![]() ![]() In the grand scheme of calamities that can befall an aging rock band, an endless blooper reel on Vine is a small blip. Just this week, U2’s longtime tour manager, Dennis Sheehan, was found dead in his West Hollywood hotel room. There have been other signs of attrition, most notably Bono’s bike accident last November, which left him with a broken eye orbit, a fractured shoulder blade, and a badly broken left humerus. As speculation swirled about whether the tour would be delayed, Mullen boarded a private jet, flew home to Ireland for the funeral on Wednesday, and then returned to Vancouver in time for Thursday’s tour open. To name just one example of adversity: On the Sunday before opening night, Larry Mullen’s father, 92-year-old Larry Sr., died in a Dublin hospital. ![]() Nothing is permitted to impede forward progress. Of course, a tour like this demands tunnel vision.Īfter grossing almost three-quarters of a billion dollars the last time it was on the road for the U2 360 tour in 2009-11 - the most successful tour in history - U2 is back again as one of rock’s last great white sharks. One of U2’s publicists marvels at how well the tour launch went, with no major screwups, and I wonder if he’s looked at the Internet yet. A few days later, it was a joke on SNL’s “Weekend Update.” Given U2’s recent PR problems, it could have been worse: At least the public seemed to be laughing with them this time.Īs I’m led past security and into a curtained-off receiving room, it’s as if U2’s Tosh.0 moment never occurred. I didn’t realize what had happened until the next day, when every person who knew I was in Vancouver messaged me to ask if I had seen The Edge get his comeuppance from that dastardly lowercase edge. The Edge fell near where he was supposed to step off, so from a distance it appeared as if he exited of his own volition. walked from the main stage across a long platform that extends the length of the arena under two massive LED screens to the relatively intimate “B” stage. The tumble occurred near the end of the night’s final song, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” as all four band members - Bono, The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. It didn’t seem like the people around me noticed, either. I was at that fateful concert but somehow missed The Edge’s accidental contribution to the viral promotion of U2’s latest global conquest. As Bono joked at the next gig, U2’s laconic guitarist downloaded himself into the audience without permission, and tweeters around the world predictably went crazy. Rather, it’s for this video of The Edge falling off the stage on opening night. Or any of the other talking points for the Innocence + Experience tour. Or the thematically ambitious structure of the set-list. But it’s not for the state-of-the-art stage setup. Y the time I arrive for my interview backstage at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena, hours before the second show of a 70-date world tour that U2 launched there in the middle of May, one of the world’s most famous and tenured rock bands is the talk of all media. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |