NLOTH and Breathe make a live debut of sorts
This article has been updated on 15/02 with additional details, including the name of the second song played.
Update 23/02: It should be noted that this was not the first live performance of NLOTH. Information that came to light only after this article was written revealed that it was played in the first week of February for broadcast on 24/02 on The Culture Show on BBC Two. See full article here.
Those of you who tuned into the Colm and Jim-Jim Show on RTE 2FM today would have caught a rather interesting story. Last month, Dave Fanning made a guest appearance on the show to debut Get On Your Boots to the world, and today the U2 connection was continued when Colm and Jim-Jim spoke to three fans from El Salvador who had come to Dublin and met U2 yesterday. The fans had delivered a 60,000 name petition asking U2 to play a concert in their country, and through fortunate co-incidence, the three were taken to U2's Hanover Quay studios and met the band, all of whom were very welcoming.
Bono took the visitors on a tour of the studios before they spent a couple of hours chatting with the whole band, who were at the studio rehearsing. Amongst other things, they spoke about Bullet The Blue Sky's thematic connection to El Salvador, Adam asked about the weather in El Salvador, and Bono recorded a message to El Salvadorean fans on one of the visitor's mobile phones. This message was played on 2FM; in it, Bono mentioned how humbled he was that his El Salvadorean visitors were so dedicated to music that they had travelled to Dublin, and although he could not promise anything about returning to play a concert in El Salvador, he would certainly look into the possibility, as he wanted to show the visitors the same dedication they had shown U2.
Even if U2 don't make it to El Salvador, the visitors were lucky enough to get their own mini-concert from the band. Our database contains a number of past occasions of Bono playing songs for dedicated fans waiting outside hotels (here's one example), and in that vein, all of U2 played for the El Salvadoreans. Not long after their arrival, they were treated to a live performance of No Line On The Horizon. Before they left, Bono invited them to hear a second song and U2 played another new song from the upcoming album. The El Salvadoreans could not recall the title of this one on air, and Colm and Jim-Jim did not ask for a description before moving on with their programme. However, an article in the Observer newspaper that you can read on atu2 identifies it as Breathe.
Lucky people! The rest of us have to wait another few days to see U2 live, when they appear on the 18th at the Brit Awards. However, there is some new U2 out there to tide you over for the next few days. 2FM's online partner station RTE 2XM debuted No Line On The Horizon II yesterday. It is an alternate version of the album's title track and appears on the Get On Your Boots single that is being released in the coming days. The release date is different depending on which country you live in, so check with your local retailers for details. Some countries, notably the US, are not having a physical retail single released, so some of you will have to rely on imports.
Update 23/02: It should be noted that this was not the first live performance of NLOTH. Information that came to light only after this article was written revealed that it was played in the first week of February for broadcast on 24/02 on The Culture Show on BBC Two. See full article here.
Those of you who tuned into the Colm and Jim-Jim Show on RTE 2FM today would have caught a rather interesting story. Last month, Dave Fanning made a guest appearance on the show to debut Get On Your Boots to the world, and today the U2 connection was continued when Colm and Jim-Jim spoke to three fans from El Salvador who had come to Dublin and met U2 yesterday. The fans had delivered a 60,000 name petition asking U2 to play a concert in their country, and through fortunate co-incidence, the three were taken to U2's Hanover Quay studios and met the band, all of whom were very welcoming.
Bono took the visitors on a tour of the studios before they spent a couple of hours chatting with the whole band, who were at the studio rehearsing. Amongst other things, they spoke about Bullet The Blue Sky's thematic connection to El Salvador, Adam asked about the weather in El Salvador, and Bono recorded a message to El Salvadorean fans on one of the visitor's mobile phones. This message was played on 2FM; in it, Bono mentioned how humbled he was that his El Salvadorean visitors were so dedicated to music that they had travelled to Dublin, and although he could not promise anything about returning to play a concert in El Salvador, he would certainly look into the possibility, as he wanted to show the visitors the same dedication they had shown U2.
Even if U2 don't make it to El Salvador, the visitors were lucky enough to get their own mini-concert from the band. Our database contains a number of past occasions of Bono playing songs for dedicated fans waiting outside hotels (here's one example), and in that vein, all of U2 played for the El Salvadoreans. Not long after their arrival, they were treated to a live performance of No Line On The Horizon. Before they left, Bono invited them to hear a second song and U2 played another new song from the upcoming album. The El Salvadoreans could not recall the title of this one on air, and Colm and Jim-Jim did not ask for a description before moving on with their programme. However, an article in the Observer newspaper that you can read on atu2 identifies it as Breathe.
Lucky people! The rest of us have to wait another few days to see U2 live, when they appear on the 18th at the Brit Awards. However, there is some new U2 out there to tide you over for the next few days. 2FM's online partner station RTE 2XM debuted No Line On The Horizon II yesterday. It is an alternate version of the album's title track and appears on the Get On Your Boots single that is being released in the coming days. The release date is different depending on which country you live in, so check with your local retailers for details. Some countries, notably the US, are not having a physical retail single released, so some of you will have to rely on imports.
Posted on by Axver