U2’s Adam does botch job on his house plan
Getty Images SETBACK: Adam Clayton
U2’s Adam does botch job on his house plan
By Andrew Phelan
Friday October 23 2009
Houseproud U2 bassist Adam Clayton has had a setback in the latest home improvement plan for his Dublin mansion.
The star will have to go back to the drawing board after paperwork errors led a local authority to declare his application invalid.
Clayton wants to make changes to previously approved permission for alterations to his plush Rathfarnham pad.
His idea is for a ‘lozenge-shaped’ opening in the first floor landing of the main house. The aim is “to introduce natural light to the ground floor entrance hall below, to include installation of a cast metal balustrade”.
Invalid
Declaring the application invalid, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council said Clayton’s newspaper notice did not state where it could be inspected by the public. It also wrongly stated that submissions could be made within two weeks, while the deadline is five weeks.
A second reason was failure to comply with regulations on the dimensions of plans and drawings.
The ‘lozenge’ proposal is the latest in a series of changes to plans for the Georgian pile at Danesmoate Demesne off Kellystown Road.
aphelan@herald.ie
- Andrew Phelan
‘To-hell-with-genre’
‘To-hell-with-genre’
06 October 2009
Rolling Stone was suitably wowed by Sunday’s show which it reports was ‘curated with eclectic bravura by Hal Willner’ and turned into ‘a riotous three-hour party, with a to-hell-with-genre rollcall of the many friends Friday has made in his art-rock pop-art film-score and noir-theater travels.’
And the members of U2 were all over the show: ‘Bono the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. were on and off stage half a dozen times; U2’s Friday covers included ‘I Want to Live’ (done with techno drive and Joshua Tree-like space) and the crusted-glam bomb ‘King of Trash.’ Bono also took a solo spot, turning on his Irish Sinatra for the Shag Tobacco elegy ‘The Last Song I’ll Ever Sing.’
Jon Pareles in the New York Times found ‘the concert juxtaposed delicacy and brute force, intimacy and irony. It had tender moments, like Mr. Friday’s opening ‘Apologia’; duets with Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons) on ‘He Got What He Wanted’ and ‘Angel’; and Mr. Friday’s desolate ‘You Take Away the Sun,’ with the shimmering backup of Bill Frisell on guitar, Hank Roberts on cello and Mr. Seezer on piano.
‘Martha Wainwright gave a luminous performance of ‘You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart,’ a ballad steeped in Irish tradition that was written by Mr. Friday, Mr. Seezer and Bono; Andrea Corr, of the Irish pop group the Corrs, was poised and gentle in ‘Time Enough for Tears.’
Spinner said the show was ‘a dream for fans as the hallowed hall saw incredible pairings, performances and different sides of well-known artists.
‘Early in the night, after Friday and Courtney Love rocked their way through a steamy cover of Magazine’s ‘The Light Pours Out of Me,’ Friday said, ‘Only one thing can follow that,’ and brought out Scarlett Johansson and Rufus Wainwright. That one-upmanship kept going until the end of the night, when after a magnificent solo turn by Bono, Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed came out to join Friday, the Edge and Bono for a raucous post-modern ‘Sweet Jane.’ How do you improve on that?’
U2 turns 360 stadium tour into attendance-shattering sellouts
U2 turns 360 stadium tour into attendance-shattering sellouts
By Charles Rex Arbogast, AP - A 54-ton cylindrical LED screen soars over the stage at U2's 360 Tour shows. Here the band is at Chicago's Soldier Field.
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
CHICAGO — You don’t need a calculator to figure out that U2 x 360 = XXL. Massive describes almost every aspect of U2’s revolutionary 360° Tour, a futuristic juggernaut that defies the recession as it crushes attendance records, rewrites the stadium concert playbook and launches the Irish quartet into even higher orbit.
The imposing centerpiece, a four-pronged UFO anchored by a glowing 164-foot pylon and cylindrical LED screen, looms over a sprawling stage with footbridges that glide around ringed catwalks. U2’s soaring anthems prove equally immense pounding through a state-of-the-art sound system suspended high enough to allow clear sight lines for all.
“It’s a bit of a shock to go to work and find 80,000 people on the shop floor,” singer Bono, 49, says as he’s whisked by a police escort to his hotel after the first of two recent sellouts at Soldier Field. “The magic act is that the spaceship disappears. The people get bigger, and the place gets smaller. There’s not one grand overarching theme, but there is a sense of location, where you’re a tiny speck in the cosmos. It’s intimate, by the way. The show takes you through all these different worlds and mood swings. Catharsis is the posh word, I think.”
INTERACTIVE: Panoramic look at U2’s show
PHOTOS: Glimpses of the 360 Tour
Ka-ching is the afterword. The tour, U2’s first U.S. stadium outing since PopMart in 1997-98, is expected to rack up $112 million from 1.2 million tickets at 20 shows during its current North American trek after grossing $187 million from 1.8 million tickets at 24 shows in Europe, according to Billboard. It should start turning a profit as the second leg ends Oct. 28 in Vancouver. The band’s first tour under its 12-year deal with concert promoter Live Nation resumes May 30 in Mexico City, with U.S. dates to follow in June and July.
“At the first show in Barcelona (June 30), we realized, wow, it’s working incredibly well,” guitarist Edge, 48, says the next day on a drive to the stadium, after he and Bono spend 20 minutes signing autographs for a sea of fans outside the hotel. “On a good night, the production, the songs, the audience, the videos, the architecture become this amazing event. Often in these big stadiums, you feel, ‘Why am I here? I could be home listening to the CD.’ This show makes sense of playing stadiums.”
It may only make sense for U2, a band with the fan base, budget and musical might to pull it off.
The tour’s in-the-round configuration boosts capacity by roughly 20%, enabling the band to break attendance records in every venue. On Sept. 24, U2 packed 84,472 into Giants Stadium, the venue’s largest crowd ever, eclipsing the 82,948 drawn to Pope John Paul II in 1995.
Each of the three “claw” structures that leapfrog along the itinerary requires 37 trucks and cost upward of $40 million. The trek entails a total fleet of 200 trucks, a crew of 400 and a daily overhead of $750,000.
Though the band’s No Line on the Horizon album got off to a slow start, moving 1 million copies since March, frenzied reaction to seven tracks in 360’s set list is generating chart boosts. The band has sold 34 million albums and 11.2 million digital songs since 1991, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Alone in their field
Perhaps the only act riding parallel tracks of fearless artistic urges and aggressive mainstream reach, U2 may be blazing a one-band trail as it enters its fourth decade. When the biggest band on earth stages the biggest show in history, the question arises: Who will follow? There’s no sign on the horizon of U2’s heir apparent.
Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney and the Elton John/Billy Joel match-up can fill stadiums in some markets, but only the Rolling Stones, a generation older, share U2’s global demand and touring ambition, says Ray Waddell, Billboard’s editor of touring.
“U2 is selling out stadiums around the world and breaking attendance records in the process. A lot of bands that have been around this long have peaked commercially, and that certainly does not seem to be the case with U2. Whether or not they achieve the greatness of past albums with No Line is debatable, but it would be hard to deny that they’re trying. This has never been a band content with the status quo.
“As for who’s next, right now one could only guess,” Waddell says. “Many in the industry say Coldplay or Kings of Leon are possibilities. Others think that the days of multiple stadium-level artists are over. Getting there is hard enough; staying there is much more difficult.”
U2 bassist Adam Clayton, 49, shares that skepticism.
“Everything is so fragmented,” he says from his hotel suite overlooking Chicago’s skyline. “There might always be a pop phenomenon of the year that will fill a stadium, but in terms of people who build a solid career, I don’t know.”
Drummer Larry Mullen Jr., 47, can envision a stadium future for Kings of Leon, “who were rabbits in the headlights when they played on our last tour.”
“Who would have imagined they’d have one of the greatest albums (Only by the Night) a couple years later?” says Mullen, soaking up sun outside the catering hall backstage. “They have the swagger and the capacity to go all the way. There’s no blueprint. Now you’re seeing a lot of bands prepared to learn and try something different. That’s what it was always about for us.”
Ideas for the bold framework of the 360° Tour have been brewing in Bono’s head since 2001’s Elevation arena tour.
“I started drawing, and building things with spoons,” Bono says. “Over the years, I’ve had people tell me I’m certifiable. I had a lot of rolling eyes in my direction from promoters, but Live Nation was very encouraging. (Live Nation global music CEO) Arthur Fogel said, ‘If you’ve got an instinct, follow through on it. We will work with you and finance you.’ He said this business is Neanderthal, that people are not getting value.”
In late 2006 at Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium, last stop on the Vertigo tour, Bono walked the field with U2’s longtime collaborator, stage designer Willie Williams, in an attempt to envision his sonic temple. He next enlisted designer/architect Mark Fisher.
‘So close to bankruptcy’
“We had to start building it six months before the tour, before tickets went on sale,” Bono says. Inflating the risk: the music industry slump and a global recession. “When we built Zoo TV (the 1992-93 tour), we were so close to bankruptcy that if 5% fewer people went, U2 was bankrupt. Even in our irresponsible, youthful and fatal disregard of such material matters, it was terrifying. I want to put on an extraordinary show, but I’d like to own my house when it’s over.”
Meeting demand and lowering ticket prices (seats range from $30 to $250) were catalysts for the move to stadiums.
On the band’s past two arena tours, where capacity typically capped at 15,000 to 20,000, “tickets were a little more expensive and demand was so big that when the secondary market got hold of them, they ended up changing hands for hundreds, even thousands of dollars,” Edge says. “Now we’re close to supplying demand, so you don’t get that scalping action.”
U2 knows its steel cathedral isn’t sufficient bait to entice the masses. The set’s a jaw-dropper, but it’s the band’s larger-than-life performance that has fans cheering.
“There’s an ease, a looseness to the performance that I didn’t imagine we could achieve,” Edge says. “We came out of the punk-rock, four-to-the-floor thing, a straightforward sound. That’s a revelation, that the band has become much more sophisticated rhythmically.”
The show typically serves up seven No Line tunes, three or four played at the top, a defiant refusal to be locked into the past. For Mullen, U2’s evolution crystallizes in the techno-twisted take on I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Crazy Tonight, during which he pounds an African djembe drum while strolling the runway.
“We take a pop song and turn it into this dance rave madness — in a stadium,” he says. “How did I get here? It’s not what any of us expected to be doing 30 years later. That’s the guiding light. It’s about our need to expand and our audience accepting things they may not even understand.”
On to the next stage
Whether playing stadiums or arenas in the future, the band won’t recycle ideas, Edge vows. “It’s important to challenge ourselves creatively and not take the soft option,” he says. “That’s so ingrained in the band that we’ll continue to grow and develop. We owe it to ourselves and our fans to take it further out there and break new ground.”
Clayton says his ambitions for the band are humbler these days.
“I want our music to be relevant,” he says. “They don’t have to be big-selling records. Hit records are absolutely the business you should be in if you’re in popular music, and we’ll always strive for that. But it’s a big privilege to be able to do what you love to do. You haven’t lost control of it. You’re not doing it to cover bad debts or bad deals. And it’s great working outdoors.”
Mullen, regarded as U2’s moral compass, says his drive stems in part from a belief that fans are owed rebates.
“It’s an Irish-Catholic guilt thing,” he says. “We should have been better and worked harder. In the ’80s, we were green. We lurched. We were successful despite ourselves. Now there’s a sense that we’ve got more to do, that we can continue to push it, to take risks. Complacency is not something we’re good at or comfortable with.”
EXCLUSIVE: Behind the Scenes With U2 on Tour!
EXCLUSIVE: Behind the Scenes With U2 on Tour!
U2 Kicks Off North American Tour at Chicago’s Soldier Field
By CHRIS CUOMO, CHRIS STRATHMANN and LINDA OWENS
If you want to see a huge tour by one of the biggest rock bands of all time, look no further than U2. The pop legends just kicked off their long-awaited 360 Tour in the United States this weekend, and “Good Morning America” got exclusive backstage access.
Chris Cuomo goes behind-the-scenes with the band currently on tour.The band’s North American tour began at Chicago’s Soldier Field in front of 65,000 screaming fans, on a circular stage underneath a 90-foot-tall, four-pronged canopy that lead singer Bono referred to as a “spaceship.” The steel structure took four days to build and housed not only the band but a 150-foot pylon and a 54-ton cylindrical video screen that lit up the stadium.
U2 hasn’t performed in open arenas in the United States in more than a decade, and the band members said they wanted to do it in a very big way. Reportedly, $40 million was spent to build the 360-degree stage. But when you put all that together with U2 in front of these American audience, the value is priceless.
“We’re so exposed,” said guitarist the Edge. “And when the four of us come together, there’s this clear view for everybody. They can really see the interaction.”
“I think, in general, the whole idea of U2 is to engage with our audience,” drummer Larry Mullen Jr. said. “So we had to figure out how to do it and how to really engag. … That’s what’s special about this show. It’s in 360. And the audience is such a big part of what we do.”
U2 played for just over two hours each night, performing 22 to 24 songs spanning the band’s career. The tour is supporting their recent album “No Line on the Horizon.” The Chicago Tribune called it one of the best stadium shows of the last decade.
“Chicago has just always been a great music town, hasn’t it?” said bassist Adam Clayton. ” You know, there was always that — the blues musicians coming up in the ’50s. And there’s always something going off here. And I think it’s very musician-friendly. So it’s good to be back. And we’ve always had great audience and a great reaction.”
Mullen, who started the band decades ago, says, “I didn’t choose these guys. It turns out that they chose me.”
He joked that he regrets not sticking with the name the Larry Mullen Jr. Band.
“In fact, that is one of my big regrets,” he said. “I think we could’ve been bigger.”
“U2 is such a crap name,” added the Edge, laughing.
U2 bass player Adam Clayton visits Dubrovnik
U2 bass player Adam Clayton visits Dubrovnik
Croatian Times
Tobias TU / Wikimedia
The southern Dalmatian city of Dubrovnik has become popular with the jet set during the past few years.
Mickey Rourke, Kevin Spacey, Gillian Anderson, Beyonce and Jay-Z, George Lucas and Roger Moore have visited Dubrovnik this year, and the latest celebrity arrival is Irish rock band U2 bass player Adam Clayton.
Clayton arrived with his girlfriend on Saturday night. Unlike American pop-star Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z, Clayton did not mind when photographers started to take photos of him on Dubrovnik’s streets.
The couple had a meal at ‘Nautica’ restaurant and then returned to their yacht.
The next day, they took a drive in a luxury Mercedes and even waved to numerous paparazzi who were waiting for them in front of the yacht.
U2 gave two concerts on 9 and 10 August in Zagreb, and it seems at least one band member was impressed by the beauty of the country and decided to return.
Me in a minute: Adam Clayton: U2 bassist
Me in a minute: Adam Clayton: U2 bassist
I don’t think rock is necessarily a young man’s game. I think Neil Young is just as rock ’n roll now as he was in his 20s. I’d like to think we can still be edgy and challenging.
I was not an obvious contender. I was actually pretty shy in school. My defence mechanism was to be the class clown. I remember getting into a lot of trouble for being disruptive, and I was brought in front of the headteacher, who said: “What’s going to happen to you? What are you going to do when you grow up?” And I said: “Well, I’m obviously going to be a comedian.”
From an early age I didn’t buy into the value systems of working hard in a nine-to-five job. I thought creativity, friendship and loyalty and pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable was much more interesting.
The longevity of U2 is primarily based on the friendship of four men who have grown up together. Four men who respect and support and love each other. We won’t let each other fail.
It’s very confusing when fame comes early on in your career. You get a little bit bent out of shape in terms of what’s important. Fame is like the dessert that comes with your achievements — it’s not an achievement in itself, but sometimes it can overpower the work.
I really enjoy the privileges of fame now. It opens doors and allows you to meet people, and you’re in control. When fame first happened I didn’t feel in control, and it closed doors to me.
I’ve never necessarily chosen to be a bachelor. I’ve had girlfriends throughout the past 20 or 30 years. It’s just that there were times when I met people who fascinated me and times I didn’t.
I stopped drinking 12 years ago, and it was time. I’d had enough of drinking, drugging and nightclubs. It was a difficult decision to change my life, and it took a while to reprogramme, but I’ve no regrets at all. I’ve enjoyed every bit of my life. I’ve had the best of it both ways.
My greatest achievement is managing to cope with four fingers and four strings.
I feel there is a lot more to achieve. In the first 20 years I was functioning on instinct and attitude and rawness, and now I know what I’m doing and can apply those skills in a different way. It’s no longer about attitude and rawness, but it’s about sophistication and understanding.
If I could only take one thing on tour it would be Irish tea bags. Barry’s decaffeinated tea bags. I know it sounds crazy, but if you don’t travel with your own tea, it never tastes the same.
In a loving relationship, as an expression of freedom and fantasy, I think sex is very important.
I don’t think I would ever try and repeat U2. I’d be very happy when U2 came to whatever end, and there is no end, really. But I would be happy to move on. It’s a very fast world, and a quieter world would be welcome.
I can look at myself in the mirror. I didn’t use to be able to do it. I see someone who is incredibly lucky, who still has so much ahead of him rather than behind him, and I’m very grateful. — Luke Bainbridge