POLL - U@ FANS PICK RATTLE & HUM AS U2 FAN FAVORITE MOVIE!

Poll Results: Rattle And Hum is U2 Fans' Favorite U2 Movie

@U2, April 29, 2012

U2's first foray into movie-making remains the favorite of U2 fans, according to a recent poll conducted here on @U2. In March, we asked "Which of these is your favorite movie?" and gave fans four choices. Among the more than 2,300 fans that voted, Rattle And Hum was picked by just under 40 percent. That was plenty of votes to beat out the second-place finisher, U2 3D. From The Sky Down and It Might Get Loud followed in third and fourth, respectively.
Our current home page poll question asks fans which Bono character from Zoo TV they prefer -- The Fly or MacPhisto. And, while we're on the subject of voting, we're planning to begin releasing results from the 2012 U2 Fan Survey within the next week or so. That survey remains open until end-of-day on Monday, April 30th.

maybe im a bit off with the rest of the U2 lovers, but i thought U23d was AMAZING! and thus, stands as MY personal favorite U2 movie, i havnt even seen, IT MIGHT GET LOUD, or FROM THE SKY DOWN ...yet. lol
MICHELLE

ARTICLE - U2 LISTS: TOP 5 ESSENTIAL U2 BOOKS

U2 Lists: Top 5 Essential U2 Books

@U2, April 17, 2012
By: Tassoula E. Kokkoris

[Ed. note: This is the 37th in a "U2 Lists" series, where @U2 staffers pick a topic and share their personal rankings on something U2-related.]
It's a ritual for many people to want to read every book on the subject of something they love. Sometimes folks dive into the literary pool early on, as they're learning about their new passion; other times they catch up years later to rekindle the feeling that made them fall for the topic in the first place. Then of course, there are casual readers who may only ever read one or two books on any given theme.

Regardless of the reasons for reading, most are faced with a variety of choices about what to read, especially when investigating a subject as popular as U2.

I can safely say that I've ready every book printed in the English language about this band. I'll spare you the titles of the ones I felt like burning, and instead focus on what I believe are the best five (including passages from each after my descriptions).

5. Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas, by Michka Assayas (2005)

This may be the closest thing we'll ever get to a memoir from Bono. He mentions in the foreword that he doesn't know why he agreed to the interviews, but he's glad that he did, hinting that the process was therapeutic. Assayas asks all the right questions, which dig deeply into Bono's spiritual beliefs, his family life, and of course — U2.

U2 were never dumb in business. We just had a strong sense of survival in us. We essentially became our own record company living in Dublin, not in London or New York, or Los Angeles. We don't sit around wondering about world peace all day long. We're not sitting around like a bunch of hippies. We're from punk rock and we're on top of it. —Bono


4. U2: A Diary, by Matt McGee (2008)

Full disclosure: The author of this book is the owner of this website. But I promise, the decision to include this book was purely my own (and knowing Matt, I'm sure it bugs him that I put it on the list). The fact is, it deserves its slot because it's the most comprehensive record of the band's history in existence, and it's frightfully accurate (trust me, I know — I was around in the days when he was researching all of those details and facts). Put simply, if you ever need to do "homework" on the band, there is no greater resource than this book.

June 2, 1987
During a restless night of sleep in London, Bono listens repeatedly to Roy Orbison's "In Dreams'". When he wakes up today, he decides to start writing a song for Orbison called "She's a Mystery to Me." He sings bits of the unfinished song to the band when they arrive at Wembley Arena for tonight's show. After the gig, there's a knock on U2's dressing room door: Security announces that Roy Orbison is here and would like to meet the band. Everyone is understandably shocked by the strange twist of fate.


3. Into the Heart, by Niall Stokes (1997, 2001, 2005, 2009)

Using a combination of extensive research, and conversations with Bono and various U2 associates, the Hot Press editor weaves a hazy, yet concentrated story about every song on each U2 studio album. Related photos and quotes help guide the author's artsy narrative through the genesis of U2's songwriting. Lyric nerds will especially love this read.

The recording of War had been exhilarating, tense and finally draining. There were times during the course of their incarceration in Windmill when Steve Lillywhite had had to push Bono to the limits, forcing him to sing until his throat bled. Now, there they were, a track short and with their allotted studio time almost up. The band had enjoyed themselves in the past improvising B-sides and starting and finishing songs in an hour. The results were usually throwaway, but what the hell? They wanted to get '40' done. Steve Lillywhite said to go for it.


2. U2 at the End of the World, by Bill Flanagan (1995)

This fly-on-the-wall account of the Zoo TV tour takes the cake for humor and unexpected twists. In fact, it may be the absolute best account of a rock band on the road in music history. Flanagan's unprecedented access to U2 on tour allowed him to witness not only how they interact with fans, but also with their families and each other. The way he paints each band member reflects how many still see them today: Bono, the bleeding heart; The Edge, a lovable nerd; Adam, the wild rebel; and Larry, the tough 'boss.' It's no wonder the band wasn't in love with this candid snapshot of their behavior, but if it were any other band, it could have been so much worse. And really, amidst the chaos, Flanagan does a great job of emphasizing the friendship and love among the Principle folks.

At 1 p.m. Larry strolls down the corridor looking for breakfast, wearing just a white hotel bathrobe and calling, "GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM!" He joins the four security men who are drinking coffee and checking off last night's log-in sheet. Adam returned to the hotel at 3 a.m., Edge at 5, Larry at 6, Bono at 10. The Final Week Iron Man Nightlife Marathon is under way.

1. U2 by U2 by U2 and Neil McCormick (2006)

Acclaimed music journalist (and childhood friend of U2) Neil McCormick sat with the band for over 150 hours, interviewing them individually and together about the story of their lives. What results is this definitive telling of how U2 came to be and still exists today. Because all four band members, and McCormick, are incredibly charismatic, nearly every page is laced with charming anecdotes. It also serves to set the story straight about many details of their milestones and personal lives. All self-respecting U2 fans should have this book on their shelf.

It was not a disagreeable head, in certain contexts it was quite handsome, but from the age of five as a result of this unusual development, I started to look unnervingly like the kid on the cover of Mad magazine. Along with the head came the teeth, or specifically my two front teeth. When they first appeared sprouting out of my gums, I knew there was something up. Their size was obvious from the beginning, and they grew in with a kind of terrible inevitability. —The Edge

NEWS - CHURCH BELNDS MUSIC OF u2 IN TRADITIONAL SERVICE (now, THIS is a church id like to attend!)

Church blends music of U2 in traditional service

 

Independence, MO —

I have run

I have crawled

I have scaled these city walls

These city walls

Only to be with you

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for


Is the singer of these lyrics proclaiming his feelings toward a romantic or a spiritual relationship?
Twelve years after the song’s release, in 1999, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” was used in the opening scene of the Julia Roberts’ movie “Runaway Bride” as she runs away, on horseback, from a wedding.
But for Mitch Jarvis, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Independence, the song’s spiritual connection is clear.
“It’s a song about the brokenness that we feel together,” Jarvis says. “We would say that there are a lot of people in the world today who are looking and searching and trying with everything they have to fill a void, but they still haven’t found what that something is.”
The song, one in a string of hits by the Irish rock band U2, was included in a combined Maundy Thursday service on the Square this week.
Now in his early 40s, Jarvis first heard U2’s post-punk music while in junior high school. He describes the band as “the Beatles of his generation.”
 The Dublin-based rock group formed in 1976 when its four founding members – all of whom are still part of U2 today – were just 15- and 16-year-old boys. As a teenager, Jarvis listened to the band during a time when the band quietly released its albums “Boy” and “October.”
Twenty-five years ago, though, U2 took off worldwide with the release of “The Joshua Tree” – and that’s when Jarvis says his appreciation for the group deepened, as well. He says he was drawn to the four members’ awareness of the world and their social consciousness toward issues like poverty.
With their close proximity on the Square, First United Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church and First Christian Church come together to celebrate Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, among other holy days throughout the year.
And, with First United Methodist Church as the host for Maundy Thursday, Jarvis wanted to try something new – but not completely unique – with U2charist.
In the summer of 2005, the Rev. Paige Blair, an Episcopal priest in Maine, came up with the idea for U2charist and held the first service at her church, according to a 2006 USA Today article. Following her initial service, Blair consulted with several hundred churches in multiple states and countries for similar U2charist services in their congregations.

On the surface, many U2 lyrics may be interpreted as applying toward love and relationships. Upon closer examination, the band’s lyrical content includes social and political commentary, as well as spiritual undertones.
Like “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” several U2 songs were prominently displayed in ’90s movies and TV shows in scenes involving romantic relationships. “With or Without You” was featured in several episodes of the popular TV series “Friends” in the mid-1990s as two of the main characters came to terms with their troubled relationship.
Incidentally, these two songs also were part of Thursday’s service, their lyrics this time taking a more spiritual – but not explicitly Christian – interpretation.
But missing from the Maundy Thursday program were U2 songs with titles that are clearly more spiritually based than others, including “Yahweh,” “If God Will Send Us His Angels,” “Peace On Earth” and “In God’s Country.”
“I just didn’t think they would connect,” Jarvis says of why they weren’t included. “I just thought the other songs were more accessible.”
In Independence, the First UMC worship band performed two U2 songs while the rest of the music came through recordings and videos. Despite his strong admiration for U2, Thursday marked the first time that Jarvis had experienced a U2charist service. First United Methodist Church changed up the format a bit from the original, especially when Jarvis to make it part of Maundy Thursday.
A big part of Maundy Thursday, Jarvis says, is Jesus’ sense of community with those around him and his example of service. In conjunction with the music of U2, an awareness of poverty issues worldwide and in Eastern Jackson County was raised, and the evening’s offering went to Hillcrest Transitional Housing.
And with his idea of incorporating popular rock music into a worship service, Jarvis says he felt nervous and excited – for the same reasons – about how parishioners and his fellow congregation members alike might react.
“I don’t know that anything quite like this has ever been tried in this kind of setting,” Jarvis says, “so I’m nervous about that, but I’m also excited about that because nothing like this has ever really been tried here.”
A U2 fan since the early 1990s, First Presbyterian Church Pastor Dave Carlson, like Jarvis, never thought he’d attend a church service built around the band’s music. Carlson said he wasn’t nervous before Thursday’s service.

“I think it’ll speak for itself and touch people in a way that’s meaningful to them,” Carlson says. “Whether it is everyone’s cup of tea or not as far as how they prefer to worship, I still think they’ll get something out of it.”
Throughout history, different denominations of Christianity have contemporized parts of their service. Jarvis cites 16th century Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who compiled the Book of Common Prayer in English, not Latin, in order to make prayer more accessible.
“We’re at such a time right now where the church has got to rethink our expression of faith so that we’re more accessible to newer generations of people,” Jarvis says. “This is an unapologetic attempt to do just that...”
Donna Rose-Heim, the transitional pastor at First Christian Church, says seeing the Gospel speak in new ways is always a positive experience. For those who weren’t as connected to the music, she says, they still felt connected through more traditional elements of the service, such as communion and the washing of the hands.
“I always thought it was good that I saw a lot more younger people at this event than I normally would,” Rose-Heim says. “The message of Jesus has lasted more than 2,000 years because it’s speaking to whatever generation we’re in. I’m really grateful to the people who came to connect and to worship even though that music wasn’t necessarily their thing because they knew the younger people needed to hear the Gospel. I really appreciated that.”
Jarvis wanted parishioners to experience surprise from the music, to have it speak to them in ways they weren’t expecting. Following the service, Jarvis says it went just as he had thought it would and was pleased overall with the positive feedback he received.
“I’m kind of a traditionalist when it comes to the Christian holidays,” says Vicky Reuter, a First United Methodist Church member who also sings in the worship band. “I was kind of wondering what U2 music had to do with Maundy Thursday, but they tweaked the service enough to make it fit into that, so I was pleasantly surprised.”
Bill Czeschin, a member of First Christian Church who attended Thursday’s service with his wife, Mary, had a similar reaction.
“I think something different is OK,” he says, “as long as you stick with the basics.”
For Jarvis, the chance was one well worth taking.
“It’s kind of risky,” he says, “but in a no-risk environment.”

NEWS - THE EDGE & BONO INVEST IN DROPBOX (i already had this service, lol)

The Edge And Bono Invest In Dropbox

 @U2, April 02, 2012

By: Sherry Lawrence

Popular file sharing service, Dropbox, announced via Twitter today that The Edge and Bono are investors in the company. The accompanying photo shows half of U2 with members of the Dropbox team. Techcrunch.com reports that the investment occurred a year ago, and it might have had its roots going back to 2007. The article states:

Back in 2007, entrepreneur brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi had just launched a fast-growing music app called iLike on Facebook. They had a new feature they wanted to launch, a way for artists to post videos to fans through the app, so they went through some mutual friends to reach out to U2. The result: a video interview with Bono and the band about a previously-unreleased track, Wave of Sorrow.

The relationship has developed from there, it appears. The Partovis were early angel investors in Dropbox, and have maintained contact. Judging from the photo recently posted to Twitter, they introduced the band members to founders Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi.

ARTICLE - RELIGION: AN EARLY GLIMPS AT U2s SOUL

Religion: An early glimpse at U2's soul

By TERRY MATTINGLY - Scripps Howard First Posted: February 29, 2012 - 8:41 am

One thing was clear, back in the winter of 1982. No one at the famous Record Service store near the University of Illinois campus could figure out the hot new Irish band that was about to hit town.
The guy behind the front desk cranked up the group's new single so that everyone could ponder the lyrics.
"I try to sing this song," sang the young entertainer called Bono Vox. "I, I try to stand up, but I can't find my feet. I, I try to speak up, but only in you I'm complete. Gloria, in te domine. Gloria, exultate."
That was Latin, but what did it mean? A Newman Center priest told me that the first phrase, perhaps a Mass fragment or drawn from chant, meant, "Glory in you, Lord." The next meant, "Exalt him." Then again, it was hard to hear the second Latin phrase.
The priest apologized and said he wasn't used to parsing rock lyrics.
Yes, the band 30 years ago was U2, and its mysterious second album was called "October." Both were surrounded by clouds of rumors, which I explored in a News-Gazette column on Feb. 19, 1982. What I needed to do was meet the band before its Feb. 23 concert in Champaign-Urbana.
Luckily, the 20-year-old Bono was willing to discuss "Gloria" and "October." Describing that interview, the reference book "U2: A Diary" notes: "Although the band have gone out of their way to avoid talking about their faith up to this point, they speak candidly now."
That column ran on March 5 and it apparently was the first mainstream news piece in which Bono and company discussed their faith. I immediately pitched the story to Rolling Stone, where editors decided that U2 wasn't all that important or that it was bizarre for a guy like Bono to talk about God -- or both.

"Deep down, everyone is aware. You know, when somebody dies, when somebody in their family dies. ... Things that happen around us, they shock people into a realization of what is going down," he told me.

All of that changed -- quickly.
Thirty years down the road, what is striking about that interview is the fact that the issues that drove Bono then still dominate his life today. For example, he stressed that U2 had no interest in being stereotyped as a "Christian band" or in allowing "Christian" to become a sad marketing term for its work.
"The band is anxious not to be categorized," he said. "You know, if, for instance, people are talking about U2 in a spiritual sense ... that becomes a pigeonhole for people to put us in. That worries us.
"Also, from the point of view of coming from where we come from, Ireland is a place that's been cut in two by religion. I have no real time for religion and, therefore, avoid those kinds of stereotypes. I would hate for people to think of me as religious, though I want people to realize that I am a Christian."
Decades later, tensions remain between believers who work in the so-called "contemporary Christian music" and believers who work in the mainstream-music industry. The latter often cite U2's work as a prime example of how religious imagery and themes can be woven into successful popular music.
The goal, Bono stressed, is to avoid making preachy music that settles for easy answers while hiding the struggles that real people experience in real life. When writing a song about sin, such as "I Fall Down," he stressed, "I always include myself in the 'we.' You know, 'we' have fallen. I include myself. ... I'm not telling everybody that I have the answers. I'm trying to get across the difficulty I have being what I am."
At the same time, he expressed disappointment that so many people -- artists, in particular -- attempt to avoid the ultimate questions that haunt life. The doubts, fears, joys and grace of religious faith are a part of life that "we like to sweep under the carpet," he concluded.
"Deep down, everyone is aware. You know, when somebody dies, when somebody in their family dies. ... Things that happen around us, they shock people into a realization of what is going down," he told me.
"I mean, when you look at the starvation, when you think that a third of the population of this Earth is starving, is crying out in hunger, I don't think that you can sort of smile and say, 'Well, I know. We're the jolly human race, you know. We're all very nice, REALLY.' I mean, we're not, are we?"
(Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

NEWS - U2s BONO TO JOIN ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER TALENT SHOW?

U2's Bono To Join Andrew Lloyd Webber Talent Show?

It has been reported...

February 29, 2012 by Holly Frith 


U2 frontman Bono could be set to join Andrew Lloyd Webber's new talent show as a judge.
The musical composer is reportedly looking to hire Bono to join the search for the star of Jesus Christ Superstar.
A source told The Sun: It's definitely a long shot, there's no doubt about that,” said a source who was definitely not someone working the nightshift on the paper’s newsdesk,
“But Andrew is keen to get Bono on board and if anyone could pull off something like this, then it is him.”

Meanwhile, The U2-scored musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, has broken Broadway to become the highest single-week gross of any show in Broadway history.

The musical as grossed almost $3m over nine performances last week, which has broken the previous record held by Wicked, which grossed $2.2 million (1.4 million) over eight shows in 2011.

NEWS -GIVE-A-WAY: WIN A COPY OF THE U2 DOCUMENTARY DVD "FROM THE SKY DOWN"

Giveaway: Win A Copy Of The U2 Documentary DVD "From The Sky Down"

 

“It’s a beautiful day. Don’t let it get away.” If you aren’t aware of what iconic band sings those lyrics then take another shot with words from another track: “It’s everything I wish I didn’t know except you give me something I can feel, feel!” If you still can’t match these words to the outfit then you are in dire need of this giveaway. Those fans who can then you can add the U2 documentary DVD “From The Sky Down” to your Bono collection.
Yes, that’s right the first song is U2′s “Beautiful Day” and then second “Vertigo”. The Irish rock group have released 12 studio albums, sold more than 150 million records worldwide, won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band and in 2005, they were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So, shame on you Shockya readers who couldn’t match those lyrics to this band, but here is a shot to catch up on U2. “From The Sky Down” documents the history of the band up through the making of the 1991 album, “Achtung Baby”. Academy Award winning director, Davis Guggenheim charts the band’s path toward the groundbreaking album. He uses animation and unseen footage from Berlin and Dublin, along with conversations to reveal what is now a key chapter in U2′s career.
To win a DVD copy of “From The Sky Down”, you simply need to tell us in no more than 300 words, how you think U2 changed the course of rock music. What made the group different from other rock bands of the 80s? Was it solely due to Bono’s ethereal rock vocal or was it the riffs instilled within the songs? Or both?
You have until March 2nd to explain how U2 paved the path for rock music of the 21st Century. Remember to post your affectionate words in the comment section of this article and to e-mail your entry to freestuff@shockya.com.
by Lonnie Nemiroff

NEWWS - U2s BONO INSPIRED BRAD PITT TO BECOME A HUMAINITARIAN

U2’s Bono Inspired Brad Pitt to Become a Humanitarian

 

One would think Brad Pitt was nudged into humanitarian work thanks to his relationship with the always-charitable Angelina Jolie. But, that’s just not so. Pitt actually praises U2 frontman Bono with inspiring him to help make a difference in the world!
Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, Pitt explained that he “sought out” Bono after he took a trip to Morocco and experienced personally how much certain areas of Africa were hurting.
The moving trip urged Pitt to “get off the couch” and join Bono and the other superstars who use their fame to help make the world a better place.
Turning to Bono, he asked for some humanitarian advice. “I sat down with him a few times and got involved in some of the stuff he was doing,” Pitt said.
Only after Pitt started getting out and doing good did he connect with current sweetheart, Jolie, on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. “That may have been one of the things that brought us together. Certainly, I’ve met very few people more dedicated than she is,” he said. “She is always studying issues, daily. She has such compassion for the people she works with.”
Thanks to Bono and Jolie, Pitt knew how to respond when Hurricane Katrina ran its way through New Orleans in 2005. “There was a responsibility to make it right, which was not being answered wholly, so I decided to make that a focal point and help families return home, and in the process we started discovering the inadequacies of low-income housing,” he said.

NEWS - u2s 'SPIDER-MAN MUSICAL' MAKES BRADWAY HISTORY

U2's Spider-Man Musical Makes Broadway History

 Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark – the drama-packed musical toting a score from U2’s Bono and The Edge – has broken Broadway records to score the title of the highest single-week grossing show of all time.
The Daily Telegraph reports the production took in roughly $3 million over a nine-show period, which breaks the previous single-week grossing record held by the Wizard of Oz-inspired musical Wicked, which grossed $2.2 million over eight shows in 2011.
First impressions are often deceiving, and that’s the case with Spider-Man. The production, which is reportedly the priciest show in history with a projected cost of $70 million, was faced with a number of early hindrances, including serious injuries to cast members, economic problems and poor reviews.
In March of last year, the production’s original director Julie Taymor was let go after the musical garnered tremendously negative reviews from critics and had to shut down for three weeks. New director Philip William McKinley stepped into the sphere and overhauled the show, revamping key parts and having U2 and the Edge rewrite some numbers. Since then, the show has evolved into a blockbuster Broadway hit. When the production re-opened in June, it received an extremely positive response from critics and theatergoers alike. Now, it looks as if nothing can top Spider-Man.

ARTICLE - U2s EFFORTLESS ALBUMS

U2's effortless albums

 

Jan 5, 2012, 02.02PM IST

 

  U2 make their records in a way so that they sound "like they didn't try too hard".
The 'Vertigo' band work meticulously in the studio, but always aim for their albums to sound effortless and full of energy, according to long time producer, Steve Lillywhite.
He told theartsdesk.com: "They've been able to afford themselves a style of making music that is unique. They go off on tangents, they try everything, and good luck to them - it doesn't matter to me how long it takes to make a record, as long as it doesn't sound like it took that long. It has to sound like they didn't try too hard.
"This is what makes them such a great band: for them 'good' is about the worst thing you could ever say. When they have a new record coming out it has to have that wow factor."
Steve has worked with the group - singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, drummer Adam Clayton and bassist Larry Mullen Jr. - on a number of their albums, including 2004's, 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb', and explained how lead single, 'Vertigo', took shape.
He added: "Basically, the moment he started singing the song with the band, Bono projected himself a year into the future, on a stage at Madison Square Garden, and he suddenly realised he couldn't sing it with the passion he really wanted.
"So he decided to rewrite the words and melody. Bono had a rhythm for the chorus but he couldn't get the words, and he was trying and trying.

"Eventually, after changing the chorus, changing the words, the final version of 'Vertigo' just sort of leaked into life. It has become one of their top five songs. It's one of those songs that, if they're having the worst gig in the world, they know they can pull it out and get the crowd back."

NEWS - U2 CELEBRATE 'SPIDER-MAN ON BROADWAY' SUCESS

irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Thursday, January 5, 2012, 09:34

U2 celebrate Spider-Man success

 

Rock giants U2 are celebrating the success of their Broadway record-breaking hit Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark  which shattered Broadway box office and attendance records during the last week of 2011.
Bono and The Edge wrote the music and lyrics for the show, which was once branded the biggest flop on Broadway but took in $2,941,790 (€2.25m) over nine performances last week.
 “For all the problems, there was magic on the stage," said Bono. "Things did get chaotic and messy after our producer Tony Adams died.
"But this week’s news has us all giddy again and we are raising our glasses to Tony, to our indefatigable cast, crew, creative- and production team.”


The show had had a turbulent start including injuries to actors, delays in opening night and poor reviews.
The Edge added: “It just goes to show that you can’t keep a good superhero down.
“This is a proud day for everyone who has been a part of this show. The Broadway public have voted with their feet.”
Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark  has been seen by more than 700,000 audience members from around the world - including 17,375 people last week in The Foxwoods Theatre.
The previous record was held by Wicked , which grossed 2,228,235 dollars last January.

NEWS -GET A CHANCE TO REDESIGN U2s ALBUM COVER

Get a chance to redesign U2`s album cover

 Mumbai: Get creative and grab a chance to re-design a collage for popular international band U2`s album ‘Achtung Baby’.

The invitation has been extended by Talenthouse India, an online crowd-sourcing platform.

The original cover of U2`s 1991 album ‘Achtung Baby’, which propelled the Irish rock band to fame, embodied the zeitgeist of the early 1990s.

To honour the 20th anniversary of the album`s release, U2 wants fans to send in their best interpretation of today`s global environment, to Talenthouse. The interpretations can be in the form of a photograph or artwork.

"Talenthouse India are looking to provide creative artists opportunities to work not only in Bollywood, but also giving them a platform to showcase their creativity internationally in Hollywood," Arun Mehra, CEO, Talenthouse India, said in a press statement.

After the submission of entries, 15 winners’ work will be compiled into a collage acting as a modern makeover for the album`s cover work. The winning submissions will be selected by U2`s official designer and photographer, Shaughn McGrath and Anton Corbijn.

IANS

NEWS - TONY-WINNING DIRECTOR JULIE TAYMOR SUES PRODUCERS OF 'SPIDERMAN'IN FED COURT FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGMENT

 my band cant catch a break with this investment of song writting for this play, saying it one more time, bono...NEVER VENTURE INTO THIS GENRE AGAIN! youve dont it, no need to revisit this again. just saying. MICHELLE

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony-winning director Julie Taymor sues producers of 'Spider Man' in fed court for copyright infringement  

 

Producers: We're happy to let courts decide if Taymor wronged

BY Barbara Ross
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

November 8 2011, 7:22 PM

Axed Spidey director Julie Taymor is casting a new web — and in this one the producers who booted her from the now-hit show are the villains.

Taymor filed a million-dollar copyright infringement suit Tuesday, charging the money men behind the comic book musical cheated her out of royalties, and stole her work.

The Tony winner was booted from "Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” after spending years fine-tuning the accident-prone show and writing the book.

After critics savaged it, Taymor was unceremoniously shown the door.

Taymor's lawyer, Charles Spada, said his client, who won a Tony as director of the Broadway version of The Lion King, spent more than seven years creating the musical but was paid just $150,000 for her labor.

Producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris deny they owe Taymoranything.

“The production has indeed compensated Ms. Taymor for her contribution as a co-book writer,” they said in a statement. “The court system will provide, once and for all, an opportunity to resolve this dispute.”

Taymor’s 71 page lawsuit says the show routinely pulls in more than $1.4 million a week as ticket holders shell out $100 per seat.

Spada said the producers "violated Ms. Taymor's creative rights as an author" of the show.

"Ms. Taymor continues to support the talented and hardworking cast and crew, and she remains proud of her creative work on the production for over seven years, not only as an author, but as the director, mask designer, and collaborator, " Spada said.

Taymor got support last June from her union, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, which filed an arbitration claim against the producers in June to protect Taymor’s rights and compensation.

U2 band mates Bono and the Edge, who created the score for the comic-book musical, recruited Taymor in 2002 to work on the adaptation.

ARTICLE- MOVIE: 'KILLING BONO' : ROCK N RIVALRY DOWN DUBLIN WAY

'Killing Bono': Rock 'N' Rivalry, Down Dublin Way

 

by Mark Jenkins

November 4, 2011 Most people who've paid attention to rock music over the last 30 years will have been annoyed by U2 frontman Bono at one point or another — but few casual bystanders will have been as peeved as Neil McCormick, a school chum of the future celeb who coveted just the sort of stadium-filling success his four classmates achieved.
No rock stars were injured in the making of Killing Bono, a semi-fictionalized retelling of McCormick's 2004 memoir, despite the picture's aggrieved title; in fact Neil himself (played by Ben Barnes) is the only main character the movie seriously lampoons. It's an amiable, lightweight romp that should interest fans of U2 and other '80s Irish rockers, but it would be more actively amusing if it didn't insist on portraying its title character (impersonated by Martin McCann) as such a bloody nice guy.
The story includes some classic tropes of Brit-rock legend, including the feuding brothers (see The Kinks, Oasis) and the bandmate who just missed the double-decker bus to fame (see Pete Best). Neil's original sin is that he secretly convinced Bono not to recruit his little brother for the Hype, the band that became U2. More than a decade later, huge posters for The Joshua Tree are plastered all over Dublin, and Ivan McCormick (Robert Sheehan) is still playing guitar for Shook Up, Neil's struggling group. (It's scrambling not just for success, but also for a style it can call its own and not U2's.)
Now a rock journalist for the British daily The Telegraph, McCormick did some late-'70s writing for Hot Press, Ireland's equivalent of Rolling Stone, and his cockiness earned him a few enemies there. One of them was happy to inform Ivan, years after the fact, that his brother had kept him out of what became perhaps the world's biggest rock band.
In the movie, this news does not go down well, especially since it arrives at roughly the same moment Neil has made the serious miscalculation of sleeping with the wife of the boss of Shook Up's record label. Also not pleased is Neil's American manager and girlfriend (Krysten Ritter) — who's called Gloria, the name of songs by both U2 and Van Morrison.
Booted from his band, Neil heads to Dublin for a showdown, impelled both by his resentment of U2 and the demands of a disgruntled Irish gangster who financed the brothers' failed run at Top of the Pops. But the movie's payoff fails to deliver the mayhem promised by its high-pitched prologue.
While Barnes and Sheehan are persuasive as the squabbling siblings, the music-biz mockery is blunt and obvious. Relying mostly on genuine songs of the period, director Nick Hamm twists Neil and Ivan into a variety of now-embarrassing '80s-rock poses, drawing on Devo, Wall of Voodoo, Adam and the Ants and others. Yet it's hard to accept that so earnest a wannabe as Neil would pursue such clownish paths to possible stardom.
Limited by actual events, the movie can't really kill Bono. So writers Dick Clement and Ian la Frenais (who scripted another Irish rock dramedy, The Commitments) and Simon Maxwell take random shots at stereotypical supporting characters: the clueless record exec, his sexually predatory wife and Neil and Ivan's campy gay slumlord (the late Pete Postelthwaite, in his final performance.)
A few digs at Bono's growing self-importance might have enlivened the proceedings, but perhaps McCormick and the filmmakers really do think he's a good egg. Or maybe they just didn't want to risk alienating someone who could deny them the use of a U2 song on the soundtrack.

NEWS - LANOIS LOOKS BACK ON U2s 'BABY'

Lanois looks back on U2's 'Baby' 

By Darryl Sterdan ,QMI Agency Thursday, November 03, 2011

There's an adage: If you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.
To their credit, the young U2 never went that route. Their emotions were genuine, their motives pure. And in the '80s, their earnest anthems made them the most vital, relevant band in rock.
But by 1990, even U2 were tired of U2. The grim B&W photos, the giant white flags, the rhetoric; it reached its zenith with 1987's Grammy-winning Joshua Tree. After that, they could only go down. And they did, pushed and pursued by charges of megalomania for the Americana-obsessed Rattle and Hum, which critically crashed and burned. Finally, during a New Year's Eve gig in Dublin, Bono announced it was "the end of something" for U2, and that they were off "to dream it all up again."
What they dreamed up was Achtung Baby, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month. It was their seventh album. Some say it's their best. It was certainly pivotal. It was here they reinvented their sound. They reinvented their band. And with the help of The Fly and MacPhisto, they finally figured out how to fake it. But they weren't faking sincerity, they were faking insincerity. "I'm learning to lie," claims a mischievous Bono in a vintage documentary in the new Achtung Baby box set reissue. Truer words were never spoken.

U2's sonic and stylistic rebirth began in an unlikely setting: Post-unification East Berlin. They holed up in Hansa, birthplace of albums like Bowie's Heroes and Iggy's Lust for Life. They rounded up the usual suspects -- producers Brian Eno, Flood and Hamilton's Daniel Lanois. They began chopping down The Joshua Tree.
"It was very stark," recalls Lanois. "It was cold and the food was bad. We had no windows in the studio; it was an orchestral room with a control room down the hall. We were communicating by camera ... But that's Bono; he tries to place everybody in an unfamiliar environment so they don't fall into the same old habits. And I think his instinct was right."
By all accounts -- except Lanois, who recalls "a lot of cuddling" -- early sessions were tense and unproductive, as the band tinkered with synths and beatboxes, exploring dance and funk grooves. "We were starting to go a little more -- for the lack of another term -- industrial with our sounds," Lanois says. "There was a certain kind of aggression in the air."
The break came when guitarist Edge stumbled on the chords for One.
Much of the song was penned on the spot. Others followed: Even Better Than the Real Thing, Until the End of the World, Mysterious Ways and more. Lyrically, the tone was deeper and darker, more personal than political. Musically, says Lanois, it balanced past and future, humanity and technology.
"I like the fact that we were able to mix flesh and machine successfully. I listened to it from beginning to end a couple of months back, and as I hear the record now, the rhythm section is pretty much rock 'n' roll. The sounds of the rhythm section are not the futuristic sounds. The toppings are the futuristic sounds. So it's very rooted in tradition, and looking toward the future."
*****
For its postmodern innovation, Achtung Baby was still a U2 album in many ways: Sincere, serious, spiritual. But U2 wouldn't be caught looking serious again. To distract fans, they gave it a goofy title cribbed from The Producers. To complete the look, they traded cowboy hats and vests for sequined pants and gowns. To bring it to life, they took those charges of megalomania and ran with them. Bono conceived alter egos: The Fly (a leather-clad rocker in Lou Reed's wraparound shades), MacPhisto (a devil in gold lamé) and Mirror Ball Man (a televangelist). They built a giant multi-level stage festooned with video screens, hung German Trabant cars as lighting rigs, hired a belly dancer and hit the road with their Zoo TV Tour -- a piece of multi-media sensory-overload performance art that found Bono channel-surfing, throwing money into the crowd and prank-calling the White House. There were no giant white flags.
*****
Two decades later, Achtung Baby stands as one of U2's most successful and acclaimed works. It sold 18 million copies and won a Grammy. No wonder it's getting the 20th anniversary reissue treatment. The original tapes have been repolished by Edge and augmented with B-sides, outtakes, remixes and demos. Old videos, concert films and documentaries have been dusted off and updated with a new 75-minute film partly shot in Winnipeg on the band's latest Canadian tour. The legacy has been cemented. The torch relit.
For Lanois, Achtung Baby's true genius lies in its risk. "The heart is racing in that album. It's the sound of people at the extreme end of their expression. It's as much as they could do at that time. It's a lovely feeling when you're in the presence of risk-taking -- there's something exhilarating about it."
And now that even Bono himself has begun to question U2's relevance, maybe it's time for them to take a few lessons from Achtung Baby and dream it all up again.
******
U2
Achtung Baby: Super Deluxe Edition
Attention, U2 fans: The 20th anniversary edition of Achtung Baby arrived in stores this week. I got the first Canadian review copy of the 10-disc Super Deluxe Edition. Is it better than the real thing?
Here's the deal:
DATES: 1990 - 2011.
DISCS: 6 CDs, 4 DVDs.
DETAILS: U2 don't do things by half-measures. This included. The six CDs include repolished versions of Achtung Baby and 1993 followup Zooropa; two discs of vintage remixes; a disc of B-sides and bonus cuts, including the previously unreleased Blow Your House Down; and a disc titled Kindergarten, which contains "baby" versions of the songs (mostly rough mixes with different lyrics). The four DVDs contain Davis Guggenheim's From the Sky Down, a new 75-minute doc shot in London, Berlin and Winnipeg; 18 video clips; three hours of vintage doc and TV footage; and the previously released Zoo TV Live From Sydney concert. They bookend an 84-page hardcover tome of photos, lyrics and essays by producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, photographer Anton Corbijn and more. Also included in the LP-sized box: Art prints of the 16 pictures from the album cover.
DECISION: It's certainly a complete inventory of the Achtung era, but for a set with 10 discs, it still feels light on actual rarities.
DAMAGE: $130. Not what you're looking for? You have options: A single-disc reissue of the original album; a double-disc with bonus cuts; a four-LP box ($110) and the limited-edition Uber Deluxe Edition, which has all the Super Deluxe content plus vinyl singles, stickers, badges, a magazine and Bono's Fly sunglasses.

NEWS - BONO SUNGLASSES INCLUDED IN BUMPER 'ACHTUNG BABY' U2 REISSUE

 YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! finally! ill be able to own a replica pair of bono shades! (*now thinking to self "how much is ths box set gonna be anyway? no one has said yet."*)
MICHELLE
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Bono Sunglasses Included in Bumper 'Achtung Baby' U2 Reissue

Aug 5th 2011 8:30AM by Chris Cope

 U2 fans will be able to pick up a pair of replica Bono sunglasses as the band prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 'Achtung Baby.'

They unleashed the album in 1991 and to celebrate the upcoming 20-year milestone, they're rereleasing it in a number of different formats later this year.

But it is a bumper box-set edition that is whetting most appetites. As Rolling Stone reports, included in the 'Uber Deluxe Edition' are a pair of replica sunglasses, modeled on Bono's famed eyewear, as well as a mammoth collection of U2 goodies including six CDs, four DVDs and an 84-page hardback book.

Also included in the numbered release are five 7-inch singles, 16 prints from the album art, a fan-club magazine, badges and stickers.

'Achtung Baby' will also be re-released in a vinyl box set and, for those with perhaps a budget in mind, a standard CD too -- remastered, of course.

The Irishmen, who regularly top rich lists, were recently given the news that their 360° tour was certified the highest-grossing music tour ever. As previously reported by Spinner, it racked up a modest $736,137,344 (£452,051,545) and played to over seven million fans over a period of 26 months up until July 2011.

NEWS - U2 BAND RECORD : 736 MILLION DOLLARS TOUR REVENUE

U2 band record: 736 million dollars tour revenue

Posted by Bruce Foster on July 31, 2011

The U2 band U2 has finished the series of concerts “360 Tour” on Saturday night in Moncton, Canada, with total revenue record of $736,137,344.
In their two-year tour, the members of U2 sang for a total of 7.26 million people and broke the revenue record previously established by the Rolling Stones band that generated revenues of 558 million dollars in a tour, according to Billboard.com.
Concert Series “360 Tour” began in Barcelona on June 30, 2009, its success is due to the concept of 360 degree production,  which may increase by up to 25% the stadium capacity.
However, news of the success the band will not be well received by those who have brought public attention on the issue of tax paid by U2. Earlier this month, U2 guitarist The Edge, has vehemently denied allegations that the band or its members would make a tax evasion. Many of these accusations were released after the news broke out that the most of the band’s  business is operated in the Netherlands.
The Art Uncut militant organization wanted to point the finger to Bono and his band colleagues, for their tax “maneuvers” and flew above the spectators at the Glastonbury Festival huge white balloon with the message “U Pay Tax 2?” The Art Uncut Organization claims that Bono, a prominent campaigner against poverty would have to pay all taxes in his native country, especially in this period of recession.
Others argue, however, that the Irish band has the right to pay taxes in any country they want and that Bono participate more than any other star in campaigns against poverty and global diseases.
Irish band U2 ranks first in the Forbes highest grossing artists of the last 12 months. Group U2, who came first in the 2010 top, gained 195 million dollars in the last 12 months, thanks to the great success enjoyed by the concert series “360 Tour”. Irish band tour was promoting the 12th studio album of U2, “No Line On The Horizon”, released on March 2, 2009.
U2 band, made up of Bono (vocals and guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass) and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums and percussion), was founded in 1976, when its members were still adolescents without a thorough knowledge of music. But around the mid ’80s, the band gained international notoriety, most notably for its intense and deep sound, passionate voice of the Bono interpretation and The Edge’s guitar. The success enjoyed as a live band was even higher than that obtained from the albums sold, until 1987′s “The Joshua Tree”, when the band was raised to the status of “heroes to superstars”, as Rolling Stone magazine said.

NEWS - NHL HOCKEY PLAYER PICKS UP HITCHHIKING LEAD SINGER OF THE BAND U2-BONO!

NHL player picks up hitchhiking Bono

By Associated Press | Posted: Friday, June 3, 2011 

EDMONTON, Alberta -- This was one nifty assist by an NHL player.
Edmonton Oilers center Gilbert Brule stopped this week to pick up a most unlikely hitchhiker -- rock star Bono.
The U2 frontman and his assistant were walking in West Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday when they got caught in the rain. Fortunately for them, Brule and his girlfriend were driving by, taking their German shepherd to a park.
Bono hopped in for a ride. To thank them, he offered Brule and his girlfriend backstage passes for the U2 concert Wednesday night at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium. The couple sold their tickets to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals between Boston and Vancouver, took a flight back to Edmonton and went to the show with Brule's mom.
"I like people who play ice hockey -- they stop for hitchhikers. I know this from experience," Bono told the concert crowd.
"I was hitchhiking in Vancouver yesterday, actually I was! And this guy and his girlfriend picked me up. He was cool, an ice hockey player, his name was Gilbert Brule as it happens, I'm so grateful I've decided I want to be Gilbert Brule."
With hockey on his mind, Bono compared his bandmates to former Oiler greats, calling The Edge, "The Wayne Gretzky of U2."
"We go to walk our dog and Bono ends up in our car," Brule told the Edmonton Journal.
The 24-year-old Brule missed half of this season because of illnesses, intestinal problems, a sprained ankle and a concussion.
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i said id blog this, naturally, it has to do with one of my fav celebrities!
OH WHAT ID DO TO HAVE BEEN DRIVING BY WHEN BONO NEEDED A RIDE!
why do all the coolest things happen to all the lucky people..lol
MICHELLE

NEWS - ADAM CLAYTON, OF U2, HAS A BABY BOY!

 all i can say is..FINALLY! and...CONGRATULATIONS ADAM!   MICHELLE

 Achtung baby, Adam is the proud father of a little boy

U2 bassist finally finds what he's looking for with French partner

By BARRY EGAN world exclusive

Sunday January 16 2011

Adam Clayton has finally found what he's looking for. The U2 bassist is a father. He had a child with a French woman early last year. For years, Adam was the only one in the world-famous band who wasn't a parent.
"I think one of the great things about bands is that they allow you to be irresponsible for longer -- whether or not in the end that's a really healthy position to take," Adam told Q Magazine in 2001.
"I guess I've been lucky in that I fucked about until my mid-30s and now I can have more of a balanced outlook. I think not having a family and kids, I know what I need."
Obviously he changed his opinion last year when his French partner had a baby boy.
According to my source very close to U2, he is deliriously happy with fatherhood. The same source even claimed it is indeed the making of Adam, the one-time bad boy of the group who was once engaged to supermodel Naomi Campbell.
Definitely the most rock 'n' roll member of U2 for years (he was arrested outside the Blue Light pub in the Dublin mountains in 1989 for possession of marijuana), Adam was not shy about showing his colourful credentials as an out-of-kilter rock star. He was photographed displaying his proud manhood on the inside cover of U2's Achtung Baby album in 1991.
It is all achtung baby and nappy changes now for the former dedicated bachelor and libertine. He gave up drink in 1996. For his birthday one year, Bono recalled a few years ago, the rest of U2 bought him a travelling cocktail cabinet.
Bono added that "we lived through him vicariously for a few years. I was hoping that he'd do something like buy a yacht and we could all hang out on it. Because all of us were too embarrassed."
A different kind of embarrassment occurred in November 1993. Adam missed a show in Sydney because he was too emotional to go on stage during the Zoo TV tour.
"We thought that was the end," Bono said later in reference to Sydney. "We didn't want to go on if someone was that unhappy and not enjoying himself."
That lost night of turbulence in Australia matched his relationship with his ex-fiancee, queen of the temper tantrum as much as the catwalk, Naomi Campbell.
They were engaged in 1993 for a high-profile and stormy six months. Bono said at the time that the relationship was good for Adam (who was best man at his wedding to Alison Stewart in Raheny on August 21, 1982) because it "forced him to be the stable one in the relationship".
It is believed that Adam called off the relationship. In any event, Campbell told the Observer a few years ago, "I'm still great friends with Adam".
More importantly, Adam seems friends with himself now; something that couldn't be said during his drinking years. He told the Montreal Gazette in 2001 that his decision to quit "kind of brought me back down to earth, and now, having gone through all that, I definitely prefer it the way it is. I feel much more focused, much more... useful". And being a father is certainly useful.
He is more than useful with U2, providing some of the most memorable riffs on the band's music -- chief among them Bullet The Blue Sky and New Year's Day. ("That actually grew out of me trying to work out the chords to the Visage tune Fade to Grey," he revealed to BP Fallon a few years ago. "It was a kind of Euro-disco dance hit, and somehow it turned into New Year's Day.")
Clayton is an integral part of the group. "Adam was another reason my guitar playing developed the way it did," The Edge once said. "He was such an unorthodox bass player, and Larry and myself, in an attempt to make it work, developed our mutual styles to accommodate Adam's approach. In some ways Larry and I were like the rhythm section and Adam's really forceful bass playing was almost like the lead, it was very much out in the forefront."
He is also an absolutely charming gentleman. I've met him many times over the years (including San Francisco in 1992); he is always the most down to earth and decidedly un-rock star-ish chap on the planet.
I was backstage at U2's show in Paris last September and he was Zen-calm as he chatted to Danish supermodel Helena Christensen (a rumoured ex of his) before going on in front of 98,000 people.
The further good news is that my mole in the U2 camp tells me that fatherhood suits Adam and he is a new man -- he has been, in fact, for the last decade-and-a-half since he stopped the sauce. It is certainly a new commitment for the member of U2 who could possibly have been seen as a commitmentphobe until now.
Lest we forget, post-Naomi, he got engaged to his girlfriend of 10 years Susie Smith in 2006. When I announced the news to the world on the front page of this newspaper, U2 then put it on the official U2 website. It read: "Congratulations! We can confirm the rumour that Adam Clayton is engaged to Canadian girlfriend, Susie Smith. All of us at U2.com wish Adam and Susie all the best for the future!"
Adam (who is currently in the US with the band ahead of the restart of their world tour in Johannesburg in South Africa on February 13) asked her on Valentine's night 2006 at a private soiree in London where the couple spent a lot of time together.
Then a year later Adam and Susie went their separate ways after what was described by friends as "an amicable split". Alas, it wasn't to be. It scotched the hot rumour that they were supposed to get married in the biggest rock 'n' roll wedding of the year in 2007, with Bono as best man.
My favourite Adam Clayton rumour is that he put his body in front of Bono in 1987 during a show in America's deep south during Pride (In the Name of Love) to protect his friend from an alleged death threat.
Adam (along with Bono and The Edge) answered an ad on the notice board at Mount Temple school that 14-year-old Larry Mullen had posted in 1976. The rest is history. Of the early U2, Bono once said that: "Adam was bringing a lot of panache to the proceedings, and he was starting to produce a really great bass sound, even though he was a very eccentric bass player. He could play really complicated things easily and then be unable to clap in time and you'd just be left scratching your head."
Years ago, the concept of Adam Clayton as daddy would have had you furiously scratching your head. But not now.

- BARRY EGAN world exclusive

NEWS - SPIDER-MAN STUNT ON BROADWAY GOES AWRY; Is Show In Peril?

im beginning to think, that maybe Bono  SHOULDNT venture into this area again, if the EVER get this thing to run right, and make millions, like im sure they hope to, then let that be that, youve done it Bono, check that off your personal bucket list of things to accomplish.

MICHELLE

'Spider-Man' Stunt Goes Awry; Is Show In Peril?

Stunt Double Taken To Hospital With Minor Injuries

HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer

POSTED: 11:24 pm CST December 20, 2010

NEW YORK -- Broadway might need a superhero to save the new Spider-Man musical. "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," the most expensive production in Broadway history, suffered its fourth accident in a month when a stuntman playing the web-slinger fell about 30 feet into a stage pit during a preview Monday night. The safety tether that clips to his back failed to prevent the spill. 

The performer, Christopher W. Tierney, was wheeled out of the Foxwoods Theatre on a stretcher, still in his costume, and taken by ambulance to Bellevue Hospital with minor injuries. He suffered broken ribs and internal bleeding, said a castmate, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the musical. 

An uncle in Florida, Michael Tierney, said when reached by phone Tuesday night that he had spoken with his nephew a few hours ago. "He sounded pretty good," Tierney said, adding that his nephew was still at the hospital when he spoke with him. 

In a statement, Actors' Equity said investigators determined that the accident was caused by human error. It gave no details but said additional safety measures are being undertaken. 

A state Department of Labor spokesman said the cause was under investigation. 

The fall was the latest setback for the troubled, $65 million show. 

Conceived by Tony-winning director Julie Taymor and U2's Bono and The Edge, who wrote the music, "Spider-Man" has been more than eight years in the making. It has been plagued by delays, money woes and several other accidents, including one in which an actress suffered a concussion and another in which a performer broke his wrists in an aerial stunt. Its official opening has been postponed twice, to early February. 

The huge costs - a 41-member cast, 18 orchestra members, complicated sets and 27 daring aerial stunts, including a battle between two characters over the audience - mean the 1,928-seat theater will have to virtually sell out every show for several years just to break even. The weekly running bill has been put as high as $1 million. (Tickets are $67.50 to $135 for weekday performances, $67.50 to $140 on weekends.) 

A spokesman for "Spider-Man," Rick Miramontez, said in a statement that new safety measures ordered by the government after the latest accident have been adopted. Wednesday's matinee was canceled, but Wednesday night's show will go on, Miramontez said. (No performance had been scheduled for Tuesday.) 

Leo Rosales, spokesman for the New York Department of Labor, said the show's producers had not yet presented new safety protocols and would do so on Wednesday. If the measures were inadequate, he said, the state won't let the show perform the complicated aerial maneuvers. 

"If it takes longer, it will need to take longer," he said of the show's timing. "We need to be satisfied." 

Taymor, the director, said in a statement: "An accident like this is obviously heartbreaking for our entire team and, of course, to me personally. I am so thankful that Chris is going to be alright and is in great spirits. Nothing is more important than the safety of our Spider-Man family and we'll continue to do everything in our power to protect the cast and crew." 

One audience member who attended Monday's performance, Brian Lynch, said he knew of the previous mishaps and still wanted to come. 

"I was making jokes about it earlier in the day," said Lynch, visiting from Hollywood, Calif. "I said if anyone got hurt I was ready to jump in and help out. I never thought it would happen, I thought they probably worked it all out. I really didn't think it would happen like it did. It was pretty horrific." 

The accident happened during the show's big finale, when the Green Goblin drops Mary Jane and Spider-Man leaps to her rescue. 

"But then he just kept falling, it seemed, and then everything went dark and then people, crew ran up to the stage and we heard the girl playing Mary Jane screaming from the pit," Lynch said. 

"Spider-Man" might yet prevail. Other Broadway shows have struggled with getting their sets and stunts to work during previews, including "Mary Poppins," whose house set went off track in 2006, and "Titanic," which was plagued by numerous technical problems during a month of previews in 1997. Both were hits. 

Mary Martin, who starred many times in productions of "Peter Pan," had numerous accidents, "beauts," as she flew about the stage. A year before she died, in a 1989 interview with the Chicago Tribune, she recalled smashing into a concrete wall during a rehearsal as she was trying to show the children in the cast that they shouldn't fear being in the air. 

"It was like a cannon shot," Martin said. "I thought, 'My God, these kids will never fly now,' never thinking that my arm might be broken. So we went right back and I said, 'Now we're going to fly it like it should be,' and we did, and it went perfectly." 

But "Spider-Man" - whose costs beat the previous most expensive Broadway show, the $25 million "Shrek The Musical" - has reached a dangerous level of attention: fodder for comics. Online, where parodies by "Saturday Night Live" and "Conan" poking fun of the musical's early technical problems had recently been eagerly passed around, the tone shifted Tuesday from jokey schadenfreude to mild outrage. 

An actor from TV's "Modern Family," Jesse Tyler Ferguson, wisecracked: "I'm torn between wanting to see 'Spider-Man' on Broadway and not wanting to see someone literally die doing musical theater." 

The production - supervised by Juniper Street Productions, a management firm that has overseen such Broadway and Las Vegas productions as "The Producers" and "Promises, Promises" - has been under investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration since Nov. 2 at the request of the state Labor Department, according to OSHA. 

"It's certainly going to be continuing as a result of the latest incident," OSHA spokesman John Chavez said. 

The state Department of Labor inspected 37 separate aerial maneuvers planned for the show at rehearsals in November and approved the use of all equipment in the show, Rosales said. "From what we saw back then," he said, the maneuvers appeared to be safe. 

Miramontez said OSHA, Actors' Equity and New York State labor officials met with the "Spider-Man" company on Tuesday to discuss additional safety measures, and "it was agreed that these measures would be enacted immediately." 

Tierney, who appeared in the national tour of "Moving Out" and in "Dirty Dancing" in Toronto, is the show's main aerialist and performs stunts for the roles of Spider-Man and the villains Meeks and Kraven the Hunter. The castmate who spoke on condition of anonymity said the cable to Tierney's harness snapped. But one special-effects expert raised the possibility that the rope was not hooked up securely. 

Scott Fisher, president of Fisher Technical Services Inc. of in Las Vegas, which builds equipment for aerial stunts for the show, said the rope was supposed to be clipped to the stage at one end and the performer's back at the other. 

"The stage crew would have been responsible for making the connection for hooking him up," Fisher said. "The actor is responsible for making the final check that he's good to go. It's sort of like packing your own parachute." 

He said the script called for the stuntman to lurch forward at the end of a ramp as if leaping to Mary Jane's rescue. "He runs and stops and freezes in a position that you wouldn't normally be able to hold unless you had a little support from behind him," Fisher said. "If that's not hooked up and he leans forward, he's going to fall forward." 

Fisher said the rope was not part of his company's onstage flight systems. But he said it was unlikely to have snapped: It is a 10,000-pound line. 

After the actor fell, screaming could be heard coming from the pit. 

"A voice yelled, 'Someone call 911!' Then there was a silence," an audience member, fashion blogger Mariana Leung, wrote on the website NearSay.com. "A minute later, the stage was still dark. Then there was an announcement that the show would be delayed. A few minutes later, a second announcement that the performance would not continue. The lights came up." 

Just last week, the show's lead producer, Michael Cohl, delayed the official opening for the second time, pushing it back from Jan. 11 to Feb. 7. He cited "some unforeseeable setbacks, most notably the injury of a principal cast member." 

The first preview on Nov. 28 did not go well. The musical had to be halted five times because of technical glitches, and actress Natalie Mendoza, who plays Spider-Man's evil love interest Arachne, was hit in the head by a rope and suffered a concussion. She was sidelined for two weeks.