U2 And NASA Create Video To Celebrate Collaboration

NASA and U2 released a commemorative video highlighting a year's worth of collaboration in space and on the Irish rock band's 360 Degree tour. U2 approached NASA in 2009 with an idea to include a dialogue between the band and the crew of the International Space Station during U2's world tour.

Can a Rock Band Change the World?

U2’s Bono performs at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain. Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

By Jeff Keuss, SPU Associate Professor of Christian Ministry

When we hear the blending of music that matters and music that moves us, we do more than listen. We ask questions that are at the core of our identity. Rock music is often discounted in theological circles as mere distraction from what we are called to be and do in the name of Christ. Music that does nothing more than make people fantasize about becoming rock stars is a good example. But when we hear music, regardless of genre, that calls out the “Better angels of our nature” and causes us to reflect on our core vocations — as spouses, parents, leaders — then we need to inline our ears and consider what is going on in that music.

Lead singer of the Irish rock band U2, identified U2’s goal in a 1981 interview in Rolling Stone magazine. He said the band sought to move beyond “punk rock” and re-establish rock and roll as a vehicle for people to think about their actions in relation to one another:

“The idea of punk at first was, ‘Look, you’re an individual, express yourself how you want, do what you want to do,’” Bono told the reporter. “Kids were sold the imagery of violence, which turned into the reality of violence, and it’s that negative side that I worry about. … We want our audience to think about their actions and where they are going, to realize the pressures that are on them, but at the same time, not to give up.”

As a band whose career has charted countless No. 1 hits and filled stadiums with fans of all ages for three decades, U2 has certainly earned a place in the history of rock and roll as one of the most successful rock acts ever. But can a rock band, to borrow Seattle Pacific University’s vision statement, move beyond fame to truly “engage the culture and change the world” as Christ would have us do?

Eugene Peterson, Seattle Pacific alumnus of 1954 and author of The Message, thinks so. In a foreword to Get Up Off Your Knees (Cowley Publications, 2003), a collection of sermons inspired by the music of U2, he wrote: “Is U2 a prophetic voice? I rather think so. And many of my friends think so. If they do not explicitly proclaim the Kingdom, they certainly prepare the way for that proclamation in much the same way that John the Baptist prepared the way for the kerygma [preaching] of Jesus.”

While it is true that U2 is a band where three of the four members are self-described Christians, they are not a “Christian rock band” in the sense that we would understand in the States. They prefer to compete in the public marketplace, not preach to the choir. That impulse motivates imaginative and compelling lyrics at the symbolic intersections of faith and apathy, hope and despair, love and betrayal, grace and damnation. And that impulse reminds us that true leaders speak without boundaries.

If U2’s early albums (War, 1983; and The Unforgettable Fire, 1985) were about kerygma — getting the word out — and their later albums (Achtung Baby, 1992; Zooropa, 1993; and Pop, 1997) were about the musical form of that kerygmatic vision — R&B, Euro pop, retro disco, electronica — then their latest CDs have been about putting it all together.

The years after Zooropa and Pop have been enlivened by Bono’s renewed passion for the social gospel, only hinted at during the mid-’80s by his now-famous cry “Thank God it’s them instead of you” in Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Today U2’s music challenges people to stand up from their comfortable lives and look into the eyes of the oppressed, who were the concern of Jesus’ ministry.

Through decades of conversations with some of the greatest activists, economists, and political leaders of the 20th and 21st centuries — Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II, and Mother Teresa, among others — Bono has made overcoming debt for developing countries a mandate for his life. That vision began with Live Aid in 1985 and Bono’s 1986 trip to work with various development organizations in Ethiopia with his wife, Alison Stewart.

Taking seriously the commission of Leviticus 25:10 — “Proclaim liberty throughout the lands and to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you” — Bono became actively involved with such programs as Drop the Debt, End AIDS Now, and Jubilee 2000 and galvanized a vision of responsive activism that brought secular and Christian groups together rather than letting them remain sectarian. Today he is co-founder and spokesperson for the ONE campaign, one of the most influential anti-poverty and debt-relief organizations committed to collaborating with the private sector, faith-based organizations, and government agencies.

For theologians, one indication of what a church values is the way in which a community of faith worships together. Similarly, transformational leaders gather people together in ways that exemplify what they value and seek to embody. From their earliest concerts, U2 has seen the gathering of people as an opportunity to invite people into causes larger than the music and spectacle of typical rock shows.

During the 1983 “War” tour, members of the band waved a white flag to challenge their audience to look beyond mere nationalism and embrace a larger humanitarian spirit. And during the 2005 “Vertigo” tour, thousands of lit cell phones texted support for African relief work through the ONE campaign. Now, during the current 360° tour, audience members line the stage choosing to wear a mask with the face of the imprisoned Burmese Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi during the song “Walk On” as a sign of solidarity, demonstrating how U2 has continued to lead its fans into acts of selflessness and social action that many churches would do well to emulate.

The closing tracks of U2 albums usually function as benedictions and “songs of sending” — an overt turn to the liturgical and a direct assessment of Christendom and the Christ that can sometimes get lost within it.

Whether it is the direct biblical quotation in “40” from War, or the reframing of Pilgrim’s Progress for the e-generation in “The Wanderer” from Zooropa, or the whispering cry of the Psalmist in “Wake Up Dead Man” from Pop, or the call of grace from All That You Can’t Leave Behind — U2 continues to draw its productions to a close with an invitation to something more, more than words and music can convey. This is continued in How to ​Dismantle an Atomic Bomb with the final song “Yahweh”:

Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don’t make a fist …

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I’m waiting for the dawn

The band became superstars in the late ’80s singing about the already-but-not-yet character of God’s reign in “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and they now seem to rest in the assurance that amidst the uncertainty and pain in this life, to paraphrase Rattle and Hum, Love has indeed come to town, and for now maybe that is what we need the most. As Bono sings in “A Man and a Woman” from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb:

You can run from love
And if it’s really love it will find you
Catch you by the heel
But you can’t be numb for love
The only pain is to feel nothing at all
How can I hurt when I’m holding you?

Bono once asked Christian songwriter Michael W. Smith if he knew how someone could dismantle an atomic bomb — a question that would lead to the title of U2’s 2004 album. After Smith replied that he didn’t, Bono simply answered, “Love. With love.”

And this is what U2 has given us as probably the highest watermark for transformational leadership — that in the end, the world will change when we truly learn to love it as Jesus did. Jesus did not call us to evoke change through willpower or blind agendas. Rather, akin to St. Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13, change will come when we realize that of all virtues a leader can offer us, the greatest of these is love.

View a video of Keuss' Day of Common Learning presentation at iTunesU.

Is Bono the Most Popular Man in the World?

What should we make of Bono, who uses his immense platform to highlight social justice issues? Is he a hero or a hypocrite?

The money results are in from Pollstar, the concert industry tracking publication, about the financial success of bands touring the United States in 2009. And the numbers are mind-boggling. In just 20 days, U2, led by the compelling front man and world-wide personality brand Bono, brought in $123 million at the box office, selling 1.3 million tickets in huge stadiums in just 16 cities. So each night, the U2 360° concert raked in an average of $7.7 million. If you do the math, that works out to about $95 a ticket (of course, that's before the massive reselling and scalping).

The U.S. tour was but one piece of a larger "360-degrees" global tour that will continue well into 2010, and will likely surpass the $389 million that U2 raked in from its 2005-2007 Vertigo tour, which is second only to the Rolling Stones' "A Bigger Bang" trek. Billboard reports that U2 "toured Europe in July and August, the U.S. in September and October for a total of 40-45 shows this year." There are plans for "more stadiums in America in June and July next year, then August and September in Europe. The trek then tentatively will hit South America in the fall of 2010, for potentially as many as 90-100 shows over the next two years."

Bono and U2 blew other U.S. touring groups out of the water. Theirs was the only tour going over the $100 million mark, as concert revenue increased across the board, despite the recession. It seems that no matter what, music fans will find the dough to hear live music. Second on the Pollstar list was Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street band, which took in almost $95 million, but that was in 58 shows, under $2 million a show compared to the $7.7 mil for U2. Third, if you really want to know, was the irresistible combo of Billy Joel and Elton John, grossing $88 million; the Piano Man meets "Candles in the Wind."

Is there any other human being/band who could attract the kind of attention and money in the U.S. as Bono and U2 did over such a short period of time? The only possibility that comes to mind is the Pope, who of course draws huge crowds to stadiums in his very infrequent visits to the States.

Of course, those people can see the Pope for free. Could the Pope fill 82,000-seat stadiums at almost $100 a head and often much more? I doubt it. But we'll probably never find out, since it would be un-Popelike to charge big bucks.

So, absent any other competitive nominees, I have to conclude that Bono and his three U2 cohorts sit at the pinnacle of global visibility and popularity. Since the Bono brand is wrapped up in political and social messaging, what does U2's popularity mean? Does it translate to the ability to exercise power and create change? What is the relationship between fame and influence? Needless to say, I don't have the answers to those questions, which will be debated for a long time.

On the Front Lines

Thanks to my friend Erin, I was fortunate to see U2 in action at the ancient Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, in late October and even to be front-row in the stands (a real privilege, I know, and I am humble). I felt the awe of the spectacle. I loved hearing many classic U2 songs. And the show was impressive -- by far the most ambitious construction of a rock concert site, with giant screens and stage innovations designed to blow one's mind. As noted on the band's Web site, "With a cylindrical video system of interlocking LED panels, and a steel structure rising 150 feet from the floor over a massive stage with rotating bridges, the band has truly created a intimate 360 experience for concert goers." The whole shebang reportedly required 200 trucks and some 330 people to construct, and presumably a lot of those millions of dollars were paid out in expenses to produce the monster. Bono probably had more success in putting Americans to work than the TARP funds. But the sheer enormity of the thing also made U2 vulnerable to criticism ... more about that in a second.

The most moving portion of the concert was near the end, when a gaggle of Amnesty International volunteers came onto the stage in a long processional, each holding a mask of Aung San Suu Kyi, the long-imprisoned leader of Burma. The procession was accompanied by a stirring video and exhortations from Bono himself. Freeing Aung San Suu Kyi has been one of U2 and Amnesty's major causes, positioning them at the forefront of international politics while at the same time sadly underscoring their political impotence.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 19 years, with no end in sight. As Bono says, "Her crime is that if she were to participate in elections, she'd win ... We must not stand by as she is silenced again. Now is the time for the UN and the entire international community to speak with one voice: Free Aung San Suu Kyi." But despite the spotlight shone by Bono, Burma's oppressive regime doesn't seem to be budging. The awareness of many millions of concertgoers has not changed the reality in Burma. True, ridding the world of the brutal military junta is not an easy problem to solve. And not a goal the U.S. has been successful at either, although there is some question as to how hard our government has tried, given China's close relationship with Burma and need for its energy resources.

As for the concert's extravagance, as AlterNet's Vanessa Richmond wrote, "Ironically, U2 is outspoken about their commitment to the environment, but carbon output of their tour this year is far bigger even than Madonna's high-maintenance carbon-heavy tour. U2's carbon emissions will equal that of 90,000 people flying from Dublin to London, and are equivalent of the waste created by 6,500 average British or Irish people in an entire year (equal to leaving a standard 100 watt light bulb on for 159,000 years). To offset this year's carbon emissions, U2 would need to plant 20,118 trees." Before the tour began, "Live Nation, the producers of the U2 360° Tour, confirmed their commitment to producing the largest concert tour in history in an environmentally responsible manner with a goal of balancing the tour's direct carbon footprint through a comprehensive reduction and offset strategy."

I wonder if they are going to plant those 20,118 trees?

U2 has also been criticized for their decision several years back to move their assets to the Netherlands in order to take advantage of the country's lower tax rates; it seemed Bono, a longtime anti-poverty advocate, preferred a more regressive system of taxation when it came to the band's own earnings.

More recently, Bono drew the ire of net neutrality activists with an op-ed that slammed file-sharing and seemed to suggest online content should be policed. Blogger Cory Doctorow had this to say in response, according to BBC News: "If only greed and ignorance could sequester carbon, Bono could FINALLY save the planet."

So in the end what do we make of Bono? He continues his strong alliance with Amnesty International, while his ability to converse with and in some cases convince world leaders to shift policy (on Third World debt for example) is widely recognized ... and publicized. On the other hand, as the London Times noted in 2007, Naomi Klein, "the poster girl of the anti-globalization movement," attacked "the Bono-isation of protests ... which has reduced discussion to a much safer terrain." Klein called Bono's Make Poverty History campaign "the stadium rock model of protest -- there's celebrities and then there's spectators waving their bracelets. It's less dangerous and less powerful [than grassroots street demonstrations]."

Klein has a point. People talking, reading and thinking about change are not as productive as people actually creating change. On the other hand, I don't come to bury Bono. When all is said and done, I'd rather have him up there exhorting the crowd than Mick Jagger or Dave Matthews, for that matter. In the end, Bono is probably a positive force. The more educated and aware people are, the more chance there is for change. U2 makes so many people feel happy and positive -- even those in the nosebleed section, the uncomfortable but still pricey seats at the top of the stadium. That is no small thing in this period of high unemployment, underwater mortgages and onerous student loans.

U2 tour tops annual rankings in North America

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U2 may have suffered disappointing sales for their new album, but the Irish rockers were easily the most popular draw on the North American concert circuit this year, according to data issued on Wednesday.

The band sold $123 million worth of tickets to its stadium tour, while Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band came in second with $94.5 million, said trade publication Pollstar.

Among all-time tours, the U2 trek ranks at No. 5, Pollstar said. The Rolling Stones hold the record with $162 million from their 2005 outing. U2's 2005 tour is No. 3 on the all-time list with $138.9 million.

Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni said the overall concert business bucked the recession, mirroring a similar phenomenon at movie theaters. He said most people go to only one or two shows a year, and are willing to pay a premium for good seats.

U2 hit the road to promote its latest album, "No Line on the Horizon," which failed to generate any hit singles and sold a relatively modest 1.06 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Pollstar said the band played to 1.3 million people at 20 shows on the North American leg of its world tour, and charged an average of $93.77. The average price on the band's 2003 tour, when it played 78 shows, was actually higher at $97.

Piano men Elton John and Billy Joel's latest co-headlining stint came in at No. 3 in 2009 with $88 million, followed by rehabbed pop princess Britney Spears at No. 4 with $82.5 million, and hard-rockers AC/DC at No. 5 with $77.9 million.

Country star Kenny Chesney made the top 10 for the sixth consecutive year, landing at No. 6 in 2009 with $71.1 million.

As in years past, veteran rockers dominated the rankings, in part because they are able to charge more than developing acts. But the fresh-faced Jonas Brothers made No. 7 after selling $69.8 million in tickets to their young fans.

Fellow Disney star Miley Cyrus was No. 13 with $45 million, and country-pop starlet Taylor Swift was No. 35 with $25.5 million. Bongiovanni said he expected Swift to make the top 10 next year on the heels of a three-month North American tour that kicks off on March 4.

The top 10 was rounded out by the Dave Matthews Band at No. 8 with $56.9 million, Fleetwood Mac at No. 9 with $54.5 million, and Metallica at No. 10 with $53.4 million.

Art of the Highest Order: Robert Hilburn Reflects on U2

Robert Hilburn was an influential music editor and critic for the Los Angeles Times from 1970-2005. He left the newspaper to write books -- the first of which is the newly released Corn Flakes with John Lennon And Other Tales from a Rock N' Roll Life.

He recently spoke with @U2's Tassoula Kokkoris via e-mail about the book and his time with U2.

TK: Bono wrote a wonderful introduction for you in this book. Tell me about how he was chosen for the job.

RH: I was so touched by what Bono wrote. I asked him to write the introduction because I have probably spent more hours talking to him about music as just about any other artist I've ever written about -- not only hours during interviews but in wonderful "talks" after the formal interviews were over. I also was impressed by how eloquent he was in giving induction speeches for such artists as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Marley at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame dinners.

TK: After seeing U2 perform at the LA Sports Arena on the War tour, you may have saved Bono's life with something you said in your Los Angeles Times review. You wrote, "When you have music as exciting and purposeful as U2, you really don't need a sideshow as well, especially a potentially dangerous one." This was in reference to him climbing the scaffolding at their shows, and following your review, he promptly stopped. As someone who had their life transformed by U2's music, I sincerely thank you for writing that. Furthermore, it seems that Bono has taken your advice to heart over the years. If you could give him one piece of advice right now, what would it be?

RH: That's a great question and I have a funny answer for you. One of the only reasons I felt bold enough to offer suggestions to Bono, both in print and in person, was that I met him so early in his career and he was so much younger than me. So I was often just trying to pass on advice about things I had seen go right or wrong in other artists’ careers. But then there was a point a few years ago when I did a short interview with him in Los Angeles. It was after the G8 concerts, which were designed to encourage wealthy nations to excuse the debts of third world countries. I had been so impressed by what he did in helping spearhead that cause and with the way he and the band had tried to reach out and comfort the nation in U2's post-9/11 tour. As he walked away that day, I looked at him and felt humbled. I realized how much he had grown since our first meeting in Los Angeles and how he was now leading us all. So, I'm looking to him for answers now. I think I've run out of advice -- other than keep respecting the music. I think "Moment of Surrender" was one of the best things U2 has written -- and a reassuring sign that he and Edge and Adam and Larry do continue to respect the music.

TK: Looking back on their entire catalog, what do you think is U2's strongest album? Why?

RH: I hate to say The Joshua Tree because it was so long ago -- and the band has done so much great work since then. But Joshua Tree was the moment where everything came together for the band -- the kind of explosion of heart and head and spirit that only happens once in a career. The Joshua Tree simply has the most memorable songs. As Bono has said, it truly feels that God is walking through the room when U2 performs "Where the Streets Have No Name," and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is as compelling an anthem. At the same time, look at the other great songs -- and the range of emotions involved: "With or Without You" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" and "Running to Stand Still." Those are simply art of the highest order.

TK: Like most critics who interview U2, you seem to have spent the most time with Bono. Were there any memorable moments with the other three band members that you would like to share?

RH: I am very fond of everyone in the band. Edge is soft-spoken, but very smart, and it's good to see him becoming more visible, both in interviews and in such projects as the film It Might Get Loud. Adam has a wonderfully wry sense of humor and an interesting, independent look at the band and its history. Larry couldn't care less about interviews or the whole "celebrity" side of rock, but I enjoy talking to him because he speaks from the heart. What especially impresses me is that each has his own "take" on things. With most bands, the members seem, either consciously or subconsciously, to answer questions in the same way -- almost as if there is a party line. But each member of U2 speaks more independently so that each one adds to your understanding of the band and how it works. One thing I've found interesting being in the studio with U2 on occasion is how it's not Bono -- as many might suspect -- calling the shots. It's very much four people at work. For instance, I've seen Bono be extremely nervous when singing some new lyrics in the studio. At the end, he turns to the others for their thoughts. It's very much a group at work.

TK: The music industry hasn't adapted very gracefully to the advances in technology. Where do you see the future of music shifting both creatively and technologically?

RH: I have no idea where music is going and I have even less idea what rock's role will be in that music. At present in America, rock 'n' roll has become very much a minority sound. There are many great young bands, such as Arcade Fire, but they only speak to a small fraction of the music world because most of the media and audience are caught up in what I'd call the American Idol/Celebrity complex. American Idol may be entertaining television, but it has been horrible for the health of pop music because it is not producing great, revolutionary talents. It is producing very limited, mostly mediocre artists and those artists are dominating the charts. A friend of mine, who is head of one of the most powerful record labels in America, said the music industry comes up with about four "breakthrough" acts a year and, for various reasons, three of those acts are going to be American Idol related because radio plays those acts and media writes about them. If Bruce Springsteen came along today, the executive continued, he doesn't know what he could do with him because there's no window of opportunity for that kind of artist. I worry that he could have said the same thing about U2. Until the mass music audience starts demanding substance and passion and commentary again, pop music -- in terms of mass social impacts -- seems like it is very marginal.

TK: Do you think new bands like U2 have a place in this changing industry?

RH: Obviously U2 still has a place in the changing industry because they reached a mass audience back in the days when the pop music world was open to such artists. But when you say "new bands like U2," the answer may be far different. I'm not sure great young bands can build enough of a pop consensus to reach the level of a U2. I think the White Stripes (or Jack White) is one of the most exciting forces ever in rock and the Stripes (and White) are still, in many ways, an underground band. The same for Arcade Fire and Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst). There is great young talent, but it's not reaching the same mass of people as great bands in earlier eras. I've also been impressed by what I've heard from Muse, Glasvegas and the Avett Brothers, among many.

TK: Are there any bands out there today that have the potential to become the next U2?

RH: I don't know about being the next U2. Coldplay clearly wants to be and they've made remarkable strides in building an audience in this difficult time for rock, but they have to give us a Joshua Tree before we can even begin to talk about them in U2 terms.

TK: Where do you see U2 10 years from now?

RH: I hope they'll be doing great work, and I think No Line on the Horizon is a sign that they will be doing just that. I felt No Line was a difficult album in many ways because the themes and ideas were so complex. It wasn't an easy album to digest, but for those who stuck with it, No Line was an extraordinary series of reflections about life in our times.

TK: Throughout your book, the mentions of U2 are fraught with protective worry over one thing or another. In the early days it was Bono's stage antics, in the height of The Joshua Tree fame and even more recently, it was Bono's activism. Have you ever worried this much about any other band? If so, how? Do you have any present-day worries for U2?

RH: I worried at various times about Bruce Springsteen because he, in many ways, was leading the charge in the 1970s at a time when many people in America had given up on rock heroes. So many of the stars from the 1950s and 1960s had either self-destructed or lost their creativity or lost their values that it was hard for anyone to reignite the fire. But Bruce did it and I was worried whether he would stumble at some point -- and he did lose his way, as I explain in the book. I also worried about Kurt Cobain -- someone I thought might be able to have the kind of social impact of a Springsteen or a U2, but was so fragile. And those worries, sadly, proved to be justified. The only danger I see for U2 -- as I said before -- is losing respect for the music and I can't see that happening. They can be a great band for as long as they want to be.

TK: It seems as if you've written about every major music figure worth profiling. Is there anyone out there that you would still like to talk with? Or anyone who has passed away that you regret not interviewing?

RH: I've really been lucky in talking to and, in many cases, building a relationship with most of the important artists of the last 40 years. I wish Hank Williams had lived long enough for me to talk to him...I also wish Elvis Presley had done interviews and that two of my favorites -- Joni Mitchell and Neil Young -- had done more interviews in the 1970s when they were doing such brilliant work. I never interviewed Jimi Hendrix, so he would be high on my wish list.

TK: You seem to have a special fascination with songwriting. Would you consider writing a book just about that process?

RH: I did a series of seven stories for the Los Angeles Times on songwriting... 5,000-word pieces devoted strictly to the process of songwriting, and I just loved the way it turned out. I did separate pieces on Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Lucinda Williams, Merle Haggard, Ice Cube, U2 and one article devoted to both Jack White and Conor Oberst. I've been thinking about doing a few more artists and putting them into a book -- each one expanded to say 7,500 words.

TK: What's next on your list of projects?

RH: Well, I'm thinking about that songwriting book, but I also have a couple other projects in mind. I hope to start on one of them in January.

© @U2/Kokkoris, 2009.

Harvard Business Review: Play On

Play On

Sunday, 20 December 2009 18:11 Jonathan Yip

Music, politics, and celebrity in the age of Bono

Bono jumped eagerly across the stage, swinging his microphone. The Edge launched the guitar intro for "No Line on the Horizon," the drum line paused, and the towering stage lights flashed, and Bono began.

In front of me soared a 160-foot tall, $25 million claw-shaped stage. With a production cost of $750,000 a day, the U2 360° Tour is every bit the dazzling spectacle one expects from the band that will not stop growing. Around me, 80,000 dancing fans had come to worship the only mega-band left. In DC, NYC, and Las Vegas, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Bloomberg, and Bill Clinton have all paid their respects to the tour. Today, U2, like its monstrous stage in Gillette Stadium, straddles our musical-and political-landscape. For the 33-year old U2, there does seem to be no line on the horizon.

Last of the rock stars

Despite a few close brushes with irrelevance, U2 has somehow managed to stay at the forefront of the popular psyche. In an age when the musical scene is fragmented and changeable, U2 continues to leave an outsized footprint on pop culture that neither Coldplay nor Kanye West can approach. This September at Giants Stadium, Bono humbly pointed out that U2 filled more seats than the Pope's mass held there previously.

Why does U2 still have such allure? It is not merely popular music and a brilliant front man, but a reflection of a culture that has allowed U2 to become more than just a band. It has allowed the group to expand out of the musical sphere and into the political, becoming a phenomenon only the 21^st century could have created.

Bono opens for Conservative Party leader David Cameron in the UK. Movie theaters show U2:3D. Ten million people across the globe watch a U2 concert live on YouTube. Bono shared Time's 2005 Person of the Year award with Bill Gates and founded the pervasive Product (RED). U2 has been uniquely poised to breach the crumbling walls between pop culture and policy, cultivating pure cultural power.

"We built this spaceship on rock and roll."

Since its start at an Irish high school in 1976, U2 has always written deeply political songs, from "Sunday Bloody Sunday," commemorating Northern Irish violence, to "New Year's Day," in honor of the Solidarity movement. All the same, though U2 had a big break at Live Aid charity concert in 1985, the first thing that concerned the band and their fans was music.

At the time, no politicians took musicians seriously. There never could have been meetings with senators or working partnerships with Harvard professors, as Bono would later develop with economist Jeffrey Sachs.

During U2's early 90s ZooTV tour, a massive, media-saturated, ironic series of concerts, Bono called President George H.W. Bush on stage every night, knowing full well that he would be rejected each time by the White House.

Bono was making a point: politicians are inaccessible, irresponsible, and worthy of mockery. Musicians and politicians were on opposite ends of the cultural spectrum, never to cross paths.

Walk On

After the relative failure of 1997's Pop, an experimental electronic album, the band seemed to be flagging. Its frontman, in particular, began to explore side projects, eventually latching onto Jubilee 2000, a campaign to lobby for third-world debt relief.

Bono grasped something that would change the way the world dealt with and interpreted fame. He realized that he could deploy his celebrity to galvanize and glamorize almost any issue.

Bono had to prove himself, of course. By all accounts, the frontman is more intelligent than the average pop star. President Clinton once recounted to Time an instance in which the Secretary of the Treasury, Larry Summers, mentioned: "Some guy just came in to see me in jeans and a T-shirt, and he just had one name, but he sure was smart. Do you know anything about him?"

Since then, Bono has founded two successful NGOs, and has been summoned to the White House many times, toured Africa with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, and been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Recently, he has become a popular guest columnist for the New York Times, but also finds common ground with conservatives, often turning to scripture to successfully appeal to President Bush or even the late Senator Jesse Helms.

Bono, after years of concentrated smooth talking and dedication, managed to inject himself into the world of policymaking as a man to be taken seriously. He, unlike almost any other star, has deftly melded the worlds of politics and celebrity, becoming a powerhouse in both, casting aside the convention that once kept them separate.

"Sing with us."

U2 has allowed this passion for politics to pervade its live performances. U2 360° is three parts rock spectacle and one part motivational preaching. From dedicating "Sunday Bloody Sunday" to the Iranian freedom movement, to singing about Aung San Suu Kyi, U2 has become an overtly political band.

By all appearances the audience laps it up. They eagerly text the ONE campaign, sign up at the Amnesty International booth, and cheer for a deposed Burmese leader that most have never even heard of. Some, apparently, are even willing to appear on stage wearing masks with the house-arrested Prime Minister's face.

While Bono and U2 have done a great service by raising awareness for the Millennium Development Goals and Africa's plight, the concert gives the audience good vibrations without actually assigning any real responsibility. At worst, the political content of the performance actually absolves us of action. It's unclear what good it does to have Nobel laureate and real hero, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, tell the audience, while name-dropping the tour, that the "same people who marched for civil rights are the same people who protest Apartheid in South Africa ... are the same beautiful people when I look around this place tonight in 360°." In all likelihood, we are not the ones who fought against apartheid or for debt relief. Praising us for having done nothing seems counterproductive, even duplicitous, but for me or any concertgoer, it is a hard deal to resist. We pay for a concert ticket, listen to our favorite music, and get lavish moral praise for struggles we never participated in.

The tour and band's politics have been stretched so thin it is hard to perceive U2's message as anything more than "doing good." U2, for better or worse, has become diluted beyond recognition, standing only for stardom and righteousness. Perhaps the formula for everlasting relevance is to shed all irony and embrace star power. Bono has developed the perfect celebrity persona for our age: political, passionate, and pervasive. We all want to be a hero and rock star at once: U2 puts us on the stage.

Bono and Edge appearance on Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…

Spin's The 40 Best Albums of 2009 - U2 #32

U2 NO LINE ON THE HORIZON

U2's 12th studio album is their oddest roots move yet -- back to the edgy, old-school new-wave band they never really were. Yet No Line is entirely convincing, with sounds, tones, and textures that wouldn't have sounded out of place in 1983, when the band was at its peak of martial bellicosity. Circa 2009, U2 are more interested in exploring grooves, from the ecstatic foghorn grandeur of "Magnificent" to the metronomic chime of "Unknown Caller." DAVID MENCONI

Spin's 30 Biggest Concerts of 2009 - U2 #8

SOLDIER FIELD, CHICAGO
SEPTEMBER 13

It takes 120 semis to haul the stage for U2's 360 World Tour from town to town, and at the opening date of the U.S. leg at Chicago's Soldier Field, the over-the-top production paid off. The Irish band went out all for their 23-song set, playing their hits beneath an "enormous claw-like structure pierced with a towering, glowing spire hulking over a rotating stage and 360-degree screen," wrote SPIN's Kyle Ryan. "It's precisely the kind of thing that leaves concertgoers staring slack-jawed and primed for the sensory overload the world's biggest band is required to provide."

Time's The Top 10 Everything of 2009 - Top 10 Songs

3. "No Line on the Horizon" by U2

The simplest song on U2's latest album also happens to be the best. "I know a girl," Bono screams on this muscular opener, thrusting us into the familiar cosmos of a U2 hit. There's the martial beat, the fickle female object of desire, the soaring inarticulateness in the bridge — "Ohhhhhh/ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh" — followed by the Edge's chugga-chugga-chugging away on his guitar, chasing Bono up the scale, note for note. The whole thing buzzes from beginning to end, proof that old tricks can generate new thrills.

Rolling Stone's #1 Album of the Year: U2, No Line On The Horizon

Aiming for rock glory, Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. explore dark places ("Moment of Surrender"), find modern twists on their classic anthems ("Magnificent") and uncover blindinglight soul ("Breathe"). The result was an album with a sense of drama that no one could match all year, more proof that a band that isn't busy being born is busy dying.

U2's Rose Bowl show breaks U.S. attendance record

NASHVILLE (Billboard) – It took 22 years, but U2 has broken its own attendance record for the best-attended single concert performance at a U.S. venue by one headliner.

The band's 360 Tour played the Pasadena, California, Rose Bowl on October 25 to a sellout crowd of 97,014 -- the highest attendance on record for one U.S. show by a single headliner based on box office totals reported to Billboard.

The old record was set on September 25, 1987, at the now-demolished John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia with a crowd of 86,145 in attendance for the band's Joshua Tree Tour.

This year's Rose Bowl performance grossed more than $9.9 million, considerably more than the 1987 Philly show, which brought in a mere $1.5 million in ticket sales.

Among the top five single-concert attendances on record in the U.S., the top three are all U2 performances. The third-highest attendance is also from the band's current tour, at its September 29 sellout at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, with 84,754.

Pink Floyd's May 29, 1994, show at the Ohio State University football stadium is in fourth place with 75,250. The Backstreet Boys round out the top five with a sold-out show at the Georgia Dome on February 19, 2000, when 73,337 fans filled the Atlanta stadium to see the pop group's Into the Millennium Tour.

U2's Rose Bowl show excelled in gross ticket sales as well as attendance. With $9.96 million grossed, it is the second-highest-grossing single U.S. concert by a solo headliner. The concert is second only to the Three Tenors' July 20, 1996, sold-out show at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Rolling Stones make up the rest of this top-five list with a Giants Stadium concert of its own on September 15, 2005, a sold-out benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall on March 14, 2006, and an outdoor show at Chicago's Soldier Field on September 10, 2005.

TOP ATTENDANCE AT A U.S. CONCERT BY A SINGLE HEADLINER:

1. U2 - Rose Bowl; Pasadena, Calif. (October 25, 2009) Attendance: 97,014 Gross: $9,960,036

2. U2 - John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia (September 25, 1987) Attendance: 86,145 Gross: $1,593,683

3. U2 - FedExField; Landover, Md. (September 29, 2009) Attendance: 84,754 Gross: $6,718,315

4. Pink Floyd - Ohio State University Stadium; Columbus, Ohio (May 29, 1994) Attendance: 75,250 Gross: $2,406,920

5. Backstreet Boys - Georgia Dome, Atlanta (February 19, 2000) Attendance: 73,337 Gross: $2,787,098

U2 + YouTube = 10 million streams

For a band that has its own 3-D film and is performing under a giant spaceship-like contraption on its current tour, an Internet stream may not seem all that fancy. Yet it certainly proved to be a powerful promotional device.

U2's live broadcast Sunday night of the Pasadena stop on its 360 Tour generated 10 million streams across seven continents, according to a YouTube spokesman. What's more, since being archived on YouTube on Monday, the concert has tallied more than 1 million streams.

Information, however, on the average length of time viewers watched the nearly 2 1/2-hour concert was not readily available. YouTube has also not yet broken the numbers out into individual users.

Now Pop & Hiss is being purely speculative here, but it's probably a safe bet that the latter number was a few million fewer than 10 million, considering the U2 channel on YouTube has generated about 8.4 million views, as of Wednesday evening.

Nevertheless, there's no doubting U2's live draw, both online and in the flesh. The Rose Bowl concert had a crowd of more than 100,000 people, including Rose Bowl staff. The stream was also the largest event in YouTube's history, according to a statement from the company.

Liked what you saw and missed the Rose Bowl concert? U2 will be back in Southern California on June 6, 2010, performing at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Ticket information has not yet been released.

--Todd Martens

U2 @ The Rose Bowl, 10/25/09

"Luckily, we don't believe in luck. Grace abounds!" @ 1:15:45 into the show.

"I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (Renaka Mix)" Live @ Soldier Field; Chicago, IL

How Can You Stand Next To The Truth And Not See It? - U2 at Giants Stadium

Hat Tip - @U2

"We've got a spaceship," Bono said in reference to the massive staging above his head in the center of the stadium, "but we're not going anywhere without you."

He didn't just invite the audience on his otherworldly journey, he also invited Someone Else: at the end of the first song, "Breathe", he closed his eyes and knelt slightly. With one hand holding the microphone and the other palm-toward-heaven, he pleaded, "Spirit breathe."

And like the cool September breeze that gently graced the stadium throughout the show, the Spirit did indeed descend, to transport us to another place.

Several songs into the set, the band performed "Magnificent":

I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn't have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar
Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent‚ Magnificent

My friend Phil was standing next to me. While Bono worshiped using the above lyrics, Phil turned to me and said, "How can people not know what he's singing about?!" I agreed completely.

The next song was Elevation. It's a song that fits the "spaceship" theme: "You make me feel like I could fly, so high, El - eh - vay - shun!" And to make the point even more obvious, Bono looked at the crowd and said, "It's my prayer for you." And at this point in the church service--I mean, concert--I started to think about a question that the band sings in a lyric on the new album:

Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?

Perhaps I'm wrong, and there was no single person in the crowd of 84,000 who didn't "see it" like I was seeing it. Perhaps everyone in the place understood that the spaceship was a cathedral, that the lead singer was a priest, and that the setlist was a liturgy, designed specifically to facilitate an encounter with the God of the Universe.

It couldn't have been more clear than at the end of "One", when Bono sang:

Can You hear us coming Lord?
Can You hear us call?
Feel us knocking
We're knocking at Your door!

When this portion ended, he led us in an a cappella--84,000 strong--version of the hymn "Amazing Grace", which blended into "Where the Streets Have No Name". "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see... I want to run, I want to hide. I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside. I want to reach out and touch the flame, where the streets have no name."

At this point in the evening, Bono was no longer explaining his intention to have us meet God, or to take us away in his spaceship. No, at this point, we were already gone.

We held our arms aloft, reaching out to the touch that flame. And for a second I still wondered if someone could be in that place, standing next to the Truth but not seeing it. But when the next song started I decided to let Bono's question be asked of me, instead of those around me. Was I the idiot going out with Beauty? Was I the one standing next to the Truth but not seeing it?

My answer came in the next song, "Ultraviolet", one of my all-time favorites. I interpret the song to be in reference to Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." God as an ultraviolet light: we can't see it but it illuminates nonetheless. For this song, Bono dressed in a suit of lights. A rope hung from heaven (where the spaceship was now flying) above him, and it too was lit up like John chapter 1. As he hung from the microphone/rope like a drowning man clinging to a lifeline, he sang,

Sometimes I feel like I don't know
Sometimes I feel like checking out.
I wanna get it wrong
Can't always be strong
But Love, it won't be long.

I used to think the chorus "baby, baby, baby‚ light my way" was a plea to some carnal lover. But now I realize that the "baby" is the Christ child, and his enduring love is my only lifeline. "I'm in the black, can't see or be seen. Baby baby baby, light my way." How many times in my life have I gone on thinking I am strong enough? I am capable enough? How many times have I not reached out for that rope of illumination and clung to it, as if my life depended on it? So many times, the Truth is right there, and I don't see it.

The concert ended in surrender. (Where else could it end?) The liturgy was sung:

I've been in every black hole
At the altar of the dark star
My body's now a begging bowl
That's begging to get back, begging to get back
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control

And this is when I stopped noticing the people around me (judging their ability to "see it" or not) and simply focused on my own encounter with Jesus, my own surrendering to him.

At the moment of surrender
Of vision over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me

U2 & Saturday Night Live

U2: coming for the music or the message?

By John Baiata, NBC News’ Senior Editor

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Political activism from rock stars has a long lineage. You can trace it all the way back to George Harrison's "Concert for Bangladesh" in 1972, the "No Nukes" concert in New York in 1979, "LIVE AID" and "We Are the World" in the 1980's, and many more. Today such activism is ubiquitous. Concert-goers are urged to support a wide range of causes, and artists' web sites act as grass-roots organizations for a multitude of high-minded projects.

But no band – and no band leader – embodies this ideal more today than U2 and Bono. The band supports the efforts of Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and the Chernobyl Children’s Project. Bono has used his fame to put considerable pressure on countries to reduce the burden of debt on developing countries and to draw attention to the fight against AIDS in Africa with his RED project.

Evan Agostini / AP

Lead singer Bono of the rock band U2 performs with the band during their 360 world tour stop at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ on Thursday.

U2 was the first big band to play in Sarajevo after the Bosnian war, launched an effort to put thousands of musical instruments back in the hands of New Orleans artists after Katrina, and have been very vocal in their support of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Many of their songs over the years have drawn on socio-political events for inspiration – from the fighting in Northern Ireland to the civil war in El Salvador.

The band’s latest world tour, in support of their most recent album, "No Line on the Horizon," has drawn praise from critics. The tour’s latest stop, at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, sold out for its two nights. With 84,000 attendees per night, that’s more over 160,000 to rally to the cause(s) in just two nights. (According to U2's Web site, they broke every record for attendence in the stadium - breaking the record previously set by Pope John Paul II in 1995.) Do the math for the rest of the tour, and you begin to understand the extent of the band’s reach, and that of others with similar followings.

But what’s the real draw, the music or the message?

For Kevin Sheridan, 37, an advertising salesman from Malverne, N.Y. the two go hand in hand. "I tend to like those (musicians) with a message. Usually the music is better, because it comes from the heart." Sheridan drew the line when it comes to Hollywood, however. "These artists write their own music, which reflects their views, and you know going in where they stand. But I don’t want to be preached to by someone just because they’ve starred in a movie."

Blair Thill, 22, of Little Silver, New Jersey, said Bono’s activism was part of what attracted her to the band to begin with. His involvement in the fight to eliminate AIDS in Africa even inspired her to do a fundraising bake sale during high school in support of the cause. But, she said, "I would venture to say most people are going to this concert for the music, not a social cause."

John Baiata, NBC News

Images of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a song dedicated to her.

Dori Kenyon, 38, a representative for Amnesty International manning one of several booths outside the venue, did not entirely agree. "You get all types. Some people are here because they [U2] have been around for 30 years, and they love the music…There are others who are here because they believe in what we’re doing, and Bono supports that."

Kenyon had made the drive from Lancaster, Pennsylvania with her son because she said, "We have a responsibility to everyone around the globe." She was collecting signatures in support of three causes – a bill guaranteeing maternal health benefits for women in the U.S., a petition urging U.S. lawmakers to deliver a plan that fulfills "the human right to health care," and another urging the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other "prisoners of conscience" in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi was in the spotlight on this night almost as often as the band members.

The group’s Web site encouraged fans attending the show to download and print a mask of her face, and to wear it during their performance of "Walk On," a song written for her. Her image was beamed over the giant video screens above the set as Bono talked about her lengthy detention and fight for freedom.

Her plight was probably news to most in attendance. Not a single fan I spoke to beforehand had even heard of her, and no one visible in the crowd had donned the mask of her image.

Yet all eyes were on Bono as he spoke, and as he sang, in part:

"You could have flown away

A singing bird in an open cage

Who will only fly, only fly for freedom"

South African Bishop Desmond Tutu’s video message to the crowd, which preceded the encores, received a raucous cheer. Tutu reminded the crowd that they were "the same people" who protested for civil rights in America, against apartheid in South Africa and the troubles in Northern Ireland.

John Baiata, NBC News

A video message from Bishop Desmond Tutu preceded the encores.

A few minutes later we were reminded that contributions from Americans to the "ONE" campaign had helped deliver life-saving drugs to 34 million African schoolchildren, along with a couple of other encouraging statistics.

When the concert was over, those in attendance began to file out, talking excitedly about what they’d just witnessed. And while none I heard were talking about Aung San Suu Kyi, they’d all been given a primer as part of the price of admission.

U2 manager delighted to bring stage show full circle

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - As U2 wraps the 2009 dates of its groundbreaking 360 world stadium tour, the band is expected to gross about $300 million and sell about 3 million tickets to fewer than 50 shows.

Rather than a high-end ticket price, the big numbers are more about a unique staging concept that boosts configurations at stadiums, and fans know that U2 is again pushing the production envelope. The tour is in support of the band's latest album, "No Line on the Horizon," and if it isn't scaling the sales heights of previous sets -- since its March release, "Line" has sold 991,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- the band's manager, Paul McGuinness, credits that more to overall market conditions than a decline in the act's popularity.

Though sometimes outspoken about industry issues -- his 2008 MIDEM keynote excoriating the industry for its lackluster response to digital distribution still resonates -- McGuinness is anything but riled as he sits in an office backstage at Chicago's Soldier Field just before U2 went onstage. "What do I possibly have to be pissed off about?" he wonders. Both pragmatist and gambler, McGuinness guides the career of what has become arguably the biggest band in the world, and it has been a banner year for the group he has represented since the start of its career.

Much like the band he represents, McGuinness continually focuses on breaking new ground, and he's constantly looking for new ideas. The 360 tour is U2's first under a new 10-year Live Nation multiple-rights deal. While he doesn't claim to have all the answers, McGuinness is open to new horizons, as evidenced by "the claw," the massive staging concept that makes U2's 360 tour truly an all-encompassing experience.

Billboard: How did the European leg feel to you on this run of the 360 tour?

Paul McGuinness: Incredible. We played to staggering numbers. We've broken records in every building we play because the effect of this production economically is to increase the capacity by about 20 percent routinely. For instance, in Berlin at Olympic Stadium, we held the record already jointly with the Rolling Stones at 70,000. This time I think we put in 90,000. Every building we play we will break whatever record there is there.

Billboard: So you feel good about the live part of U2's business?

McGuinness: Absolutely, because in a way there's a memory in the audience. They've always known that when you come to a U2 show -- even when we were doing theaters -- we would do as much production as we could afford. Once we got into arenas, we loved it -- we always played in the round in the arenas -- so this seems natural to be in the round in the stadiums.

The engineering problems are enormous and costly. We had to find a way for it to be aesthetic and figure out a way of doing video. That cylindrical screen we have -- that didn't exist, we had to get somebody to invent that. We had to design this four-legged thing (the claw) -- and build three of them.

Billboard: How long will it take to get into the black?

McGuinness: When do we hit the break-even point? We haven't hit it yet. But we will sometime between now and the end of this leg.

Billboard: So next year is gravy?

McGuinness: Not exactly gravy, because whether we're playing or not, the overhead is about $750,000 daily. That's just to have the crew on payroll, to rent the trucks, all that. There's about 200 trucks. Each stage is 37 trucks, so you're up to nearly 120 there. And then the universal production is another 50-odd trucks, and there are merchandise trucks and catering trucks.

Billboard: Why do that when you can go out and set up a stage and still play stadiums and be in the black before you reach these shores?

McGuinness: Well, we have been trying to find a way of doing 360 for years. This was not something we decided to do recently -- we just couldn't find a way of doing it. The engineering to build a temporary structure capable of bearing the weight that this carries, hundreds of tons, nobody had come up with a way of doing that. (Set designer) Willie Williams and (architect) Mark Fisher had been teasing at it for years.

The other thing that has come such a long way is the LED technology -- those little guys -- we started the use of them for the industry with the PopMart tour (in 1997), and they weren't completely reliable in those days. We had a lot of technical trouble with that. The kind of modern production style really can be traced back to ZooTV (in 1992), which was a groundbreaking production. Building this cylindrical screen was only made possible by the trellis on which it's mounted, which was invented by this guy named Chuck Hoberman.

The coming together of those LED skills, the engineering skills, the imagination of the band, Mark Fisher, years of talking about this and years of seeing occasionally somebody performing in the round in a structure that would take a week or two to build and a week to dismantle. You couldn't truck it, you certainly couldn't take it up and down in a couple of days. This had to be transportable -- and it is, and it's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Billboard: The fans seem to get it that you're bringing them something they've never seen before.

McGuinness: Each one of these shows there are 10,000 $30 tickets -- so even though the gross is expanded by the increase in the capacity, we see what's happening in the marketplace, people don't have much money. And so worldwide we came to the decision to have really low-priced tickets. We have some expensive tickets, but our expensive tickets are $250; they're not as expensive as the Rolling Stones' or Madonna's most expensive tickets. I think it's a very fair pricing. The scaling of this tour has worked everywhere we've played.

Billboard: Any comment on the state of the music industry right now?

McGuinness: I don't have a recipe for the solution to the woes of the record companies and the recorded side of the music business. It's very, very important, it must be supported. And there are an awful lot of people and an awful lot of industries and individuals -- the telcos, the (Internet service providers), the device manufacturers -- that have enjoyed an absolute bonanza since music went online. And I just think they should feel more responsible out of a sense of fairness to the community of creative people who make that music, which is now in so many cases completely free. Times change, mechanisms for distributing music change. I would like to see a greater recognition of the obligations the tech side of the business have to the writers and musicians.

I've nothing against big companies. Big companies are there to be infiltrated, they want to be infiltrated, they want you to come in and tell them how to do it, what to do. I've never found a big corporation hostile to anything we wanted to do. Similarly with Live Nation -- our relationship is very close indeed. This is our fourth tour with Arthur (Fogel, global music chairman for Live Nation). The first tour we produced and he promoted. The second one he produced and promoted, because that was better. And as (Live Nation) developed their plan to take Live Nation out of Clear Channel I was absolutely behind that, and I'm totally behind the plan to merge Ticketmaster and Live Nation. I think it's very good for the industry.

Click, click: What U2 hears when they hear U2