Exploring U2 for less money

Exploring U2: Is This Rock 'n' Roll?: Essays on the Music, Work, and Influence of U2
the collection of papers from the first U2 academic conference, is out in paperback now. When the hardback came out there were lots of understandable comments about the pricing, which was typical for an academic book but high for the U2 market. If you haven't bought it already, you can now get a copy for only $30 (list price), and about $16 for the eBook. Several friends and commenters here have  material in the book, and it also contains my paper "Where Leitourgia Has No Name."

Teaching U2: The Classroom as Theological Learning Space

One of the papers I had the pleasure of hearing at the U2 academic conference in 2009, but which sadly will not be in the Exploring U2 book, was Tim Neufeld and Jessica Mast's "Teaching U2: The Classroom as Theological Learning Space." I am glad to learn that a version of it, published last year in Pacific Journal, is now available online. Go forth and read!

#U2360MTL

I'll be at both Montreal concerts, and have been in town for a few days. I just want to say that I have been to U2 shows in France, 4 venues in the US, Scotland, and Ireland, and I have never seen anything like the thoroughness of planning for the crowds, public dissemination of information/maps, and transportation data that has happened around these shows. Kudos to the city, the STM, and the local planning team. Of course, we'll see how it actually goes down tonight! ...but I feel better informed about every aspect of how things are going to work than I have ever felt heading to a stadium show.

Edit: Just saw this -- Scott Calhoun (I'm guessing) will be on Montreal's CJAD 800 with Dan Laxner at 3:15 Eastern Daylight Time today to talk about the U2 academic conference. Tune in if you're not in the GA line!

Confab

A fun moment during the U2 conference was getting a shoutout from Bono onstage; the post linked there also lets you hear his much longer tribute to Agnes Nyamayarwo.

conference resources continued

Through my exhaustion, I just wanted to say quickly that Tim Neufeld (linked below) blogged a number of other presentations including mine, and Steve Taylor also blogged several, of which I've randomly linked one. If you were blogging, I missed it, and you'd like your notes linked too, let me know.

conference followers....

Also FYI, the @U2 Blog is recapping the plenaries.

Presentation wordle

Just for fun and with thanks to Tim Neufeld who put up a Wordle of his presentation, here's one of my Sunday morning conference paper "U2 Live: Where Leitourgia Has No Name."

Reminder

If you're interested, again, I'll be on the radio at noon today Eastern USA time: 1 hr live on the U2 conference with Scott Calhoun, Matt McGee, and Agnes Nyamayarwo. Stream live, or listen to the podcast later....

Durham, here we come

I'm leaving tomorrow for the U2 academic conference in Durham. Hope to meet many readers there! Remember you can follow on Twitter with #U2conf.

Soon

There's less than a week until The Hype and The Feedback, the first-ever academic conference on U2. I wanted to share a couple things with readers in the run-up:

--First, you will be able to follow at least some conference sessions and speakers on Twitter with the hashtag #u2conf which we will be asking everyone to use. Right now, follow http://twitter.com/U2Conference to make sure you get any further details needed.
--Second, at noon on Friday, just before the conference kicks off, I'll be on "The State of Things" on North Carolina Public Radio (WUNC) to talk about the conference with MattMcGee of @U2 and Agnes Nyamayarwo of TASO Uganda. It looks as if the station does have both live streaming and archived audio in case anyone would like to tune in.

Researcher for the U2 conference looking for respondents in church leadership

The folks who are giving the paper "A Preacher Stealing Hearts in a Travelling Show: Bono and North American Evangelicals" at the U2 conference next weekend need your help! They are in search of survey respondents to answer a few questions about U2's influence in church circles in North America in the areas of worship, politics, and social justice. If you are a Christian leader of some kind and feel that you can speak to this subject, you're invited to fill out their U2 Paper Questionnaire.

Win a trip!

Here's some big news for anyone who wanted to come to Durham in two weeks, but couldn't quite swing it financially: The Hype and The Feedback is giving away a free trip to the U2 academic conference... and to U2's Raleigh 360 show! Find out how to win here.

Grace Inside A Sound: Exploring U2’s New Horizon « The Institute of Evangelism

Henry VanderSpek of World Vision Canada, who will be giving a paper at the U2 conference in a few weeks, writes to share a link to his new piece on NLOTH, marking the start of the North American 360 Tour. Grace Inside A Sound: Exploring U2’s New Horizon does a fine job of running through the work's big themes and makes some interesting comments on particular songs as well.

Excerpt: "No Line on the Horizon, the album, begins in an unusual spot for U2. While the band’s past few albums start in a broken world but lead the listener to spiritual safety (see album-closing songs like 'Grace' and 'Yahweh'), NLOTH turns this approach upside down. The title track bursts open the album with a mix of heavy guitar, drums and Dr. Who-like sonic effects that conjure a sense of racing over a body of water—fitting, given the album’s cover art of merging sea and sky. Bono’s wavering vocals express how 'infinity is a great place to start' and 'time is irrelevant, not linear.' Bono has described 'No Line on the Horizon' as that place where the earth meets the sky, and possibilities seem infinite. U2 drew near to this space in songs like 'Gloria' (from the album October) and 'Where the Streets Have No Name' (from The Joshua Tree), but here they’ve gone deeper, crossed a line (no pun intended) and reached an altogether different place. Hints of that somewhere different can be found in Bono’s recent comparison of NLOTH to The Beatles’ White Album... [keep reading]"

Great stuff afoot in Durham

I returned last night from vacation and am delighted to learn about the expansion of the U2 conference program: Natalie Baker’s brand new documentary, Meet Me In the Sound, will make its U.S. debut Friday night, and then It Might Get Loud will be shown immediately following. If you can't make the whole conference, that Friday night can also be bought as a standalone event. Wow. It's also nice to see the press picking up on the conference more.

Visitors, conference, links

Welcome to anyone visiting from ReadTheSpirit, which is running a couple things by me this week, one on the topic of what I'm looking forward to about the Hype and The Feedback U2 academic conference, and the other a general guide to the best places to begin learning more about U2, especially for those interested in their spiritual underpinnings. (Also, here's a post introducing this blog itself.) I personally am on the road right now and have very spotty access to the Internet, so will not be able to respond in as timely a way as I'd like to comments or emails; however, if you want to follow up on the conference in particular, their webpage is the place to turn and you can contact the conference director Scott Calhoun there. The early bird registration price is good until September 7!

Update...

Still would love a good quality picture of the mothers onstage from Popmart Santiago. Thanks to those who helped with quotes from my previous request; I'm all set on that now.

Well, the European leg is over, and I still have not had a chance to put up a "Drowning Man" post. Perhaps sometime in September. Or perhaps never.

looking for a quote

If anyone is feeling generous, I am having trouble finding some apt introductory quotes for the paper I am giving at the U2 conference in October, "U2 Live: Where Leitourgia Has No Name." (This may be the first of other calls for help!) I'm trying to give a quick kaleidoscope view of things U2 have said about what makes their shows/audience connection unique, and would like a brief comment from all 4 band members if possible, with a citation as to where it comes from. From Bono I have "live is where we discover what our songs are about [and] discover what we are about." From Larry Mullen I have "the sacred moment." I want comments from Adam Clayton and the Edge to round out the picture. (I could use from the Edge “such a special thing that goes on between the band and the audience at a U2 show, and we never get tired of that. It's always unique; it's always really uplifting,” but would like something more pithy.) I'm betting someone out there has examples at the ready.

U2 Academic Conference update

Here is the press release for U2: The Hype and the Feedback in Durham NC Oct 2-4. Please spread it around: "First Academic Conference on Renowned Rock Band U2." You can register beginning August 1st (and you can book at the conference hotel with an excellent rate now.)

The Hype and The Feedback 2.0

Most readers will probably know that the academic conference on U2 has been rescheduled for Durham NC, October 2-4. The list of accepted papers/presentations is now available on the web. Check it out... and make plans to attend.

Check out these paper titles!

The NY U2 academic conference in May has updated their schedule and information online. Here (PDF) is the list of the accepted papers/presenters. Several of these sessions look like they'll be fantastic, IMHO.