Tag: U2

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Musique

Spider-Man musical delayed again

For the umpteenth time, the official Broadway opening of new musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark by U2’s Bono and The Edge has been postponed once again.

One of the most expensive productions on Broadway is currently in previews and, despite bad publicity regarding multiple cast injuries, last week the show has become the highest-grossing musical on Broadway.

According to director, Julie Taymor, the story, music, and technical direction are still being fine-tuned, and in particular, she is in the process of reworking the final act. The official debut has been pushed back from February 7 to March 15.

U2’s Bono and The Edge wrote the music for the show and are still fine-tuning the songs and the theatre’s audio mix. This week, they called upon their old collaborator, producer Steve Lillywhite for his help in producing the original cast recording.

"Dreaming up the show, the scale of it, the flying sequence, the pop-art opera that it is — that was all pure joy," Bono told Billboard in November. "What we didn’t realize was how difficult it is to stage this stuff, both technically and financially."

Delays have plagued the show since it was first announced; last year, cashflow issues suspended production. So far, the show’s official opening has been pushed back five times.

 

Categories
Musique

Spider-Man musical left dangling

One of the most expensive productions in Broadway history is also becoming one of the most outlandish legends. For the umpteenth time, the opening of the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark written by U2’s Bono and The Edge is delayed, this time until February 2011.

And yet, on paper, everything was in place to make this musical a huge success. Take one of America’s most popular superheroes, add music from the most popular band on the planet, and launch it on Broadway in New York, the largest avenue for musicals.

The first scheduled opening to the general public next January 11 was postponed because it was decided to completely rewrite the grand finale, according to the New York Times. More recently, two actors were injured during rehearsals just weeks before the premiere.

Neither U2 member has seen the show since it opened in previews on November 28. U2 has been traveling through Australia and New Zealand on a 10-date tour and the band’s schedule is not free until January, when it begins preparation for mid-February shows in South Africa.

"Dreaming up the show, the scale of it, the flying sequence, the pop-art opera that it is — that was all pure joy," Bono told Billboard in November. "What we didn’t realize was how difficult it is to stage this stuff, both technically and financially."

Delays have plagued the show since it was first announced; last year, cashflow issues suspended production. This year, the show has been pushed back four times.

 

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Musique

Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj perform on NBC New Year’s Eve

Rapper Lil Wayne confirmed that he will tape a performance alongside Nicki Minaj on Thursday (December 16) for NBC’s New Year’s Eve With Carson Daly.

The two-hour special will also feature a performance from New Jersey rock band, My Chemical Romance, reports MTV.

U2’s Bono and The Edge will join Daly for an interview about their upcoming Broadway show, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. The rock musical has been in previews since November and is scheduled to officially open January 11.

The New Year’s Eve celebrations begin on NBC at 10 pm Eastern time and continue through to the famous countdown in New York City, where over one million spectators will gather to watch the ball drop. Today correspondents Natalie Morales and Amy Robach will be covering the events from the heart of Times Square.

Daly said he’s also looking forward to having a late-night drink with a few rock stars. "Sitting down and drinking champagne with Bono and The Edge is on my ‘bucket list’ — so getting to do that is awesome!" he said.
 

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Musique

Old-school classic rock nets more money on 2010 tour

Classic rock band Bon Jovi has won the top spot in Billboard’s touring chart for the second time in three years. Grossing $146,507,388 and playing to 1,591,154 fans, the New Jersey group was ranked number one by Billboard for the November 2009-2010 period.

The hard rock performers also won the top spot in 2008 when they amassed a staggering $210,000,00. As 2010 has been a hard year for music promoters, the significantly lower take this year is no surprise to those in the industry.

Following in second place is Irish rock band U2, with AC/DC taking third, making Bon Jovi the youngest act in the top three, with a modest 27 years of performing. U2 formed in Dublin in 1976, while the Australian band AC/DC formed in 1973.

New music finally managed to break into the charts at fourth place with Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas taking fifth. At 24 years old, Lady Gaga was not yet even born when the top three bands first started playing. And even with 15 years of performing together, the Black Eyed Peas are still seen as newcomers compared to the veterans who managed to medal.
 

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Musique

Will.i.am to produce next U2 album

Once you realize that will.i.am, one of the best dance song producers on the planet opened several shows for U2 this year with his band, Black Eyed Peas, it should come as no surprise that U2 should approach the musician for input on their next album.

A huge admirer of Bono, the artist had the chance to interact with U2 during their time on tour together.

"Just being in the entourage of Bono and these guys are inspiring,” said will.i.am. “This is how a government should be. I say that Bono should be the president of the world. I try to help make good things to help the world, but Bono is a whole other level. It’s as if I had a car and himself, a space ship. "

"There’s only one type of music and that’s good music, no matter what genre it is. Bono is one of those guys who sees it that way and there’s no right or wrong. There are no rules once you lift the veil off,” he said.

The official start date of this collaboration is unknown, but Bono and will.i.am had the opportunity to present a few preliminary songs to celebrity friends and the feedback was positive.

“I went to Bono’s house for lunch and George Clooney and Cindy Crawford were there. I played some of the songs we’d been working on together and everyone was blown away. They all left the finger food to come and hear.”

 

 

 

Categories
Musique

U2 adds North American tour dates

After cancelling last year due to Bono’s emergency surgery, U2 has confirmed the North American leg of their 360° Tour will resume next summer. The Irish quartet will not only make good on the cancelled dates, but is also adding a few new stops along the way.

With the imposing procession of trucks and equipment required for the huge tour production, U2 has taken the opportunity to add new stops, perhaps to compensate for financial losses incurred during the forced shutdown, estimated at $750,000 per day, according to observers.

After announcing a Nashville concert date earlier, U2 has just confirmed additional concerts in Baltimore (June 22) and St. Louis (July 17), bringing the number of North American shows to 21.

The Baltimore concert scheduled for June 22 appears to confirm the rumour that U2 will not attend the Glastonbury Festival in England, taking place next June 22-26.

U2 will make four stops in Canada on this tour: Winnipeg on May 29, Edmonton on June 1, Montreal on July 8 and 9, and Toronto on July 11.

 

 

 

Categories
Musique

U2 working on three different albums

According to band frontman, Bono, U2 may release not just one or two albums, but that the band is busily working on three discs which could all hit stores next year.

Currently, the quartet is wrapping up their next studio album, Songs of Ascent, which is being produced by hip-hop musician, Danger Mouse, of Gnarls Barkley fame.

Set to be released in early 2011, Bono, said, “We have about 12 songs with him. At the moment that looks like the album we will put out next because it’s just happening so easily.”

In addition, Bono and guitarist, The Edge, are working on their musical, Spiderman of the Rings, which opens on Broadway next month.

For the third disc, Bono revealed that the band would like to launch a dance club album that remixes some of their popular songs from the 1990s including Mysterious Ways. To help make the dance album a success, U2 has reportedly asked Will.i.am and David Guetta to rework some of their songs.

 

Categories
Musique

U2 to play Glastonbury?

 

 

A messaged posted on the band’s website suggests U2 may play the largest and most impressive outdoor music festival in the world, the Glastonbury Festival in England.

It asks, "Will U2 fans finally see ‘Glastonbury’ at Glasto?" — a reference to an unreleased song the band has performed on recent live dates.

After Bono injured his back, U2 has rescheduled cancelled US dates for June 2011. There could be an opening in their tour that might allow them to attend the festival. Originally scheduled to headline this year’s 40th anniversary, the group also had to cancel their appearance at the prestigious festival due to the lead singer’s back problems. 

 

Tickets for upcoming Glastonbury Festival in 2011 sold out within four hours—with event organizer, Michael Eavis, promising big names for the festival’s 45 stages, but not disclosing details until spring next year.
 
U2.com points out that Glasto organiser Michael Eavis wants the group to play, while manager Paul McGuinness adds, “We’re certainly excited about our plans for next year. Watch this space!”

 

 

Categories
Cinéma

Neil Young film premieres on YouTube

 

Last night (September 30) on YouTube, a 38-minute black and white film Le Noise debuted with Neil Young performing songs from his new album of the same name, according to the National Post.
 

Featuring an introduction from Young and commentary from producer Daniel Lanois, the film is a live performance of eight new Young songs recorded at Lanois’ studio in Silverlake, California. Lanois has also worked with artists such as Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel and U2.

 

YouTube recently aired a concert by renowned Montreal band, Arcade Fire, and is fast becoming a major platform for artists to showcase their work.

 

Two previous films have been made of Neil Young concerts by fan and filmmaker Jonathan Demme: Heart of Gold in 2006 and Neil Young Trunk Show in 2009.

 

Categories
Musique

U2’s Achtung Baby to be remastered and re-released?

 

U2 fans could have something to celebrate according to a tweet by John Vanderslice, a singer-songwriter recording at the same Los Angeles studio as the group. He excitedly let the cat out of the bag with his tweet: “they’re remastering Achtung Baby in the next room!!”  

 

Recorded in Berlin near the reopened Berlin Wall, and later completed in Dublin,  the album is home to such U2 classics as One which admits ‘we’re not the same’ but encourages us to ‘carry each other,’ as well as Mysterious Ways, and Even Better Than the Real Thing.

 

After dominating the music scene in 1980 with three successive albums, War, The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree, the Irish band U2 committed a faux-pas with the release of its too ambitious Rattle & Hum, half-studio, half -live, accompanied by a documentary film which was not very popular with fans.

Three years later, Achtung Baby was released in 1991, going on to sell 8 million copies and peak at number 1 and number 2 on the UK and US album charts respectively. The group has yet to issue any statement to confirm or deny the rumours.