No Boots Tonight

The premiere of the new U2 video has been delayed. It was going to be tonight and I was really looking forward to it. God knows what's up, but the official word is that it's "not ready".... maybe the director (Alex Courtes) is a typical artist and can't bear to put it out yet. But it really does beg the question: "Why on earth would they hype it and advertise it and give it a premiere date if the thing was not finished?"

Who knows? I give up.

The only consolation is that the alternative video of the song is doing the rounds now. I have to say the shots of Bono shirtless almost make up for my disappointment about the original!

In the meatnime, to amuse myself, I thought I would post a couple of funny animal photos that a friend sent me.

I know Sue will appreciate the first one!!! I just think they are so funny!

Are You Gonna Wait Forever

This song is so apt while we all wait patiently for the new U2 album and a scorching summer of concerts!



All the obstacles in my way, now
Are disappearing every day, now
I'm getting closer
We're getting closer to home
It won't be long until the summer comes

Are you gonna wait forever?
Are you gonna wait forever?

Getting out from under my bed, now
I'm going to say the things I should have said, now
Getting closer
Getting closer to what's true
Gonna find myself in you

Are you gonna wait forever?
Are you gonna wait forever?
Are you gonna wait forever?
Are you gonna wait forever?

There's no one there behind their eyes
They're in the business, beautiful lies
We'll keep the promise
'Cause we don't know how to break it
The furniture you can rearrange
Don't trade your dreams for some small change
Guard the flame, or better leave it naked

Are you gonna wait forever?
Are you gonna wait forever?
Are you gonna wait forever?
How?
Are you gonna wait forever?
How, how long, how long?
Or is it now, now, now?
Or is it now?

Bono is such a goofball!!

Interviewed on NBC's "Nightly News" the night before the inauguration at Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Bono said:

"People forget about the apostrophe after the first O (in Obama). Obama is Irish as far as we're concerned. He's from Clara, County Offaly and they just don't go far wrong."

Ha ha. I just have to ask Bono one question. Where's the second O in Obama???

Edge had this to say about the album:

"We're very happy with the album. We took two years to make it because we wanted to make an "album" because people don't listen to albums anymore, it's all about individual tracks. This is like an eleven track piece and it's maybe our best ever."

This is quite literally music to my ears. For me, this is precisely what the last two albums lacked. A sense of continuity and theme. A few fabulous tracks came off All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, that stood out in their own right, but the albums as a whole did not have the feel of cohesion to me.

Maybe No Line on the Horizon will bring me what I have been craving for years from U2. A fabulous fusion of lyrics, music, and soul.

Here's the NBC clip:

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A productive day... without "Boots"

Okay, today I have not listened to "Get on Your Boots"... or GOYB as we should maybe call it, just to fall in with the trend of using acronyms (the only thing wrong with using acromyms is that U2 song titles are often so long that I am constantly saying: "Huh?" when reading them!!)..

Anyway, today has been a day free of the new U2 single. And there are two reasons for that. The first is that when I am listening to it, I fall into an hypnotic reverie, full of visions of how the next tour will look and sound, and how Bono will look onstage with his short hair these days, and what outfits he will wear and who he will "be".

I go off into raptures listening to Edge's guitar and Larry's drums. God, those drums hammer you to death right from the start (or "rip a hole in your face" as fellow blogger, Cara, says. I think that is a priceless description and so true!). I float away on Bono's voice, and swim in all the mad images this song brings to my mind. I see leather jackets, funfairs with wild and crazy rides, catwalks with long legged models parading up and down in thigh length boots, Moroccan towns shimmering in the heat ... I also hear the theme tune to "Joe 90" in the guitar in the middle. Crazy!

And I can't afford to do this daydreaming, because I have a book to write.

The second reason is that I don't want to get fed up of the song... I want to hunger for it, and love it every time I hear it. I waited for so long for it that I don't want to kill it in just one week. LOL So, I am limiting myself.

It's good for my writing if nothing else.

Today I had a really good day, in that I found a way to write something that I had been puzzling over for days! Things are coming along really well.

So I should get back to it. But first... maybe just ONE listen to Boots? Ha ha.

I'm so excited!!!!

I am off to The Brits on Feb 18th with Sue!!! Can't believe it. I was at work when Sue started to frantically text and email me, and she found tickets and booked them and by 11.30 it was all done! When I got the email to say we had tickets I almost screamed out loud in the office!!!

Unfortunately, I actually forgot about an interview I had scheduled for 11.30, but I think I bluffed it and we started at 11.40 instead! Ha ha.

My mind has been whirring ever since I found out we are going! What to wear (it will be cold out but they don't allow jeans at the event!!! How mad is that?!) and then I had to book a train, which I managed to do for £32.

Sue booked the hotel and so now we are all set.

I am so pleased with the line up too. Apart from our boys, we have The Kings of Leon, Coldplay, Take That, Pet Shop Boys, Girls Aloud and Duffy (listed in order of my preference)... and the presenters are people I like too... James Corden, Matthew Horne (both have done very funny stuff on TV) and of course can't forget Kylie.

This is putting me in mind of the last time Sue and I went to an awards event... the IRMAs at the Point Depot in Dublin. That time we were VIP, but that's a whole other story (not half as exciting as you might think! U2 didn't play at that one.).

A BIG, BIG thanks to Sue for booking it all today. Thank goodness you are not at work!

My boots are finally on!!!!

The day has come at last. We have all heard the new single by now no doubt. I had to wait until I got home from work and have been home about half an hour and listened to it about 8 times!!! LOL

The first thing that I am struck by (and I know I will have it in my head all week!) is the fantastic riff at the beginning. It really draws you in, and shows that this is the perfect choice for the introduction to the new album, and will make a fantastic show opener.

The lyrics are fast and furious but I managed to get them down and have put them at the end of this post. Some great Bono-isms and the the pace of this is energetic and sexy. Love Bono's voice and the almost casual, throw-away attitude of the vocal. Pure rock and roll.

This song sounds like U2 and yet doesn't, if that makes sense. When you get into it, it is undeniably them... but the overall feel of it is new and fresh.

I officially approve.

It is acceptable!!!! LOL

Oh and Dave Fanning said that they will tour the world starting in June "or thereabouts". Oh God!!!

Get On Your Boots - Lyrics

The future needs a big kiss
Winds blow with a twist
Never seen a moon like this
Can you see it too?

Night is falling everywhere
Rockets hit the fun fair
Satan loves a bomb scare
But won't scare you

Hey...Sexy Boots
Get on your boots
Yeah

You free me from a dark dream
Candy floss, ice cream
All the kids are screaming but the ghosts aren't real

Here's where you gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity
If joy is real

You don't know how... beautiful
You don't know how beautiful you are

You don't know
You don't get it do you
You don't know how beautiful you are

If someone starts to blow it up
We're into growing up
Women are the future
All the big revelations

I got a submarine
You got gasoline
I don't wanna talk about
Wars between nations

Not right now

Sexy boots
Get on your boots yeah
Sexy boots

You don't know how... beautiful
You don't know how beautiful you are

You don't know
You don't get it do you
You don't know how beautiful you are

Sexy boots
Get on your boots
(I don't wanna talk about the wars between the nations

Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound

Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, down
God I'm going down
I don't wanna drown, down
Let me in the sound

Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound, sound
Let me in the sound

Get on your boots
Get on your boots
Get on your boots

Yeah hey hey hey
Yeah hey hey hey

Repeat to fade.....

Brrrr

This photo of Bono says it all. It was taken during rehearsals for the Obama Inaugural Celebration, which took place today in Washington, DC. It is very cold there, and apparently it even started to snow a little during this rehearsal. There are more pictures here, including a fab one of Adam looking like ET!!

Love Bono's fingerless gloves, which he also wore today. He also wore his gorgeous black Edun scarf. Edge looked amazing in his leather coat.

I have no words...

Except that all the guys looked wonderful, and the quality of Bono's voice got me VERY excited indeed and even more eager for the tour to start.

I got excited when I saw his green Irish Falcon guitar, and was convinced they were going to do "One", but no such luck.

I'm too distracted...

... to do any work!!

That's my excuse... and actually, it isn't an excuse. It's a serious reason! U2 are distracting me from working on my book, because instead of character development and plot lines, all that is in my head is the knowledge that tomorrow morning the new single will be played and that I will at long last get a taste of the new U2. And now, I've just been told that tonight the Obama Inaugural Celebration is being shown on Sky TV, so of course I will have to stop for that! To say I am excited is an understatement.

It's really weird, because for some reason, this time everything seems a million times more intense than in previous years. I've waited for U2 albums before, waited for concerts, been excited about the new single being played for the first time. But this time is a lot different, and my excitement greater. I am not sure why that is. Maybe it's because I feel we are perched on the edge of a new direction for U2. And another classic. This album could be another Joshua Tree in terms of being a seminal album, and an Achtung Baby in terms of being groundbreaking and going off in some dizzying direction.

I've ridden the rollercoaster with U2 many times over the years, but this time it feels like I am about to do it without a safety harness!!

Singles, Albums and Brits

So okay, there is a mystery going on here. Today I had lunch with a friend of mine at work. He works in our warehouse where they have Absolute Radio (formerly Virgin) playing all day. He is a big music fan and likes U2. When we were having lunch he said: "They played the new U2 single at 11.15 today", and I was like: "Whoa! What's it like?" and he said.... "I knew they were going to be playing it because they said beforehand, but when I heard it, it took a few moments to realise that it was them. Then I heard *them* in it. It's good."

Now... all the announcements say that the single is going to be premiered on 2FM on Monday. To say I am puzzled is an understatement. I checked Absolute's Website and the song is listed on the playlist. But I can't find a podcast with it on.

If anyone has any info on this then I would be grateful. There is no reason to disbelieve my friend. He would not say he heard something he didn't. But I just want some proof, you know!!! Ha ha.

Reading my friend, Sue's Blog, I see the new album cover and track listing. The album looks beautiful. It is a monochrome photograph of the sea meeting the sky. Strangely enough, there actually *is* a line on the horizon.... unlike the image Bono talked about having from his study window of the sea in Killiney merging seamlessly into the sky. But it is lovely nonetheless. Also on the photo - joining sea and sky - is an image exactly like the "Make Trade Fair" logo. Not sure if this is what it is, or what the artist - Hiroshi Sugimoto intended. But that's what it looks like. This cover is such a departure from what we are used to with U2. No band name or title, it almost like they don't want to describe the album or taint it with text. It will speak for itself.

I can't wait to hear it. Like the album cover, I think I will have no words.... for a little while at least.

And on the Brits front.... "Get On Your Boots" will get its first live performance there on February 18th. Sue and I are going to try to get tickets and hopefully will get to go. We'll keep you posted about what happens.

Dreams Part 2

I had another night of mad dreams last night... some bizarre.... some nice (I dreamed that I was brushing and stroking my cat, who has been dead over two years now, and I remember the feel of his fur and the weight of his head against my shoulder as I held him), and some unrepeatable. LOL. I dreamed of Bono, but I could not possibly divulge the details!

Dreams

This last week I have been blessed with two great dreams about U2. The first one, on Wednesday, was about going to a U2 concert on the upcoming tour. I think I had it in my mind to wonder about what format the gigs would take, and where U2 would take us this time. So in my dream I was at the concert, and remember being near the front, and Bono was doing all kinds of weird things. It was more like a play than a concert, with Bono doing lots of soliliquies and being quite theatrical.

In the Q interview, Bono says that they can't talk about the live shows, but that what they have planned for outdoors is groundbreaking. That reminded me of another dream I had about the shows a few weeks ago. They had a moveable stage that could be lifted by giant cranes to any part of the stadium, so that every one of the audience had a chance to be "at the front".

Anyway... back to my second dream this week, which happened to be last night. I was in town and passed by a pub and Bono was sitting outside at the tables there, surrounded by a film crew, singing. He was using an "experimental" style and sounded so different to how he usually does. Same voice, but with a different tone. But his mannerisms were very Bono and he was rocking back and forth in the chair (I got that image from the latest Rolling Stone article!). The filming was drawing a crowd, so the directors suggested moving to inside the pub. There was a room at the back. I was allowed to follow them in, and the filming of the song continued in there. In between shooting, Bono was chatting away to Adam, and signing the occasional autograph.

I know all these dreams are due to my speculating about the tour and the album... and I hope they continue.

It's gonna be a long, hot summer, let's get undercover!!

I think the ground is starting to shake!!!! News is starting to seep in of the U2 single and tour and I am getting so excited!!!!

We already know that the album will be released on Monday 2nd March, and myself and my two friends Sue and Dawn have already planned a "release party". In honour of the title of the album (No Line on the Horizon), our party is going to be called "More Wine on the Horizon".... and there will be some of that around, I am sure!

Latest news from fans who met Bono and Adam in Dublin at HQ this week, is that the single will be released to radio stations on Monday 19th January, and that the tour will start in Spain in late June/July.... and will reach the US in late September/October.

Oh My God!!! I can hardly believe that it's happening again after so long. Reasons to sit in front of the radio and the TV to catch the song or video. And the tour madness starting.

That shaking beneath my feet is going to become a rumble... then a tremour....

Bring it on.

Oh, and incidentally.... this year is going to be a great summer. Sue figured out that every time we have a tour, we get a load of sunshine (and sunburn).

So get out your Factor 50, because U2 are gonna burn up 2009!!!

The lunatics have taken over the asylum!

Okay, let's see if I can remember the (ahem) celebs who walked into the BB house last night, without recourse to looking it up on the net. I mean, they are all so famous that I am bound to remember who they all were.

Right.... there's an ex-boy band member, a girl who gets her tits out for money, an ex-girl band member (oh wait, I think there might be two of them), an actress from Liverpool, an American rap artist (it's only my decency keeping the 'c' out of that description) with what looks like a pineapple on his head, an American pop diva who has her nose on time-share with her brother, a politician who went to prison (lovely), an actor dwarf whose bag was bigger than him, a Scandinavian slapper whose mission a few years ago was to wreck an innocent man's life by implying he raped her.....

.... and someone I once shared a flight to Dublin with! Terry Christian! Yay.

He's contraversial but I love him. Loved him on The Word - a late night pop magazine programme from the 90s that was sometimes crude and vulgar but often very entertaining. Don't know what it is about him. Maybe his down to earth Manc charm (love his accent) and the way he tells it like it is. Of course, as has been proved many times in the past, the people you expect to be the most contraversial on BB are the ones that keep themselves to themselves.

Only time will tell. All that remains to do is to sit back and watch the fireworks. I know BB is TV Marmite, but I love it, so there!

You can keep up online here on Channel 4's BB Site

The Wee Small Hours

I can't sleep!! It's just after midnight on Friday, I have to get up at 4.30, and I am sitting here in the living room with my laptop on my knee. The neighbours next door are screaming at each other, running up and down the stairs, and banging doors. And Keith (my husband) is snoring away upstairs.

I have no chance.

The good thing is that I only have to work today (and only until 2pm - although still an 8 hour shift) and then I am off for the weekend. The bad thing is that I have comitted to going to the gym after work, so will have to drag myself through that. Oh well, it's all for the greater good.

One of the reasons I can't sleep is that my mind is whizzing with thoughts and ideas. I made a promise to myself to write more every day, and spent a very fruitful few hours today working on my book and also on some other projects. I am awash with ideas, and totally changed the beginning of my story. I am so pleased with the result... excited.... fired up. Something has exploded in my head - a balloon filled with words and pictures, and light and colour. For the first time in ages I am excited about my book.

One of the other projects I am going to be working on is a screenplay! I have only dipped my toe into that before, many years ago, but have been doing extensive research into the craft lately and plan to write something for submission to the BBC! I wrote a script years ago, but was ignorant to the formatting of it, and now I plan to adapt that script to a proper screenplay. I am also going to change it considerably, adding new elements.

2009 is going to be a busy year for me!!!

Right, now I really must try to get some sleep... but first.... just another paragraph...?

If they get this right, 2009 will be theirs.

It's a New Year and U2 are claiming it already. In fact, they claimed it a while ago when they did the interview for Q magazine, which you can find details of on the Q Music Site here. And by the way, this is my favourite photo from the shoot that accompanies the interview.

I've been reading snippets from the interview for weeks (most of them, it has to be said, reported totally out of context on "scary fan" sites and other sites) but only read it in full yesterday when the magazine finally hit the shelves. Now, it has taken on a whole new colour and I love the way the writers (each band member was interviewed by a different journalist) have allowed the real people to come through and have not tried to mask their characters or make them appear what they are not. The focus was very much on the speaker and each interviewer was informed and respectful.

So what are my thoughts after reading this article - which was heralded with the mind-blowingly exciting front page headline: "U2 are back"? Er... I am scared witless, and I don't know if I can explain why. I'll give it a go though....

Everything has always been so predictable U2-wise. I don't mean their music... that is always a surprise, even though they have sometimes taken the safe way home instead of thumbing a lift with a stranger! (I'm talking about the last two albums which, though showing several sparks of genius, did not - for me - show them at their most dangerous best).

What I mean by predictable is their working format. Their office hours if you like. Album and tour every four years, give or take, with the occasional foray into something extra-curricular. And I kind of always know how I am going to feel. I am going to love the album no matter what. I might hate some of the tracks, but that's okay. Even with family members and close friends you have things you might not like (the way they snore or kick you in bed for instance - it's not always a deal-breaker). And I will love the tour. I will bask in their U2-ness and drink in the atmosphere, and lose myself in the songs, and sit on pavements with friends after and marvel at their genius. I'll cry at some point during a gig. I always know this. It always comes to pass.

But today, sitting here on the first day of 2009 - the first day of the year that will be U2's -I am not so sure of anything any more. Because for some reason, this album means more. This album is the most important one. Forget The Joshua Tree, forget Achtung Baby... this is the one.

Because now, more than ever, U2 have something to prove. And they don't necessarily need to prove it to me, but they seem to need to prove it to themselves, and to the nay sayers (of whom there are plenty) who will give anything to see U2 fail and shoot themselves in the foot, and produce a flop of a record.

And that kind of pressure is scary, and I feel it for them. And I so, so want the album to be brilliant. I want to listen to my heart which - after reading all the talk about the songs - kind of knows it will be.

But I am terrified that it won't.

So we'll see. Hopefully I will be going to Sue's place in Carlisle at the beginning of March for our own little "Release Party" with our friend Dawn. Let's hope that when we open that bottle of champagne it won't be to blot out the pain, but to toast the fact that U2 do, in fact, own 2009.