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.