U2's Adam Clayton Talks 'Joshua Tree' Tour, 'Songs of Experience'
"I think it's interesting to be able to go back to the Joshua Tree record because when we put that record out and when we were working on it, it was a bleak world in terms of America and the U.K."
"Thirty years ago, The Joshua Tree found common ground by reaching for the higher ground," explains Bono. "This is a tour for red and blue, the coast and the heartland ... because music can pull people together as surely as politics can pull people apart."
We've got the questions, Bono has the answers.
A tour to celebrate an album from 30 years ago? That’s not like U2. Where’d that idea come from?
Haha, nostalgia is a thing of the past, as Edge is always telling me… and it’s true! As a band we are not known for the rear view mirror… I suppose that changed with the writing of Songs of Innocence. It kind of forced us and me in particular to look back. I began to think that indeed the past is a place worth a visit, even if only a fleeting one, as not to spend any time there can really mess with your ability to deal with the future. Not trying to be clever here, just sometimes, to quote one of my favourite writers – Eminem – you’ve got to go back to tidy your room. The Joshua Tree Tour is a recent idea… it started out as us just doing one or two shows, maybe even a festival for fun, but the more we thought about it, the more excited we got, and the more apt the subject matter of those songs felt for these times.
By the way, a lot of fans in South America, in Australia, in New Zealand, in Japan are asking how come Europe and North America get to see U2 again so soon.
It’s not fair… that’s for sure. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the band feel as disappointed as our fans about taking so long to get to some of our favourite places on earth. All I can say is we are working on it! Thanks for being so patient.
You were pretty outspoken politically at those two US shows in September and October. Some people didn’t appreciate an Irish band ‘intervening’ in their election? Will we see more of that in the Joshua Tree tour?
In the US election… as an Irish band, we clearly didn’t have a vote but we had a voice and wanted to use it to speak out against what we thought was runaway rhetoric, dangerous stuff … But in a democracy the people get the last word - and that's the way it should be. I opposed Trump while all the time understanding that many of the people who support him are the kind of people I grew up with, and can see myself in to this day. In my head at least the election result demanded I ask myself several questions:
Am I missing something here? Am I out of touch with American values? Am I out of touch with the American people?
It's clear a giant constituency in the country felt ignored or patronised… they are fearful of the future, as are a growing number of Europeans. I understand and respect that, and I want to try and understand those fears better. Against type, I’m a rockstar who doesn’t like to be surrounded by people who agree with me (at least all the time), which is why I joined a band and I’m still married! Haha
Our audience have always been fiesty, they often disagree with us and each other. I would like to think that everyone who loves their country would feel welcome at a U2 show, however differently they love it. And I think a little humility might be important for me here. I certainly want to understand better what just happened, but I’m going to do that without crossing what are bright lines for me, things like standing against the demonising of immigrants or refugees. I’m Irish for God's sake.
Edge said the world changed irrevocably whilst we were trying to finish off Songs of Experience and that we needed a moment to take that fact in. I think he’s right. He’s also right when he says the reasons our albums have lasted the test of time is, ironically, that the best of them can find a truth in the moment they were made that’s constant in changing times…
As for the Joshua Tree Tour, my hope is that number 1: it is a transcendent night of rock n roll. Number 2, if I were let to have even more lofty ambitions for this rock show, I would love if it became an opportunity for our audience and ourselves to ask the question - what is it these days to be an American or a European?… Thirty years ago, 'The Joshua Tree' found common ground by reaching for the higher ground. This is a tour for red and blue, the coast and the heartland ... because music can pull people together as surely as politics can pull people apart. It’s a great canvas and it would be amazing if it could still be a high voltage meditation on what’s happening now. What happened to Songs of Experience? I thought it was finished? Can we expect it in the current century?
Ha, yes… possibly even this decade. The band have forbidden me from talking about deadlines and release dates. I can tell you that Songs of Experience is a very personal album, but that intimacy still needs the frame of a more anxious edgy world because that is where a lot of people are at this moment…
"Which explains why, for a brand new mix of Red Hill Mining Town helmed by Steve Lillywhite and earmarked for an upcoming release, Bono has gone back to the master and re-recorded his vocal. 'We've also brought out the colliery brass band which was recorded at the time,' says the singer. 'You can't hear it in the original mix.'" http://www.atu2.com/news/mojo-u2-to-release-new-version-of-red-hill-mining-town.html
Me & 8 of my friends flew out to California to check them out I mean the line up was sick but U2 was def one of the bands we wanted to see !!!! So when you look out at that crowd I'm out there somewhere in the mass ...
Apparently they will begin touring SOE early 2018. Wondering where they will go.
Btw, a colleague of mine filmed parts of the New Year's Day video, shot in Sweden. He told me that the guys were afraid of skiing, they wouldn't even try.
Post edited by bluegrace on
Kool Kat Club 1992, Moderna museet 1992, Globen 2012, Friends arena 2014
Me & 8 of my friends flew out to California to check them out I mean the line up was sick but U2 was def one of the bands we wanted to see !!!! So when you look out at that crowd I'm out there somewhere in the mass ...
I was at the Us Festival Heavy Metal day in 1983.....seems like such a long time ago!
i just got it. been in the u2 club for over 15 years and my annual gift always arrives. seems some people on youtube have had this release for awhile. date of the show is sept 29/80 marquee club london. their fan club gift is almost always a++ last ones were the tour posters. which were nice but i'd rather have vinyl! i signed up for vinyl option for next years.
It sounds like you got the gift from two years ago. Maybe U2 also uses mail innovations...
They do, I checked my order, (UPS Mail Innovations) I signed up this year and selected the U2com10 2014/2015: Another Time, Another Place - Double Vinyl (U2CF3112) Gift with my subscription. I was wondering when they were going to start shipping these out.
Me & 8 of my friends flew out to California to check them out I mean the line up was sick but U2 was def one of the bands we wanted to see !!!! So when you look out at that crowd I'm out there somewhere in the mass ...
Boy did McGuiness (in Yanks hat backstage) look young & skinny then.
Just a heads up for US people, soundstagedirect can get you the Joshua Tree vinyl box for just under $160 with the coupon code LP20. Because it's over $99 it's free shipping too. They package well in case you haven't ordered from them before.
Comments
fuck ya
I wonder if they will tag Gloria. Given that Bono loves to tag everything I think yes.
"I think it's interesting to be able to go back to the Joshua Tree record because when we put that record out and when we were working on it, it was a bleak world in terms of America and the U.K."
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/u2-bassist-talks-joshua-tree-tour-songs-of-experience-w462451
We've got the questions, Bono has the answers.
A tour to celebrate an album from 30 years ago? That’s not like U2. Where’d that idea come from?
Haha, nostalgia is a thing of the past, as Edge is always telling me… and it’s true! As a band we are not known for the rear view mirror… I suppose that changed with the writing of Songs of Innocence. It kind of forced us and me in particular to look back. I began to think that indeed the past is a place worth a visit, even if only a fleeting one, as not to spend any time there can really mess with your ability to deal with the future. Not trying to be clever here, just sometimes, to quote one of my favourite writers – Eminem – you’ve got to go back to tidy your room. The Joshua Tree Tour is a recent idea… it started out as us just doing one or two shows, maybe even a festival for fun, but the more we thought about it, the more excited we got, and the more apt the subject matter of those songs felt for these times.
By the way, a lot of fans in South America, in Australia, in New Zealand, in Japan are asking how come Europe and North America get to see U2 again so soon.
It’s not fair… that’s for sure. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the band feel as disappointed as our fans about taking so long to get to some of our favourite places on earth. All I can say is we are working on it! Thanks for being so patient.
You were pretty outspoken politically at those two US shows in September and October. Some people didn’t appreciate an Irish band ‘intervening’ in their election? Will we see more of that in the Joshua Tree tour?
In the US election… as an Irish band, we clearly didn’t have a vote but we had a voice and wanted to use it to speak out against what we thought was runaway rhetoric, dangerous stuff … But in a democracy the people get the last word - and that's the way it should be. I opposed Trump while all the time understanding that many of the people who support him are the kind of people I grew up with, and can see myself in to this day. In my head at least the election result demanded I ask myself several questions:
Am I missing something here?
Am I out of touch with American values?
Am I out of touch with the American people?
It's clear a giant constituency in the country felt ignored or patronised… they are fearful of the future, as are a growing number of Europeans. I understand and respect that, and I want to try and understand those fears better. Against type, I’m a rockstar who doesn’t like to be surrounded by people who agree with me (at least all the time), which is why I joined a band and I’m still married! Haha
Our audience have always been fiesty, they often disagree with us and each other. I would like to think that everyone who loves their country would feel welcome at a U2 show, however differently they love it. And I think a little humility might be important for me here. I certainly want to understand better what just happened, but I’m going to do that without crossing what are bright lines for me, things like standing against the demonising of immigrants or refugees. I’m Irish for God's sake.
Edge said the world changed irrevocably whilst we were trying to finish off Songs of Experience and that we needed a moment to take that fact in. I think he’s right. He’s also right when he says the reasons our albums have lasted the test of time is, ironically, that the best of them can find a truth in the moment they were made that’s constant in changing times…
As for the Joshua Tree Tour, my hope is that number 1: it is a transcendent night of rock n roll. Number 2, if I were let to have even more lofty ambitions for this rock show, I would love if it became an opportunity for our audience and ourselves to ask the question - what is it these days to be an American or a European?… Thirty years ago, 'The Joshua Tree' found common ground by reaching for the higher ground. This is a tour for red and blue, the coast and the heartland ... because music can pull people together as surely as politics can pull people apart. It’s a great canvas and it would be amazing if it could still be a high voltage meditation on what’s happening now.
What happened to Songs of Experience? I thought it was finished? Can we expect it in the current century?
Ha, yes… possibly even this decade. The band have forbidden me from talking about deadlines and release dates. I can tell you that Songs of Experience is a very personal album, but that intimacy still needs the frame of a more anxious edgy world because that is where a lot of people are at this moment…
http://www.atu2.com/news/mojo-u2-to-release-new-version-of-red-hill-mining-town.html
interesting...
U2 have been re-rehearsing the tracks for Songs Of Experience, with a view to cutting some of them again live at Electric Lady Studios in New York in March with Steve Lillywhite.
http://www.atu2.com/news/mojo-u2-back-at-electric-lady-studios-next-month-with-steve-lillywhite.html
Me & 8 of my friends flew out to California to check them out I mean the line up was sick but U2 was def one of the bands we wanted to see !!!! So when you look out at that crowd I'm out there somewhere in the mass ...
Btw, a colleague of mine filmed parts of the New Year's Day video, shot in Sweden. He told me that the guys were afraid of skiing, they wouldn't even try.
Well, hopefully that Amazon price will come down a bit.
I've gotten all the Zeppelin reissue box sets for under $70 by being patient with Amazon. Plan to do the same with this.
U2: The Electric Co. (London 1980)
The last gift lp, Another Time, Another Place was also London on 9/29/1980
last ones were the tour posters. which were nice but i'd rather have vinyl! i signed up for vinyl option for next years.