Celebrity duo splash £3 million on Bolton flats

Celebrity superstars Hollywood actor Colin Farrell and U2 drummer Larry Mullen have splashed out £3 million on a new apartment block in Bolton.

The bad-boy actor and the rock legend have jointly bought "The Anvil", a 26-apartment town centre development on the corner of Silverwell Lane and Clive Street. Their 20,000 sq ft block, which reaches six-storeys, was completed by developer Woodthorpe Homes in June on a site which was formerly a private car park. The apartments, which are expected to be rented out by the Irish duo, each include an open plan living and dining area, two bedrooms and a balcony. The multi millionaires are also property investors in Ireland and the USA, but it is believed to be their first acquisition in the North of England. Their high profile purchase has been welcomed as a major boost to Bolton's status as an up and coming investment location. At least £600 million in private investment is planned over the next ten years and is expected to create 12,000 new jobs.

Alan Hegarty, development director at Woodthorpe Homes, said he was "delighted" the scheme had attracted such prestigious buyers and told how the stars were alerted to the development. He said one of his colleagues had met a financial advisor from Irish company Galvin Investments at a property launch dinner in Dublin. "We were trying to sell Bolton to him and had an idea he represented some wealthy individuals but we didn't know who until he came back and said they were interested," said Mr Hegarty. "Our solicitors met them and they came over and had a look at the apartments themselves. Colin and Larry were attracted to buy in Bolton by its location close to Manchester, the motorway network, and on the edge of the stunning West Pennine Moors. They were also attracted by the large-scale regeneration of the town centre." Mr Hegarty said he hoped the duo would reserve a couple of apartments for their own use. "We have been told they are football fans and will find the location handy for going to matches at Old Trafford," he said. He added that Bolton's location and regeneration plans were attracting young, affluent professionals to the town. Mr Hegarty said he believed they would be keen to let apartments in the block, which was named "The Anvil" because the site was occupied by a blacksmith decades ago.

Cllr Akhtar Zaman, Bolton Council's executive member for regeneration, said: "We have a large number of Bolton-born celebrities who love the town, such as Peter Kay, Vernon Kay and Dave Spikey. "But we're delighted that it's also become popular with a couple of international stars. This demonstrates Bolton's importance as a regional economic centre and top investment destination."

Plans for the town include a £300 million Innovation Zone, including a cultural quarter around Le Mans Crescent and a creative arts centre. A £100 million redevelopment of Central Street is planned, while Church Wharf will receive a £200 million facelift including a multi-screen cinema, a hotel, offices, bars and nearly 600 homes. A second phase of the Woodthorpe Homes scheme will see an office block opposite "The Anvil" converted to create 52 more apartments. Four retail units will remain on the ground floor and the company is now talking to council planners about the possibility of adding office space and car parking. In June, Woodthorpe received planning permission for an 11-storey hotel, new apartments and a retail and office complex at the former Odeon cinema site off Ashburner Street.

Rob Devey @ The Bolton News

U2’s next album is making itself

In June, Rock Daily reported that acclaimed artists/producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois were starting work with U2 on the band’s next album, the follow-up to 2004’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

Here’s a status report, straight from Lanois, who has produced a handful of albums for the band, including 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire, 1987’s The Joshua Tree and 1991’s Achtung, Baby: “We’ve been invited as writers this time,” he says. “I did three writing sessions with Eno and U2 — one in Fez, Morocco; two in France. It’s going great. We’re regrouping in November.” He adds that “the record’s kind of making itself.”

Lanois has included some footage of the Morocco sessions in his upcoming documentary, Here Is What Is, but the scenes are well into the film. “It just seemed to make sense there and I didn’t want to take advantage of those guys. They’re so kind to me,” says Lanois. “They’re saying, ‘Lanois, you’re going to show us recording and we haven’t even put out a record yet, c’mon.’ I said, ‘Aw, please. We’re not going to give away anything and besides we’ve got twenty-five years together, throw me a biscuit [laughs].”

Source : Rolling Stone

Bono's smoking victory

Bono's neighbours have been banned from using their fireplaces after he complained about smoke in the building.

The U2 singer, who owns The San Remo penthouse on New York's highly desirable Central Park West street, was unhappy with the smoke coming from his neighbours' apartments and formally requested all open fires be stopped.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: "Bono recently complained of smoke from neighbouring apartments and now there has been in a ban on fireplace use in the whole building."

But the 'With or Without You' singer is rumoured to be moving downtown.

Bono and bandmate The Edge were recently spotted in the hot-pink Julian Schnabel tower at 360 West 11th Street with clipboards and brokers and sources say Bono is planning to buy the top two floors there.

The 47-year-old singer lives in Killiney, southern Ireland, with his wife Alison and their four children.

He and The Edge also share a villa in Èze, southern France.

© BANG Media International

U2 3D trailer

Il doit sortir un jour. Au début c'était prévu pour cet automne aux Etats-Unis. Puis il parait que c'est repoussé... On a l'habitude maintenant, hein?
En attendant, on peut se repasser le trailer :

DVD U2 Popmart Live From Mexico

Sortie du DVD U2 Popmart Live From Mexico

En juillet dernier, U2.com a annoncé la date de sortie et les contenus des deux éditions (la simple et la limitée) du DVD Popmart Live From Mexico que l'on trouvera dans les bacs dès le 10 septembre 2007 :

Disc 1 (édition simple et édition limitée) :

Pop Muzik / Mofo / I Will Follow / Gone / Even Better Than The Real Thing / Last Night On Earth / Until The End of The World / New Year's Day / Pride (In The Name Of Love) / I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / All I Want Is You / Desire / Staring At The Sun / Sunday Bloody Sunday / Bullet The Blue Sky / Please / Where The Streets Have No Name / Lemon (Perfecto Mix) / Discothèque / If You Wear That Velvet Dress / With Or Without You / Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me / Mysterious Ways / One / Wake Up Dead Man

Performance from Foro Sol Autodromo, Mexico City, filmed 3rd December 1997

Director : David Mallet
Producer : Ned O'Hanlon
Executive Producer - Paul McGuinness
Show Designer/Director - Willie Williams

Bonus disc (edition limitée seulement) :

1. Bonus live tracks
- Please / Where The Streets Have No Name / Discothèque / If You Wear That Velvet Dress
All recorded live at Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam on 18th July 1997

- Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me / Mysterious Ways / One All recorded live at Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton on 14th June 1997

2. Bonus video tracks
- Staring At The Sun (Miami version)
Directed by Morleigh Steinberg

- Last Night On Earth - First Night In Hell (Remix version)
Directed by John Bland

3. Documentaries
- Lemon For Sale
- The Road To Sarajevo
- A Tour Of The Tour
- Last Night On Earth, One Day In Kansas

4. PopMart Tour Visuals Montage
Curated by Catherine Owens

5. Extras
- DVD-Rom: Weblinks, Wallpapers, Screensavers

Le DVD promo, disponible depuis fin août, a révélé ses menus (images publiées par Peter J.) :

Walk On!

Juste pour le plaisir : Walk On live at the 2002 Grammy Awards!

Bono's inspiration

ROCK star Bono's life changed forever when he met passionate Australian nurse Sue Germein.

The U2 frontman has revealed that the Australian woman's heartfelt commitment to social justice inspired him to become a champion against global poverty and the spread of AIDS.

"She was the woman that got me fired up about these issues," said Bono.

"She had a huge impact on me. Her passion changed my life."

The social worker and one of the world's biggest rock stars met on a plane flight over Ethiopia in 1985.

Sue Germein, raised on a sheep farm, was working with a World Vision emergency medical team when asked to join an tour of the famine-ravished country with "an Irish couple".

"I had nothing else to do so I went along," Sue, now 51, said.

"Boarding the plane I met the couple. The man introduced himself as Bono and his wife as Ally.

"As we went along Bono began chatting away, telling me he was a singer with a band called U2 and that he had only recently been in Adelaide. I had no idea who they were.

"He was very charismatic, a great story teller and so much fun.

"He had been asked to do the original Live Aid concerts, but he wanted to understand the cause he was supporting before he did, so he organised a tour of Ethiopia.

"I began telling him about my experience with the Flying Doctors and the reasons I was in Ethiopia, my concerns, what I hoped to achieve. I explained the severity of the situation to him.

"He was genuinely caring. He wanted to know more and was very curious. His eyes were sincere. His sincerity is what struck me most."

Bono, Ally and Sue struck up an instant friendship.

They spent the next three days together, talking of how they could help change the world. They still talk regularly.

"I'll send him cards at Christmas and vice versa, or he'll send me a note to say 'hi', or 'congratulations' for something like a birth," Sue said.

"Whenever he comes to Australia he makes sure we have tickets for his show. Last year he sent tickets for myself, my husband and my four kids.

"He wanted to meet the whole crew so we went to see him before the show. My kids were really embarrassed, they thought he wouldn't know me.

"Sure enough, he came backstage and jumped on me, giving me a big hug. The girls all got kisses and my son a high five.

"They thought that was pretty cool. We spoke for half an hour or so and caught up and we actually delayed the show's starting time."

Sue and her family sat next to Bono's older brother, Norman.

"I introduced myself and all he said was 'You're the one. You're the reason why my brother's here'. All I could say was 'I don't think so'."

Sue, a humble woman, said her influence on the rock star has been exaggerated. But it is clear her quest to make the world a better place started at a young age.

She first recognised the injustices of the world when she was a schoolgirl on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula.

"I went to a school that had quite a large proportion of Aboriginal students. I noticed that while we were out playing during recess, the Aboriginal children were inside working.

"I thought to myself 'hang on a minute, something isn't right here'," she said.

A secondary school study tour to Papua New Guinea increased her passion for justice.

"The poverty definitely struck me in Guinea. What amazed me was that in spite of this, the people were still remarkably happy. I admired that.

"It did make me realise how lucky we were in Australia and that maybe we could help."

She studied general nursing and midwifery at Adelaide's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, then joined the Royal Flying Doctor Service and later volunteered to nurse in Ethiopia after being touched by a documentary on the nation gripped by famine, drought and disease.

"Life was tough there," she said.

"Sometimes you would be feeding a little baby and it would die in your arms. You could tell who would live and who would die.

"The dying ones have no light left in their eyes. . . no hope."

Tim Costello, the CEO of World Vision, first heard of Sue's extraordinary influence on Bono at a dinner party with some of world's most famous musicians.

"There I was, having dinner with Bono, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Peter Garrett and U2's chaplain," said the Rev Costello.

"It was quite a night. Bono, being Irish, was the life of the party, singing and story-telling all night. He loved talking politics and theology in particular and at times the dinner conversation became very serious.

"It was the story of meeting Sue that he was at pains to tell me," he said.

"He turned to me during dinner and asked 'do you know Sue? You have to meet her'.

Then Bono told how Sue had changed his life.

"Bono went to great lengths telling me about the Australian nurse who had opened his eyes to poverty," said Mr Costello.

"Her compassion and commitment had a lasting effect on the man, who today, is the world's leading voice for the poor.

"It was clear from the way he spoke about this woman, and the fact that he'd stayed in touch with her after all these years, that she was someone he greatly admired and someone I should take the time to meet," he said.

"When I met Sue I understood why. She is still amazingly passionate and committed to justice issues.

"Her picture album of a young Bono and dying kids from this time still produces tears and great anger at suffering and injustice.

"She has been an advocate for the poor and inspired many people through her passion and relentless pursuit of social equality."

Source : Herald Sun

7 Dias

7 Dias (7 Jours) est un film mexicain dans lequel Claudio, fan de U2, a escroqué la Mafia en leur dérobant 500 000 dollars pour faire venir jouer le groupe à Monterrey. L'organisation criminelle lui donne une semaine : il doit faire venir le groupe, organiser le concert et rembourser l'argent volé.

Sorti en 2005, 7 Dias sera disponible en DVD à l'automne 2007.

Voici le trailer du film, avec des images de U2 bien sûr, au Mexique et en live : cliquer ici !

Across The Universe

Source allociné : Une histoire d'amour qui se déroule au milieu des années 60 et des manifestations anti-guerre, de la lutte pour la liberté d'expression et les droits civiques, l'exploration des esprits et le rock'n roll. Le film nous fait voyager des Universités du Massachussetts et de l'Ohio, aux émeutes de Detroit et aux champs de batailles du Vietnam, en passant par les docks de Liverpool.

Across The Universe est une comédie musicale inspirée par l'univers des Beatles. Les personnages principaux portent logiquement des prénoms que l'on retrouve dans les chansons du groupe : Jude (Hey Jude), Lucy (Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds), Sadie (Sexy Sadie), Jojo (Get Back), Prudence (Dear Prudence).

Même si elles ont toutes été réinterprétées par les acteurs pour les besoins du film, les chansons originales sont toutes issues de la discographie des Beatles : All You Need Is Love et Strawberry Fields Forever (Magical Mystery Tour), I've Just Seen A Face (Help), Blackbird, Dear Prudence et Why Don't We Do It In The Road (Album Blanc), With A Little Help From My Friends (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band), I Want You, Oh Darling (Abbey Road), Hey Jude (Revolutions), Don't Let Me Down (Get Back). Let it be apparaît, comme la chanson éponyme au titre du film Across The Universe, dans l'album Let it Be.

Le chanteur du groupe U2, Bono, apparaît dans ce film réalisé par Julie Taymor dans le rôle du Dr. Roberts. Les deux artistes collaboreront à nouveau ensemble après le film, sur scène cette fois, à l'occasion de la comédie musicale Spider-man : The Musical mise en scène par Julie Taymor d'après le célèbre comic Marvel. Bono composant la musique avec l'aide de The Edge.

Across The Universe - Official Site

Here Is What It Is

Daniel Lanois présentera au festival du film de Toronto, qui aura lieu du 6 au 15 septembre prochain, son documentaire Here Is What Is. Le producteur nous invite, dans ce film, à le suivre pendant 18 mois. On y découvre alors notamment, des images de cessions de travail avec U2 à Fez, au Maroc.

Plus d'informations sur le site officiel de Daniel Lanois : cliquer ici.