Bono ‘Battling’ To Be Ready For Tour

February 26, 2015 Larry Lootsteen 0 Comments

As the months pass, Bono has struggled to repair himself for the upcoming May 14th kick-off of the Innocence + Experience tour in Vancouver.

“It’ll be a battle to be match fit for May 14th,” Bono confesses, referring to the opening date in Vancouver of U2’s impending tour. Asked to describe the state of his health after the bicycle accident in New York last November that left him with multiple injuries, including a facial fracture, the singer says, “My southpaw is a bit tricky, but my right hook is ready to rumble for sure.” As for the shows, dubbed the Innocence and Experience tour, with alternating set lists each night, Bono promises, “We’ve got something beyond incredible planned. And I’m ready to fight for it.”

He and Edge go on to discuss the recent study showing how many have listened to the much maligned Songs of Innocence after the rather rocky release. Edge comments:

“Lots of people, including me, don’t read the instructions. When you select automatic download on iOS, you’re signing up to be pushed free content. It’s not exactly small print, it’s just a box you tick or don’t. I understand how and why people got annoyed. But really, with all that’s going on in the world. . .come on. Apple and U2 were genuine about this whole thing. Apple were being generous and we were trying to do something different to get through the noise. There’s always a few teething problems when you’re in new territory. . .One of which was that people thought we were giving the album away, that we’d suddenly become all about free music, when the opposite is true. We fervently believe all artists should be paid for their work. But we, like every musician, have to look at other models of getting paid. We were in the position where we can take a chance like this and weather the storm. There’s some phrase about breaking eggs and omelets that’s probably appropriate here.”