The U2 concert previously scheduled for FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th, 2009 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey has been moved to WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2009. The performance on Thursday, September 24th will proceed as scheduled.
The change was necessitated by the rescheduling of the New York Jets football game on Sunday September 27, 2009 from 4:15pm to 1pm out of respect for the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which starts that evening. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year.
The spectacular staging installation for the U2 360° tour requires up to 2 days to disassemble. The original 4:15 PM game time scheduled by the NY Jets provided enough time for the band to load out the set. The change to 1 PM was logistically impossible for U2.
In order to accommodate the New York Jets, the NFL and the state of New Jersey, which owns the stadium, and out of respect for U2 and Jets’ fans of Jewish faith, U2 agreed to move their show rather than pursue other options.
‘We regret any disruptions this may cause U2 fans.’ said Dennis Robinson, President and CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and Thad Sheely, Executive Vice President – Stadium Development and Finance of the New York Jets. ‘Out of respect for the religious holiday it was critical that the game time was changed. The NJSEA, along with the Jets, want to thank U2, their management staff, their fans and Live Nation for their immediate response in helping us remedy this situation.’
Tickets for the Friday, September 25th performance will be honored at the newly announced show date of Wednesday, September 23rd. Refunds, if necessary, will be available starting Friday, August 28th (through September 22nd) at point of purchase for U2 ticket holders of the September 25, 2009 show who cannot make the September 23rd date. The U2 360° Tour scheduled for Thursday, September 24th is not affected and will proceed as scheduled.
- U2.com ( http://www.u2.com/news/title/scheduling-change-for-giants-stadium-performance ).
The LA Times takes an early look at contenders for the next Album of the Year Grammy Award, and concludes that No Line On The Horizon will be in the running. Well, given how much the Recording Academy loves U2, that’s pretty much a no-brainer, and the Times realizes it, too: “It’s U2, friends. This is the band that opened the 2009 Grammy Awards, despite not even having an album in contention during last year’s eligibility period.”
Still, the Times’ argument gets more interesting when they discuss the potential for NLOTH to win Album of the Year:
“Here’s where things get a little interesting. U2’s last two albums were nominated for album of the year trophies, the aforementioned “Atomic Bomb,” plus “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” in 2002. But “No Line” is a significantly better record than both. It’s not perfect — witness the predictably sparkly phone-in-the-air rock ballad “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” — but by and large, “No Line” is U2 back to its risk-taking self. “Moment of Surrender,” in particular, is an extended gospel-influenced rock ‘n’ soul cut that’s all about relaxing into a groove rather than going for the stadium chorus. In short, if voters recognized U2’s last two albums, they can’t overlook this one, as it’s the superior effort.
There’s also an interesting little factoid that was news to me: next year’s Grammys will have an 11-month eligibility, instead of a full year. The deadline for eligibility is usually September 30, but it’s been moved up to August 31 (next week) just for this one year.
Anyway … it’s almost pointless to discuss U2’s chances to win ANY Grammy Awards right now, because we don’t know in which categories they’ll get nominated and who the competition will be. But if you want to hash out their chances in the comments, go for it. And please, don’t turn the discussion into a “I love NLOTH” vs. “I hate NLOTH” debate. That’s old news.
This is a post from the @U2 blog.
LA Times: NLOTH a Grammy Contender
U2 has performed at the Super Bowl … they’ve done a pro football-themed music video for “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” … and now they’re apparently going to have another brush with the NFL at a cost of two million dollars. (Say that like Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies….)
See, the Dallas Cowboys just spent $1.2 billion (with a B) on a new stadium, and U2 will play there on October 12. One of the new gizmos in this football palace is the biggest HD video screen ever made. It’s 60 yards long (it runs from one 20-yard-line to the other) and takes up most of the interior of the stadium. Here’s a pic taken Friday night by Flickr user CamMan that shows how enormous this thing is:
It’s not only enormous, but it’s also intrusive. During the first pre-season game played in the stadium on Friday night, a punt hit the video screen (which is way too low). Have a look at the video to see how low the video screen hangs:
It doesn’t take a genius to look at that photo and then the video and realize that there ain’t no way U2’s claw is gonna fit in that stadium. NFL teams, understandably, want the video screen raised, but this TV news report says the Cowboys won’t raise it until right before the U2 concert.
Why? Because U2 has apparently promised to pay $2 million to have the job done so The Claw can fit inside.
Crazy, isn’t it?
(Flickr photo by CamMan and used via Creative Commons licensing.)
This is a post from the @U2 blog.
U2’s Next Brush with the NFL will be Spendy
IT was one of the most eagerly anticipated gigs of the year.
And for 70,000 fans, it delivered on every count.
When U2 rolled into Cardiff last night for the last leg of their European 360 Degree Tour, they blew the audience away.
Taking centre stage and most of the audience’s breath away in the Millennium Stadium was the £20m set dubbed The Claw – which towered over the main circular stage.
As the iconic front man Bono emerged last night, clad in black and wearing his trademark sunglasses, the crowd erupted with delight.
The almost capacity 70,000 audience made it a record-breaking attendance for any gig at the stadium, outselling Take That’s 64,000 audience earlier this year.
After opening with Breathe, from the new album No Line on the Horizon, the band treated fans to a mix of their many hits from the last three decades and new songs from their latest CD.
Highlights included Beautiful Day, Mysterious Ways, Vertigo, Pride and One, as well as newer stand out songs, Get On Your Boots, Crazy Tonight and Magnificent.
Homage was also paid to The Edge’s Welsh roots, with Bono confessing to having once had singing lessons from the guitarist’s father, Garvin Evans.
“He told me to look after the consonants and the vowels will look after themselves,” Bono told the crowd, who lapped up his every word.
The Edge, whose family were in the Cardiff crowd, received a rapturous applause simply by saying “Cymru Am Byth”, before the band launched into I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For while the adoring masses sang along.
Of course, no U2 gig would be complete without a political message of democracy and freedom, and this was no exception.
The band dedicated their tracks Walk On and MLK to imprisoned Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu gave an uplifting video message before the song One.
Fans hailed the gig as possibly the greatest spectacle seen in the stadium’s 10 year history.
Martin Howarth, 25, from Swansea, said: “I’ve seen the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the stadium and the Rolling Stones but U2 were much better.
“They get such a mixed crowd because they have been going for so long. Some people knew all the words of the old stuff and others only knew the recent albums.
“You have to give them credit and say they are one of the best live bands in the world.
“I would definitely go back and see them again if they came to Cardiff.”
Lloyd James, 24, from Swansea, said: “It was unbelievable. I have never seen a gig like it before.
“The sound was fantastic and the stage looked immense.
“I’ve been to some pretty special rugby games in the Millennium Stadium before but the atmosphere was something totally different to those.
“It’s the best gig Cardiff’s ever had.”
- WalesOnline.co.uk
As Donal Lynch so eloquently states in his piece in the Independent, the thought that Bono may have his Bosnian passport revoked because of mere ‘legal’ technicalities is absurd. Bono (and of course, U2) cared about the citizens of the war in ways politicians of the time did not.
But apparently intentions/actions aren’t too important to those caught up in bureaucracy.
The same type of passport was taken from Swedish politician Margaret Viklund in 2008. She was given the grand gesture in recognition for her humanitarian work with Bosnian refugees.
Perhaps it’s time for some of their laws to be changed?
This is a post from the @U2 blog.
Really, Bosnia?