That’s all fine and good, but what’s odd is that there are two guys who are almost literally blowing the smoke up Bono’s arse while being right on the stage with him. Like this:

(screenshot is from this U2gigs.com video)

U2 has used smoke machines during concerts for years, but you know, usually they’re kinda hidden a bit and out of the way so you can still focus on the song/performance, not the effects.

So why on earth are they making it so blatantly obvious now? Couldn’t those guys even stand down at ground level?

Anyone else find this a little odd? Maybe it’s just me….

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Blowing Smoke Up Bono’s…

Elsewhere in the world, the album was known as Rainbow Warriors, however Greenpeace wanted to use this as an opportunity to use popular music to reach out and break through (as it were) to the millions in the then-police state of the Soviet Union. It was 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall had yet to happen. Billy Joel had just completed his tour of the Soviet Union a couple of years prior and the feeling of glasnost was still present. Greenpeace took this as an opportunity to get their message out.

So, as U2 tour Moscow this week, the buildings may be the same but so much has changed since Edge visited Red Square in 1989. Greenpeace asked the question on the front page of their November/December 1989 magazine, “Can Rock ‘n’ Roll Save the World?” Two decades later, the answer is it certainly has helped to an extent.

To find out more about Edge’s trip to Moscow with Greenpeace, check out the Hot Press article written by Bill Graham, reprinted in Propaganda.

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

The Edge Returns to Moscow

It’s from last year’s 360 concert in Raleigh. Right in the middle of “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” Bono tossed his microphone to a fan in the crowd so that the fan could sing a bit of “People Get Ready.”

I remember watching that unfold on the video screens while I was standing just outside the inner circle area. And my jaw went to the ground. Did he just throw his microphone into the crowd??? He did!! He’s crazy!

And he’s pretty damn trusting, too. Turned into an amazing moment in an amazing show, one of the best moments I’ve ever seen in person at a U2 show.

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

It’s a Thin Line Between Trusting & Crazy

The band rolled in during the late afternoon and we tried each of these several times over. All three approaches worked, though in very different ways so, depending on what happens with the rest of the set list, we can keep them all in the can for the time being.

Given that we’re in Italy it also seemed like a no-brainer to put Miss Sarajevo in the show, at least for opening night. The biggest challenge we have now is that the show is as long as it can comfortably be – beyond 2hrs 15mins it starts to become a bit of a marathon for both band and audience, plus the reality of noise curfews means that a longer show has to start earlier rather than end later. Consequently, for every new song that goes in, something has to come out and this has proved to be exceptionally difficult. There are other factors too, like the production elements and how they hang together. The opening of the screen is obviously the biggest production moment and it was strangely tough to find a song that could hold its own in the presence of such a jaw-dropping physical event. Unforgettable Fire has proven to be perfect for this moment, though we have tried it with other songs. I’d thought that the end of Until the End of the World would be a suitably cataclysmic moment to open the screen but in reality it just didn’t feel right. Tonight we tried playing Miss Sarajevo with screen opening but again (to my mind) it felt wrong as the ‘gag’ for this song is Bono’s extraordinary operatic moment. To do it whilst a great big machine is opening overhead just looked a bit silly. Tonight ended up being a little inconclusive, but we’ll keep experimenting.

So that pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it?

“…beyond 2hrs 15mins it starts to become a bit of a marathon for both band and audience…”

And then curfews come into play, because U2 doesn’t want to take the stage at 8:00 pm and play a show in broad daylight when all of the lighting and production won’t be visible.

And then songs have to be matched to production elements, like the mere act of unfurling the video screen.

The length of U2’s concerts comes up regularly in our forum (and others, I’m sure) as a discussion topic. And the discussion inevitably goes dead when someone brings up other artists, like “Bruce Springsteen plays for three hours, so U2 should, too.”

Well, you know, U2 isn’t Bruce Springsteen. It’s apples and oranges. Bruce is amazing at what he does, but what he does is 180-degrees different from U2.

I think we’d all love for U2 to play unending concerts. I’d gladly stand through a 4-hour U2 marathon (to borrow Willie’s word), wouldn’t you? But if you’ve been following this band for more than a couple years, you should know by now that it’s never gonna happen. Time to accept it and enjoy the shows while we still can, y’know?

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Why U2 Doesn’t Play 3-Hour Concerts

1.) Put on the best pair of headphones you own. Not little earbuds. Real, honest-to-goodness headphones.

2.) Cue up the live version of “Ultraviolet” from the Pasadena DVD/concert.

3.) Turn up the volume as high as your ears will let you.

4.) Turn off the lights. Put yourself in complete darkness.

5.) Hit PLAY.

6.) Close your eyes and soak it all in.

Awesome, isn’t it? I’ll bet you can feel the desperation in Bono’s voice. In the song itself.

7.) Repeat as necessary/desired.

(PS – I hope “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” has the same feeling on the current tour.)

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Quick Tip, From One Fan to Another

U2gigs.com captured the video from Turin last Friday; you can watch it on YouTube.

Ever curious, and always believing that there’s a reason and meaning for everything U2 puts into its shows, I transcribed and translated the text. Here’s how the video plays out in Italian:

Person 1 (left): [whistles the tune of "Streets"]

Person 2 (right): Si svolta a sinistra all’ Orsa Maggiore?

Person 1: Forse e meglio a quest’ora di notte.

Person 1: [whistles more of "Streets"]

Person 1: Che spettacolo stasera, vero?

Person 2: Sbalorditivo. Ho I piedi distrutti.

Person 1: [whistles more of "Streets"]

(claw/spaceship approaches from behind)

Person 2: E quello che cavolo e?

Person 1: Fa niente, ora se n’e andato.

(claw/spaceship pushes them offscreen/crushes them from above)

And here’s the Google translation of that:

Person 1 (left): [whistles the tune of "Streets"]

Person 2 (right): Turn left at the Big Dipper?

Person 1: It is probably best at this time of night.

Person 1: [whistles more of "Streets"]

Person 1: What a show tonight, right?

Person 2: Stunning. My feet are destroyed.

Person 1: [whistles more of "Streets"]

(claw / spaceship approaches from behind)

Person 2: WTF?* (see below)

Person 1: Never mind, now is gone.

(claw/spaceship pushes them offscreen/crushes them from above)

*In Italian, “che cavolo” literally means “what the cabbage?” … but is actually Italian slang for WTF? (Thx to BM for help with that.)

The subtitles change from one language to another as the show goes from country to country; I’ve transcribed and translated the text that was shown at the two shows in Germany this week, and it’s the same story as the Italian.

The question is … What on earth does it mean? I suspect it might be hard to sort out any meaning without seeing it in the context of a full show, but if you want to take a stab at explaining it, the comments are open.

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

New U2 360 Encore Video: Che Cavolo, Indeed

To the best of my knowledge (and please correct me if I am wrong here), this is the first time since the Zooropa ‘93 tour where U2 began a concert to a song that wasn’t on their most recent album. “The Return of the Stingray” is the first unreleased opening song to be performed live on the stage in any formal tour since the pre-Boy days. Then to put “Beautiful Day” in as the second song made me question if they are touring to support the songs off their current album or if they’re looking to slowly retire No Line on the Horizon.

Looking back, the War Tour had “Gloria” or “Out of Control” as their opener. The Unforgettable Fire Tour opener was “11 O’Clock Tick Tock.” It wasn’t until The Joshua Tree tour where a song from the new album was the opening song. Technically speaking, The LoveTown Tour was after Rattle and Hum, so this could be debated as some nights opened with “Hawkmoon 269″ or “God Part II,” and others had “Bullet the Blue Sky” or “Where the Streets Have No Name.” Zoo TV was pretty consistent with “Zoo Station.” While the Zooropa ‘93 and Zoomerang ‘93 legs of Zoo TV are lumped together as being part of the Zoo TV experience, those tours saw the Zooropa album being the most recent release. They did perform some songs off of Zooropa as a part of set, but they didn’t open with a song from that release.

Popmart was consistent with “Mofo” and the Elevation tour had “Elevation,” with “Beautiful Day” thrown in as a surprise in South Bend, Indiana. The Vertigo Tour had rotated “Love and Peace or Else” and “City of Blinding Lights” in the opening slot. Up until yesterday, the opening song on the U2 360 Tour came from No Line on the Horizon (“Breathe” or “Magnificent”). They also came out as they did on the Elevation Tour with full house lights up for the first song.

What does it all mean? Heck if I know, but looking at the band’s history one would think that they either wanted to make a huge statement like “Honey, we’re home!” or that they’re looking in a forward direction. The tour was supposed to be called “Kiss the Future,” after all!

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Opening Thoughts – *Spoilers*

Looking at next year’s tour itinerary, that would fall between Anaheim, California and East Lansing, Michigan dates as they have a seven day break in the tour at that point.

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

U2 Asked to Headline Glastonbury 2011

As our plans had to change, we decided to head into New York City with the family and stumbled upon the Hilton Theatre in Times Square. Outside it is quite clear that it is the home of the Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark show. Posters are proudly displayed outside the theater and they are most certainly using “Music by Bono and the Edge” as the primary marketing. The actors are secondary in the main marketing at the theater.

Peeking in, gear boxes are being stored near the doors and in the lobby area. Speaking with a theater staffer working at the stage door, he said that rehearsals are going strong and that previews are still slated for late October/early November. The box office will not open until just after Labor Day in early September. He said that rehearsals are not at the theater currently.

While there wasn’t anything exciting happening at Giants Stadium this evening, I still felt a little bit of enthusiasm and excitement knowing that it would appear that it’s all systems go for Spider-Man.

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Stuck In A Moment

He’s re-launched his band Public Image Ltd. to very little fanfare, and while he’s making ridiculous comments like these, I’d say that’s no surprise. Maybe it’s not so cool to be rotten anymore?

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Rotten Says Rotten Things About U2

I realize that six weeks can make a lot of difference in construction of a facility, but knowing the stadium isn’t completed would definitely impact my concert going experience. For that and a few other reasons, I’m glad that the 2010 dates are being moved to 2011.

Oh, and another person wrote of the parking situation at the new Giants stadium, saying, “the parking situation was horrible. It took 2 hours to get to the car and get out of lot Y.” I know fans had issues with parking at the old Giants Stadium, so it’s a comfort to know some of the old stadium issues will be coming with the new stadium too.

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Silver Linings