lol, he looks like the Irish poet he's always fancied himself!
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 17 January 2023 01:11 (one year ago) link
I just want to call him pappy now that I see the deep wrinkles streaming from his eyes and that distinct mouth/jawline he's got. I'm glad he's embracing the look and idea of being an old man. Kind of wish he had done that much earlier.
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 17 January 2023 01:45 (one year ago) link
into silver fox bono <3
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 17 January 2023 02:15 (one year ago) link
Should see Adam Clayton these days, he’s gone full bearded troubadour.
― omar little, Tuesday, 17 January 2023 02:20 (one year ago) link
also a fan
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 17 January 2023 02:28 (one year ago) link
lookin' good bono!
― Karl Malone, Tuesday, 17 January 2023 02:30 (one year ago) link
he looks fantastic, hope he keeps it that way
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 17 January 2023 10:40 (one year ago) link
As seen out the car window this morning:
https://i.imgur.com/T7JmrE9.jpg
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 20 January 2023 01:05 (one year ago) link
So the big news of course last night was U2's official announcement of their Las Vegas money printing venture, but the small print is that Larry will indeed be out. Replacement is some dude named Bram van den Berg.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 13 February 2023 13:59 (one year ago) link
Bram van 3000
― Chris L, Monday, 13 February 2023 14:02 (one year ago) link
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bram
― Auf Der Martini (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 13 February 2023 14:07 (one year ago) link
That trailer is fucking cringe
― MaresNest, Monday, 13 February 2023 14:20 (one year ago) link
your most important local news story the world must know about
― i saw mommy kissing twink henry kissinger (breastcrawl), Monday, 13 February 2023 14:29 (one year ago) link
I think the only U2 concert without all 4, to date, is one in Japan (?) when Clayton was hungover (?).
So this is a different ball game really. Makes U2 rather more like the Stones, Cure, or other band where lineup is variable.
I don't know more about the tour.
― the pinefox, Monday, 13 February 2023 14:33 (one year ago) link
That was Sydney in November 1993, the day before the Zoo TV film was done (my fav concert film EVAH)
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 13 February 2023 14:34 (one year ago) link
Kinda wish they'd just have retired from touring instead of replacing Larry. It's quite astonishing how long they've gone on with just the four of them and a bit sad to break that streak
― Vinnie, Monday, 13 February 2023 15:31 (one year ago) link
I'd rather they'd just wait til Larry's well, and skip over the idea of a Vegas residency anyway.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 13 February 2023 15:34 (one year ago) link
My guess is with this also being kind of the big launch event for the Sphere thing is that there was a lot of legal wrangling to make it happen and it's probably really difficult for U2 to back out or postpone at this point. But yeah, I've never seen U2 and probably never will, but no Larry is a big bummer.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 13 February 2023 15:36 (one year ago) link
Yeah I didn't realize he was only undergoing surgery and plans to rejoin. They definitely should have waited for him, not like they need the money
― Vinnie, Monday, 13 February 2023 15:38 (one year ago) link
Are there musical reasons for wanting Larry there, or is more about tradition and personnel continuity?
I like Larry and Adam fine bit (speaking as a drummer and occasional bass player), I think their parts are replicate. I would not say that of the other dudes
― Auf Der Martini (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 13 February 2023 15:42 (one year ago) link
* but
** replicable
That's probably not wrong but, as noted above, it's exceedingly rare for a band to keep all of the original members this long into a career and it's a shame they couldn't wait a few more months or whatever for him.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 13 February 2023 15:44 (one year ago) link
I haven't seen the band live in 15 years but I imagine a younger drummer can probably add a lot more energy than Larry nowadays. I was only thinking of the continuity
Though I do think Larry's drumming in fantastic and distinctive on War and some of their early songs
― Vinnie, Monday, 13 February 2023 15:48 (one year ago) link
Have to agree with the doubters here!
Inclined to say U2 without Larry Mullen Jr shouldn't happen, as long he's alive.
― the pinefox, Monday, 13 February 2023 15:49 (one year ago) link
After this run they should have another Vegas run that is just Larry and three other guys.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 13 February 2023 16:22 (one year ago) link
Larry Mullen Jr. and the Drifters live in Las Vegas
― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Monday, 13 February 2023 16:26 (one year ago) link
It really is impressive. What other band has managed to perform with the same exact group intact for 40+ years? I don't think there's anyone even close.
― birdistheword, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:03 (one year ago) link
Up until the other year ZZ Top would like to have a word.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:07 (one year ago) link
Larry Mullen Jr.'s U2 Experience
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 13 February 2023 17:08 (one year ago) link
xp Ah, of course - seriously regret missing their show at the Beacon back in 2012. (Wanted to go but didn't have enough money at the time.)
― birdistheword, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:10 (one year ago) link
(This specific question came up on Twitter a couple of years back -- other candidates could include Los Lobos, who did expand their lineup but retained the same core since the early 70s as well. Oddly enough the Fixx are a good candidate as well, if just after U2, and one member did step away for a long while, but was never officially replaced.)
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:13 (one year ago) link
Duos meantime are trickier subjects. Sparks is well over fifty years old at this point but then again it's always been Ron & Russell plus whoever else so it doesn't totally count.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:14 (one year ago) link
If it's with Larry's blessing, cool. But if not -- as strongly implied by the Washington Post piece -- then no, they obviously shouldn't play without him. And it's less "oh, most drummers can play those parts" and more "when Bono wiggles his left earlobe, Larry knows to play ___" or whatever. I don't know if they still do this, but in the Under A Blood Red Sky video you can see Bono giving Larry signals behind his back.
If Larry's maladies are drumming-related (which, like his back surgery, it sounds like they are), I wish he'd talk more about them, and show how younger drummers can avoid bad habits.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 13 February 2023 17:15 (one year ago) link
And the Four Tops had a 44-year-run with the same lineup (1953-1997).
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 13 February 2023 17:17 (one year ago) link
Larry going on the injured list for a bunch of residency gigs isn't a big thing imo, the weirder thing is the residency. but it might be cool idk, i'm into the idea of them revisiting Achtung Baby, though i'd rather they used this as a jumping off point for making actually making some forward thinking music again. aside from a bunch of NLOTH, they left that behind w/Pop.
― omar little, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:18 (one year ago) link
Again I like Larry and see the virtue of waiting. However, the timing is about breaking in a new venue, so I kinda get it.
If you think you need the -ahem- WORLD'S BIGGEST ROCK BAND -ahem- to christen your stage, you're not gonna be satisfied with, like, I dunno, Semisonic. Your pristine space-age rafters need to reverberate with the bombastic belting of a Bruce or a Billy or a Bono.
For good or for ill, there are just not a lot of acts operating at that level. I can see why Team Hewson thought it needed to be them, even if they were a man short - if only to avoid it being the Stones or Elton John or REM or Green Day or T-Swizzle or whomsoever.
― Auf Der Martini (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 13 February 2023 17:20 (one year ago) link
Compare Mr. Joel closing Shea Stadium with a marquee residency. For which he pointedly brought along a background singer named Paulrus McCartney CH MBE BLT.
In short I can see why an appetite for Iconic Event pageantry might eclipse other considerations.
― Auf Der Martini (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 13 February 2023 17:25 (one year ago) link
R.E.M.'s never reuniting!!
― unknown blues singer (morrisp), Monday, 13 February 2023 17:27 (one year ago) link
Not keen on the idea of a Vegas residency, am keen on them revisiting Achtung Baby, puzzled why they're only doing it now though. The anniversary was two years ago and so was the last Achtung box set.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:28 (one year ago) link
Also if they're doing Achtung then are they implicitly also committing more fully to the ZooTV nostalgia that they've only dabbled with over time (the Achtung mini-sets on the Vertigo tour and their 2011 performances [Glasto etc.], plus the face-filter MacPhisto from the last tour)?
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:31 (one year ago) link
Iirc, they missed the anniversary for the Joshua Tree Redux tour, too, right?
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:39 (one year ago) link
That tour was 2017 but they did an extra leg in Asia/Oz/NZ in 2019, the other side of the Experience + Innocence Tour
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 13 February 2023 17:49 (one year ago) link
They did play some ACHTUNG in 2011, as noted - I loved that Glastonbury set (on BBC).
I don't know anything about this venue and generally don't like new venues or new concert ticketing practices.
― the pinefox, Monday, 13 February 2023 19:40 (one year ago) link
Golden Earring managed 51 years, unchanged, and only split when one of them developed motor neuron disease.
― Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Monday, 13 February 2023 19:48 (one year ago) link
ZZ Top also made it to 51 years.
― Chris L, Monday, 13 February 2023 20:11 (one year ago) link
Cowboy Junkies are still together with the same line-up after 38 years.
― lord of the rongs (anagram), Monday, 13 February 2023 22:35 (one year ago) link
the reason they're doing achtung baby at the residency is probably just that they (correctly) thought it'd be a more interesting exercise in nostalgia than just a greatest hits show and they'd already successfully done the joshua tree a few years back
― ufo, Monday, 13 February 2023 22:41 (one year ago) link
man I would kind of want to go to this; I've never seen U2 and hate everything they did after Zooropa but always regretted not seeing this tour and I love that album. But no Larry plus likely $1000 tickets means I will not go
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Monday, 13 February 2023 23:39 (one year ago) link
I really do love these guys but opening Popmart with a Vegas show and 25 years later signing on for a Vegas residency is a bit https://www.theonion.com/ironic-porn-purchase-leads-to-unironic-ejaculation-1819565403
― omar little, Monday, 13 February 2023 23:46 (one year ago) link
This is not a Zoo TV reboot or anything, right?
― PaulTMA, Monday, 13 February 2023 23:50 (one year ago) link