http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/27/u2-irish-aid-group-coalition
I still like U2's music and will buy NO LINE ON THE HORIZON (likely in the basic single-CD edition instead of the other pricier variants) sometime this week. But the "make money, make money, make a lot of money" ethos of the band and ubermanager Paul McGuinness (let's not forget that they invested in none-too-progressive Forbes magazine and also the unfortunate tale of the Bono-and-Edge-owned Hotel Clarence in Dublin--a classic old hotel my wife Valarie and I stayed in over a year-and-a-half ago--which has been largely razed with neighboring buildings comandeered to build a "new" Clarence apparently because Paul Hewson and Dave Evans wanted a bigger profit margin).
And it's safe to guess that the forthcoming stadium tour won't be cheap for fans. Readers are free to guess how far north of $100 the most expensive seats will sell for.
[UPDATE 3/9/09: Prices are in a sliding scale from $250 to $30--allegedly 10,000 seats a show will be at the $30 level. Here's a comment from Bono about the reasoning for the $250 price level: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/02/no_taxes_on_the_horizon.html]
If I were to meet Paul McGuinness, I'd have two questions for him:
1. How much more money do you and your band need?
2. Are you aware that a recession is going on?
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