U2 is expected to prepare for its 2005 Vertigo tour in the scenic city of Vancouver, British Columbia. The legendary rock band and its road crew will spend most of March 2005 holding full production rehearsals at the General Motors Place arena, with staging expected to arrive in town later this week. R.E.M. has also spent significant periods of time in Vancouver, B.C., while they were recording the album "Reveal."
Having spent a year of my life living in Lotus Land myself, I'm hoping that perhaps Bono will get political with the Premiere of the province, Gordon Campbell, and ask him why Main and Hastings still holds the title of poorest zip code in all of North America. Hastings Street and many parts of Vancouver are inflicted with junkies and underage prostitutes and homelessness, but Campbell shut his eyes to these issues in favour of pursuing an Olympic bid. We'll have to wait and see how all the West Coast "tree huggers" react to the Vancouver/Whistler Winter Games when they arrive.
The 2005 U2 Tour officially starts on March 28th in San Diego, California. U2 will return to Vancouver for shows at General Motors Place on April 28th and 29th.
Vancouver radio station CFOX reports that, "U2 will break from rehearsals to attend its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14th in New York City. The Irish quartet will be inducted by Bruce Springsteen and plans to perform that night as well. The ceremony will be telecast on March 19th by VH1."
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Douglas Mays
U2 rehearsing in Van BC? That is cool Great city. But they are known for that drug problem. So they are starting up the free heroin program.
Well, they are also known for their money being about 70 cents to the American dollar. A cost efficient place to rehearse (and film movies).
My question is: After Bono sees the action on certain streets in Vancouver, I wonder if he will have any Nobel level ideas for them. Well, if he smokes their herb or slips down to Seattle to get the really strong herb (legalize it!!!), he may have to sit back and think about what is best for their (and urban society in general) situation.
I do have to give the guy credit for his approach to life...
peaceloveguidance
2 - jason
Seattle has better weed than British Columbia? That I'd have to smoke to beleive! I doubt it. But thanks for your other points, I strongly agree..
And it's not really a free herion program at all, it's a "safe zone" where you can inject yourself "safely" instead of using puddle water to set up your needle and throwing discarded needles on school play-grounds.
3 - Douglas Mays
jason, true about the actualities of the BC heroin program. I was just being very general (not on coffee) in my statement.
But, Seattle bud is superior to BC bud. They actually got their seeds from us and started their crop. Let me put it this way, I have not had a seed in my herb for 30 years around here.
You gotta be from around here and have the right people. BC bud is quality, but still just a Silver Medal winner in the Herb Olympics. Cripes, I bumped in to something so fucking powerful the other day. Local. You gotta be from here to know what powerful is. We are talkin moonshine of the herb world. But with the high quality values of a French champagne...sweet taste, nice hairs (oh god, purple hair bud rocks!), smooth smoke, etc...
But it has been like this here for a while. How did we end up with the scientific stoner botanists? Actually, it has something to do with the University of Washington. Old timers got the story.
Oh man, this article was about U2!!!! got off the subject. I was smokin' and trippin' to the "Boy" album?
plg
4 - Douglas Mays
jason, oh also, since it is a domestic crop, every once in a while a farmer has a killer harvest. So, Van BC and Sea WA are 2 hours apart and the connoiseur's can compare their current crop. Sometimes you bump into a nice BC, sometimes a nice Washington grown. Herb snobs... OK, I'm one also...
U2U2U2U2U2U2U2U2U2!!!! Staying focused here.
plg
5 - Jess
Dude, fuck off. Vancouver does not have a big drug problem. Fucking Americans.
6 - Douglas Mays
Jess, you from Van BC? If so, good. I have always wondered what the reality is. Being from Seattle, Van is a short drive north. I have hung out there since I was a kid. Great town!!!! One of my favorite, anywhere...
But my question is how much of a real problem vs. media and government deal is this problem? Well, the government thinks it is enuf of a problem to put some pretty 'innovative' public programs in action to tackle the problem. So that is cool.
Anyway, thanks for the perspective. Oh, BC bud can be quite fine. If that is considered a drug problem, then BC does have a drug problem. Well, BC, hi-test... There is a beer problem....
peacloveguidance
7 - jason
"Dude fuck off"
Well, that's rich.
First, I am not American, if I was I would kill Bush then myself.
Second, I LIVED in vancouver for over a year and know damn well of what I speak.
Main and Hastings is the poorest zip code in Nrth America
Vancouver has major Crystal Meth and Herion problems, they did not build a safe injection house for NOTHING...
Third, "dude fuck off" is no way to express your opinion, especially here.
You're so ignorant it hurts my head.
8 - jason
PLG...
don't get your info from someone ignorant enough to assume I am American and obviously hasn't a clue about Downtown Eastside Vancouver... I LIVED there for over a year.. thanks
since when is this a place for ignorance and cussing???
9 - Douglas Mays
jason, this dude in comment #5 must be a Canadian. Sounds like a D.O.A. fan trying to get into the Commodore. Naw, they have a serious street problem up there.
Las time I was there a street kid asked for some money. I gave him an American dollar. Made his day....
plg
10 - Just Me
Main & Hastings - Twilight Zone
I hope Bono doesn't bother to acknowledge this wasteland. Why?
Because many of the causes that he champions focus on institutional reporm to protect or support the world's innocent who are getting ignored or screwed.
Many, perhaps most, of the people in the DES got there or stay there through their own stupidity and bad habits. Meanwhile governments spend millions in programs with idealistic goals like "harm reduction".
Let Bono concentrate on music or focus on people who have not been the architects of their own suffering. When there's more evidence of DES residents seeking to help themselves, it may be time to focus on their progress.
11 - Douglas Mays
Just Me, hhhmmm...I'm not sure what to think. Van BC does have a problem. All I can say is that artists of all kinds serve an important role in society as being very good observers of sociology and psychology. The words of Bob Dylan, Pete Townsend, etc. get studied by the higher education lot. That has got to say something.
Oh, so the point is that we'll see if hanging in Van BC will fit into the social observance gears of Bono. Maybe his mind will come up with something valuable to say in reference to addiction on a world level. Heck, that would be Nobel prize worthy should some solution come from it...
thanx,
plg
12 - jason
Hey, I wasn't implying organic drugs were a bad thing! Herion on the other hand... well, it has made some good music but it's still generally not a good thing :P
13 - Douglas Mays
heroin, cocaine. Natural root earth grown substances processed into such un-natural substances.
herb, on the other hand, works in its most natural form. Then again, you can go out into the woods and find a mushroom that will sieze your liver in 5 minutes.
what was the point of that? oh yeah, just don't let anything take you away from a focus of a good life. Addiction just becomes a full time job of leading a shitty life of sickness, death, lies AND THERES MORE!!! A life that isn't even your own anymore.
PLG
14 - Eric Berlin
Herion on the other hand... well, it has made some good music
I didn't enjoy their last few records that much, to be honest with you.
15 - jason
Well I don't think U2 are into the hard drugs... maybe that's the problem. Just kidding.
I'll add something more to this one: While U2 doesn't really make relevant or ground breaking music anymore, it's aewsome they have survived this long. I think this is because record lables and management used to give bands more time to grow/develop/evolve
Compare U2 and R.E.M. to a SUM 41 or a Coldplay... see what I mean?
16 - jason
PLG:
That was my original point, maybe Bono will take a look around and be inspired to call his friend PM Paul Martin and ask him to clean up Vancouver a little...
17 - just me
PLG
Thanks for the feedback.
All I can say is that artists of all kinds serve an important role in society as being very good observers of sociology and psychology. - Agreed
The words of Bob Dylan, Pete Townsend, etc. get studied by the higher education lot. That has got to say something. - Agreed
Oh, so the point is that we'll see if hanging in Van BC will fit into the social observance gears of Bono. - Yes, I suspect we will.
Maybe his mind will come up with something valuable to say in reference to addiction on a world level. Heck, that would be Nobel prize worthy should some solution come from it - Generally agreed, though I'd place more weight on the opinions of medical professionals, the police, and others who live in and work in the location rather than a touring rock star.
I guess my points are beliefs are this.
(1) Bono can only be the champion for so many causes. He is constrained by time, knowledge, energy ...
(2) He has to pick his causes carefully, or he risks becoming ignored
(3) If he selects causes where many people are much to blame for their own conditions or suffering, then he may diminish his message.
(4) Thus, I'd rather have him be an articulate and impassioned advocate for a small number of globally vital causes, rather than a large number local ones.
Vancouver needs to clean up its own act, and those unfortunate souls need some proper help, not some gratuitous celebrity coverage. If Bono wants to focus on drug addictions, he could select many cities.
But in the end, whose responsible for poverty, famine, debt? Often institutions or programs that should be held accountable. And whose responsible for drug addiction? The addicts, themselves.
Maybe its a small point, but I'd rather Bono focus on big issues with where he can make a difference rather than local issues with dubious victims where there are more qualified professionals involved. Let those qualified with medical knowledge etc. come up with solid programs.
I applaude Bono's efforts to save the world, and I encourage the addicts efforts to save themselves. But if Bono seeks to champion all causes for all cities, he'll diminish his role and power, whether Nobel-worthy or not.
18 - Sydney
Man, you guys are having a stoner conversation on this post. It's rediculous. Going on about how Cocaine and Heroin are destructive drugs. I suggest you take a look at what the weed has done to your brain. I'm serious too.
Studies are linking marijuana to all sorts of long term damage, including schitzophrenia, and poor long term memory. So anoying to listen to you guys who think it's so hip and cool to pretend pot is this harmless cure-all. It's not. It's not much worse than beer, but at least with beer we acknowledge the damage it does.
I'll just let you know that I am an occaisional pot-smoker so I'm not on some moral crusade. I just face the facts, and realize that all these hipsters suggesting to the kids that pot is just for chillin and being laid back and non-violent, are actually doing harm.
Lastly, Vanouver does have a problem, although maybe not in relative terms to other american cities. By Canadian standards it is a problem and should be addressed.
P.S. It doesn't make a differenc whether the pot is from Seatle or B.C. Strong pot is dependant on a lot of diffent variables. It pays no attention to that border, nor do the trafficers who traffic pot and seeds back and forth across the border.
19 - Douglas Mays
Sydney, where do you get your information? Let me start here, Cocaine is one fucking seriously damaging drug. Pot vs. Cocaine is like saying Aspirin and Morphine are the same thing...
You a user of cocaine?
Go get a CAT scan of your brain and take a look at all the black spots of PERMANENT damage that show up on the scan. They show 'mini-siezures and strokes' occuring in the brain due to usage. Nuerologists will tell you how that damage can never be repaired. As Martin Atkins once sang "if you use cocaine, say goodbye to your brain"
Cocaine, as far as it's psychotropic effects is considered 1000 times (i ain't making this up, this info. comes from top doctors from the UW med school) more powerful than LSD. You wanna debate the difference some more, black brain? Your arguements are hideous.
Oh, SYDNEY, you got it right. The thing I was trying to point out is that drugs and poverty are a world issue and Van BC has taken unique steps (on a world level) in coming to terms with the issue. All I'm trying to say is that Bono is in an environment to energize thought of the issue on a world level. Not just Van BC.
Oh, also, regarding the pot/border thing. Yeah, we know all that. But the DEA and the planet knows that this is where to come for tasty powerful herb. I mean, I bump into people from Amsterdam in Seattle trying to find Seattle Green! No shit. But the border deal is that the herb is so engrained in the social fabric here that a sub-culture that has 'hobbied' on the fine points of the herb exists. I like Seattle herb much better than anything that has made it out of Humbolt Co.
Anyway, Bono would love this thread. Some rehearsal announcement turns into a discussion about a problem that plagues society.
peaceloveguidance
20 - DM
Oh shit, one isssue to address is: did I ever say that pot is harmless? No. But, here is the order of things from my medical experience. The #1 (tie) most destructive drug (physical and socially) is cocaine/meth and alchohol (you better study what alchohol does to the human body). #2 I would put heroin. Pot is way down the line, and actually is a drug that keeps you off other drugs. I occasionally smoke, like recently. Man, the cold and flu thing is going around. Want a great antihistamine? Take a toke or two. Nasal passages and head are clear. Real fast. Didn't have to burn my sinuses with Afrin or something. Take a look at spray antihistamines if you want to investigate addiction.
My point is, as stated above, don't let anything knock you off course in the game of life. Cocaine or alchohol do a much better job of it (fucking up your life) than pot.
Oh, sorry JUST ME, I used Sydney's name, not yours at the 4th paragraph. My error. but thanx, you get the picture...
plg
21 - DM
Oh man, speaking of drugs, those darn pharmecuticals are climbing the charts real quick. I guess that would pretty much fall into the heroin catagory.
22 - darqmarq
you are all a bunch of wankers
23 - Patrice
Very interesting thread. I agree Bono would find it interesting. I work (social services) in the DTES. Might as well have the facts straight: Yes, there will be a free heroin project (separate from the safe injection site). This is the poorest postal code in Canada. No indication if it's the poorest area in North America but I DOUBT IT. And it is not nearly as dirty and dangerous as numerous skid rows in other cities.
I love Bono. But nobody gives Larry Mullen Jr. credit for being the thinker he is.
24 - Douglas Mays
Patrice, thank you for clearing that up. Van BC is a great city!
hhhmmm...the poorest postal code in Canada? I was wondering about gathering stats on that one. But I guess that one section of town could qualify. There are some rich postal codes in that town as well.
Anyway, cool man. See ya in Gas Town sometime!
plg
25 - jason
Never count on the police to champion any cause. At the every least not in Lotus Land. *cringe*