U2
May 23, 2011
After releasing 2009's No Line on the Horizon and writing the music for Broadway's Spider-Man musical, U2 are prepping a new album to be released this year. "I would expect a new U2 album sooner than anybody thinks," the band's manager Paul McGuinness told the Irish Times. "I would guess early 2011 before the next leg of the American tour which starts in May." The working title is "Songs Of Ascent" and the band has already previewed some of the songs live.
Among the new songs: "Mercy," "Every Breaking Wave," and "Boys Fall From the Sky." The band returned to the states on May 21st in Denver, Colorado.
Bono said of the group's various projects, "We have Songs of Ascent, which is the meditative work that was meant to complement No Line on the Horizon. We've got a rock album. We also have a club-sounding album. And then we have the Spider-Man [musical] stuff. Across those four, there are 25-30 songs. Now we have to decide how we go about releasing them?" He also added of the rescheduled tour dates, "We'll maybe have a new album- I think we probably will. So it's kind of wonderful. Those people are going to have tickets to a whole new show with new songs. It's going to be very exciting next year."
U2's manager Paul McGuinness thanked fans for their ongoing support. "We're delighted the dates are rescheduled and in all the same venues we originally planned to play," he said in a prepared statement. "It hasn't been easy to accomplish this, and I'd like to thank the managers of the many venues and sports teams across North America and Live Nation Global Touring for their help and cooperation in making this complex new plan possible. Above all we want to thank the U2 fans for bearing with us. They're the best and the band wants to get back to where they belong, surrounded by their audience."
It all worked out in the end, and the most important part was everybody was fine and healthy," Live Nation Global Touring chairman Arthur Fogel said. It's the intersection of life and entertainment. You do what you do, you sort it out, and make it all work in the end."
The North American U2 360 Tour rescheduled dates:
- May 24: Salt Lake City, Utah (Rice Eccles Stadium, formerly June 3/10)
- June 1: Edmonton, Alberta (Commonwealth Stadium, formerly June 23/10)
- June 4: Seattle, Wash. (Qwest Field, formerly June 20/10)
- June 7: Oakland, Calif. (McAfee Coliseum, formerly June 16/10)
- June 17: Anaheim, Calif. (Angels Stadium, formerly June 6/10)
- June 18: Anaheim, Calif. (Angels Stadium, formerly June 7/10)
- June 26: East Lansing, Mich. (Spartan Stadium at MSU, formerly June 30/10)
- June 29: Miami, Fla. (Sun Life Stadium, formerly July 9/10) *previously Dolphin Stadium
- July 5: Chicago, Ill. (Soldier Field, formerly July 6/10)
- July 8: Montreal, Quebec (Hippodrome, formerly July 16/10)
- July 9: Montreal, Quebec (Hippodrome, formerly July 17/10)
- July 11: Toronto, Ontario (Rogers Centre, formerly July 3/10)
- July 14: Philadelphia, Pa. (Lincoln Financial Field, formerly July 12/10)
- July 20: East Rutherford, N.J. (New Meadowlands Stadium, formerly July 19/10)
- July 23: Minneapolis, Minn. (TCF Bank Stadium, formerly June 27/10)