Friday, May 13, 2011

Why this blog?

Firstly, sorry for taking so long to do this blog....I've started updating it again (CB, 4/11/12)

Among my hobbies in life, 2 of them are collecting things and music, specifically that great Irish rock group U2.

After U2's recent 360 tour of Australia I pulled out some of the old concert memorabilia that I'd bought over the years from going to U2 concerts and I thought to myself, "wouldn't it be nice to have a tour program from every tour that U2 have ever done". So to start off I needed to find out every tour that U2 have every done and then find out what the official tour programs were for each tour.

I found the following websites extremely useful in putting this blog together.

www.u2gigs.com
www.u2eastlink.com (in Spanish)
U2tourbooks (in Spanish)

So over the last year (2010-11), I've been scouring the world wide web in search of the tour programs that I was missing (which was pretty much most of the them). Quite a few I've bought in private sales on ebay, but I've also used the following online stores to track down various programs at reasonable prices.

gemm
991
eil
Record Runner

I hope that this blog can be used as a information source to fellow U2 fans and collectors. At the time of writing (June 2011) I have completed purchasing the collection (1 exlcusion) however there are a few programs I haven't yet updated as the programs themselves were shipped to a friend in the US and I'll pick them up some time in the future.

The one exclusion to my collection is a misprinted Unforgettable Fire program for the 2/3 legs. The search continues.

Unless stated all pictures of the programs in the blog are from my own collection.

Please...enjoy.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

CONSPIRACY OF HOPE (SPECIAL EDITION)*

.....post under construction....

Event/Tour: The Conspiracy of Hope was a string of 6 concerts to raise awareness for Amnesty International. It also marked the 25th anniversary of the non-profit charity. A mix of world renown bands and artists performed shortened sets at each show, with the final concert at Giants Stadium being a all-day event and additional artists played who hadn't played at the previous 5 concerts.

....but you know all this already if you've viewed the Conspiracy Of Hope tour program page first.

This book is more pictorial documentary of the tour itself with photo's taken during the tour.
Dates covered in program: 4 Jun 1986 to 15 Jun 1986.  The dates aren't listed in this book in your time honoured tour book kind of way... all in a row like.  There
No. of pages: 32 pages plus covers
Size: 30cm x 23cm
Printing:  All glossy pages with a mixture of colour and black and white pictures taken during the tour.  Including both concert and behind the scenes photo's such as press conferences, musicians on their days off, on tour planes....there's even a picture of a shirtless Bryan Adams kicking a football.
Cost:


photo's to be added.

Friday, March 4, 2011

*Live 8 - 2 July 2005

... post under construction

Event: This program is for the Live 8 concerts held around the world on July 2, 2005. Run in support of the Make Poverty History campaign, the Live 8 concerts were also to raise awareness and make a call to the Global G8 leaders to cancel out third world debt.

There were 10 concerts in all; 6 of which were in Europe but also concerts held in Canada, USA, Japan and South Africa.

U2 opened the Hyde Park concert with Paul McCartney playing the Beatles classic Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, before playing 3 of their own songs (Beautiful Day, Vertigo and One). Coincidentally U2 had a scheduled concert that very same day in Vienna, Austria, so they were whisked away not long after their set to prepare for their own concert.

Dates covered in program: The Live 8 concerts were held on July 2, 2005
No. of pages: 210
Size: 30cm x 21.5cm
Printing: This is a nicely presented program printed on high quality thick gloss pages. Content contains a reminisce and update from the original Live Aid and information and statistics about the continued plight and debt in Africa. There are also feature pages on each of the major acts to perform at each the concerts venues. U2's feature page is on page 46.
Cost: Got this one for a steal on ebay for £1 from a seller in the UK. I've seen some crazy people out trying to sell this program for upwards of £90 as 'Buy It Now', but you'd be mad to pay that when it frequently comes up for sale for around £5 on auction.

pics to follow....

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Gateshead - 1982

post under construction....

Event: Gateshead is a northern UK city and was the venue for an outdoor rock festival held on 31 July 1982 at the International Stadium in Gateshead. The Police were the headline act with U2 second on the bill. Also playing on the day were The Beat, Gang of Four, Lords of The New Church.
Dates covered in program: 31 Jul 1982
No. of pages:
Size:
Printing: As the Police where the headline act at this event, U2 only feature as a one pager within the program along with one pagers for the other supports bands on the bill for the day. There is also cause to exclude this program from the blog as it isn't exactly a U2 program, but they featured at this event and in many people's eyes (and ears) stole the show from the Police.
Cost: I picked this one up on ebay from a seller in the UK for £7.98 on auction. The condition isn't superb but it's not that bad either. Upon checking ebay today for a gauge of price there is one listed for $99 USD but I think it will sit there not sold for some time at that price.


Front cover


Promo page towards the rear of the program

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Conspiracy of Hope - 1986 *


Front cover


Back cover


Tour ID page


Amnesty International write up


Band photo page


Tour thanks page


Tour thanks page...highlighted U2 part

post under construction....

Event/Tour: The Conspiracy of Hope was a string of 6 concerts to raise awareness for Amnesty International. It also marked the 25th anniversary of the non-profit charity. A mix of world renown bands and artists performed shortened sets at each show, with the final concert at Giants Stadium being a all-day event and additional artists played who hadn't played at the previous 5 concerts.

During these concerts U2 played a mixture of originals (mostly MLK, Pride, New Years Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Bad) and covers (notably, C'mon Everybody, Maggies's Farm, Help and Sun City performed with the rest of the cast).

Other acts on the Conspiracy of Hope tour include: Sting with the reformed The Police, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, the Neville Brothers and Bryan Adams to name a few.

The tour started in San Francisco on 4 June 1986 in San Francisco then made it's way across the US to finish at Giants Stadium in New York on 15 June 1986.

Dates covered in program: 4 Jun 1986 to 15 Jun 1986.
No. of pages:
Size:
Printing:
Cost:

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Live Aid - 13 July 1985

Event: This program is for the Live Aid concert from 1985. Organised by Bob Geldof to help raise both awareness and money for the strickening famines in Ethiopia and Sudan, Live Aid was a truly global event with concerts being held simultaneously right around the world. The most memorable being those held at Wembley Stadium in the U.K. and John F. Kennedy Stadium in the United States.

Both concerts were televised globally with most of the major recording artists of the day doing 10-15 minute sets.

With the release the single 'Do They Know It's Christmas' at the end of 1984, the Band Aid charity was formed to channel the proceeds from the single and other donations into food, medicine and shelter for the starving people of Ethiopia and Sudan. But Geldof knew that this was never going to be enough, so he helped organise the global concerts to raise more funding of the Aid relief effort.

Dates covered in program: The Live Aid concerts were held on July 13, 1985.
No. of pages: 162
Size: 30cm x 21cm
Printing: The cover and rear are thickened glossy paper. The pages within are also glossy, with various stories about the Band Aid charities efforts up to that point, some harrowing pictures of the starving, a piece about the recording of the Do They Know It's Christmas Time single, running orders of the bands for both the Wembley and JFK concerts, as well as brief bio's on all the groups scheduled to play at the Wembley Stadium concert.

The bio's are in alphabetical order, so U2's start on page 128 and runs for 3 pages

Cost: This program is quite easy to find on ebay. Some ambitious sellers price it around £100, but in all reality, in auction, you should be able to pick up a nice copy for between £35 and £50. Some even come with press clippings and 'How to get there' travel leaflets from the day thrown in. I paid £46 for mine in auction and I've no complaints. On the day of the concert they sold for £5 as shown on the cover of the program.


Front cover


Spine


Pic from article on the making of the song 'Do They Know It's Christmas'


Start of U2 bio


U2 bio cont.


U2 bio cont...


Proposed running order of artists on the day

Sunday, February 13, 2011

360º - North America 2011

post under construction....

Tour Legs:
Dates covered in program:
No. of pages:
Size:
Printing:
Cost: