Beaten and blown by the wind - trampled in dust | The Joshua Tree National Monument

photo credit- Irv Dierdorff
May 23, 1998


Elevation Tour icon near The Tree.
March 30, 2003 * 3:24 pm PST (c) joshuatreenationalpark.net Brad Biringer 1999-2005


Photo credit- © Chris Wessling 2001
February 18, 2001


Photo credit: © Chris Wessling 2001
February 18, 2001

Brad Biringer has put together a photo essay of two separate visits to California's Joshua Tree National Monument where he took some stunning pictures of the Joshua Tree before and after it fell (yes, unfortunately it is no longer...) If you want to see some amazing pictures of the 'official' Joshua Tree, visit Brad's site here.

Here's an excerpt:

I have visited Joshua Tree National Park five times in the past five years. I lived in Southern California for 13 years growing up as a teenager. I never experienced the vast beauty of the deserts until the day I left California to move to Florida. How ironic.
Driving east on I-10 from LA, I was struck by the calmness, the serenity, the open spaces of the landscape in the lower desert. Just past Palm Springs in the Coachella Valley, I saw a road sign pointing to Joshua Tree National Monument. I was curious. I had to explore this area briefly since my favorite band U2 titled an album after this desert vegetation. I pulled off the highway and headed north toward the southern entrance (called the Cottonwood Entrance) of the monument.
I was in awe.
The jagged mountains at the southern border created a fortress-type barrier to the flatlands that lay just past the entrance. The flattish plateau, part of the Colorado Desert, extended for dozens of miles, gradually gaining altitude as it eventually merged with the Mojave Desert. Although I drove only a few miles into the monument, I knew -- no, I promised myself -- that I would return someday when I had the time and resources to explore this wonderland. That was August of 1990.

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.29.2005 // GM Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, CA

Main Set:
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo (Stories snippet)
Elevation
Cry/Electric Co. (Send in the Clowns & I Can See for Miles snippets)
An Cat Dubh
Into the Heart
Beautiful Day
New Year's Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own
Love and Peace or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet the Blue Sky / Johnny Marching snippet
Running to Stand Still
Pride (In the name of Love)
Where the Streets Have No Name
One
Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Yahweh
40

Update: Show can be downloaded here.

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.28.2005 // GM Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, CA

Main Set:

City of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
Vertigo
Elevation
Gloria
The Ocean
New Year's Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes
Love & Peace
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet the Blue Sky /The Hands that Built America
Running to Stand Still
Bad
Pride (in the name of Love)
Where the Streets Have No Name
One

1st Encore:

Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways

2nd Encore:

All Because of You
Original of the Species
40

Update: Show can be downloaded here.

to be confirmed

Setlist in Seattle...

A copy of the setlist from Seattle 1.

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.25.2005 // Key Arena, Seattle WA

Main Set:

City of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
Vertigo
Elevation
Gloria
The Ocean
New Year's Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Love and Peace or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet the Blue Sky - When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Running to Stand Still
Bad - Norwegian Wood - Ruby Tuesday
Pride
Where the Streets Have No Name
One

Encore(s):

Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because Of You
Original of the Species
Vertigo

Comments: For the second straight show, 'Miracle Drug' is dedicated to a local girl named Jennifer whom Bono says is ill. Bono brings a young boy named Jason on stage during 'Sometimes.' They hold hands as Bono sings the song to Jason, who is also mouthing the words. It's an incredibly emotional moment, and tears stream down Bono's face as he sings the song as if singing to his own son. Bono sings 'Mysterious Ways' to 'sexy Adam', and the two do a brief duel at the tip of the ellipse. Reminiscent of U2's earliest shows, 'Vertigo' is played a second time to close the show.

Setlist obtained from: U2tours.com

Adam downloads 2...

Well, Krista Desens from netmusiccountdown.com sheds some light on Adam Clayton's position on music downloading. It's interesting to note that a couple of the bands he mentions are either featured in U2's pre-show music loop and/or slated to open up for the band during the tour.

The following article appeared on their site today:

By Krista Desens

SAN JOSE, CA Monday Apr.25.2005 /netmusiccountdown.com/ -- It's no secret that the members of U2 are big supporters of the iPod. In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, U2's Adam Clayton shared his thoughts about the future of downloading and music distribution.

"I think definitely downloading is here to stay," says Clayton. "It's a very convenient way to get music, but I think it is true that music distribution is going to come a number of different ways; probably in the end it's going to be mixed up with your phone service...And, you know, your phone will also become your digital music player."

So does the U2 bassist ever download? He admits, "Occasionally, I do . . . but I still like the hard copy."

And what music does Clayton like to download or buy? "Arcade Fire. And a band out of England called Bloc Party that are really great," he says, adding "And then there's the Killers. You'd probably heard them."

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.24.2005 // Key Arena, Seattle WA

Main Set:

Love and Peace or Else
Vertigo
Elevation
The Cry - Electric Co.
An Cat Dubh - Into the Heart
City of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
New Year's Day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet the Blue Sky - Hands That Built America
Running To Stand Still
Pride
Where the Streets Have No Name
One

Encore(s):
Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because of You
Yahweh
40

U2 will play a third date at Croke Park this summer.

U2 will play a third date at Croke Park this summer.

Paul McGuinness has told U2.Com that plans have now been agreed for a third date at Croke Park this June. This follows an agreement with the Gaelic Athletic Association, owners of Croke Park.The new show will take place on Monday June 27th. The band have already sold out two shows at Croke Park on June 24th and 25th."We have resolved the issues with the GAA and are delighted to announce that U2 will play a third show at Croke Park on Monday 27th June," said Paul McGuinness. "The band is very excited to be playing to a quarter of a million people in their home town and we're going to do all we can to ensure that the tickets are distributed fairly."Even with the extra 80,000 tickets I know there will be some disappointed fans, such is the demand.

We are working on the details of putting the tickets on sale and will announce as soon as we can."We'll post details about ticket sales on U2.Com as soon as we have them.

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.21.2005 // Pepsi Center, Denver, CO

City Of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
Vertigo / Stories For Boys (snippet)
Elevation
Gloria
The Ocean
New Year's Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / No Regrets (snippet)
Love And Peace Or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky / The Hands That Built America (snippet) / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet)
Running To Stand Still
Bad
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One

encore(s):
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because Of You
Original Of The Species
40

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.20.2005 // Pepsi Center, Denver, CO

Main Set:
Love and Peace or Else
Vertigo
Elevation
Cry/ Electric Co.
An Cat Dubh / Into the Heart
City of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
New Year's Day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still
Pride (in the Name of Love)
Where the Streets Have No Name
One
Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because of You
Yahweh
40

"But it's great, a $50 million dollar production and it all runs off a Playstation handset." Willie Williams, U2 Production Manager

Well, there seems to be some disbelief regarding our 'factoid' reported earlier that the entire US$50Million Vertigo stage production was controlled entirely by a Playstation game controller. Jeremiah writes, "Factoid" means something that only seems to be a fact, as "a piece of information that has the appearance of being reliable or accurate, as from being repeated so often that people assume it is true". And NateMC writes, "this sure lacks evidence. I'd like to know how they did it. " And offstageright writes, " i have worked as a lighting tech for 5 years and have never heard of that happening. it is not impossible, but highly unlikely. "

Well, we've taken the time to edit a clip from VH1's AllAccess where Willie Williams, U2's long time production manager, says it himself.... you can view the clip by clicking here.

We apologize for not quoting the source directly in the first place.

Thank you for your support!!

Well, we're based in the USA, however we've been getting visitors from all over the world. The internet is an amazing communications tool and we're glad you've stopped by to check out what we're doing. If you have a minute, please email us to offer suggestions, comments, or just to tell us how you found us. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks - The Captain (vertinfo@vertiblog.com)

U2 to Dismantle New Charlotte Coliseum on 12/12... Presale begins tomorrow, general sale 4/23

U2 has added the Charlotte Coliseum to it's tour itinerary. Tickets for the 12/12 show go on presale tomorrow 4/19/05 for Propaganda members and 4/20/05 for U2.com members who still have unused presale codes. The general sale is April 23rd @ 10AM local time.
This will be the inaugural concert for the Charlotte Coliseum. Promoters have been enthusiastic about the arena, which opens in November. The $265 million, publicly funded facility will replace the existing coliseum, which closes later this year.

Vertigo One...

These pics just coming in... thanks to Jeremy Irish and Airlines.net...

Adam During 'Bad' | Played for First Time on Vertigo Tour...

Adam during Bad.

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.15.2005 // Glendale Arena, Glendale AZ

Main Set:

City of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
In God's Country (snippet) / Vertigo
Elevation
Gloria
The Ocean
New Year's Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Love and Peace or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet the Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still
Bad
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because of You
Yahweh
40

It's Still Old Fashioned Rock & Roll...

36 Guitars...





Adam's 1964 Gold Fender Jazz Bass...

Another 1964 Fender Jazz Bass in green (rare.)

A lot of old school equipment making some of the best sounds on earth.

We Wonder If It Has Force Feedback?

Factoid: The entire US$50Million stage lighting system for the Vertigo Tour is controlled via a Playstation video game control.

4/19/05 Update: Factoid based on this clip.

DirecTV featuring U2 in Month of May | 1 Hour of Concert Footage

DirecTV's FreeView channel will feature U2 in a pre-recorded Vertigo performance every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the month of May. The 1 hour special will feature previously unseen footage of the 2005 Vertigo Tour and several songs from HTDAAB.

U2 Images from VH1's All Access

The Edge's Rig

The 'FanCam' broadcasting fan images on big screens...

The Edge's Vertigo Guitar...

Edge and Adam right before they get on stage in San Diego...

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.14.2005 // Glendale Arena, Glendale AZ

Main Set:

Love And Peace Or Else
Vertigo / Stories For Boys (snippet)
Elevation
The Cry
The Electric Co.
An Cat Dubh
Into The Heart
City Of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
New Year's Day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One

encore(s):

Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because Of You
Yahweh
40

Free U2 Tickets? | Promotion will give away 'a couple thousand' U2 tickets and raise $1Mil?...

We never like to be pessimistic at The Vertiblog, however the following promotion leaves as many questions unanswered as it answers. Somehow, freeu2tickets.com has secured 'a couple thousand' U2 tickets and plans on raising over $1,000,000 dollars for charity by 'giving' them away. Visitors to the site, by completing qualifying offers, will be given the 'opportunity' to receive 2 U2 tickets or 'equivalent cash value'. Several questions remain: What shows are the tickets good for? Where will the seats be? What is 'equivalent cash value'? $50 or $175? There are several similar programs giving away everything from free iPods to Bose speakers, all of which seem to have their fair share of satisfied customers. However, given the limited amount of tickets available, the lack of information regarding specific shows, and the immense demand for U2 tickets, we can't imagine this program lasting too long, nor offering a quality ticket to any of the remaining tour shows. What do you think? Post a comment here, or participate in our Veritforum.

Los Gatos, CA (PRWEB) April 14, 2005 -- FREE U2 Tickets.com, the first and only web site dedicated to giving out free U2 tickets for U2's Vertigo Concert Tour, launched its web site today at www.FreeU2Tickets.com. You can read their FAQ page here: http://www.freeu2tickets.com/faq.php

Visitors to http://www.freeu2tickets.com/ can qualify to get two free U2 tickets by simply completing the three steps in the program:

• Step 1: Tell the company where to ship the two free U2 tickets.
• Step 2: Tell two friends about FREE U2 Tickets.com.
• Step 3: Participate in some of the advertisers' online offers.

FREE U2 Tickets.com provides a true triple-win for everyone involved:

• Program participants win by getting two free U2 tickets and the products and services they want from the advertisers.
• Advertisers win by getting new customers.
• Local and national charities win by getting up to $1 million in donations from FREE U2 Tickets.com. (NOTE: One Campaign is not one of their listed charities...)

The more online offers program participants complete, the more the company will donate to the charity of their choice. They will even make the donation in the participant's name if they request it.

"I created FREE U2 Tickets.com because I couldn't believe I had to pay $500 for 2 average tickets just to go see U2 in concert," said FREE U2 Tickets.com VP, Brian Cornerstone. "I wanted to help other people avoid that heartburn by giving them another option – a triple win option. The program participant wins by getting two free U2 tickets, our advertisers win by getting new customers and the local and national charities win by getting the $1 million dollars we are raising for them."

AZ Tix Still Available for Glendale Arena

Great seats are still available for the Arizona shows coming up later this week. The above tickets were pulled at 10:57PM ET, less than 24 hours before show time. Get 'em while you can!

U2's VH1 Campaign...

VH1 is spotlighting U2 in its series "All Access," premiering April 14. The program follows the Irish rockers as they prepare for the 2005 Vertigo world tour in support of "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." The show takes us to Rosarito, Mexico where U2 held early rehearsals, to Vancouver for dress rehearsals and finally to the band's opening night in San Diego.

VH1's "All Access: Spotlight - U2" will air tomorrow, April 14 at 5 pm ET and 8 pm ET, and VH1 will also repeat the show throughout the weekend.

It'll Be A Beautiful Day on GMA // 5.20.05

ABC's Good Morning America is set to offer U2 fans, who have yet to see the band live this year, their first real look at the 2005 Vertigo Tour. On May 20, 2005, the network morning show will broadcast 5 songs performed at a recent Vertigo show. The band will be in NYC 5/21 performing their first MSG show of the tour.

Vertigo Air takes to the Sky as Tour Moves Toward AZ

The first unconfirmed picture of "Vertigo Air" has been taken outside of San Jose. More pictures will be emerging as the tour now is on its way out of California. Some wonder if the choice of a target on the tail was a wise idea...

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.10.2005 // HP Pavilion, San Jose CA

Main Set:

Love And Peace Or Else
Vertigo / Stories For Boys (snippet)
Elevation
The Cry
The Electric Co.
An Cat Dubh
Into The Heart
City Of Blinding Lights
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / No Regrets (snippet)
New Year's Day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still / The Hands That Built America (snippet) / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet)
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
Original Of The Species

encore(s):

The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because Of You
Yahweh
40

U2 Assembling an Album for '06? | With or Without a Tour?

From antiMusic.com

Special report from Trent McMartin

Since being released in November of 2004, U2's latest record How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb has gone on to sell over 9 million copies, spawned three hit singles (two of them reached number 1 in the UK), and has been the subject of countless positive reviews.

There are rumours circling the Internet of a possible U2 album to be released in spring or summer 2006. Feeding these rumours, Bono was quoted in Rolling Stone late last year as saying "I think there will be a record in 2006. Because we're on it now. But I don't think it's a healthy state of mind to imagine that this band should go on and on. Everyone in it asks very hard questions about its continuing." As reported, U2 left various tracks off How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb that did not fit in with the overall sound of the record. Many of these songs were rumoured to be more aggressive in nature, which may explain early explanations of the album being guitar driven.

In the Rolling Stone interview, Bono talked about the sessions of How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. "There's a certain hit you want to get off a song, and we weren't getting it from the material. It happens. And that's the problem. We're addicted to that feeling. We could have had an album out [earlier], and it would have been pretty damn good. You would have really liked it, because it was a rock & roll album. But we have to sing these songs for the rest of our lives, and they have to work on so many levels." Bono then went on to say "Two years -- it's a song a month. There are twenty-four songs that came out of the sessions. Eleven of them are on the album." (How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb)

The Vertigo tour kicked off in San Diego on March 28th and is expected to go well into 2006 so right now there are no plans to go into the studio to record. Most likely a new record would surface in 2007 but the possibility of a new U2 record in 2006 cannot be ruled out entirely. In 1993, during a break in the massive ZOO TV tour, U2 recorded what was to be Zooropa. The album was released only a year and half after their groundbreaking album Achtung Baby.

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.9.2005 // HP Pavilion, San Jose CA

Main Set:

City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo / Stories For Boys (snippet) / Hello Hello I'm Back Again (snippet)
Elevation
The Cry
The Electric Co.
The Ocean
New Year's Day
Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet)
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / No Regrets (snippet)
Love And Peace Or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky / The Hands That Built America (snippet) / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet)
Running To Stand Still
Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways

encore(s):

Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
All Because Of You
Yahweh
40

The Boss Taking Care of His People... (non U2, but relevant)

Click on image above for larger picture.

Bruce Springsteen is kicking off a small theater tour (most venues less than 5000 seats) and in an effort to prevent widespread scalping (or ANY scalping for that matter), he's putting into effect a 'will call only' policy for premium tickets. The policy can be read above.

What do you think about it?

Most tickets go on sale Saturday, 4/9.

Easy as 1, 2, Tree

U2 boots are a dime a dozen...
If you don't get it now, you will eventually...

Vert-iTunes!

The Vertiblog will be giving away a $15 iTunes gift card to a lucky member of the Vertiforum. All you have to do is sign up by April 30th, and a the person with the most number of 'quality' posts (minimum 15 - a tune a post!) will earn an album's worth of iTunes! Join and participate today! www.vertiforum.com

Nevermind... Smells Like Teen Spirit brought down easytree... (although some U2 fans are still Out of Control..)

Well, thanks to Chrisedge, we now have a little more insight into the reason for the downfall of easytree.org. The following is an email detailing the nature of the offending torrent:

From: EZT Mod jupiter2101
To: EZT
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 11:03 AM
Subject: [bt-easytree-org] EZT Update -- We know who it was now

Howdy again, folks.The fax just came in a couple of minutes ago. The offender was torrent # 30630, NIRVANA 08/30/1992 Reading Festival Complete PRO Shot DVD. In particular the title "Smells like Teen Spirit", rightowner: Universal, claimed through Universal Music GmbH, Germany, and pro MediaGmbH (exclusive partner of IFPI in Germany). I'll bring the fax to erwe later. We'll keep you posted about proceeds!

Take care!
jupiter2101, EZT Mod

With that said, the Vertiblog still stands by our claim that there is a rogue group of 'rabid' U2 fans who will do anything in the name of 'the music' to prevent the sale of shows on eBay which may have been a catalyst for legal eagles in the music industry to determine where these recordings were coming from. Do we have proof? No. However we do have common sense, and our theory is entirely plausible. The irony of all of this, of course, is that now with limited BitTorrent sites available (and with many of those being overloaded) the bootleggers' business will boom. A U2 fan's best weapon against bootleggers who are in it for the $$$ was their BitTorrent client. The more people who have the shows for free, the less people paying for them.

On a lighter note, in our search for a Nirvana picture we ran across a British band who do an interesting cover of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' available here. Who says free music doesn't increase a band's exposure?

U2 Vertigo Tour Setlist 4.6.2005 // Staples Center Los Angeles, CA

Main Set:

City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Elevation
The Cry
The Electric Co.
The Ocean
New Year's Day
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Love And Peace Or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky / The Hands That Built America (snippet) / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet)
Running To Stand Still
Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways

Encore:

Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One / Unchained Melody (snippet)
All Because Of You
Yahweh
40

'VertiNazis' Stop The Traffic // BitTorrent site 'easytree' forced to shut down

Disillusioned and rabid, a minority of U2 fans (aka VertiNazis) hell-bent on making sure that no U2 bootleg recordings ever sell on eBay may have inadvertently hit a larger target as BitTorrent site easytree.org was forced to shut their doors today leaving thousands of U2 fans (and hundreds of thousands of other music fans) unable to download live shows. easytree.org administrators, citing pressures from their hosting provider as well as industry attorneys opted to take the path of least resistance and shutter their site. easytree, widely recognized as an above-board player in the taping community may, in the end, have been ultimately taken down by the recent spike in downloading of U2 Vertigo shows. It seems more than a coincidence that the site based in Denmark (and which has been online since June '02) is being shut down a little more than a week after U2's first shows appeared on their tracker. Several other sites (that will not be mentioned here...) have essentially been shut down as well, as their servers are now overloaded from the sudden influx of traffic, an inadvertent denial of service attack, if you will.

We will be the first to say that there have been rumblings for awhile now in the general U2 community regarding many aspects of this year's tour that have differed from Elevation '01. On such boards as Zootopia and Interference.com, fans have formed a sort of 'e-militia' who have taken it upon themselves to police the internet for ticket sales essentially labelling all sellers as 'scalpers', to rant about an implemented lottery system for access to the bomb shelter until something changes to benefit them, and to report bootlegs on eBay. Many have been made bitter by the pre-sale ticketing fiasco, some are upset about the ellipse lottery system, and others are just angry, who have been jaded to the point where they can no longer distinguish between 'fandom' and reality. They will not be happy until their U2 universe is free from unwanted members and made pure... sound familar?

So we ask anyone who has reported an eBay auction or reported a download site to any authority... 'Was it worth it?' The silence is deafening.