~~~***U2 line up New Album***~~~

this sounds more interesting if it was Pearl Jam


Are Virtual U2 Concerts Even Better Than The Real Thing?
06.26.2006 6:35 PM EDT

Tech-savvy superfans set up elaborate gigs starring their favorite
band for online gamers.


There are some key rules for attendees of a virtual U2 concert. Among
them:

"No hoochie hair" ("So that this concert may be enjoyed by the
maximum number of people").

"No particle poofs or particles of any kind."

And ... "DO NOT IM the band while the concert is in progress."

Failure to obey these edicts doesn't get anyone physically kicked out
because no one is really at the concert. It's all taking place
through computers: a massively multiplayer musical experience created
and enjoyed by people logging into the virtual world "Second Life"

Since last year, a small group of players has taken advantage of the
blank slate and creative flexibility of "Second Life" to create the
stage sets, the bodies and the moves of their favorite band: U2.
They've helped pioneer the concept of virtual concerts — shows that
are attended not at a stadium or club but in front of a monitor and
keyboard.

Since 2005, four members of the U2inSL crew (U2inSL.com), living in
locations as distant as California, Connecticut and Germany, have
logged onto their computers and into the shared landscape of "Second
Life" in order to steer digital replicas of Bono, the Edge, Adam
Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. Running their characters through a
series of stage moves and piping in audio recorded from an actual
concert, they are able to create a virtual performance. Other "Second
Life" citizens can attend as members of a character-packed audience.

The anonymous players behind the virtual band said they've tried to
contact U2 management to make sure this is all OK. They're not making
any money off of it, and they adorn their concert area with signs
urging people to donate to the real U2's One Foundation charity. But
the real band has yet to respond. U2 management also did not comment
on the virtual U2 for MTV News.

A virtual — and unauthorized — U2 might be the most provocative
example, but independent musicians and big-label acts are also
getting involved, potentially making multiplayer video game worlds
the next frontier of touring. Musicians can channel audio into game
worlds and set up characters to be their puppet personas — a way to
go on tour without leaving their keyboard, be they the "SL" musician
Frogg Marlowe or, if Universal Music's official plans continue to
take shape, Chamillionaire and the rock band Hinder.

"It's really a rush, like being in a real-world concert," the virtual
Bono told MTV News. The members of U2inSL prefer not to use their
real names in public "to keep the mystique and excitement," according
to the unreal Bono. "This is role-play after all."

The group gathered for a concert this past weekend after two months
of inactivity due to an injury suffered by one of the members. In
April, MTV News attended a small invitation-only concert where the
U2inSL crew provided an education on how a virtual concert works.

Physically it requires nothing more than logging onto a computer
running "Second Life" and digitally walking — or flying — to the
concert's location. In April, that locale was a tropical island
called Dragon Moon. The concert organizers can block unwanted guests
by requiring a digital ticket, without which an approaching player
will see their character run into an invisible wall.

Before the April concert began, the virtual bandmembers hung out in
the band room. "Second Life" doesn't support voice chat, so Bono was
text-chatting with the Edge.

Next to their building was a large concert stage. On the far side
were two porta-potties. The concert area was about 100 virtual feet
from the edge of a beach, the stage facing the water. Behind the
audience pit, just out of reach of a lapping tide, was a concession
stand, a T-shirt booth and a bar. A mouse click on those spots would
generate virtual hot dogs and beer or a U2 outfit that can be zapped
onto a character's body.

"Second Life" is different than other massively multiplayer games
like "World of Warcraft" and "EverQuest," not just because it doesn't
actually contain any game-oriented goal but because it allows players
to create everything in the world. Players can create characters that
look like monsters, supermodels, Bono or whatever else they can think
of while messing with the program's modeling tools.

Everything a player creates is stored on servers at "Second Life"'s
parent company, Linden Labs, and has to be transmitted back out to
any other players who would need to see it, say, because they're
walking past the Bono character or watching him perform onstage. This
presents a problem if too many people are standing around in the game
trying to watch Bono at the same time. The Linden Labs server begins
to feel the strain of sending the same graphics out to more and more
attendees. So if too many people come to a virtual concert in "Second
Life," the world is going to stutter. Popularity can cause a slowdown.

That didn't happen during the April concert, in part because people
followed the rules. The ban on "hoochie hair" and "particles" was
really a ban on attendees bringing graphically elaborate hairdos and
special effects that would put more strain on Linden Labs' servers.

Until the audio feed is activated, the virtual concert is practically
silent. But once it was on, the band "played" a 14-track set, which
included streamed audio of the real U2 playing "Vertigo," "Elevation"
and "Where the Streets Have No Name."

The final cued track of the evening was real-life crowd applause. The
members of U2inSL don't have to sing, but they have to make sure
their characters hit their marks and make the appropriate motions
(hold microphone to mouth, throw arms in the air, spin around, etc.)
"I rehearse steady for about a week," the fake Bono told MTV News.

The concert in April went smoothly, though not without at least one
kink. "I missed hopping at the keyboard for 'Miss Sarajevo,' " the
virtual Edge confessed.

A "Second Life" concert is an odd place. A mysterious object in front
of the stage proves, with a curious mouse click, to be a dance
machine. It immediately causes the player's character to start
dancing with energetic spasms. Anyone else clicking winds up with
their character also dancing, in perfect unison with everyone else.
Dancing doesn't take any sustained effort. It just happens — and
keeps happening long after some of the people too busy text-chatting
remember they're still doing it. It's all done with computers, after
all.

After the April concert, the fake Bono demonstrated how a few mouse
clicks can generate a complete wardrobe change. But those Linden Labs
servers aren't so fast that one shirt just swaps for another. " 'Zip'
ain't a word when changing clothes," he said, as a red-and-black
tunic faded in to replace a black leather jacket.

Another weird touch: People wanted to hug goodbye, but one of them
hadn't set his character up properly to do it: "Sorry, dear, took hug
attachment off. I'll have to dig it out of inventory later," he
responded.

Virtual concerts — even better than the real thing? Well, a bit
different at least.

— Stephen Totilo

An uncanny resemblance to Bono is paying off -- in some strange ways
for one man. asap's CHELSEA J. CARTER spends some time with the man
who would be Bono.

Rob Kemp does a double-take. Then he does a triple-take.

Bono? The lead singer of the biggest band in the world, U2?

He races up and introduces himself, shaking his hand and rattling off
his adoration at a mile-a-minute pace.

Kemp, 23, doesn't notice that the man has no Irish accent. Or that
he's carrying his own bag down the street. All Kemp of Abbotsford,
Canada, sees is the legendary singer -- from the straw hat to the
glasses to the jacket.

"I'm not Bono," the man says.

This is the man who would be Bono. asap spent some time with Bono
impersonator Geoffrey Knight -- a man who is such a ringer for the
rock star that he eclipses other look-a-likes, and we found out that
adoration comes in all forms, including human form.

___

BECOMING BONO

Knight, 32, a long time U2 fan, came to Bono late in life. It began
with a U2 concert in Seattle when his wife encouraged him to wear a
pair of sunglasses, which he says looked nothing like the ones that
Bono is famous for wearing.

"You know how people stare at you, and you get this feeling in the
back of your head that someone is looking at you?" Knight said.

Stares -- they happened during the concert and again at the
merchandise stand.

"This one girl had a little bit too much to drink, and she wrapped her
arms around me. And then she stepped back and said 'You're not him,'"
he said.

But it was a trip to Ireland to see a U2 concert a few months later in
June 2005 that set him on his path to becoming Bono. In Dublin, where
Bono can be seen sometimes walking the streets, the people who live
there did more than a double-take. Some of them approached him.

___

BEING BONO

It started when he returned to Washington and related the experience
to a friend, who in turn told him that celebrity impersonators can
make a lot of money. Out of curiosity, Knight said, he logged on and
looked at a few Bono impersonator sites. None of the impersonators
looked a lot like Bono, he says.

Most people emulate their idols earlier in life, with their choice of
clothing or a hairstyle. Sometimes they replicate a celebrity's tattoo
or adopt their nickname. But Knight had never subscribed to that. He
was a guy who liked the music, the man and the man's message about
helping those less fortunate.

Knight sent some pictures of himself to an impersonation Web site. A
month later, Boston radio station Mix 98.5 FM contacted him -- and
flew him out to do promotions for the station in the days leading up
to a U2 concert.

For a few days, Knight lived like a rock star. He took no money for
the gig but did enjoy the perks -- from the use of limo to a suite in
an upscale hotel.

"I would pop my head up out of the limousine. It was like magnet. The
limo couldn't move and people were asking to take their pictures," he
said.

___

LIVING BONO

There is little about Knight's personal life that resembles the rock
star. Knight and his wife own a Pilates studio in the sleepy
university town of Bellingham; Bono owns several houses, globe trots
for social causes and, of course, fronts the biggest rock band in the
world.

But Knight does believe in some of Bono's causes, such as "One: The
Campaign To Make Poverty History. He donates most of the money he
makes as a look-a-like to One, and lent his Bono-likeness to a video
produced by his daughter, who was promoting the campaign at her school.

Being Bono has become a family affair as well.

His wife manages his impersonation career and keeps an eye on his
wardrobe. His daughter helps him keep up with the latest Bono news,
and Knight studies recent photos of Bono to keep up with his appearance.

There's also the clothing and accessory price tag. A pair of designer
sunglasses can run upward of $500 to $1,000, and the getting a custom
hat made can cost hundreds of dollars.

"I'm so good at holding up the morale end of the package. I don't try
to abuse this thing, this gift I guess you can call it," Knight said.
"I was born this way. I don't have any Irish in me at all. So yes, I
guess it's a gift."

Their are a few physical challenges to impersonating the rock star.

"He has terrible posture. I would love to get him in a Pilates
studio," Knight said.

(photos of Knight can be found here:
http://asap.ap.org/stories/693393.s)