U2 pay tribute to Supernova festival victims
U2 frontman Bono has paid tribute to the victims of the Supernova festival massacre in Israel while on stage in Las Vegas.
At least 260 people were killed in Saturday’s attack by Hamas militants at the festival, held in the desert near Kibbutz Re’im, in what is believed to be the deadliest-ever assault on a music event.
Before performing the band’s 1984 single Pride (In the Name of Love) on Sunday (8 October) in the latest show of their 25-date residency at MSG’s Sphere at The Venetian, Bono told the audience: “In the light of what’s happened in Israel and Gaza, a song about non-violence seems somewhat ridiculous, even laughable, but our prayers have always been for peace and for non-violence.
“But our hearts and our anger, you know where that’s pointed. So sing with us… and those beautiful kids at that music festival.”
He continued: “Sing for our brothers and sisters – who they themselves were singing at the Supernova Sukkot festival in Israel. We sing for those. Our people, our kind of people, music people. Playful, experimental people. Our kind of people. We sing for them.”
U2 last played in Israel in 1997, when they performed at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park
The Guardian reports the singer then altered the song’s opening lyrics, singing: “Early morning, October 7, the sun is rising in the desert sky. Stars of David, they took your life but they could not take your pride.”
U2 last played in Israel in 1997, when they performed at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park.
Held under the Universo Paralello brand launched in Brazil 23 years ago, The Tribe of Nova presents Supernova made its debut in Israel from 6-7 October – coinciding with the Jewish festival of Sukkot. The psy-trance music festival, which was attended by around 3,000 people, was stormed by Palestinian militants on Saturday morning and opened fire as part of a wider coordinated attack on Israel.
Festival organiser Tribe of Nova said it was “stunned” by the attack, adding: “We strengthen and share the grief of the missing and murdered families. We are doing everything we can to assist the security forces, stand with them in constant contact and are located in the area in scans and searches in order to locate the missing.”
Jonathan Lipitz, founder of local promoter Yellow Brick and owner of Tel Aviv-based club Kuli Alma, told IQ: “This is the biggest tragedy my country has ever faced. I’m more shocked than scared and I’m more enraged than sad. I’m not really digesting what my eyes and brain are seeing. This will take a lot of time.”
“Entertainment can wait,” he added. “First, we need to be focused on people’s lives”
Lipitz said Kuli Alma has closed indefinitely, while Yellow Brick’s scheduled shows at the Barby Club before the end of the year are likely to be postponed.
“Entertainment can wait,” he added. “First, we need to be focused on people’s lives.”
A 60,000-cap Bruno Mars concert scheduled for Saturday (7 October) at Hayarkon Park was cancelled amid the escalation of the conflict. The US star had played his first ever show in Israel just three days earlier.
Sources told Billboard that the decision to cancel was made a few hours after the attacks began, as securing the venue would present unnecessary risks to attendees. Mars’ scheduled performance at the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix in Doha on Sunday was also pulled “due to circumstances out of [organisers’] control”.
The singer was reportedly unable to pack up and transport his production gear out of Israel in time for the show, with French artist DJ Snake stepping in to take his place.
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Ticket requests for U2 Sphere residency top 1m
U2 have added a further five dates to their U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere residency after receiving more than one million ticket requests for the shows.
The run will launch Madison Square Garden (MSG) Entertainment’s 17,500-seat/20,000-cap Sphere at The Venetian in Las Vegas venue in September.
The Irish group initially announced five nights from 29-30 September and 5, 7-8 October, before confirming an additional seven (11, 13-14, 18, 20-21 and 25 October). Now, Sphere Entertainment and Live Nation have revealed five more dates – 27-28 October and 1, 3-4 November – bringing the total number of concerts to 17.
Tickets start at US$140 (€127) and will reflect all-in pricing. Promoters say the larger capacity allows for 60% of tickets to be priced under $300, while there will also be a limited number of premium priced tickets per show.
Based around U2’s classic 1991 album Achtung Baby, the series will be the band’s first live shows since The Joshua Tree 30th anniversary stadium tour, which was seen by 3.28 million fans worldwide from 2017-19 and grossed US$390.8 million.
The $2.18 billion Sphere is a “next-generation entertainment medium” that promises to “redefine the future of live entertainment”. It will introduce the first 16K screen that wraps up, around, and behind the audience, and also boasts Sphere Immersive Sound and 4D technologies.
“There’s nothing else like it in the world and won’t be for many, many years”
“The idea behind U2 is always to make the worst seat in the house the best seat in the house,” Bono told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “This changes the whole dynamic on that. Most music venues [bigger than theatres] are sports venues. They’re built for sports, they’re not built for music. They’re not built for art. So this building was built for immersive experience in cinema and performance. You can’t come here for an ice hockey game.”
“The sound has been designed as a priority from the beginning,” added The Edge. “There’s nothing else like it in the world and won’t be for many, many years. I think the truth is that depending where you are in the venue, you will get your own very unique show.”
The pair also commented on the possibility of their residency expanding further still.
“I don’t know,” said Bono. “We’ll have to see if we like this. We’ll have to see if our audience love this. I think it’s going to be hard to get us out of here. We’re not touring Achtung Baby anyway. With The Joshua Tree, we took that album around the world. This will only be here.”
“Don’t forget it’s 18,000 to 20,000 people a night so you’re not going to be doing 100 shows,” noted The Edge. “I mean, it’s impossible.”
Last week, MSG announced “Sphere Experiences” as part of its opening programming at MSG Sphere at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The concept will launch this October with a “first-of-its-kind” immersive production Postcard from Earth.
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U2 ordered to pay $1.5m to Brazilian promoter
U2 vocalist Bono and drummer Larry Mullens have been ordered to pay close to US$1.5 million in damages to a Brazilian promoter for claiming incorrectly they were not paid for three shows in 1998.
The Court of Justice of Santa Catalina ruled yesterday the musicians must pay Franco Bruni R$1.5m (US$441,000) in “material and moral damages” for remarks made in a 2000 O Globo interview, in which Bono and Mullens alleged they had not been paid for their PopMart concerts in Brazil two years before.
According to the court, however, it was collection society Egad that hadn’t paid out; Bruni paid the band an advance of US$8m. Bono and Mullens later retracted their remarks.
Judge Joel Figueira found the newspaper, and the journalist who had written the piece, were not liable for any damages, as they simply “reproduced the comments by the band members”.
The amount of compensation for which Bono and Mullens will be liable is, “with due corrections”, expected to total R$5m ($1.48m).
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