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.