U2 ROSE BOWL SHOW ON DVD AND BLU RAY

U2360° At The Rose Bowl was the penultimate gig of last year’s U2360° Tour in support of their Grammy nominated album No Line on The Horizon. The Rose Bowl performance was the band’s biggest show of 2009 and U2′s biggest ever US show, with a live audience in excess of 97,000.

The show was also streamed across seven continents via YouTube. The first ever live streaming of a full-length stadium concert, U2360° at the Rose Bowl had over 10 million views on the channel in one week.

Shot entirely in HD, the concert was filmed with 27 cameras and directed by Tom Krueger who had previously worked on U23D, the first live action 3D concert movie taken from U2′s Vertigo Tour.

Available in standard and 2-disc deluxe DVD formats (see below), U2360° At The Rose Bowl will also be U2′s first concert available in Blu-ray. The deluxe formats and the Blu-ray will feature a new documentary called Squaring the Circle: Creating U2360° with new interviews from U2, Paul McGuinness and the team behind the touring production.

The ground breaking U2360° tour continues this year, with the US leg opening in Salt Lake City on June 3, and the European leg opening in Turin, Italy on August 6.

Tracklisting of U2360° At The Rose Bowl is as follows:
Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, Mysterious Ways, Beautiful Day, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of, No Line On The Horizon, Elevation, In A Little While, Unknown Caller, Until the End of the World, The Unforgettable Fire, City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight, Sunday Bloody Sunday, MLK, Walk On, One, Where The Streets Have No Name, Ultra Violet (Light My Way), With Or Without You, Moment Of Surrender.

U2360° At The Rose Bowl is released in the following formats:

- Single Disc DVD, live concert only
- Deluxe DVD (content to be announced)
- Two Disc DVD Deluxe edition

and

- Blu-Ray Single Disc edition each featuring the live concert plus:
Squaring The Circle: Creating U2360° Documentary
U2360° Tour Clips
Bonus Track ‘Breathe’ (Live At The Rose Bowl)
Berlin Timelapse Video
Videos:
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight (Animated)
I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight (Live At Barcelona)
The Making Of ‘Get On Your Boots’ Video
The Making Of ‘Magnificent’ Video

We are not sure why the opening Breathe is relegated to the ‘bonus song’ selection. Seems like a bizarre move to say the least.

U2360° At The Rose Bowl will be released on DVD and Blu-ray by Mercury Records on June 7, 2010.

Source U2.com

ISLAND RECORDS TURN 50

As part of the Island 50th birthday celebrations, today sees the launch of a new website – www.island50.com . The website focuses on 50 classic albums from the Island catalogue and features an original press review from the time of release for every album (bar Free’s “Fire And Water” – submissions welcome!). The site has been created to be an evolving “wiki” with users encouraged to add their own comments / reviews for each album. Reviews can either be uploaded to the site or emailed to reviews@island50.com

The www.island50.com site also features audio clips of all tracks on every one of the 50 classic albums plus a great archive of classic Island artist videos and exclusive archive footage. A Store will be launching shortly where users will be able to purchase tickets for shows, exclusive merchandise, an Island 50 Book and new physical and digital versions of all the 50 classic albums.

Glenn Cooper, Head of Digital @ Island Records said: “Island has such an amazing and vibrant history we wanted to reflect this in the website. Rather than creating a flat “marketing brochure” we wanted to develop a community encouraging music lovers to take an active part in celebrating our 50th Birthday. It’s also important to us that fans can purchase tickets, merchandise, the Island 50 Book and physical and digital albums through the site so we can offer great value exclusive packages.”

2009 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of Island Records, arguably the most prestigious record label in the history of British music. To mark this milestone the label is collaborating with Island founder Chris Blackwell to arrange the Island 50 festival.

Chris Blackwell founded the Island label in Kingston, Jamaica in 1959 with capital of just £1000. Relocating to London in the early 60s Blackwell built the most diverse and enviable back catalogue of any independent record label in history. From Island’s early Jamaican roots in ska and rock-steady, through the label’s expansion to become the cutting edge of progressive rock in the late 60s, and then on to the signing of such international superstars as Bob Marley and U2, Blackwell brought to Island a unique vision and passion which still informs the label’s approach to this day.

The Island label has been responsible for the careers of some of the biggest stars in music including U2, Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, Traffic, Free, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, Toots & The Maytals, John Martyn, Marianne Faithfull, Aswad, Tom Waits, King Sunny Ade, Third World, Roxy Music, Robert Palmer, the B52s, Sly & Robbie, Melissa Etheridge, The Slits, Steel Pulse, Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Pulp, Tricky, Talvin Singh, and latterly Amy Winehouse, PJ Harvey, DJ Shadow, Sugababes, Keane, The Fratellis, Scott Matthews, Paul Weller, The Feeling and Portishead