" ~~~ U2 ~~~ "

Spinner.com
January 2, 2008
By Steve Baltin

Lanois Promises 'Innovative' Songs on New U2 Album

Twenty years ago, producer Daniel Lanois teamed with U2 on the band's
landmark album, 'The Joshua Tree.' Two decades later, Lanois is back
in the studio with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, working on their
forthcoming album, due this year.

"I'm doing some writing with [Brian] Eno and U2," Lanois tells Spinner
of the effort. "We're gonna knock out another record that's promising
to be a fantastically innovative collection of songs. I'm excited
about that."

As for what the new songs will offer, Lanois says that some hints may
be gleaned from the music they've been listening to of late. "We've
been referencing Jimi Hendrix records recently," Lanois says. "I was
interested in the drum feels and that track 'Crosstown Traffic' has an
incredible drum performance. When [we were] working a couple of weeks
back, we wanted to hear some of that Mitch Mitchell drumming."

Lanois also revels in his collaboration with Eno, also a former U2
collaborator and who appears in Lanois' film, 'Here Is What Is.' "I
play really well with Eno," Lanois says. "In a manner of minutes we've
got something happening in the room that's special -- even without
talking about it. We just pick up our instruments and we're there. I
might have an idea, Eno might have an idea, somebody else has an idea,
and as we jockey them around, momentum builds up and there's some kind
of a whirlwind. We just thank our lucky stars that we have that
chemistry within us."

© Spinner.com, 2007

Irish Independent
January 4, 2008

Fergus Black

U2 go 3D and it's even better than the real thing

TWENTY years after their ground-breaking black-and-white movie 'Rattle
and Hum' was released, U2 are planning to take a huge technological
leap into what has been hailed as a unique cinematic event.

And the promoters boast that it will give fans the chance to
experience what it's like to be in one of the front rows at a U2 concert.

'U2 3D', the first live action movie shot in digital 3D, will be
screened in a number of selected digital 3D cinemas from February 22,
and already bookings are being taken for the 84-minute long movie.

Fans will don special 3D glasses to enjoy the movie, which was filmed
during the South American leg of the band's 'Vertigo' tour and was
directed by Irish woman Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington.

Nine high-tech digital 3D cameras, advanced digital 3D imagery and
surround sound were used to capture the onstage performance during the
band's concert in Buenos Aires.

Over 100 hours of 3D footage was shot, documenting a set list that
during two weeks included some of U2's seminal songs like 'Pride (In
the name of Love)', 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' and
'Where The Streets Have No Name'.

Glenn Hogarty of Limelight Communications said the movie will be
purely a cinematic event and will not be shown on TV or go to DVD.

Negotiating

So far, the movie is set to be screened at four cinema complexes --
three in Dublin -- movies@Dundrum and movies@Swords, as well as
Cineworld in Parnell Street, and at the SGC complex in Dungarvan, Co
Waterford, but the promoters are negotiating with a number of other
cinemas as well.

SGC is already open for bookings on its website, while movies@Dundrum
said that so far it had taken 97 bookings for the February 22 opening.

A spokesperson said they planned six screenings every day for at least
the first week in two of its auditoriums.

"We expect the movie to run for weeks and for as long as there's
demand," she said.

© independent.ie, 2008.



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http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/01/07/u2-3d-premieres-at-new-york-screening-everybody-besides-jay-z-impressed/?utm_source=daily-newsletter&utm_medium=email


“U2 3D” Premieres at New York Screening; Everybody Besides Jay-Z Impressed
1/7/08, 6:03 pm EST


Minutes before a midtown-Manhattan press screening of U2 3D — a digitally shot three-dimensional film of a March 2006 U2 concert in Buenos Aires — this afternoon, a couple of journalists were shooed out of their seats in a center row to clear room for Jay-Z and his posse. Hova clearly has time on his hands for 2:00 Monday movie screenings now that he’s stepping down as president of Def Jam. Jay seemed into it at first, but by “Sunday Bloody Sunday” he took the 3D glasses off and was rubbing his temples as if his brain was going through image overload. By the time The Edge was strapping his guitar on for “Bullet the Blue Sky,” he and his crew were long gone.

They missed out. I haven’t seen a 3D movie since Captain EO at Disneyworld sometime around 1990, but the technology has really come a long way. The filmmakers claim this movie is the “first live-action film to be shot, posted and exhibited entirely in 3-D.” The band jumps off the screen during the entire performance — as does the frenzied crowd in the sold-out soccer stadium. When Adam Clayton takes the spotlight during “New Year’s Day” it looks like he’s playing in your lap. The sound was also as clear and crisp as I’ve ever heard in a movie theater.
The show is just ninety minutes long, which means they had to cut out a bunch of songs from the set. Unfortunately, the filmmakers seem to have some sort of beef with Achtung Baby. Gone are “Zoo Station,” “Until the End of the World” and “Love Is Blindness” — along with “The First Time” and many How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb tracks. What remains is a greatest-hits parade mixed in with three Atomic Bomb tracks. Casual fans might disagree, but I would have preferred to see the first performance of “Love Is Blindness” in thirteen years rather than an incredibly uninspired “With or Without You.” Petty editing quibbles aside, the film was really remarkable and makes every other concert I’ve ever seen in a movie theater seem flat and lifeless.

Andy Greene

U2 3D Sparks True Fan-demonium
@U2
January 22, 2008
By MICHELLE WATSON

U2 isn't on tour, but it sure feels like they are.

I've been looking forward to U2 3D for months, and I really started
getting jazzed a few weeks ago when I learned Indianapolis would have
a free sneak preview on Jan. 21. I marked it on my calendar; I told
all my friends; I made some new U2 friends, and we arranged to meet
before the show.

I knew I was in full tour-anticipation mode when I had a dream a few
days ago about being at the screening. All my @U2 friends made the
trip to Indy for the show. Sherry was driving in from Boston but took
the wrong exit about 40 miles east of the city. Tassoula had a fancy
GPS tracker on her cell phone, so we were guiding Sherry as we watched
her make her way west. Then I woke up and realized: Dude, you must chill.

But I'm not alone. My new U2 friend Pam said her husband kept trying
to remind her that it's just a movie, but then he realized she was in
her "full-on U2 obsessive dorkitude." So are we all, and we're proud
of it!

Pam, her friend Julie and my cousin Kim got together for drinks and
dinner before the show. Pam and Julie knew me by my "Love and Peace or
Else" T-shirt. I toyed with the idea of calling out, "Hello, hello!"
and seeing who hollered back with an "Hola!" but figured I should be
more subtle in public. Kim, who enjoys music in general but isn't a
huge U2 fan, humored us and listened to our stories. Or was it mostly
my stories? I fear that in my heightened state of "U2 obsessive
dorkitude," I may have dominated the conversation. Apologies, ladies!

One thing I love about U2 fans is that once you meet, it's as if
you've been longtime friends. When I later told my cousin that I had
just met the women we had dinner with, she didn't believe me. And I
can see why: We just fell into a natural rhythm of conversation as if
we were old friends who had lost touch for a while.

As we hurried across the street to the theater, Pam and I had the same
idea: shoot photos of the giant poster hanging outside. And the one
inside the door. Oooh, and there's another, even bigger one we can
pose with! And postcard-sized ones we can take home for our scrapbooks!

We entered the theater to the sounds of "Twilight." Now that's
something you don't get at a concert: a taste of that night's artist
before the show! They continued with Boy until showtime. As I bounced
in my seat singing along, I realized I was breaking a sweat. And for
someone who usually leaves her coat on in the theater because it's so
cold, that was a sign that I was seriously hyped.

As the screening's organizer, Indy Hub, welcomed us to the theater, my
heart was pounding with anticipation. It was no Arcade Fire, but I
knew that was the cue that it was almost showtime. When the lights
finally dimmed and small dots of color started to flicker on the
enormous screen filling my field of vision, I couldn't stop grinning.
And when the music kicked in, I couldn't stop bouncing. Hopefully I
didn't annoy the stranger to my right too much, but my cousin to my
left definitely got a kick out of it.

I admit I stifled a few urges to shout out an "Hola!" or "No more!" in
response to Bono, and it took all the willpower I could muster not to
reach out for his hand when it came toward me. But despite the tricks
my eyes were playing on me and the enveloping sound of the on-screen
audience that I often mistook for my neighbors in the theater, I
behaved as if I were in a theater and not among the sweaty throngs of
fans in Buenos Aires.

I still experienced some of the same reactions I've had at concerts. I
teared up as Bono hit the big note in "Miss Sarajevo." I got chills
during my favorite songs. I was grinning constantly, although this
time it was often at the intimate details I had never noticed when I
was one among thousands in an arena or stadium. And with the South
American fans seemingly within reach as they leapt from the screen, it
was easy to overlook the subdued reaction from the actual people
sitting around me.

Let me amend that: the actual people sitting around me, except for my
cousin and another friend. Kim was swinging to the music like I was.
And we were both laughing at Andrea, who was sobbing with joy through
half the movie. (I'm only laughing because I've been there, Andrea.)

While the movie isn't (even) better than the real thing, it certainly
is a good substitute for those long lags between tours. You know it
was good when a friend tells you a couple of hours later that you're
still grinning from your U2 high. And without the side effects of
ringing ears and aching feet!

© @U2/Watson, 2008.

[Note - to see the photo that accompanies this essay, please follow
this link: http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=4861]

Sacramento Bee
January 23, 2008

By Chris Macias

"U2 3D" is a straightforward concert film with a high-tech twist,
translating the grandiosity of a U2 gig into the Imax 3-D movie
experience.

The band literally pops from the screen, so much so that it looks as
if the Edge's guitar is going to whack you in the head. All the
while, U2 cranks through hits from its Vertigo tour,
including "Beautiful Day" and "One," as tens of thousands of sweaty
fans go bonkers.

Good thing the movie's not in Smell-O-Vision.

The first step is to strap on a pair of polarized 3-D glasses, which
are sort of fly-guy style instead of those cardboard deals from "Jaws
3-D" of yesteryear. Then the collective musicianship and egos of U2
burst from a movie screen that's nearly six stories tall -- and in 3-
D to boot. With U2's music pumped through 5.1 surround sound, "U2 3D"
is epic to the point that it borders on sensory overload. "Vertigo,"
indeed.

The bulk of the footage was shot during South American shows,
including a concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The cameras get right
into the crowd at these packed stadiums, and the 3-D enhances the
sense of place. From fans' outstretched arms to the masses singing
along with "Pride (In the Name of Love)," "U2 3D" is a chance to
enjoy arena rock minus much of the claustrophobia.

There's no back story or behind-the-scenes footage in "U2 3D." Then
again, seeing backstage deli trays in 3-D wouldn't be too exciting.
So the band simply steps on stage and rocks in 3-D for about 84
minutes. But if there was anything particularly special about these
South American shows, we wouldn't know.

U2's performance is still powerful, and the sense of exaltation in
the band's music is heightened by the super-duper sound system. U2's
version of "Where the Streets Have No Name" is particularly
exhilarating, and while the band is getting all epic, it's easy to
forget how dorky everyone looks in 3-D glasses.

The directors don't lay the 3-D gimmicks on too thick. Apart from a
few animated touches and some superimposed images to maximize the 3-
D, "U2 3D" mostly lets the performances and music carry the film.

Here's a final tip: Always look at the screen straight on. It may be
tempting to lean on your sweetie during "With or Without You," but
the images get a bit blurry if your head isn't front and center.

© The Sacramento Bee, 2008.

U2 3D - More Than Rock 'n' Roll: U2 on Tour in 3-D Images
New York Times
January 23, 2008
By MATT ZOLLER SEITZ

The musical documentary "U2 3D," which stitches together three
performances by this Irish rock band during a recent tour of South
America, is not merely a technical landmark — shot entirely in digital
3D — but also an aesthetic one, in that it's the first Imax movie that
deserves to be called a work of art.

The person most responsible for the film's vision, Catherine Owens —
one of the movie's two directors, who is also in charge of production
design for the band's live shows — has brazenly ignored the usual
stipulations about making a 3-D film. She favors quick edits and slow
dissolves rather than long takes and hard cuts. Throughout, she layers
the screen with multiple planes of information: long shots and medium
shots of the musicians, images of the crowd, close-up details of
graphics from the big screen that the band performs in front of that
make the designs abstract and merge them with the performers.

The result is not a confusing mishmash of images but a
musical/experimental work that visually simulates the sensation of
thinking. The very idea of self-contained screen geography is
thrillingly reconceived.

The style of the film dovetails with the international, humanistic
vision that U2 has presented in songs and public statements for more
than 20 years. When the band performs its hit "One," the lyrics take
on new meaning.

© The New York Times Company, 2008.


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