“…the best U2 gig I’ve ever been to.” – IRISH INDEPENDENT

“U2 are among the most innovative and ambitious live bands in music history.” – IRISH TIMES

“…absolutely amazing.” – ROLLING STONE

 “…an inarguable show of force.. still open to variation and rich with the determination to pull it off.” – LA TIMES

“… U2 are back, as big, absurd and thrilling as ever. You’ve never seen anything like the new U2 show.” – DAILY TELEGRAPH

U2’s sold out iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE  European Tour 2015  will finish with six home shows, being Belfast on 18^th & 19^th November and four shows in Dublin on 23^rd + 24^th, 27^th + 28^th November 2015.

It is the first time the band will perform songs from their recent album Songs of Innocence to a home crowd. The album released last year, charts the group’s earliest experiences of growing up in Dublin influenced by 70s rock, punk and early 80s electronica and gives insight into how and why U2 came together. With its themes of home and family in songs such as Cedarwood Road, Iris (Hold Me Close) and Raised by Wolves, which deals with the impact of the ‘74 Dublin/Monaghan bombings, Songs of Innocence charts the end of the time of innocence for all four band members and their friends, as teens growing up.

Tickets for the Irish shows go on sale at 9am on Monday 14^th September, will be limited to 2 per purchaser and are priced from £30 to £165 for Belfast and from €30 to €185 in Dublin, plus charges. Tickets can be bought at the 3Arena and SSE Arena box offices and online, with floor tickets being sold with the Paperless Ticket system, to ensure fans have access to tickets at face value. A limited number of student-priced floor tickets will be available for sale online. For full details see www.U2.com/tour

€2,000,000 (€2 million) from these concerts will go to Music Generation, Ireland’s National Music Education Programme which currently provides high quality subsidised music tuition to some 26,000 children and young people. Music Generation was originally set up with €5m funding from U2’s Croke Park shows in 2009, along with a further €2m raised by The Ireland Funds.

 “In the 18 years that I have worked with U2, the home shows are always very special. These shows promise to be brilliant.” – Arthur Fogel, CEO Global Touring Live Nation Entertainment.

“Finding venues to take this show is actually quite tricky and we’re grateful to our overworked crew who finally cracked the reconfiguring to fit these venues.” – The Edge

The iNNOCENCE + Experience Tour kicked off in May in Vancouver to rave reviews and the US leg saw the band joined onstage by specials guests including Jimmy Fallon, Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga, as they performed songs from across their career.

The Dublin and Belfast dates are:  Wed, 18^th and Thurs, 19^th November – Belfast – SSE Arena

Mon 23^rd, Tues 24^th, Fri 27^th & Sat 28^th November – Dublin – 3Arena

The U2 iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour 2015 powered by Salesforce is produced by Live Nation Global Touring. UPS is the Official Logistics Provider of the tour.

Music Generation:

Music Generation is Ireland’s National Music Education Programme that transforms the lives of children and young people through access to high quality performance music education. Set up in 2009 Music Generation has been made possible by a €7m philanthropic donation – €5m from U2 and €2m from The Ireland Funds.  The donation represents the largest ever philanthropic donation to music education in Ireland in the history of the state.

Access is at the core of Music Generation and it is the key to change.  Music Generation is concerned with performance music education – that is vocal and instrumental tuition, encompassing all music genres and all types of instruments and vocal styles which is delivered by skilled professional musicians. Music Generation programmes do not replace the teaching of the mainstream music curriculum within the formal education sector – rather, they complement it, add value to it and provide a different type of engagement that’s concerned with music performance and the interaction of children and young people with professional musicians.

While seed funded by the €7m philanthropic donation from U2 and The Ireland Funds, Music Generation works closely with Government (The Department of Education and Skills – DES) and Local Music Education Partnerships – MEPs. The core objective of Music Generation is to provide access for children and young people – annually the programme now reaches some 26,000 children and young people in 12 areas of the country. Music Generation also provides employment opportunities, especially for musicians – the programme has a workforce now of some 330 people, over 300 of these are musicians.

Ultimately  Music Generation wants to achieve a sustainable outcome that would live beyond the term of the €7M  gift and not become another arts education project that was only as good as the money lasted – through partnership (with DES & MEPs) a sustainable model has been created.

Music  Generation is managed by Music Education Partnerships (MEP’s). The programme is in Carlow, Clare, Cork City, Laois, Louth, Limerick City, Mayo, Offaly/Westmeath, Sligo, South Dublin and Wicklow.

Paperless Ticket

A Paperless Ticket event is when the Credit or Debit Card that was used at the time of booking to purchase tickets is used as the customer’s ticket/entry into the event.

You will not receive physical paper tickets for Paperless Ticket events. Instead of going to the venue’s Box Office, you simply go direct to the door, present a valid photo ID (such as a driver’s license or passport) and swipe the credit card that was used to purchase entry to the event. Your entire party must enter the venue at the same time with the valid credit card and the tickets are non-transferable.

Virtual credit card users: please do not use virtual credit card account numbers for Paperless Ticket purchases as you must present the physical credit card at the time of entry.

The Edge Reflects on Charity’s Decade of Growth Into Disaster Relief Organization for Musical Communities Nationwide

musicrising.org

10 years ago Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, leaving behind a trail of destruction that The Edge of U2 would soon witness firsthand during a visit to New Orleans’ hard hit 9th Ward. Moved by the devastation suffered by the local musical community, Edge teamed with legendary producer Bob Ezrin, Gibson Guitars, MusiCares and the Guitar Center Foundation to provide immediate aid to the musicians whose lives and livelihoods had sustained the most damage when the levees broke. In short order, efforts including donations of net proceeds from the sales of Gibson and Epiphone Music Rising special edition guitars and the providing of musical instruments to professionals whose gear was destroyed in the storm were implemented. In a PSA at the time, Edge explained the helplessness he would have felt in the face of such overwhelming loss as Music Rising replaced thousands of instruments in what would ultimately be the first phase of its still ongoing and continually expanding mission.

Reflecting on the 10-year journey of Music Rising, The Edge commented: Music is at the core of these communities. It’s an essential part of their identities, their hearts and their lives. So when these centers of musical culture are damaged, getting the music going again is a crucial part of the healing process. 

With Music Rising, we and our partners continue to do everything in our power to help support this centuries old music culture so it can do its magic for many generations to come.

What started as a direct response to one of the worst disasters to affect a musical capital of the U.S. has grown over a decade to offer assistance to musicians far and wide. Where there is music, there is hope, and Music Rising will continue to do everything possible to restore both for another 10 years and beyond.

In the decade following the initial 2005 Katrina aftermath, Music Rising’s efforts have grown in scope. Additional programs in the Gulf Coast region have included the distribution of over $5 million worth of instruments for some 30 schools (in conjunction with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation), as well as becoming the largest purchaser of Hammond organs in order to replace those destroyed by Katrina in regional houses of worship, and contributed $1 million to develop the Music Rising curriculum at Tulane University. Music Rising’s national outreach broadened as the organization provided aid to creative communities impacted by the 2010 Tennessee floods, as well as relief along with MusiCares and the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Music Rising’s nationwide efforts are not limited to aid in the aftermath of natural disasters—its outreach continues in the very fortunate lull between these cataclysms: The organization recently reached out to Detroit, with efforts to aid the Motor City’s singular musical heritage including the distribution or hundreds of musical instruments to students. Elsewhere, Music Rising’s Music Icons auctions hosted by the world renowned Julien’s Auctions have raised millions in bids for items donated by Edge, U2 and friends. With support from friends and family including the Hard Rock International Corporation, Aaron Neville, Trombone Shorty and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day—who teamed with U2 for the historic 2006 performance that reopened the Superdome and welcomed the New Orleans Saints home—Edge, Ezrin and Music Rising’s efforts on behalf of musical communities in need promise to be just as tireless and far reaching for decades to come.

For further information, go to musicrising.org.

24-HOUR VIDEO EXCLUSIVE AT Facebook.com/u2

U2 have unveiled a second video for “Song For Someone,” directed by acclaimed illustrator and photographer Matt Mahurin and viewable exclusively on the band’s Facebook page for the next 24 hours.

“Song For Someone” video embed code: <div id=”fb-root”></div><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src =”//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3″; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));</script><div class=”fb-video” data-allowfullscreen=”1″ data-href=”https://www.facebook.com/u2/videos/10154161218031686/”><div class=”fb-xfbml-parse-ignore”><blockquote cite=”https://www.facebook.com/u2/videos/10154161218031686/”><a href=”https://www.facebook.com/u2/videos/10154161218031686/”>Song For Someone (Directed by Matt Mahurin)</a><p>‘Don’t let it go out…’ Illustrator and photographer Matt Mahurin directs this visual meditation on &#039;Song For Someone&#039;, from U2’s latest album Songs of Innocence.</p>Posted by <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/u2″>U2</a> on Thursday, August 27, 2015</blockquote></div></div>

Reuniting U2’s music and Mahurin’s distinctive style—the two worked together on 1993’s “Love Is Blindness”–“Song For Someone” is a visual meditation on a standout track from U2’s Songs Of Innocence album. Rendered in a beautiful black and white palette and featuring a performance from Bono filmed earlier this year in Malibu, Mahurin’s vision for “Song For Someone” draws sharp parallels between song, inspiration and other forces of nature.

On working with U2 once more, Mahurin said “Collaboration is a great part of the creative process – and it has been a true joy to once again jump aboard the band’s mission of music, mercy and mayhem.”

Mahurin’s evocative take on “Song For Someone” stands in stark contrast to Vincent Haycock’s short film starring Woody and Zoe Harrelson, which debuted July 9 on SundanceTV.

“Song For Someone” has been a nightly highlight of the band’s current iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour, which resumes September 4 in Turin, Italy.