" holding at
No. 1 on the European Top 100 Albums chart. U2's
"Elevation" races 22-5 on the singles side, while "All That
You Can't Leave Behind" jumps 32-18 on the album chart.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Releases:
November 2001, Mick Jagger solo album release (features Bono duet)
--------------
Concerts/Live Events/Appearances:
August 25. U2 to perform at Slane. Other tour dates can be found
at http://www.YouTwo.net/u2concerts.html
September 6, 2001, U2 to perform at MTV Video Music Awards in New York City
--------------
Net Events:
Win tickets to Slane:
http://www.mtv.co.uk/movies/competition/index.html
You can Vote for Beautiful Day at the following url:
http://www.mtv.com/sendme2.tin?page=/mtv/tubescan/vma01/viewerschoice/
--------------
In Print:
Early U2 photos, Mao Magazine August 2001
U2 on cover of Q magazine Summer 2001
Aloha, Dutch Magazine, feature on Adam Clayton, August 2001
OOR, Dutch Magazine, Bono 'connect-the-dots' on cover, August 2001
--------------
Fan Club/WIRE/U2 nutzoid meetings:
See U2tours.com for tour-related parties and meetings.
--------------
--------------
U2News: http://www.YouTwo.net
The only DAILY updated U2 News page is brought
to you by the letter U and the number 2.
--
Personal Email: pra...@prarit.com
U2News: http://www.youtwo.net, pra...@youtwo.net
This message is brought to you by the letter U and the number 2.