U2 - 'The Biggest Band In The World'

[Wayne]

I cannot believe they don't have a topic yet! :shocked: They MUST have one! :D Quite simply, they are one of the best-selling bands of all-time! You can see all of my lovely work on this iconic act by clicking here (http://www.vanityedge.com/showthread.php?t=163)!

http://www.nerve.com/CS/blogs/theremoteisland/2009/03/u2.jpg

Their most recent album - No Line On The Horizon - is their least successful studio output since the late 70's/early 80's but still ranks as the 2nd highest-selling album of this year (behind only Gaga's The Fame - U2 are #1 regarding just albums released this year). They have just completed the first leg of their super-world tour, and it has grossed a record-shattering $211m. Bearing in mind 3 legs are guaranteed, and a fourth one is being discussed, they are looking at at least a gross of $650m, and potentially, well in excess of $850m (if that fourth leg is announced) - the biggest tour of all-time, in both attendance and gross. Truly, the biggest band in the world, and IMO the best live band ever. Period.

[PhoenixBloom]

I know a few of their tracks which are epic! I'm gonna download the albums on Download central and give some feedback! :dita:

[Wayne]

LMAO that emoticon is SO mean :(

But yeah, the link in Downloads Central for those that don't know is a collectors edition of Unforgettable Fire

[PhoenixBloom]

:sosp: I didn't realise it was rude I thought it ment 'peace' like a hippy!:embarassed1: Now I can see what it is!:teehee: sorry, I didn't realise!:biggrinlove:

[Wayne]

Glastonbury gets U2 after 26-year wait!

• 'Nothing could be better,' says Glastonbury founder Eavis
• 'This year everyone was in the mood,' says U2 manager


http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/11/23/1258999466924/U2s-Bono-at-Wembley-stadi-001.jpg

When the U2 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/u2) manager, Paul McGuinness, called the Glastonbury (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/glastonbury) founder, Michael Eavis, last week, he did not have to use many words. "Michael, it is the call you have been waiting for ... " was more than sufficient to let Eavis know that his 26-year quest to get the band to headline the festival was finally over.

Glastonbury organisers confirmed today that U2 will play the Pyramid stage's top spot on Friday 25 June next year. It will be the band's first appearance at Glastonbury, and one of their few on the global festival scene since they hit the pinnacle of their fame.

Eavis had promised something special for Glastonbury's 40th anniversary, and in booking a band who have been rumoured to headline every year since the mid-1980s, he has not disappointed. The ebullient 74-year-old said the news had been a long time coming.

"The 26-year-old rumour has finally come true. At last, the biggest band in the world are going to play the best festival in the world," he said. "Nothing could be better for our 40th anniversary party."

U2 will take a fleeting break from their north American tour to fly over to Somerset, McGuinness said. "The band has always wanted to do Glastonbury one day. This year everyone was in the right mood." Bono sparked a flurry of speculation when he said on BBC radio in February that playing the festival was "something we're working up our whole life to do".
Some expressed doubts that U2 and Glastonbury were a perfect match. Their performance had the potential to be slightly "weird", said Nicola Slade, editor of the music industry newsletter Record of the Day. "They are not going to be able to do their usual U2 spectacular that people have come to expect from them."

The band was accustomed to playing to dedicated fans, not to a more mixed festival crowd, Slade said. "U2 are a divisive band – you either love them or you hate them. I think it will be a difficult audience because it is not their core contingent."

U2's propensity to play large-scale spectacular gigs was one of the reasons they had not yet played the festival, McGuinness said. "I think they have stayed clear of them because they tend to do a big, monster product which doesn't necessarily fit into a festival context."
The band, who will play no other UK gig next year, may opt for a slightly more low-fi affair more in keeping with the Glastonbury vibe and will not bring the 360° tour to Worthy Farm, he said.

Fans of the group can expect a mixture of old and new hits, McGuinness said. The band were excited about playing at such an "English institution", he added. "It's like Wimbledon or the Cup Final."

Tickets for next year's Glastonbury sold out in 24 hours without a sniff of a confirmed headliner. The Guardian is the official media sponsor of the festival.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/nov/23/u2-glastonbury-festival

[Wayne]

Last night U2 left their comfort zone of the highest-grossing tour in history to play to their toughest audience yet at the UK's Glastonbury music festival.

In front of a crowd who are traditionally suspicious of ‘stadium rock', it could have gone either way.

But U2's debut performance at Worthy Farm turned into a triumph last night as the Bono & Co crew abandoned their 360 tour setlist to perform a ‘greatest hits' package, which when you're U2 is some songbook to draw on.

But with so much material to choose from, inevitably there were disagreements about how to approach their headlining slot.

“There were an awful lot of opinions,” said drummer Larry Mullen. “Everyone had a view about how it should go.

“There were the ‘Where The Streets Have No Name' camp and the more subtle approach, the ‘Achtung Baby' dynamic approach, where you build slowly.

“Then there were those who thought we should open with ‘40' (from U2's 1983 album ‘War'). We went through a number of combinations.”

Part of U2's success is that Bono knows how to play the role of rock star with all the panache it demands.

And Glastonbury was no different, with the band's singer breathing new life into some of U2's best known hits as if he were singing them for the first time.

At his side, The Edge delivered the distinctive chiming guitar sound that has become the signature of U2's music.

Although logistics meant the group couldn't bring their now famous stage ‘The Claw' to Glastonbury, they did have some strong visuals representing different parts of their career, from War to Zoo TV, to light up the vast stage at Worthy Farm.

However, violent scenes broke out in the crowd as a protest against the the band's tax status was foiled by security guards.

As Bono and his bandmates took to the Pyramid Stage, activists from direct action group Art Uncut inflated a 20ft balloon emblazoned with the message "U Pay Your Tax 2".

But as the campaigners tried to release it over the 50,000-strong crowd, a team of 10 burly security guards wrestled them to the ground before deflating the balloon and taking it away.

Campaigner Stephen Taylor said: “U2's multi-million euro tax dodge is depriving the Irish people at a time when they desperately need income to offset the Irish government's savage austerity programme. Tax nestling in the band's bank account should be helping to keep open the hospitals, schools and libraries that are closing all over Ireland.”

There had been confusion the previous night when some protesters turned up to what they mistakenly thought was an anti-U2 gathering in Glastonbury's Pilton Palais Cinema Tent.

However, ‘Killing Bono' turned out to be a screening of the 2010 film comedy based on the memoirs of Bono's schoolmate Neil McCormick rather than a meeting of plotters.

Watching U2 last night among the massive crowd were thousands of Irish music fans who had travelled over for the festival.

Some, like Bono's old pal Gavin Friday, came to watch U2 but many others came to see the hundreds of other artists who are performing at Europe's biggest music festival over the weekend.

These included Paul Tierney (31) from Tallaght in Dublin.

“I didn't come for U2. I'd be at Glastonbury this year, even if Jedward were headlining,” he said.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/in-pictures-u2-are-the-sweetest-thing-at-glastonbury-16016047.html

They truly were SPECTACULAR.