Electric Burma

Aung San Suu Kyi was in Dublin yesterday to receive the most prestigious award that Amnesty International bestows,  Amnesty Ambassador of Conscience Award, Which was presented to her by Bono. For many, many years U2 has campaigned for her release from house arrest, yet Bono had not met Aung San Suu Kyi until Monday when she was in Norway to finally pick up her Nobel Peace Prize which was originally awarded in 1991, he accompanied her there and then on to Ireland. He admitted to being "starstruck" at meeting her.

You can watch her lovely acceptance speech for the Ambassador of Conscience here - I love her anecdote about the "Irish of the east". She is a amazing woman whose strength of mind and heart belies her small, petite stature. There aren't many "great" people around nowadays, who can truly inspire people, but she is one special lady. Also her English is soooo good, I know she was educated at Oxford, but her English barely has an accent.

She also received the Freedom of the City of Dublin while she was in the city. This was given to her in 2000 at the same time U2 received the same award.  My friends and I were there in Smithfield to witness this event and enjoy the accompanying concert, it was a great night. but there was also a bit of sadness as Aung Sang Suu Kyi was not able to be there as she was under house arrest in Burma. Her son accepted the award on her behalf.

There was a concert at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin called Electric Burma after the award was given at which various artists such as Bono, Bob Geldof, Damien Rice, Declan O'Rourke, Riverdance amongst others performed.  Bono sang Walk On (along with a couple more songs) which was written specifically for Aung San Suu Kyi. It was an acoustic performance and it was simply fabulous! One of those tingly, thrilling moments that all you U2 fans will know about, beautiful, the words even more moving now that the bird in the cage was free and sitting there listening to those wonderful lyrics. It must have been amazing to be there live, I would have loved to have gone over but there was no way I could have at the moment. You can watch the video of this below.

And finally, Happy Birthday to Aung San Suu Kyi, 67 today, and despite her trials she certainly doesn't look it. She was in Oxford in the UK today where she studied and met and married her husband who has now passed away. When asked  about memories the city must have for her and her birthday she said "I feel a bit younger again." Touching, and let's hope there are many more birthdays for her as a free woman.

Ahk-toong Bay-bi Covered - Review

I wasn't sure about this when I first heard about it.  I tend to hate covers of U2 songs and I wasn't really looking forward to this CD covering the songs from Achtung Baby.  But on listening to the CD I was pleasantly surprised, it is generally a good album.  For those not in the UK and haven't got the CD yet many of the covers are on YouTube.

And, for your interest, the related interview in Q Magazine is fascinating, seems the band are thinking just what us fans are, U2 are at another turning point in their career.  A time of being unsure about their place, relevance and ability to reinvent once more.  The guys are going to have to do a lot of soul searching and work in the next year or two.

The best quote in the article is by the author describes Bono sitting in his seat on the plane as "Compact, stocky and squashed into his seat as he is, he looks like a gothic SpongeBob."  Bet Bono's never been described like that before LOL!

Below is my personal opinion on the songs after the first listen:

1. Zoo Station - Nine Inch Nails. I wasn't sure what to expect with this U2 done by Nine Inch Nails??  But, much to my surprise, I liked their version of this song.  Sung in a low, whispery tone with an almost Spector-like wall of industrial sound.  NIN made the song their own and it worked - except the ending seemed to go on forever.
2. Even Better Than the Real Thing (Jacques Le Cont Mix) - The real U2   I'm not a fan of remixes and this one didn't win me over, it was just a typical, tedious remix like so many before.
3. One - Damien Rice. A bit of a lacklustre, emotionless version of this classic.
4. Until the End of the World - Patti Smith.  A very individual version of this song and what a voice!  Having said that I'm not sure about this song after only one listen, but have a feeling it's a grower.
5. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - Garbage.  The verses were very low-key followed by a sonic blast in the chorus.  It was ok, but nothing special.
6. So Cruel - Depeche Mode. Never has a title been so apt. Awful.
7. The Fly - Gavin Friday.  The perfect performer for this song, Gavin sounds dark, sleazy and dangerous just as The Fly should be. A great discordant, cacophony of  industrial sounds blasts out around the vocals, wonderful.
8. Mysterious Ways - Snow Patrol.  This is a brave version of the song, very stripped back and different from the original.  But, as much as I love Snow Patrol, I felt it didn't work, the song lost its swagger and sexiness and became tedious.
9. Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World - The Fray.  Another very individual version of a U2 song.  Faster than the original, it sounded to me like one of the myriad of typical American-sounding songs around.  Not terrible, but not memorable either.
10. Ultra Violet (Light My Way) - The Killers.  I lurrrrve Brandon's voice and here it was full of the passion within the amazing lyrics of the song.  Lovely!
11. Acrobat - Glasvegas.  Sorry I'm not a Glasvegas fan, they bored me rigid on the 360 Tour and this punk version of Acrobat is, yes, different, but also bad, bad, bad.
12. Love Is Blindness - Jack White.  They saved the best to last.  Wow, what an amazing cover this is!  Jack has made it his own and at the same time added to the original.  The emotion is there, and so is anger, screaming, raging anger both in voice and guitar.  It sent shivers up my spine, stunning!

Oh To Be On Grafton Street on Christmas Eve!

Bono joined Glen Hansard, Damien Rice, Mundy, and others to busk on Grafton Street on Christmas Eve.  They played to raise money for the Dublin Simon Community, a group that works to prevent homelessness and help the homeless.

Bono sang "Stand By Me," "One," and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"  with the others.  I just love it when he does things like this, especially in his home city.  Some videos have appeared on You Tube and you can watch the part of the performance in which Bono featured in below.