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"I try not to point the finger because I usually associate myself with the accused." -- Bono, 1984 |
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"I try not to point the finger because I usually associate myself with the accused." -- Bono, 1984 |
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Column: off the record..., vol. 9-360
@U2,
May 24, 2009
So, Dublin 3 still hasn't sold out. I'm sure it will before too long, but what if it doesn't? Sure, there's usually a couple shows on each tour that don't sell out. But in Dublin? DUBLIN? I asked Neil McCormick to guess when was the last time U2 didn't sell out a show in its hometown -- was it the late '70s or early '80s? His reply:
That National Stadium gig was February 26, 1980. So, we're talking almost 30 years of sellouts at home ... imagine if that streak gets broken this summer. Wow. There's a longer piece I want to write about this, but since I don't know when I'll have the time, let's use OTR to make a couple points. Have a look at these, please: Collective Soul
Coldplay
This isn't about whether you're a Coldplay or Collective Soul fan -- doesn't matter. What I'm getting is that this is the new marketing, the new fan outreach. Pretend you are a Coldplay fan ... how cool is it to get messages and photos from the bassist on a regular basis? If you're a Collective Soul fan, how cool to send them questions and get answers via video a day or two later. And where's U2 in all this? Nowhere. Oh, I know they were posting some behind-the-scenes videos on U2.com earlier this year, and that's certainly a step in the right direction. But in 2009, company web sites are becoming irrelevant. Real connections with customers (i.e., your fans if you're in a band) are happening on social networks. My gut feeling is that U2 (and I mean "U2 the corporation" more than "U2 the band" here) doesn't fully get the Internet, even after all these years. Sure, they have a Facebook fan page and a MySpace page ... but there's no personality there, nothing like the links I shared above. I'd love to see that change when the tour starts (Willie Williams on Twitter would be priceless), but I'm not holding my breath. Now, to balance this out, when it comes to face-to-face dealings with fans, Bono is an absolute saint. I saw this YouTube video last week and was reminded what a star he is in that situation. Patient, attentive, funny, gracious, and more. It looks like the U2 Conference is gonna happen this fall, but the location is still being sorted out. The current front-runners are Duke University in Durham, NC, or Ole Miss University in Oxford, MS. Those links are to blog posts on the U2 Conference web site detailing the two cities and inviting feedback. If you're one of the early U2.com renewal people who was told that you'd be getting Medium, Rare, & Remastered ... and was more recently told you're not getting it, after all, please check out this good news on the U2.com message boards. (Thx Hosive.) For those of you who don't visit our forum (and why not, may I ask?), you may want to know about one of the hot topics from this past week: There's a U2 t-shirt being sold at Wal-Mart these days. It's part of a Rolling Stone t-shirt collection, and there was a special table display at my local Wal-Mart just for these shirts. The U2 shirt is actually more red than the photo in that thread shows. It looks good. And my son reports that it's comfortable, too. Not too bad for only $10. And finally ... a beautiful cover of "Van Diemen's Land" by a 5th-grade choir. Read the description to learn why they changed the name of the song when singing. (Thx Dan.)
If you're in the U.S., enjoy the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, and please remember what the holiday is about. See ya next time.... (c) @U2, 2009.
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