As I matured in my U2 fandom, there was a period of transition from collecting albums to hunting down more obscure tracks, like one-offs for soundtracks and collaborations with other artists. One of my favorite discoveries from this period was the 1993 B-side, from the Stay single, “Slow Dancing“, which was originally written by Bono […]
Read MoreAUDIO: U2 360 Tour Camp Nou show opening night, 5 Years Later
Has it been 5 years since the kick off of the U2 360 tour? Yes, it has been 5 long years. Today is that anniversary of the Camp Nou show on June 30th 2009 where U2 played to some 90,000 Spanish fans in Barcelona. U2 performed 22 songs that night and introduced us to the “Space Station” which included the […]
Read MoreWhy U2 – Reason #19
Like most obsessive fans, I get a thrill out of discovering hidden factoids or messages left by the object of my obsession – in this case, U2. Fortunately, they seem perfectly happy to oblige my willingness to pore over every note and pixel by providing lots of odd little bits for me to find – […]
Read MoreU2 Gets Dirty!
Did you know that today, June 29th is International Mud Day? Of course you didn’t, you have a life. “Compromise, it’s not a dirty word!” Bono 2001. When the king of wishful thinking tells the world that compromise is not a dirty word, the world better clean up their act and listen. Bono knows a […]
Read MoreDublin Summer Pilgrimage
Summer is upon us and, unusually, the weather in Dublin has been fantastic. This is a welcome development as the annual Dublin pilgrimage of U2 fans has begun. Year after year they descend upon Dublin in their droves all with one question “Where’s Bono House?” In previous years I was only vaguely aware of this […]
Read MoreU2 Elevation Tacoma 4.12.01
The U2 show in Tacoma on April 12, 2001 marked a lot of firsts for me. It was my first time visiting Seattle, my first real GA experience and my first time seeing P.J. Harvey open (I would see her 13 more times). I had a friend in Seattle, so I flew out Easter weekend […]
Read MoreCovering U2 – The Early Birds
Today I wanted to discuss a couple of U2 covers where the other artist actually got to the song before U2 did. Roy Orbison’s “She’s a Mystery to Me”, written by Bono and Edge, produced by Bono, and even featuring some simple guitar from our favorite front-man, is a perfect example. The song was originally […]
Read MoreU2101 – Vertigo
I’ve written a lot in the past about some of U2’s more obscure gems, deep album tracks like “Running to Stand Still” or “Electric Co.”, but today I want to celebrate one of U2’s best-known songs, “Vertigo”, from 2004’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (HTDAAB) album. “Vertigo” is, in my experience, one of those […]
Read MoreWhy U2 – Reason #18
U2 are frequently referred to as “The Biggest Band in the World”, and I suppose that the meaning of that phrase is open to interpretation, but at the end of the day, I’m not sure how true it is. “Best Band in the World”, sure. All day, every day, but “biggest”? I think that it […]
Read MoreBono Meets 2 Bishops, a Queen & King!
Checkmated! For decades, U2 has been playing chess, while most of the music world has been playing checkers. Bono’s love for the game of chess is well documented. Knowing Bono’s love for the abstract, loving chess should be no surprise to anyone. Although I know how to play chess, I’m not very good at it […]
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