Breaking Waves: Latest News Bits
Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2023-02-20)
Below you’ll find short news pieces about U2, including a look at the film Kiss the Future, more about those Vegas shows, the airing date of the Tiny Desk concert, the number of copies of that Record Store Day release, cancellation of some formats of Bono’s memoir, and a look at the North Star film.
Yesterday was the worldwide premiere of the new film, Kiss the Future. The film by Nenad Cicin-Sain tells the story of how music kept hope alive during the Sarajevo war in the 1990s. It includes the story of Bill Carter, an American journalist who brought Sarajevo to U2, and who later brought U2 to Sarajevo. The film includes footage from U2’s 1997 concert in Sarajevo.
At yesterday’s premiere in Berlin as part of the Berlin International Film Festival, both Bono and Adam Clayton were present.
A few reviews of the film are now popping up for those interested:
Check out our Twitter feed for some photos of Adam Clayton and Bono at the premiere yesterday.
Although U2’s Las Vegas residency has been announced via a Super Bowl commercial, dates still have not been announced.
And although we’ve seen a lot of rumours online, we’ve also gotten a warning that these rumoured dates may not yet be final. If you are planning on booking any hotels or rooms based on what is out there, make sure things are fully refundable. The only official information on a date is from officials at the MSG Sphere, who in a quarterly report on February 10 confirmed the venue will open in “September 2023”.
The shows at the sphere will be without Larry Mullen who requires surgery and time to heal. News of Larry Mullen’s pending surgery was first revealed in the Washington Post via an article by Geoff Edgers, published in advance of the Kennedy Center Honors. In comments shared on Twitter by Edgers, Larry Mullen is quoted as saying, “I really miss the audiences. I miss that interaction even though I’m sitting behind a drum kit…” Edgers shared on his Twitter that Larry wants to drum again, and said “I’d like to take some time, which I will do, to get myself healed. And I really enjoy playing and I enjoy the process of playing and being in the company of creative people. I enjoy that.”
Bram van der Berg will be filling in for Larry at the Las Vegas residence. Billboard has published a great profile on the drummer, a longtime fan of U2, and drummer with the Dutch band Krezip. van der Berg shared via Instagram, “VERY excited about this opportunity to join Bono, The Edge and Adam on stage in Las Vegas. It’s big shoes to fill but Larry and the band have been so supportive, I can’t wait!!”
Bono and The Edge popped up to do a Tiny Desk concert in Washington DC this week. We’ve been asked not to share the set list until it airs, but we can share that the program will appear online on March 17, 2023, which is the same day that Songs of Surrender is released.
It’s also the day that Bono and The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming will air on Disney Plus. Shaping up to be a busy day. And it sounds like other things are being planned for that day as well. Stay tuned, we’ll bring you all the news on any upcoming appearances.
It’s less than four weeks away at this point before the release of the album. Expect things to ramp up in the week leading up to the release. More information about the Tiny Desk performance on February 13 can be found in our show archive.
TILT and Danny Stubbs had reworked “Summer of Love” released in 2018 as one of the remixes to support that single on commercial services. The team are back in the studio now working on a new U2 remix, this time it’s “Zoo Station” and they are calling it the “Sphere Remix”. No word yet on when we’ll get to listen, but keep your ears open. The post on Instagram is here and says “New collaboration with Danny Stubbs. U2 ‘Zoo Station’ (Sphere Remix)”.
In 2018 we had the opportunity to talk with TILT and Danny Stubbs, and that interview can be found here.
One question we’ve been getting since the “Two Hearts Beat as One” / “Sunday Bloody Sunday” single was announced is how many copies will be released? There’s usually a number listed with the USA Record Store Day list that people look to, and this time around there was none.
We can tell you that the single will be released at the same quantities as previous coloured vinyl editions like “Gloria” and “11 O’Clock Tick Tock” and even “Three”, with 17,000 copies expected. 7000 of these will be sold in the USA, with the remainder being sold around the world. 3500 copies will be available in the UK and Ireland.
More information about the release for Record Store Day can be found in our discography. Really looking forward to the Songs of Surrender version of “Two Hearts Beat As One” from what we have heard in the audiobook!
For those still asking about Bono’s audiobook and if it will ever be released in physical format, the answer sadly is no. Although announced in May as one of the formats, the whole thing was cancelled and is now officially being marked as such. Some shops have already cancelled orders for the item, but if not expect the rest will soon. (A German version of the audiobook did come out but is in German, is not read by Bono and does not contain any of the music.”
Also announced as cancelled was the large print edition of the book.
For those who wish to own a copy of the audiobook rather than subscribing to a service to listen, we suggest Libro.fm, which offers the ability to download and play the audiobooks sold via any player. The files come split up in individual chapters as mp3 files, or one big file in audiobook format. The quality of these compressed files is low however, at 64kbps. The same quality is available through Google Books, as well as other providers. A higher quality version can be had via subscription to services such as Audible, but is not available to download without DRM.
North Star is going to be a while off yet, the film isn’t even cast. At the start of February Sheridan told the Irish Mirror, “I haven’t got anybody yet because I haven’t cast it. It’s a bit like Belfast or The Fabelmans but I wrote it 20 years ago and I’ve been rewriting it ever since.” The semi-biographical story will focus on Sheridan’s time growing up on Sherriff Street in Dublin around a hotel that his mother worked at, the North Star.
In May 2022 it was announced that Bono and The Edge were in discussion to compose original music for the film, and to write and perform the title track.
“North Star” is a title that Bono and The Edge performed during the U2360 tour in 2010 and 2011. The song, recorded by U2, was heard in the film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, however no soundtrack was ever released for that film. The song was originally developed with Michael W. Smith for the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The version included in the film was produced by RedOne.
We will keep watching for news on this one, and will bring you more as it becomes available.
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