I took a pause today while working on my “Ecce Bono” presentation for next week’s Fandom and Religion Conference, in which I plan to talk a lot about Bono the artist and the art of U2, and yes, Bono’s HMTMKMKM rebuttal to, oh, tens-of-thousands (?) of 1980s fans — “They don’t know what you’re doing / Babe […]
Author Archive | calhouns
U2’s History of Activism in New Book
The World and U2: One Band’s Remaking of Global Activism presents and examines the band’s evolution as activists, its influence on activism, and the critiques that have emerged in response to U2’s work. It’s by Alan McPherson, professor of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma. I’ve read it and it strikes me as […]
Adam Clayton: “We Might Not Want to Connect With Other People.”
There’s a lot I enjoyed in Steven Hyden’s interview with Adam Clayton for Grantland, which Hyden embedded in his review of the start of the tour in Vancouver and his analysis of the highs and lows of U2’s career thus far. For example, point to Hyden for thinking of Proust when thinking of Bono: Here’s a […]
Stocki Reviews I+E Opening Night From 4400K Miles Away
Talk about having vision over visibility! Steve Stockman weighs in on opening night … from Belfast.
Steve Lillywhite Remembers Windmill Lane
As fans say goodbye to the original Windmill Lane Studios, which is being demolished this week to make way for new developments, U2’s first producer Steve Lillywhite, who recorded U2’s first three albums there, shared his farewell too, as told to @U2 a few days ago: Windmill Lane was an average rock studio at best, […]
This is NOT a stage design for U2’s tour
If you saw a post on Facebook, or perhaps in a forum, about what U2’s stage will look like and what sort of experience to expect in the arena for this year’s Innocence + Experience tour, don’t believe it. As far as we know here at @U2, no one is sharing reliable facts just yet about what’s […]
U2 School For The Whole Family
Here’s a great way to learn about U2 and many of the other great rock acts of all time in Jason Hanley’s new book, Music Lab: We Rock! This “Fun Family Guide for Exploring Rock Music History” has 52 labs — one for each week of the year — and concludes, most appropriately, with U2. Each lab, […]
Bono Whispers “The Darkest Midnight”
That’s a traditional Irish carol Bono is whispering on Michael W. Smith’s new Christmas album. “The Darkest Midnight” is from a collection called the Kilmore Carols, from the village of Kilmore in County Wexford. The song’s official title is “On Christ’s Nativity,” and while versions of the poem differ, it typically runs many verses long. Bono speaks […]
“North Star” Jack Heaslip Writes In New Book
The first thank you in the notes for Songs of Innocence is “to Jack Heaslip, our North Star.” We don’t hear much from Heaslip, but he’s been a constant presence in U2’s life since meeting the boys when they were high schoolers at Mount Temple Comprehensive School and he was working there as a guidance counselor and […]
Steve Stockman’s Not Invisible in Ohio This Week
Steve Stockman lands in the U.S. this week for his 2014 Midwest tour starting Wednesday evening, March 26, at the University of Dayton. U2 fans may know his name-he’s the author of Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2, an engaging, entertaining, and informative look at how U2 have let their faith and their art […]