On Christmas day, BBC Radio 1 aired a Jo Whiley interview with Bono that seems to have been recorded the week before Christmas. They covered a lot of topics in the hour-long program (or is it programme?), but I’ll just transcribe the super-duper newsworthy stuff about touring, new songs and albums, and … of course … the obligatory band member on fire comments. At least this time it’s not Edge who is burning. Whew.

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JO WHILEY: If you could take a tour anywhere at the moment, where would you choose to go?

Bono: I just had the most amazing time in Tokyo, and I suppose I would love to go to China. I would love to play India.

I can’t imagine that would be for another year or so?

Probably a couple of years. We’re at a very important juncture now. We’ve put out this collection of our Best Of Singles, which is a joke, really, because we’ve never been much of a singles band. But we did it because we have a very young audience coming through, and we wanted to, you know, just be very available for people who want to check us out, you know? We wanted to have something they could check us out very easy on.

But when you do these collections, they are usually to mark the end of something, and our band has certainly reached the end of where we’ve been at for the last couple of albums. I want to see what else we can do with it, take it to the next level; I think that’s what we’ve got to do.

You going to continue to be a rock band?

We’re gonna continue to be a band, but maybe the rock will have to go; maybe the rock has to get a lot harder. But whatever it is, it’s not gonna stay where it is.

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There’s talk of Bruce Springsteen doing Glastonbury this year. If that happens, you could maybe get on stage with him. Let’s start the rumor now, shall we?

He’s amazing. There’s real power there, in voice and the acoustic guitar. I would like to do a couple of tunes in that direction, with just a lot of space around the voice. I’d like to strip things down; that’s something I’d be very interested in at the moment.

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So, looking ahead to 2007…. All the hard work you’ve done over the past couple of years, how would you describe how you all are?

Something happened on the tour with Adam Clayton, that’s for sure. I think you might call it… rediscovering your mojo. [laughs] I don’t what it was, but he is really on fire. And that’s very interesting because Adam’s the sort who — it’s like catching lightning. He’s the one that decides the pace we move at, and I don’t know how that is or why that is, but if he’s on fire it bodes very well. Edge is determined to reinvent the electric guitar and find his place in the pantheon of guitar players that have inspired him. So that’s good.

Finally - a song countdown that does not include *any* U2 songs!

AOL put together (with some help, I might add) the 111 Wussiest songs of all time. Why 111? Well, they may think of that number as being a tad wussy themselves. Thankfully, U2 do not make this list - an achievement that I’m sure Larry would be proud of. I’ll save the suspense…number 1 wussiest song according to those tabulating: REM’s “Shiny Happy People.” Check out the full list here.

In a recent interview with Robin Williams in Dublin’s The Event Guide, interviewer Paul Byrne took the opportunity to ask Williams about Bono and The Edge toward the end of the interview:

Our time is nearly up, so I ask Williams if he’s aware that there are those in the U2 camp who have taken to calling Bono Mrs. Doubtfire, given his ever-growing resemblance to a certain jet-setting movie superstar. “My stunt double!” he laughs, before launching into the chorus of ‘In The Name of Love’. “Whenever I see him, I go, ‘Hello, son’. And The Edge. It used to be just Edge, now it’s The Edge. If he ever gets knighted, it’ll be Sir Edge. ‘I knight you, Sir Edge’.”

When we last spoke, Williams hadn’t quite gotten around to exploring U2 country all that much, having just managed a trip to Knock and a quick gander around Galway. “Yeah, it was weird. I was with a friend, and someone told her about the Galway Races. And she said, ‘The Galway Racist?!’. ‘No, the Galway Races’. ‘Oh, okay, that’ll be fine’. I’d love to get back, I had a lovely time. When I was in Dublin, I saw the Book of Kells. It’s a great, great place. I’ve got to come back and ride my bike there, because I’ve heard it’s a great place for bike riding.” And it would be the perfect opportunity to put that U2 tribute band together. “Oh, that would be great. Bonopalooza.”

It looks like U2 have paid homage to Guster’s fans in the Window in the Skies video. According to Guster’s MySpace blog from December 21:

“In somewhat bizarre Guster news, there are two crowd shots from our Live in Portland Maine DVD concert in the new U2 video. See if you can pick them out.”

This adds a new challenge to fans watching the video - not only can fans name all of the artists in the video, but now it’s time to track down the generic crowd shots and where they were filmed. Guster’s helped out with two scenes - here’s to tracking down the others

“The Daily Show” segment “This Week in God” featured the U2-charist service that I’m sure you’ve read about. Or, as correspondent Samantha Bee put it, “Finally, a church service combining the spirituality of the Bible with the preachiness of Bono.” It starts around the 2:38 mark:

The “F-Bomb Incident”.

What award is this? It’s the “U2 Story I’m Most Sick Of Hearing About” Award.

While on the news hunt this morning I tripped across many, many articles relating to Bono’s ‘accidental’ dropping of the F-Bomb during the 2003 Golden Globes. Surely you remember the incident - the vodka-fueled stream of consciousness that resulted in a long *beep* to everyone experiencing a time-delayed broadcast of the awards. It seems that the U.S. Supreme Court is now hearing a case on broadcast indecency - and the entire problem, according to this AP article, is being traced back to Bono’s slip of the tongue. The FCC watchdogs “simply do not permit entertainers gratuitously to utter the F-word and the S-word in awards shows broadcast when children might be watching.”

Well, FCC, as a mom of two, I have some input for you. First, U2 or no U2, I’m sick of hearing about this. I’m sure children do hear the occasional curse words - even at *gasp* home - and recover just fine. Second, if you’re really interested in having an impact, I’d much prefer you do something about those CSI commercials they insist on broadcasting in the middle of football games and other major sporting events (where I GUARANTEE kids are watching). My son has gotten one f-bomb in the last four years - but we saw at least two decapitations during the half-time break of the Titans game last Sunday. I’d much rather my son hear the occasional bad word than watch repeated images of violent murder and rotting corpses.

But hey, maybe that’s just me.

Here’s another recap from two more of our special Vertigo Tour correspondents, Lisa Konarski and Gayle Kuzmich. Thanks to the both of you for sending this along! (By the way - grab a snack and a beverage…they wrote quite a bit!)
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Our excitement began with a simple email. Gayle’s sister Gina posed the possibility of going to Hawaii for the April U2 show. Gayle sent Lisa the email and said “What do you think?” Could it be possible? U2 in Hawaii! It truly would be paradise. A couple frantic days of checking for airfare, tickets, hotel costs etc. were stopped with the announcement of the postponement of the show. Still the seed had been planted. And our wait began.

We checked the web each day for the new dates. Finally in late July the word came. Gayle read the announcement on @U2.com first. She called Lisa and breathlessly said “They announced the new dates!” We were quickly on the web scanning for ticket prices. We found what we were looking for – GA’s! We purchased them within an hour of learning about the dates. We were really going to Hawaii! Gayle had to hang up the phone because she could hardly speak. Lisa jumped up and down in her office. Oh my gosh – it was really going to happen. On December 7th, after months of planning, imagining and intoxicating excitement we left California to see our boys.

We arrived in Hawaii on Thursday around noon. After quickly settling into our hotel, we headed to the bar for a “pinch me we’re really here” celebratory mai tai (one of many..you can be sure). We spot our first U2 t-shirt – Croke Park. We know why they’re here. Later on the beach we see more U2 t-shirts of different varieties as well as Product (Red) shirts. The sense of being a part of something big is building.

Later back at the bar, Gayle, wearing the Edun “ONE” shirt, is asked “Is that a U2 One shirt or a just a shirt that says one?” Jeff and Stacy from Phoenix, Arizona are there for the show too. Soon we meet Mike and Matt of New York. Our U2 shirts are a great icebreaker. In our conversations with these fellow fans we tell them of the blog for @U2.com and are surprised they have not visited it. We quickly share the site address and promise they won’t be disappointed in this great resource.

The energy builds in the local media. On Friday we learn that the line is already forming. As we meet others with GA tickets we ask when they plan to get in line. Saturday morning is the common answer so we are confident in our plan to go to the stadium in the morning and we continue to enjoy Hawaii.

A breezy, sunny morning welcomes us Saturday. It truly is a beautiful day! Packed with provisions for our day in line, we await the arrival of Russ our cab driver whom the hotel had hooked us up with. We had heard transportation would be premium due to the show and the Honolulu marathon on Sunday morning. Russ is running late and when Lisa calls him, he says he’ll pick us up in 15 minutes. Seems like an eternity. While we wait, Gayle’s sister Gina spots Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber and Kid Rock in the hotel’s Starbucks. Pretty sure they are her for the show. Lisa asks for a photo with Cindy. Rande asks Gayle if she wants to be in the photo too, he will take it. Gayle says no but he earns big charm points for asking. Russ finally arrives and we are off.

We get to Aloha Stadium a little after 11 a.m. Later than we hoped but the line looks promising. Stadium staff have the fans grouped (caged) in sections with those diehard campers in section one. At one point a security guard walks by and yells, “No alcohol in the cages!!” Yikes. Anyway, we make it into the end of section 3. We position our supplies and begin our wait. Our goal is the circle within the first barrier and we anxiously wonder if we’ll make the cut. Security seems somewhat loose in letting people in and out of the section. We’re told there are approximately 1500 people ahead of us. Everything we have read says the inner barrier holds three to four thousand. We are sure we are in but…

Waiting in line offers the opportunity to watch a variety of people. There is such a diversity of ages. We meet people from all over the United States and listen to conversations in different languages.

As the time to enter the stadium nears, the anticipation rises and there are a couple false starts. One person stands and everyone stands. There is a push to the front gate of our section – nothing dangerous but definitely urgent. The neat rows are gone and a bulge of people is standing. Positioning has been altered. Some who were behind us are now in front of us and a few whom were in front of us are near the end of the line. One brilliant fan suggests the line move to the right so we are in the shade. Hats off to you!! We meet John, Mike and Brent from Dallas, Texas. John is a big fan and he’s been trying to explain the energy of a U2 show to U2 concert virgin Brent. If Brent only knew what lies ahead.

About 4:30 p.m. the first group is calmly walked into the stadium. As they pass the other side of the cyclone fence that separates us, they are greeted with cheers. We see section two moving then it’s our turn. We move, we stop and we move again. Security seems to have the movement under control. We are warned not too run and looking at the size of some of the security crew, I wouldn’t defy them. After a short wait just outside the stadium, the switchback moves. We climb up the stairs and then down to our first look at the stage. Oh my, there it is! A stadium stage we have only seen in photos. We see the inner circle. So much room. Yes, we are in! But then comes the devastating blow.

Just a dozen people from the gate to the inner circle we are cut off! We stand at the barrier, frustrated, disappointed and angry. There is so much space inside. The inner circle of the arms of the stage (the U2uterus) is full but the people around the outer side of the arms are just three deep. We stand at the barrier of the outer circle, stage left. Good viewing but not what we wanted.

We spend the next couple hours questioning security, contemplating options, attempting to get in but it’s not meant to be. A terrific gentleman in a great black hat is standing next to us with his wife. They are from Toronto. He bolsters our positioning by reminding us that these are great spots. Putting it into perspective, we are here to see U2. We are in Hawaii. It’s the last show of the tour. And we are closer than either of us has ever been. Hello!!! Is this awesome or what???

U2 Stage Manager Rocko and his band the Devils kicked off at 6:30 p.m. They were great! Playing for a solid ½ hour, they played a couple classic rock songs as well as one referring to road rage on Hawaii’s Nimitz Freeway. He had a blast running around on the side stages. He gives a shout out to his mom and dad and says, “See I told you I could do it.” Very cool. Young man’s dream being realized later in life. Rocko asks who in the audience is local. Many cheer. But when he asks who flew in for the show, the roar is far louder. There are more cheers from the crowd when Rocko acknowledges his employers. He comments on the length of the tour and being away from friends and family and the anticipation of it being over in “20..20…24 hours to go…” Thus he ends his set with a dynamic cover of “I Wanna be Sedated.” The stadium was fairly empty at this point and we wonder if some didn’t hear that the show started at 6:30 rather than the 7:30 time noted on the ticket. The inner section is still wide open.

Pearl Jam comes to the stage ½ an hour later. OK, now when we heard that Pearl Jam was to open for this show, we were just stoked. Having sat through Kings of Leon and Damian Marley at earlier shows in San Jose and Oakland, while watching Europe get the likes of the Killers and Keane and other great acts, we felt we had “earned” Pearl Jam. So if seeing U2 in Hawaii was the completely decadent chocolate fudge cake, Pearl Jam was the icing. And they were awesome. They opened with Corduroy and didn’t disappoint. Eddie kind of went a little crazy with his tambourines during the Baba O’Riley finale hitting himself and Mike McCready on the head a few times. It was cool to see them having fun and goofing around. Gayle’s thrill was seeing Given to Fly. Love the song, love it better live. Totally cool.

Upon the conclusion of the Pearl Jam, the lights come back up and the open area within the front barrier is beginning to fill in. Cast members from the TV show “Lost” walk by us. We later learn Kid Rock was there and in the inner circle. Many of those that fill in the open space appear to be there to be seen. Yes, we are still frustrated but refuse to let it spoil the night.

Finally the long awaited moment arrives. Months of waiting, planning, anticipating come down to the lights dimming and the cities where U2 had played during the Vertigo tour scroll across the immense stage. Each city is counted off. Cheers rise from the crowd as their city rolls by. We yell for San Jose and Oakland, California where we saw our other shows. Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” plays and we know what comes next.

Adam, Larry and The Edge appear as if a part of the smoke. The strains of “City of Blinding Lights” build. We have heard it before but it still makes our spirits soar. An American flag rises from the far alternate stage and Bono appears. He waves the flag around and struts that Bono strut to the main stage. He may know he “can’t dance” but oh to watch that man move.

The crowd is charged and the energy is beyond electric. We sing, no scream, those familiar words of the first few songs – City, Vertigo and Elevation. We love the desire to sing with the band but they are drowned out by the fan enthusiasm early on. Bono thanks everyone for their patience in waiting for the show following the postponement. In one of several touching moments, Bono thanks Edge, Morleigh, Sian and Levi for their strength and support of the tour. The crowd echoes his thanks. We are truly grateful to be here and the air of magic is strong.

More magic. During “Angel of Harlem,” Bono pulls a guy up and has his arm around his shoulder. He is talking to him as they walk toward the main stage. Bono turns, laughs and then tells Edge “This man has a request. A very specific request.” This incredibly lucky guy wants to play keyboards for “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?” No way! There is a brief scramble with the band to prep for the song. It is incredible and amazing.

Bono is generous with the stage visitors. He brought a little girl up to sing “No more” during “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”. Another man was brought up from the front for a brief time. During the first encore was the lucky girl brought up during “Mysterious Ways” and kept on stage while Bono, on his knees, sang “With or Without You.” Lisa REALLY wanted to be her.

To paraphrase Bono, Larry, dare we say it, was on fire. The drumming was so strong. The first encore kicked off with “The Fly” and is a highlight for Gayle. The energy, the music, the lights. You can’t help but say “WOW.” Then the second encore blew us away.

It started with the new song “Window in the Skies.” Then Bono called out, “Let’s see if we can get Billy Joe out here.” It can’t be true. We can’t be this lucky! Then Billy Joe appears as “The Saints are Coming” starts up. His microphone didn’t work so Bono gives him another one. The song rocks. Billy Joe leaves and Bono says “Let’s see if we can get any more saints out here”. Eddie and Mike from Pearl Jam come on for an AMAZING version of “Keep on Rocking in the Free World.” It is beyond description. The power of that number. Bono changes a line to sing “Make poverty history!” He sings “We love The Edge.” Eddie sings “We love The Edge.” We sing “We love The Edge.” And you think what a great way to end the show. We’re feeling good. What a great night…..but then, The Edge reaches for ANOTHER guitar and you think “What more can they possibly give us?”

Bono then thanks their women who have followed their men. And he begins “All I Want is You.” Beautiful! Powerful! Amazing! Bono leaves the stage. Adam leaves the stage. The Edge leaves the stage. Larry plays on. Concentrating. Taking in the moment. Then he stands and walks to the front of the stage. He thanks us for waiting for them and says “See you soon.” We begin counting the days.

The show is over and what an incredible experience. We recognize how incredibly fortunate we are to be a part of it. We love The Edge! We love Adam! We love Larry! We love Bono! We love this band! Mahalo U2!

Special thanks to our special Vertigo Tour correspondent Pat Hurley for his reports and photos. Pat - sounds like you picked the right locations to be at! You can see his photos here.
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Sorry for taking so long to file this report, got back from Hawaii yesterday, has taken me some time to gather my thoughts from all the events of the extended weekend. And what an amazing experience it was surrounding this tour-ending concert! A chronological summary:

FRIDAY: Touch down in Honolulu around 8PM local time, our driver asks us right off the bat if we’re in town for the big U2 concert, he’s been picking people up all day who are going to the show, also ferrying people to Bono’s rental house as well as our hotel which some of the band members are staying at (are you kidding me!).

SATURDAY A.M.: Before heading downstairs for breakfast, took a look at an article in the local paper describing how some fans started camping out in the GA line on Thursday night, and how accommodating the venue was in opening up some concession stands and providing portable toilets. Sit down at our table, look up and guess who is sitting two tables away……. Billie Joe from Green Day! I’m thinking he must be here to play “The Saints are Coming” with the boys tonight, right ? Also spotted him later in the day doing some of the normal things a family does while on vacation, kind of cool to see him as a regular father as opposed to the famous lead singer we see on stage or on TV.

SATURDAY P.M.: Just from hanging out around the hotel all day, and noticing all the people with U2 shirts or “ONE” wristbands, it seems many of us have traveled a long way to see this show. Waiting out front to catch a cab to the stadium, wearing the “INSPI(RED)” T-shirts my wife picked up from the Gap before we left the mainland, another couple comes up to us and comments on the shirts. After chatting for a few minutes, the valet brings their car around, at which point they offer us a ride to the concert. Now I’m originally from NYC, so I’m not in the habit of accepting rides from perfect strangers, but given they’re U2 fans and sympathetic enough to our situation to offer, we hop in and enjoy the ride with the radio tuned to a station that is just playing blocks of U2 and PJ (Deb and Mark – thanks again).

THE CONCERT (Pre-U2): Arriving at about 6pm, there were still plenty of people in the parking lots tailgating, but you couldn’t tell that from the size of the crowds surrounding the 4 merchandise tents. Sorry Rocko, I missed most of your opening act while waiting to buy a few T-shirts and a poster, but you sounded like you were having fun. Finally we reached our seats, 3rd row - stage right - killer view (thanks to @U2 reader Becky M. – your package will be in the mail soon) and waited for the arrival of Pearl Jam. Knowing they only had about an hour for their set, Eddie & Co. were on fire from the start, playing many of their songs (Corduroy, Elderly Woman…, Evenflow, Betterman) that would be recognizable even to the audience members who were there just to see U2. The native islanders in the crowd got a treat as PJ also played a song “Hawaii 78” written by a Hawaiian member of the band. Pearl Jam closed their set in impressive fashion with “Alive” and a cover of “Baba O’Riley” that brought down the house.

THE MAIN EVENT: As the crew clears PJ’s equipment and gets the stage ready for U2, it gives us a break to catch our breath and prepare for take-off. The anticipation builds until finally “Wake Up” bursts from the speakers while a ticker-tape of every show on the Vertigo tour crawls across the video screen behind the band. Bono emerges on the catwalk waving an American flag at the start of “CoBL”. The lower deck of the stadium is literally bouncing up and down as the band rips through “Vertigo”, “Elevation” and “I Will Follow”. The atmosphere is more like a celebration than anything else as the crowd expresses its joy and the band is completely at ease and having fun, most notably when Bono pulls a fan from the crowd who is “very specific” about playing keyboard on “Wild Horses” and Bono checks that Edge remembers “the chords”. As the fan returns to the cheering crowd, running back down the catwalk arms overhead in triumph, we are treated to “The First Time” before the band completes the main set and first encore with familiar numbers which have been staples on this tour. Bono apologized a couple of times for the concert’s postponement, thanking the crowd for a “second chance” and for “hanging around” as well as thanking Edge for “staying strong”. I have to admit, this being the final show of the tour, I was looking forward to the band doing something a little different and they delivered in the second encore. After “Window in the Skies”, Billie Joe joins the band on stage (like I thought earlier) for “The Saints are Coming”, then Eddie and Mike from PJ appeared for a cover of “Rockin’ in the Free World”. The scene of Bono and Eddie dancing and exchanging lyrics and Edge and Mike trading solos was incredible, their extended version of the song ended with everyone singing “We love the Edge”. The night came to a close with “All I Want Is You”, the band members leaving one by one with Larry the last to go, playing the drums slower and slower, almost like he didn’t want to finish and the show to come to an end, until he came out from behind his kit to deliver the last words, “See you soon”. Just an amazing night.

SUNDAY: Back at our hotel, poolside, early afternoon, there suddenly appears a man dressed all in black, shades, slicked back hair. Everybody perks up, “Is that him?”, “That’s not him, his hair is too long” and indeed it wasn’t Bono, it was just his decoy. But we’re thinking, if his decoy is here, maybe he is too? Sure enough, about a half hour later, I spot Bono up on a veranda overlooking the pool, sitting at a table, just hanging out with friends. We move to an adjacent room, seeking a chance maybe for a quick hello or photo op, but as he leaves the room he stops just long enough to say hi to a couple of kids and their mom before his bodyguard escorts him over to the elevators.

All in all, a great trip, an incredible show and a few glimpses (some not mentioned) of the people behind the rock stars which I’m glad to say only enhanced my opinion of them.

(photos (c) S. Lawrence/@U2)

The US Leg of the Popmart tour came to an end in Seattle, Washington. As the story goes, Bono had been inspired by the “spirit” (tequila if memory serves me correctly) while in Vancouver a few nights before to do a reverse mohawk, which didn’t look too good. (Let’s face it - even the mullet probably looked better on Bono than a reverse mohawk.)

So, to make peace with his hairstyle, the rest of it came off. Fans in Seattle were shocked to see a bald Bono. For those of us who were there, we couldn’t believe it when fans who saw the show in Vancouver warned us about the new look Bono had. Nice to see that 9 years later, his good friend Gavin Friday has now taken up the shaved head look too.

If you were one of the early risers this morning, you might have noticed that U2.com had been hacked into by “BaGoL” as he gave props to the “all hackerz indonesia” folks. A few hours later, it appears that the site has returned to normal. The fix came quite quickly, so kudos to the team at U2.com for fixing the issue.