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Mon, September 17, 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal @ Altice Arena
The tour of U2 is: "eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour".
It was my 15th U2 show.
I arrived at the Altice Arena around 19:00 of Monday.
I had a VIP Package Gold Hot ticket.
I went to a 2nd row in the first balcony on sector 15 right in front of the big stage, almost at the end of the stage. Amazing view of all the show.
This time I got to see the big screen, all the story. On the first show I missed all the things happening on the screen. But this time I saw everything. Main stage, the catwalk, the E-Stage, the 2 red zones where Adam and Edge went there on 1 song. and I even saw when Bono left the stage at the end. He passed to the entrance just below me.
U2, played for 132 minutes. Played 23 songs.
U2 were amazing. I notice Bono lost his voice a few times. What I can say is that he needs a big rest after this tour. But they did everything for us, to the fans, to Lisbon, Portugal. They tried to speak portuguese a few times. Always cool to hear.
Even in the big screen the story was in portuguese.
Well you can check all the details of the show in the setlist below. Including 1 song they changed on the 2 days.
- It's a Beautiful World (Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds song)
- Zooropa (extended intro with Charlie Chaplin speech from "The Great Dictator")
Inside Screen
01. The Blackout
02. Lights of Home (St. Peter's String Version) 03. I Will Follow
04. All Because Of You 05. Beautiful Day 06. The Ocean 07. Iris (Hold Me Close) 08. Cedarwood Road 09. Sunday Bloody Sunday (i+e semi-acoustic version) 10. Until the End of the World (with "Lord of the Files" and "Introduction" snippets)
E-Stage - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (Gavin Friday Remix) 11. Elevation (Influx Remix) 12. Vertigo (with "It's Only Rock'n'Roll (But I Like It)" snippet) 13. Even Better Than the Real Thing (Fish Out of Water Remix; no guitar solo in intro) 14. Acrobat (with "Hall of Mirror” snippet) 15. You're the Best Thing About Me (full band acoustic) 16. Summer of Love (Bono and The Edge only) 17. Pride (In the Name of Love) 18. Get Out of Your Own Way 19. New Year's Day (reworked version, no final verse) 20. City of Blinding Lights
Encore - Women of the World (Jim O’Rourke song) 21. One 22. Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way 23. 13 (There Is a Light)
- This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads song)
In bold are the videos I made.
Videos of U2 (19 videos):
U2-I Will Follow, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/8uRKisH7Kyg
And the video:
U2-Beautiful Day, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/c3GKo52MlTI
And the video:
U2-The Ocean + Iris (Hold Me Close), Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/dho8w1sDfEc
And the video:
U2-Cedarwood Road, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/O_Wkh0cYWk0
And the video:
U2-Sunday Bloody Sunday, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/JhNmCJB6_Vg
And the video:
U2-Until The End Of The World, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/Xa1YYziujKk
And the video:
U2-Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (Cartoon), Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/nugIyQVUJHw
And the video:
U2-Elevation, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/6_IVLtbtT04
And the video:
U2-Vertigo, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/pAYbngIkNq0
And the video:
U2-Even Better Than the Real Thing, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/mvdWXggnkmY
And the video:
U2-Acrobat, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/1XQJV0SEMbo
And the video:
U2-You're The Best Thing About Me, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/OqZIlMc8wS0
And the video:
U2-Summer Of Love + Pride (In The Name Of Love), Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/6beWSWC8aFI
And the video:
U2-Get Out Of Your Own Way, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/bQBnMH25884
And the video:
U2-New Year's Day, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/Zwnvz2Sc-IE
And the video:
U2-City Of Blinding Lights, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/qeVZKy0gbec
And the video:
U2-Women Of The World (Video) + One, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/laBbo6QQbDw
And the video:
U2-Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/XJwAF32dBH0
And the video:
U2-13 (There Is a Light), Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-17 HD
https://youtu.be/iJ9VR-k8210
And the video:
Sun, September 16, 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal @ Altice Arena
The tour of U2 is: "eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour".
It was my 14th U2 show.
I arrived at the Altice Arena around 13:00 of Friday, 2 days before of the Sunday show. Got a number in the queue, 35. Lovely number.
On Sunday after a night without sleep, talked a lot with some fans during the night on the beginning of the queue and even the security that were with us all night so we were safe.
Very hot day. Around 30 degrees. We were in the shadow almost all day but 3 hours before we get inside the Arena we had to go queue near the entrance on the sun. Hot afternoon for sure.
Around 18h45 we got inside and I went to Edge side on the left of the catwalk. Some of my friends were also there on front row.
U2, played for 132 minutes. Played 23 songs.
U2 were amazing. I notice Bono lost his voice a few times. What I can say is that he needs a big rest after this tour. But they did everything for us, to the fans, to Lisbon, Portugal. They tried to speak portuguese a few times. Always cool to hear.
Well you can check all the details of the show in the setlist below.
- It's a Beautiful World (Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds song)
- Zooropa (extended intro with Charlie Chaplin speech from "The Great Dictator")
Inside Screen
01. The Blackout
02. Lights of Home (St. Peter's String Version) 03. I Will Follow
04. Red Flag Day 05. Beautiful Day 06. The Ocean 07. Iris (Hold Me Close)
08. Cedarwood Road 09. Sunday Bloody Sunday (i+e semi-acoustic version)
10. Until the End of the World (with "Lord of the Files" and "Introduction" snippets)
E-Stage
- Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (Gavin Friday Remix)
11. Elevation (Influx Remix Intro)
12. Vertigo (with "Rebel Rebel" snippet)
13. Even Better Than the Real Thing (Fish Out of Water Remix; no guitar solo in intro)
14. Acrobat (with "Hall of Mirror” snippet) 15. You're the Best Thing About Me (full band acoustic)
16. Summer of Love (Bono and The Edge only) 17. Pride (In the Name of Love) 18. Get Out of Your Own Way 19. New Year's Day (reworked version, no final verse) 20. City of Blinding Lights
Encore
- Women of the World (Jim O’Rourke song) 21. One 22. Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way 23. 13 (There Is a Light)
- This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads song)
In bold are the videos I made.
Videos of U2 (13 videos):
U2-I Will Follow, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/UF_NRUhxL1g
And the video:
U2-Beautiful Day, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/-uD5heZYLMk
And the video:
U2-The Ocean, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/9AWXtuJg-Rk
And the video:
U2-Iris (Hold Me Close), Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/GLfpseQTCmc
And the video:
U2-Sunday Bloody Sunday, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/-HA7gX2Dr5Y
And the video:
U2-You're the Best Thing About Me, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/mNMu5lGuJdg
And the video:
U2-Pride (In The Name Of Love), Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/rviPCv0_uWA
And the video:
U2-Get Out of Your Own Way, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/QwZpdJ-Qe14
And the video:
U2-New Year's Day, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/IkfjZyxpxRo
And the video:
U2-City of Blinding Lights, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/9gut3v0eF1Y
And the video:
U2-One, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/tI58ctUiKRY
And the video:
U2-Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way, Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/qyNIAgBjtBU
And the video:
U2-13 (There Is a Light), Altice Arena, Lisbon, PT, 2018-09-16 HD
https://youtu.be/AbUL3daIkPE
And the video:
U2's Adam Clayton Talks 'Joshua Tree' Tour, 'Songs of Experience'
Bassist on how band will approach classic 1987 album onstage, when to expect upcoming studio LP
U2 bassist Adam Clayton breaks down the group's upcoming 'Joshua Tree' tour and discusses plans for the 'Songs of Experience' LP. Franka Bruns/AP
By Andy Greene
Thirty years ago, the wild success of The Joshua Tree transformed U2 into the biggest band on the planet. Radio hits "With or Without You," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where The Streets Have No Name" catapulted them from arenas into stadiums and found then hobnobbing with Frank Sinatra, appearing on the cover of Time magazine and sharing the stage with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and B.B. King. "Certainly looking back on playing the tour at that time, it should have been an extraordinarily, freeing, joyful opportunity," says bassist Adam Clayton. "But it was actually quite a tough time trying to deliver those songs under the pressure of growing from an arena act to a stadium act. I, for one, don't remember enjoying it very much."
He'll probably enjoy it more this summer when U2 take The Joshua Tree on a victory lap three decades down the line. "I think this summer run is almost an opportunity to take it back," he says, "and look at those songs and look at what was going on then and see where we are now." We spoke to Clayton about the impetus for the tour, how the show will be structured, if fans can expect to hear rarities and what's happening with Songs of Experience.
I know that the Innocence + Experience Tour was originally slated to go into 2016. What happened?
Well, the idea was really that we wanted to make sure we focused on the [Songs of] Experience album. By the time we finished the Innocence tour and came full circle to focus on the album, it was clear we weren't going to be able to flip it really quickly into the Experience side of the material and put it right back out on tour. As a challenge that was, "OK, we're going to have to look at this differently." Also, in the course of that year, some kind of strange political movements seemed to start happening. First of all, there was Brexit in the U.K., which was just a signal that things were changing. I'm not sure how people took it. Then, quite quickly on the back of it, was the rise of Trumpism. And that was like, "Oh, OK, there's something going on here. There's maybe something we missed and we need to start watching this." That sort of encouraged us to go away from trying to finish the record too quickly without being able to factor in some of the things this is telling us.
I think it's interesting to be able to go back to the Joshua Tree record because when we put that record out and when we were working on it, it was a bleak world in terms of America and the U.K. You had a Thatcher-ite government in the U.K. that was trying to destroy the coal-mining business and set up a different kind of economy in the U.K. In the U.S. you had Reaganomics and the kind of imperial power inserting itself into Central American politics and some pretty bad deeds going on from drug money funding arms for that war. That was an interesting setting, but ... looking back from 30 years, the story that it tells me the most is how much I've changed and how much I need to look at good, liberal values and how the world is really looking and what I accept from the news and what I want from politics now from someone that is less likely to be standing at the barricade. I'm all in favor of new artists coming up to be people that make a lot of noise, but I'm happy to still be a part of the movement.
I know the first thought was to maybe do one American Joshua Tree show and one in Europe. How did that grow into a whole tour?
Well, one of the early ideas was that perhaps, because the Experience tour when we get back out to it will be an indoor tour that's focused on the production we had pioneered on the Innocence tour, it was going to be that production taken further. But we thought, "Well, maybe in honor of The Joshua Tree we could go back out there and do shows that are much more rooted in what that experience was about." That's because when we took the Joshua Tree show out a couple of interesting things happened. That was a tour that started in arenas and in the course of the year-long progress of that album, since that was back in the very, very old days where when you put out an album, it sold and there was word of mouth and it got bigger and eventually it got to Number One on the charts and everyone knew it. So when that happened we were forced to go from arenas out into stadiums, and that was a huge, huge step for a bunch of Irish guys who were 25, 26 and had just put our back into this thing called U2 and it had been a five-, six-, seven-year sort of journey for us, a pilgrimage in many ways.
When we went outdoors in the stadiums, we didn't have any tricks. We didn't know how to do it. We steered away from video reinforcement, which was just happening at the time. We thought it would, in some ways, dilute the music. We had a fervent belief that the music was absolutely adequate and big enough to fill a stadium, so it was really a challenge to us. It also meant that every night Bono had to really put himself out there to try and connect to people. In some ways, that was a thankless task. You can't win in a stadium. No matter how good the songs are, you're still just a speck on the stage and you're still dependent on the PA system. That was very, very frustrating.
I spoke to Edge a few weeks ago. He wasn't sure the show was going to start with "Streets" and go right into the album. How do you see that happening?
We haven't really sat down and worked out the dynamics of it yet, but I suspect it would sit as the crown in the show. I think we would definitely want to open with perhaps something that is not dissimilar to the Songs of Innocence run [where we did our early 1980s songs] and get people in the mood for this thing that's coming and you give some sense of history of where it came from. Then it'll be a scene change. … This is my guess. We won't know until we start playing it around quite a bit. We will either start with "Streets," or end with it, I might think, but there will be a scene change. Whether or not we go completely in sequence, we've yet to work out. But I think it'll be the beginning of the traditional musical journey that we've always referred to in that period where the songs will take us through a version of America that certainly seemed true and possible at that time. In many ways, perhaps that was the very end of the period of thinking of America as wholesome and benevolent. Really, things have changed quite a bit from that point on. It's going to be hard to see how the country goes back to where it would like to be.
I imagine one challenge in playing it in sequence is the four most famous songs are the first four. Then there's seven straight that are lesser-known to a mass audience. Doing them all in a row could be a challenge in a stadium. Do you worry about that?
Umm … I think we really have to wait and see. I think anyone that's coming to that show clearly knows that record well. What we would need to figure out is whether that's a suite of songs [and] with our new knowledge of 30 years hence we could breathe life into them in a different way, or whether we kind of bundle them together with some other songs that are thematically in keeping with those. Again, I wish I could be more positive with that, but we aren't that far down the line. We have the aspiration, but we haven't quite figured out how it'll happen. But it will happen and we always toy around and experiment until it feels right.
That fans are super psyched to hear "Exit," "Red Hill Mining Town" and "Trip Through Your Wires." These are songs that haven't been played in 30 years, or even ever in one case.
"Trip Through Your Wires" I think we were pretty good at playing during the original Joshua Tree tour. I think "In God's Country" was in that set, but "Red Hill Mining Town" was never played live during that period. It fell into the midtempo malaise and I think we can now figure out ways to get around that.
Might you play any Songs of Experience songs during the show?
It would be very much my wish that we could play something from Experience as part of the show, maybe one or two songs. Again, I caution that by saying we really have to see the arc of this show and we have to figure out whether those Experience songs would work well in a stadium in this context, but I'd love to see some of that material out there and people being familiar with it before the album comes out.
Broadly speaking, it must be hard to make a set list since there's so many albums and certain audience members that just know the big hits, and then there's the hardcore fans craving deep cuts. Satisfying them both at once must be difficult.
It is difficult. You very quickly realize when you're up there that there are those two types of songs. There are the songs with broad, mass appeal that people respond to in an instinctive ways. I suppose that's what hit songs are. Then there's, as you say, the more intellectual side of what I'd call the "bedroom songs" that people have a personal, intimate relationship with, but they don't share that with the rest of the world. I think we always try and walk the line between having those great emotional moments that are much more about what's happening in the crowd. The song unleashes the experience that people are having in the crowd, and then those other songs that one can pull back to the stage and they're about the music that's happening on the stage and the audience can participate in that.
I told the Edge the two songs the fans are always talking about are "Acrobat" and "Drowning Man." You've never done either of them. Do you think they'll ever be played?
We rehearsed up a version of "Drowning Man" for the 360° tour. I think we rehearsed it up until the moment we were rehearsing in stadiums. I think some of the fan chatter said that. I think in the end it seemed like really an obscure song to submit a stadium audience to [laughs]. But it has something. It really does have something. What we were doing with it was quite interesting, but you instinctively know that's not going to carry in a stadium. It could carry in a club situation because it is … that's right off War. It probably isn't that well-known, but it is a beautiful piece of music, really evocative. Perhaps there is a way to put it in.
How about "Acrobat?"
"Acrobat" is a funny one. There's a lot of anger. Again, I think when we were originally planning that tour it was just one song too many off Achtung Baby, but perhaps there is a way of bringing it back in. Perhaps not for this tour. I guess we're going to have to align everything, to a degree, that is pre–Joshua Tree and then Joshua Tree. Then after Joshua Tree, perhaps Achtung Baby would be too big a gauge, but who knows how it'll pan out once we start planning two-and-a-half hours in a stadium.
Do you ever talk about doing a fan show in a theater or club that's advertised as just the obscure songs?
The thing is, if we were looking for innovative, different ideas to reconnect with our audience, I think all these things are valid. But we're still very much kind of plowing ahead with new material and that's our focus. This was just an opportunity to step sideways and honor Joshua Tree. I think when everyone saw it as something we could move forward with, there was great momentum and excitement within the band, but I think this is a step that is not really part of our language. It's just unique that we're choosing this year to do this.
Do you think if you put out "With or Without You" as a single today, it would be a big hit, or has radio changed so much it wouldn't work?
I think you could put it out. I think you'd have to Melodyne the vocal. I think you'd have to squeeze and program the rhythm tracks. Eventually you'd get something that sounds familiar on the radio and it would research well, and you might get a bit of traction and it might be a hit. But I think if you put it out just as it is, it would get lost in the noise and bubble of that particular sound that's popular at the moment.
Is it possible for a rock band 40 years in to score a hit in the climate where most pop artists are in their early twenties?
You know, I do believe that it is possible. I don't know what the particular formula is, but I've never been more aware of any other time that no matter where I am in the world, and I don't know why it is, I keep hearing Fleetwood Mac tracks. I'm going, "Why is it those songs have got such big, strong legs?" Of course, they were poppy in their day. They were very universal in terms of the lyric, but there was something about the sound that wasn't necessarily the classic sound of that period. They had their own unique sound and it seems to have survived the pop music of the day.
Yeah. I think "Every Breaking Wave" is among your greatest songs. Had it been released in a different time it would probably have been a huge hit. It just seems like this is a different world now.
Yeah, it is. The emotional connection with songs [is] different because people don't think of them as parts of albums. They don't think of them as lifestyle. They don't see them as identifying who they are. We live in a world where these songs are dropped and they get passed around and they validate people in a different way.
Do you think Songs of Experience will be out next year? The end of this year?
We all very much feel like it needs to be the end of this year. It's not on any schedule anywhere, anything like that. We're going to get back to that later this year and polish it off and finish it off a bit more. But we think we're there with it. It's not like the switch to do these Joshua Tree shows was because we needed a lot of time. It was just because it's pretty much in the bag. We can still work on it throughout this year, all the little nips and tucks that we want to do. It'll be a pleasure to get out there and play these Joshua Tree songs. In some ways, the experience of playing those Joshua Tree shows and those songs this summer, inevitably, couldn't help [but] have some impact on what that record ultimately becomes when we finish work on it.
The word "nostalgia" is being tossed around in relation to this tour. How do you feel about that?
[Let's out an agonized groan.] It's not something we would be interested in. The reason the audience is there and buys the ticket may be to look back and say, "Wasn't that great? Wasn't that a great period? Weren't we the generation that changed things?" You can't do anything about that. Some people may do that. I think I mentioned at the beginning of the piece, it's probably much more important to use that as a starting point of what the last 30 years have done to us all. Who are we now? How can we continue to act as members of the community and society and make changes and choices for the future?
Do you see yourselves still being in the group when you're in your seventies like the Stones and the Who?
[Laughs] I can't answer that. Maybe they couldn't either. I think it's fantastic that Pete [Townshend] and Roger [Daltrey] are still out there doing shows in their seventies. I would say if you're in your seventies, it's usually the most fun to be onstage with a rock & roll band if that opportunity is available for you, but I don't know if that is something you can plan for. I don't know. I don't know where we'll be in our seventies. I don't know which one of us will be in our seventies.
It's a miracle that U2 have been the same four guys for 40 years. Almost no group can claim that.
We've had a very solid, stable lineup. Hopefully it'll stay that way.
I feel like with Songs of Ascent and everything you've done during the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience sessions there's so many songs the fans have never got a chance to hear, maybe even a hundred or so. Do you think those songs are ever going to come out on box sets or anything?
Again, I never want to say never. Very often, the things that don't get completed is because we start out with a very broad palette and then again we do focus on the fact that what rock & roll is and what we do are a somewhat narrow palette. You have to focus in on that to be relevant and to be part of the discussion. So we can wander off into the ether and make nice, jazzy, progressive, atmospheric music – it doesn't necessarily reflect what U2 should be doing and how we should be connecting with our people out there.
Do you ever fee like the band is fighting gravity? So few bands have ever done work 40 years in that's connected with a mass audience. At the same time, rock is no longer at the center of the culture. That's a lot to work against.
Ummm … yeah. There are different rules and criteria for the operation. I kind of feel like the technology of how this all works has changed a lot over the years. If you look at the big bands of the 1940s, those bands got cut down to quartets and quintets after the war because there just wasn't the money around to pay for big bands or pay for petrols and buses. Then you came into the period where the electric instruments made that it very few people could make a big sound and entertain people. We're now in a situation because the current music business, because sales in the real sense don't exist, you can't support bands like you used to be able to in terms of economics. Actually singers are now finding, often with computers, that they can make a sound in the digital world and make a voice fit well on it in a special way. They don't have the overhead of a band in the studio or anything. So yeah, the economic forces have changed it a lot.
I also think that in that period of the 1960s there was the counterculture and information was translated through that youth movement and that counterculture movement through music and ideas. The Internet has completely changed that. People relate to each other in a different way and they communicate in different ways. It has more sophistication in so many different ways. We are, to use your term, somewhat swimming against the tide, but I'm hoping that some of those values … I don't know if we can do this again in that sort of way. It will change. The future is going to be different, and who knows what comes with it?
U2 are going on a summer tour that will feature a complete performance of their landmark 1987 album 'The Joshua Tree.'
Cui Bono? 26 old U2 albums re-enter the iTunes charts
The band was paid €100 million by Apple to allow their new much to go out for free
(left to right) The Edge, Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr of U2. Fifteen back catalogue U2 albums have re-entered the Irish iTunes albums download charts. File Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Fifteen back catalogue U2 albums have re-entered the Irish iTunes albums download charts.
The highest re-entry is at number five for the “Joshua Tree” album.
In the world’s biggest music territory, the US, 26 old U2 albums (studio albums, live albums, compilations and extended plays) have re-entered the iTunes charts and a similar pattern is emerging globally.
At this rate, Apple are well on course to recoup the estimated $100 million they paid to U2 and the band’s record label, Universal, to allow the new U2 album go out free to their 500 million customers.
It’s win-win for Apple and U2.
The tech company make money every time a U2 album is downloaded as do the band.
In U2’s case, they enjoy one of the highest ever royalty rates on their sales – meaning they get a far bigger percentage of the retail prize than even Michael Jackson or The Beatles had.
Bono confirmed to The Irish Times last week that the band had been paid by Apple.
In essence, this means even if the band do not sell a single copy of the physical release of the album next month, they will still have made a substantial profit from “Songs of Innocence”.
In addition, Apple have committed to a substantial marketing campaign, which will use the album’s first single “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) to soundtrack a global television advertising campaign for its new iPhones and Apple Watch.
A person familiar with the talks says the campaign will cost upwards of $100 million.
When U2 struggled with their new album they sought inspiration in 1970s Dublin, a place of hidden violence, home to a new-wave music scene and a group of friends who were not yet U2. ‘A lot of sh*t got dragged up,’ says Bono
Beach sequence: U2 on Sandymount Strand in 1978. Photograph: Sheila Rock/Rex
Dubliners: Bono and the Edge. Photograph: Richard Perry/New York Times
Bono leans in to my face so our noses are almost touching, and he sings, unaccompanied, “Life begins with the first glance, the first kiss at the first dance, all of us are wondering why we’re here, in the Crystal Ballroom underneath the chandelier . . . We are the ghosts of love and we haunt this place, in the ballroom of crystal lights, everyone is here with me tonight, everyone but you.” It is sean-nós in shades.
“I need to tell you something really weird about this song,” he says. “It’s called The Crystal Ballroom, which used to be the name of McGonagles in South Anne Street [now knocked down]. A whole generation of Dubliners would go to the Crystal Ballroom for dances, and many couples first met there. My mother and father used to dance together in the Crystal Ballroom, so that song I just sang you, which hasn’t been released yet, is me imagining I’m on the stage of McGonagles with this new band I’m in called U2 – and we did play a lot of our important early gigs there. And I look out into the audience and I see my mother and father dancing romantically together to U2 on the stage.”
Bono takes a deep breath and, speaking slowly, says, “I have just realised that my mother died 40 years ago yesterday, and here we are today playing our new album about Dublin, which is about my family and what happened to me as a teenager.
“My mother died when she was at her father’s funeral. She had a cerebral aneurysm. I was only 14. And in this song I am singing, “Everyone is here tonight, everyone but you.” And it’s me wanting to see my mother dance again in the Crystal Ballroom and for her to see what happened to her son.”
All about my mother
We are in a windowless room at Apple’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, in the California town of Cupertino. U2 have just helped launch a range of Apple products, and it has been announced that their new album, Songs of Innocence, is being given to iTunes customers.
The Edge is here too. He flicks through his phone, finds The Crystal Ballroom and presses play. There is silence in the room as it plays. After a long pause a clearly upset Bono whispers, “Her spirit was with us today.”
This new U2 album could be read as Bono’s All About My Mother. The song Iris (Hold Me Close) – Iris is his mother’s name – finds him singing about her untimely death. “The ache in my heart is so much a part of who I am . . . Hold me close and don’t let me go . . . I’ve got your life inside of me . . . We’re meeting up again.”
Standing up and walking around the room, he highlights a lyric in the song. “I sing this verse which has ‘Iris standing in the hall, she tells me I can do it all,’ and then there’s a typical mother’s line when she says to me, ‘You’ll be the death of me.’ But it wasn’t me. I wasn’t the death of her. I was not the death of her.”
“The mother is so, so important in rock music. Show me a great singer and I’ll show you someone who lost their mother early on. There’s Paul McCartney, there’s John Lennon. Look at Bob Geldof and what happened to his mother.
“In hip hop, by contrast, it’s all about the father – being abandoned by the father and being brought up by a single mother. But for me it’s all about the mother. I had rage and grief for my mother. I still have rage and grief for my mother. I channelled those emotions in music, and I still do. I have very few memories of my mother, but all of them are in the song Iris.”
Beach sequence: U2 on Sandymount Strand in 1978. Photograph: Sheila Rock/Rex
Dubliners: Bono and the Edge. Photograph: Richard Perry/New York Times
