Results tagged “u2”

Bummed you missed U2 for their recent stint at Soldier Field? Don't worry, Bono + The Boys have scheduled a return trip for July 6, 2010 as they extend their massive tour. With several open days on either side of that date, additional shows are also possible. Tickets will go on sale in November, though specifics haven't been announced. [Tribune]

Were you one of the hundreds waiting to catch a glimpse of rock superduperstars U2 outside of their downtown hotel when they were here over the weekend? See if you can see yourself in this clip.

It seems having one of the biggest rock bands on the planet and thousands of its fan is pretty hard on a stadium's turf. The Bears are busy replacing the sod at Soldier Field ahead of this weekend's home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Resodding the field after the preseason is actually routine, but the team decided to wait until after the U2 concerts this past weekend before going ahead with the sod replacement; the sod being used is a bit deeper so it'll hold better. Meanwhile, Desmond Clark lashed out at the field conditions before U2 ever took the field, concluding a rant about field conditions with, "we have one of the worst fields in the NFL and there are no excuses why the Chicago Bears, of all teams, should have to play on such a bad surface." [Tribune]

Early Bird Lolla tickets aren't the only thing to get your credit cards charged for. Were you one of the many who got shut out in an attempt to score tickets to U2's tour-opening concert at Soldier Field on September 12? Odds are you were as the local Twitterverse and blogosphere is alive with angry rants from people who came out empty-handed while tickets are already all over Craigslist. In what can't be much of a surprise move, the Irish megaultrasuperduperstars have added a second show to their Windy City visit, happening the next night, September 13. The first show sold 65,000 tickets, so expect about the same for show number two. Tickets will go on sale next Monday, April 6, at 10 a.m. via TicketmasterLiveNation, unless you're a member of U2's website fanclub, in which case your presale starts tomorrow. [Sun-Times]

Missed your chance to see U2 sit on a stage and talk a few weeks ago? Never fear as you'll have a chance to see Bono & The Boys actually play on stage when the band opens the U.S. leg of their upcoming 360 Tour on September 12 at Soldier Field. But if you wanna go, get your credit card ready as tickets go on sale Monday, March 30, at 10 a.m. Ticket prices range from $30 - $250 depending on where you want to sit, but general admission tickets on the field are only $55. For more details, check out the bands pretty cool and comprehensive official tour site.

Gosh, the "U2uesday" jokes. It was like the Irish quartet only became richer than most of the world so they'd have the power to physically alter the naming conventions of our work week. A rundown of reactions to Bono, et al's rattle and hum through the local media landscape yesterday, which included a exclusive schmooze event at Metro last night:

WXRT hasn't been shy about promoting today's "U2 Day" on the station, featuring U2-themed events, music, and specials all day. Speculation around where else the megaultrasuperstar band may be appearing in town has been running rampant, however.

• Police responded to a report of gunfire at UIC but didn't find any evidence of a gunman in the neighborhood.
• Former Blago fundraiser and O'Hare contractor Christopher Kelly has been banned from ever doing business with the city again. Booyah!
• Thomas Morphey, the alleged witness in the Stacy Peterson disappearance, has been offered immunity by prosecutors in exchange for his testimony.

                          

After our morning at the Capitol, we made our way over to the Lincoln Memorial for the "We Are One" Concert which was to feature a range of political, celebrity, and musical appearances before an expected crowd of up to 500,000. We were plenty early as we made our way through the masses and it gave us a chance to scan the hundreds of items available to buy from the countless vendors. Shirts, towels, buttons, flags, you name it, it probably has Obama's picture on it and you're going to pay a a lot of pennies for it. Once inside the grounds, we found the press section nestled below the right side of the stage with a nice view, though the set pieces and a jumbotron obscured our view of one of the two onstage podiums as well as the actual Lincoln Memorial, but, still, we weren't complaining. We dodged CNN's John Roberts as he filmed a report from our corral and set up position for the show.

If you're not off to New York for the CMJ Music Marathon, or to Reykjavik, Iceland for the Airwaves Festival this weekend, there's plenty to take in right here on the home turf. There's nary a group of more talented individuals in independent music than Matador Records' New Pornographers. Despite the widely varying solo careers and additional projects of the main dudes, Carl Newman and Dan Bejar (of Destroyer and Swan Lake), and dudette Neko...

Assuming the power comes back on at Schubas by tomorrow evening (and that battle rap isn’t your cup of tea), get ye out to take in the not un-U2-like grandeur of Brighton, MA. Chief songwriter Matthew Kerstein has been a talent to watch in Chicago since his days in Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, and he’s stepped into his creative happy place on Brighton’s debut EP on Loose Tooth Records. The songs are expansive without losing...

We've only cried twice at rock shows. Once was when the Flaming Lips opened for Beck, and something about "Lightning Strikes The Postman" (was it the strobes? the bullhorn? the crowd's empathic explosion? we don't know) caused our tear ducts to let loose and lose control. The other time was Friday's Arcade Fire show at the Chicago Theatre, as we were surrounded by as unlikely a crowd as we ever expected to see rejoicing in...

Hm, mid-February means two things: it's starting to warm up a titch outside, and the city is beginning to simmer in expectation of all those gazillions of bands that will be sweeping through town leading into and out of this year's SXSW next month. This week has a few groups matching that migration pattern as well as some locals (and local labels) just releasing new material for public consumption. Honestly, we've always been slightly suspicious...

While some people are busy wondering if Barack Obama is in fact the Messiah, two of the Chicago Tribune's columnists/bloggers have been attending to some of the would-be next President's more immediate concerns. Eric Zorn has been polling readers all week as to what Obama's campaign theme song should be after mixed reviews of the music selection from his early campaign rallies. His choices so far have been a mix of classic but overplayed R&B...

A local church is replacing traditional hymns with U2 songs to try to "engage young people and encourage social activism." Columbia College is giving college credits for Second City courses. They're also teaching kids how to become hip-hop producers. Only half of the planes leaving or arriving at O'Hare were on time in December. That places O'Hare dead last for the month among the nation's busiest airports. Can't believe we were worse than LaGuardia...

It used to be our fantasy — being a VJ on MTV. We could meet every band. We could go to all the parties, not to mention getting into every concert for free with backstage passes. Sure we’d have to talk to Kurt Loder, but every job has its not-so-glorious aspects. The undying adulation from Bono about our insightful comments regarding the latest U2 album would be enough to get us through those dark times....

If you were having trouble getting into Nordstrom’s this weekend, blame Bono. The U2 mouthpiece and his wife Ali Hewson were in town to sell ridiculously expensive T-shirts in an effort to raise money for the African village of Butha-Buthe in Lesotho, South Africa.

Procrastinating indie kids and drunken Dads throughout the city will look a little down in the mouth this weekend as both the Boy Least Likely To and Jimmy Buffet shows are sold out this weekend. Plus, the lead singer of Snow Patrol lost his voice so their show is postponed as well. But there are still plenty of good shows going on over the next couple of days. But did we miss a memo or...

With Memorial Day behind us and a streak of days breaking 80 degrees, we think we can say summer is on its way. And, nothing says summer in Chicago quite like drinking a $6 margarita overlooking the lake. That’s right, we’re talking about Castaways Bar & Grill, and as crowded and cliché as it might be, it’s a Chicago summertime landmark. If you’ve lived in Chicago for more than a minute, then you undoubtedly...

In an effort to hammer out an extension of the collective-bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union, the NFL extended the deadline 3 more days. Last Thursday was dubbed "Bloody Thursday" and then Sunday was expected to be a day of carnage. We're pretty certain newspapers across the land had U2 song-referencing headlines in the hopper for today's sports sections. Instead, another delay in the opening of the league's financial year allows another...

In one of the biggest upsets at last night’s Grammys, one of Chicago’s most talented artists was robbed of the top honors for his stellar work in the past year. As unbelievable as it might seem, Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones didn’t win the Grammy for Best Polka Album. And Kanye West is gonna have a problem too, ya'll. Unlike last year, we chose not to subject ourselves to the Grammy awards so we’ve been catching up...

Chicagoist looks for any excuse to put off doing actual work. Unseasonal temps certainly fit the bill. So we're spending our day staring out the window and letting ourselves get distracted by:

Last night at the Vic, The Bravery took the stage with their new wavey brand of rock-n-dance. Are they style over substance? Probably, but we also believe that they are just some boys who are having a great time being rock stars and their performance demonstrated that. Sam Endicott spoke before every song to explain what it was about, but the lyrics don’t need much explanation since they’re just not that deep. Before “Tyrant” he...

Tonight is your best chance to see a Big Ass Rock Star kicking around town.

Got a joke for you: what's the difference between God and a wine critic? God doesn't think he's a wine critic. Yeah, we think the joke sucks, too. Anyway with the weather spiraling toward the crisp evenings of autumn and sunsets coming quicker every day a glass of wine is an ideal complement. This weekend the greater metropolitan area will be teeming with wine critics, not to mention the wine curious or those just...

Clear Channel Communications in a move to have more Chicago street cred has renamed their music operations here to Elevated Concerts. Apparently sick and tired of defending their strong arm tactics and monopolistic-like buyouts during the '90s, Clear Channel is trying to get in our good graces by changing their name, not by changing their practices. Chicagoist finds this akin to a murderer changing his name in order to continue killing while on the lam, but that's just us.

Chicagoist has often been accused of rampant snobbery but we’ve got a soft spot for cover bands. As the granddaddy of cover band inspiration gets yet another posthumous tribute, we’re checking out other bands that are walking a mile in another’s shoes.

Chicagoist maintains that both Lester Bangs and the New journalism movement of the 1970s spawned some of the most bloated and least interesting rock writing of the last twenty years; countless imitators took a vital form and sapped all the energy from it with writing that focused on the messenger and not the message. But in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune, music critic Greg Kot and U2 lead singer Bono showed that even when a writer IS part of the story, the revelations that come from such a confrontation between artist and critic and can be vital indeed.

Now that the British consulate has been checked for grenades, the city can be declared safe for our visiting rockers from the British Isles: Coldplay and their older brothers U2.* Since both shows are sold out, you might be looking for some alternatives and Chicagoist is happy to oblige. We’re not really sure what classic post-punk bands are left to reunite at this point. With Gang of Four taking up the cause again and Shellac...

As a Chicago legend received the credit that eluded so many of his forefathers, a former contender for Greatest Band in the World is in danger of becoming the Most Important Band in the World. Last night, Eric Clapton inducted Buddy Guy into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In doing so, he stated that for him, Guy symbolizes “what Elvis probably is for other people" (though we can’t help but think he meant...