U2’s Bono gives ‘freedom’ concert in Kyiv metro

KYIV — Irish rock group U2’s frontman Bono and his bandmate The Edge performed a 40-minute concert in a metro station in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Sunday and praised Ukrainians fighting for their freedom from Russia.

“Your president leads the world in the cause of freedom right now… The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you’re fighting for all of us who love freedom,” Bono told a crowd of up to 100 gathered inside the Khreshchatyk metro station. He was referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, pressing towards Kyiv before withdrawing its forces from near the capital at the end of March to concentrate its firepower on eastern Ukraine.

“I am grateful to [Bono, U2] for supporting our people and drawing even more attention to the need to help our people,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

Russia, which calls its action in Ukraine a “special military operation,” continues to carry out missile strikes across Ukraine. However, some life has returned to Kyiv even though air raid sirens sound regularly.

Bono rallied the crowd between songs during his performance.

“This evening, 8th of May, shots will ring out in the Ukraine sky, but you’ll be free at last,” he said. “They can take your lives, but they can never take your pride.”

-reuters

Bono salutes journalists, activists, volunteers at 2019 Philippine concert

MANILA, Philippines — Irish rock band U2 has honored Red Cross volunteers, journalists and activists at the Philippine leg of their world tour, "The Joshua Tree Tour" promoted by MMI Live and held in Philippine Arena in Bulacan.

During the concert, frontman Bono asked concertgoers to include volunteers, journalists and activists in their prayers. In a Zipline press conference the other day, Bono shared that his concert was free for Red Cross volunteers and if not a singer, he would probably be a journalist.


“Red Cross is in the house tonight, volunteers. Let’s keep them in our prayers, the ones who keep us safe from physical harm,” Bono said.

“Also in our prayers, let’s keep the journalists, the truth-tellers, the activists who keep this country spiritually safe. We salute you. Truth-tellers, everyday heroes. Let’s see our lights, let’s see out stars in the middle of the sky,” he added.

Bono's statement comes on the same day it was reported that government officials and uniformed personnel were linked to at least 69 attacks and threats against journalists recorded since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office, according to a report of a network of media organizations.



U2, composed of Bono, guitarist David Evans, bass Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr, was in the country for the first time since the band started in 1976.

Bono thanked Filipinos for their patience as they played the band’s greatest hits in four decades, including, “With or Without You,” “Bullet the Blue Sky,” “Desire,” “Elevation,” “Where The Streets Have No Name,” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” to name a few.

“Thank you, Manila for your patience. I know it’s taken a while getting in the arena tonight. It took us four decades, but we feel very welcome. And this is for sure gonna be the best show we ever play in Manila,” Bono said.

source: philstar.com

Apple helps iTunes users delete free U2 album

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple on Monday began helping people boot U2 off their iTunes accounts after a cacophony of complaints about not wanting the automatically downloaded free album by the Irish rock band.

U2 performed at the close of an Apple event last week marked by the unveiling of new large-screen iPhones, a smartwatch from the California company, and word that free copies of the band’s new “Songs of Innocence” album were instantly delivered to the more than half-billion iTunes accounts around the world.

The musical gift hit a sour note for iTunes users to took to social media to complain about precious iPhone storage space being taken up by a digital album they didn’t want and couldn’t figure out how to get rid of.

“If you would like U2′s Songs of Innocence’ removed from your iTunes music library and iTunes purchases, you can choose to have it removed,” Apple said at a freshly launched SOI Removal web page that let people delete the album with a click of an on-screen icon.

Apple warned that once “Songs of Innocence” was removed, it could not be gotten back free of charge.

“I managed to delete U2 off my iPhone. It’s a beautiful day,” one Twitter user said in a message playing off a verse from one of the band’s hit songs.

The digital album was made available free to anyone who has, or opens, an iTunes account by October 13.

U2 used the Apple event stage at a performing arts center near the iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Macintosh computer maker’s headquarters in the city of Cupertino to release their new album.

U2 frontman Bono described the album, the band’s first since “No Line on the Horizon” in 2009, as deeply personal and called the release “instant gratification.”

U2 — who released some of the most acclaimed albums in the 1980s including “The Joshua Tree” and “Rattle and Hum” — could have expected major sales for a new album.

While Apple did not disclose financial arrangements for the free release, U2 has collaborated for years on products with the company.

source: interaksyon.com

U2 rolls back next album to 2015: report

LOS ANGELES | U2 are pushing back the release of their 13th album to 2015 despite a new single and many high-profile media appearances, music industry journal Billboard said Friday.

Citing anonymous sources, it said the Irish mega band fronted by Bono has scheduled additional sessions with producers Ryan Tedder and Paul Epworth, although Danger Mouse remains the project’s central producer.

“It seems to be taking longer for them to finish an album as they get older, but the great thing about U2 is that the whole of a record is always better than the sum of its parts,” Billboard quoted a source close to the project as saying.

“That magic that the band always seems to capture … they have yet to capture it.”

Billboard also reported that a U2 tour that would have been announced this month, and would have kicked off in September, has also been rolled back to next year.

Since the start of this year, U2 has played at the Golden Globes as well as on “The Tonight Show” on the night Jimmy Fallon took over as its host on NBC.

The group also rolled out their latest single “Invisible” during American football’s Super Bowl, in a tie-in with Bank of America to raise funds for the AIDS charity Red.

source: interaksyon.com