February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
After a brief layoff, the band will begin its European tour, which includes a concert at Croke Park on June 24. The exact tour schedule follows, though it’s a good bet that more dates will be added as these sell out.
March 28th San Diego, CA – Sports Arena
April 1st Anaheim, CA – Arrowhead Pond
April 5th Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center
April 9th San Jose, CA – HP Pavilion
April 14th Phoenix, AZ – Glendale Arena
April 20th Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
April 24th Seattle, WA – Key Arena
April 28th Vancouver, BC – General Motors Place
May 7th & May 9th Chicago, IL – United Center
May 14 Philadelphia, PA – Wachovia Center
May 17 & May 18 East Rutherford, NJ – Continental Airlines Arena
May 21 New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
May 24 & May 26 Boston, MA – Fleet Center
Tickets for performances in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia and San Diego will go on sale this Saturday, Jan. 29. Tickets for performances in Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose go on sale this Sunday, Jan. 30, and tickets for New York and East Rutherford go on sale Monday, Jan. 31. Additional on sale dates will be announced in the next few weeks. As on the Elevation Tour, there will be general admission (standing) areas on the floor of each venue, with ticket prices start at $49.50. Call (212) 307-7171 (or your local TM number), or log on to www.ticketmaster.com.
For those of you heading over to Ireland this summer, U2 will play a huge hometown show at Croke Park on June 24. Tickets for the Dublin show go on sale Friday, Feb. 4. For details on purchasing tickets for this show, watch this space or check the band’s official site. www.u2.com.
Despite rumors that fellow Dubs The Thrills would open for U2, support on the tour will be provided by the Tennessee punk-blues quartet, Kings of Leon. Anyone looking for a preview can check out some audio and video samples on the band’s official web site, http://www.kingsofleon.com/kolflash.html.
In more U2 news, Bono scared the bejaysus out of his minders when he ditched his security detail in France last week. Apparently, the singer’s limo got caught in a traffic jam on the way to a NJR Music Awards ceremony, and Bono didn’t want to be late accepting his Special Achievement award. So before anyone could grab him, he jumped out of the car and sprinted across to the red carpet.
One security expert told a French newspaper, “It could have been very dangerous for [Bono] to walk freely through the crowd without any bodyguards.”
Fortunately for the U2 front man, no one was expecting to see Bono quite so up close and personal.
“Happily, no one was expecting him in the crowd,” said the relieved bodyguard. “He managed to reach the ceremony safely [but] it’s very unusual and risky for a star like Bono to act that way.”
Safely inside the Palais des Festival, Bono accepted his award. Addressing the crowd in French, he said, “I’m not from this country but I’ll make a little confession to you – it’s at the Cote d’Azur I feel at home.” Hey wait – I thought that was New York. Or Dublin. Or wherever he lays his hat, I guess.
Briefings
The next time you download a pristine version of “I Don’t Like Mondays,” remember that you owe a silent thank you to a Rat.
Fans of Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats will be relieved to hear that the master tapes of the band’s classic albums have been saved from certain ruin. Riding to the rescue was former Rats bassist Pete Briquette recently discovered them moldering on a shelf at the record label.
The musician told IrelandOnline that his intervention didn’t come a moment too soon.
“The masters were in very poor condition,” he said. “It was important to restore them because that’s the legacy of our body of work.”
American techno rocker Moby has good taste in television. According to Irish actor/comedian Ardal O’Hanlon, the diminutive rocker, who has braved the wrath of Eminem, is a huge fan of “Father Ted.” Ardal, who played dim-witted Fr. Dougal on the show about Irish priests ministering to their flock on the fictional Craggy Island, says that Moby can quote the show, if you’ll pardon the expression, chapter and verse.
The two recently appeared onstage together during one of Moby’s concerts. Ardal told The Sun, “I sang ‘My Lovely Horse’ with him. It was fantastic.” You’re right there, Ted.
Who would have guessed that George Clooney’s Achilles’ Heel would be his spinal column?
The actor had to drop out of the tour promoting his latest release, “Ocean’s Twelve,” due to excruciating headaches and pain in his back. Doctors discovered that Clooney had fluid leaking from his spinal column, and performed an emergency spinal cap procedure.
In slightly happier, if paranoid, Clooney news, IrelandOnline reports that the actor refused to shave his head to play a CIA agent in an upcoming movie. The whisper is that the silver fox is worried that his gleaming locks might not grow back.
I hate to sound cynical, but Irish pop star Brian McFadden seems anxious to escape the ton of negative publicity he’s received following his nasty breakup with soon-to-be former wife Kerry Katona. So he’s looking to bank a little good karma by flying to Sri Lanka to help in the post-tsunami relief efforts.
Following in the footsteps of fellow pop star Ricky Martin, Brian wants to lend his support in a practical way. “There is a lot of aid going out there,” he told the Daily Mirror. “But they are really short of manpower. We could go and do something.”
Brian says one of his prime motivating factors is his affection for the people of the region.
Anyone who saw what happened in Asia will have been touched by it,” he said. “I went to Thailand last year and the people were amazing.”
It’s been 10 years since Oasis’s breakthrough album, “What’s the Story, Morning Glory?,” made a splash on the U.S. record charts, with the hits “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova.” But a decade in the music business is an eon, a full two and a half generations, as measured in High school terms. So it’s no surprise that, while super hot TV drama “The O.C.” will feature the song “Champagne Supernova” in its season finale, the version they’ve chosen is a cover, performed by American indie rockers Matt Pond PA.
This fits in with Noel Gallagher’s recent comments to the press that it was time for Oasis to concentrate on a more mature sound, and leave the posing for the 24-year-olds. He may have a point – apparently, both Virgin Records and EMI/Capitol are vying to sign the band as soon as their contract with Sony Music is up. Which should knock the pout off Liam’s kisser.
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Attention, ladies: cross Colin Farrell off your list of eligible bachelors. The Irish actor still loves the ladies, but says he’ll probably never get married again.
The 29-year-old Dubliner has already tied (and untied) the knot once, with British actress Amelia Warner. The pair eloped to Hawaii in July, 2001, but filed for divorce a scant four months later. And despite his reputation as a lothario, Colin seems to have taken the experience to heart.
“I must have a [bad word] problem,” he told Ananova.com. My last relationship was being married for four months.”
I suppose when one is a jet-setting Hollywood star like Colin, it’s tough to remember all of your romantic liaisons. Even ones that result in bouncing bairns, like the affair he had with American model Kim Bordenave. But look at me, getting off the subject . . .
Colin says that his big problem is he’s too soft-hearted (or something).
“The problem is, I fall in love too easily,” he said. Poor lamb. Poor, hunky, irresistible little lamb.
The creative powerhouse that is Victoria Beckham won’t let a little thing like the lack of a recording contract keep her from sharing her talent with the world. The former Spice Girl plans to channel her muse and write songs for people like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
“I would like to have my songs played on the radio,” Posh told New magazine. “[Even if] they are not being sung by me, at least this way I am still involved.”
There’s no word yet from the pop princesses, but Victoria is bent on making them an offer they just can’t refuse.
“I would even do backing vocals if it was someone like Britney Spears,” she said.
Tis the season for Oscar nominations, and it’s a safe bet that Belfast writer / director Terry George is feeling pretty happy at the moment. “Hotel Rwanda,” for which he co-wrote the screenplay, is up for the awards: Best Actor (Don Cheadle), Best Supporting Actress (Sophie Okonedo) and Best Original Screenplay (George, along with Keir Pearson).
The biggest surprise in the list, which was announced on Tuesday morning, was that Liam Neeson’s critically-acclaimed performance in “Kinsey” was overlooked by the Academy voters. The film seemed like a shoo-in for a rake of Oscar nods, but it squeaked in with just one major nomination: Laura Linney as Best Supporting Actress.
On the other end of the quality scale, contenders for the annual Golden Raspberry Awards were also announced this week. These, um, honors, known as the Razzies, are bestowed upon the worst movies and performances of the year, as chosen by anyone who cares to log on to the group’s official site, www.razzies.com.
Leading this year’s group of nominated films is Halle Berry’s “Catwoman,” (seven nods) which most critics dismissed as, well, a cat-astrophe. In second place is Oliver Stone’s sand opera, “Alexander,” which clocks in with six Razzie nominations: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Colin Farrell), Worst Actress (Angelina Jolie), Worst Supporting Actor (Val Kilmer), Worst Director (Stone), and Worst Screenplay (Stone again).