U2start.com | An Evening with Gavin Friday and Friends, 2009-10-04

source: U2.com:
" Question: What have Laurie Anderson, Andrea Corr, Courtney Love, Lydia Lunch, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan and Rufus Wainwright got in common with Larry, Bono, Edge and Adam. Answer: They're all fans of Gavin Friday and they're all taking part in a one-of-a-kind show in New York next week, set to raise funds to combat AIDS in the poorest countries.
An Evening with Gavin Friday and Friends, on Sunday October 4th at Carnegie Hall in New York, is curated and produced by Hal Willner, someone with an unrivalled track record in one-off musical events inspired by maverick artists from Leonard Cohen to Kurt Weill, Tim Buckley to Thelonius Monk.
Gavin, of course, has been hanging out with the members of U2 since before they were the members of U2 and is invariably to be found with them in the studio when an album needs to be finished... or out on the road, when a tour is about to kick off. Right now, he's working on songs for his own next solo album due in 2010. "

Now this could be interesting.....................
I admit I kinda like the duets between Bono and Andrea Corr

Since all 4 guys are going to turn up it seems, what do you think they are going to play??

u2joost

15 years

*bump*

any ideas anyone?
or is it to early yet to speculate about this?
Will there be interesting duets or oldies?
Your Blue Room by Bono and Gavin?

but then again, maybe they will just be in the audience, clapping....

u2joost

15 years

Sorry that I go on about this, but I just think it's a It's a nice birthday-present for Gavin, as you can read on U2.com:

........." An Evening with Gavin Friday and Friends, on Sunday October 4th at Carnegie Hall in New York, is curated and produced by Hal Willner, someone with an unrivalled track record in one-off musical events inspired by maverick artists from Leonard Cohen to Kurt Weill, Tim Buckley to Thelonius Monk.

Gavin, of course, has been hanging out with the members of U2 since before they were the members of U2 and is invariably to be found with them in the studio when an album needs to be finished... or out on the road, when a tour is about to kick off. Right now, he's working on songs for his own next solo album due in 2010. We caught up with him in Dublin to find out more about the Carnegie Hall show.

Believe it or not, this was not born in my head. I think I was on some kind of TV show, maybe 12 years ago, and I was asked about my musical ambition and I said I'd love to play Carnegie Hall before I'm 50. That was the seed of all this. Then earlier this year a gang of us went away for a day to celebrate the 50th birthday of Guggi and at the party, Bono, who turns 50 himself next May, said to me, 'Do you know what you're doing for your fiftieth ?' I said I didn't have a clue and that I'll probably run away to avoid the attention. He said he did know what I was doing, that I was playing Carnegie Hall.

A couple of weeks before, Bono had met up with our mutual friend Hal Willner and they'd decided on this event to celebrate my birthday and to raise funds for RED, the organisation which fights AIDS in Africa. And I was so taken aback at the idea that a very rare thing happened - I was completely silenced. I couldn't believe it. I think everyone found that quite humorous: 'Look, we've actually shut Friday up!'

Hal Willner is the moving force behind the whole thing, he puts these kinds of events together and I've often worked with him on them. They're like creative extravaganzas where a whole gang of musicians come together to pay tribute to someone, like he did this incredible homage to the work of Leonard Cohen, another to Kurt Weill. More recently Bono and I worked with him on 'Rogue's Gallery' an album of pirate ballads and sea chanteys.

There's always this extraordinary twist that he brings - like his tribute to the music of Walt Disney where he had Tom Waits singing 'Hi Ho Hi Ho' and when we did it live, he had me singing the 'Siamese Cat Song' from Lady and The Tramp. I remember turning up one day for a Harry Smith tribute to find Jimmy Scott, the jazz singer, at the piano with Mary Margaret O'Hara and Nick Cave. Two days later we were performing it on stage.

We've already got an amazing bill lined up for Carnegie Hall, I can hardly believe it. We talked about the kind of people we wanted to take part - those who influenced me over the years and some that I might have influenced. Some are very well known and some I hope will become more well known - like Eric Mingus, an unsung genius and the son of Charlie Mingus. Or Flo and Eddie, who many people don't realise are the backing vocalists on all those great T Rex songs that people like me remember from being young.

Anthony from Anthony and the Johnsons will be something else and then Maria McKee, what a talent she is, and goes way back with our musical community in Ireland. She's always been close to us, she lived here in the 1980's and we often recorded with her. And Courtney Love, Hal bumped into her in New York and she said she'd love to be part of it. Laurie Anderson doesn't need any introduction and we've also got Rufus and Martha Wainwright and, not surprising this, a big Irish contingent with Shane MacGowan, Andrea Corr and of course the Royal Family - Larry, Edge, Bono and Adam.

The thing with those four is that I know them all individually, so they're all taking part but what's unusual is that they aren't going to be U2, so I think we'll see something pretty different, which is something that always happens with Hal's events.

Dik, Edge's brother will be there, who was in U2 before they were U2, and Guggi of course, so I would love Dik and Guggi and myself to do some Virgin Prunes songs - it won't be the Virgin Prunes reuniting because we don't do that, but let's see what happens. When Hal is involved you never know how it'll work out.

He pulls together this potpourri of musicians for a day or so of rehearsals, which are like this musical workshop, very organic, where you never quite know what you're going to produce. The spontaneity is what I love about it, it's precious and so rare these days, when everything is over-rehearsed and over-marketed. The next day you have a soundcheck and before you know it you're playing live in front of an orchestra and an audience.

I still don't know what to say about it, I'm 50 not 80 and I'm not an icon but it'll be a celebration of music and a beautiful thing to do for a friend. Hal for me is a real touchstone of a person, an inspiration and he creates quite unique musical moments, It won't happen again, this collection of artists won't be together like this ever again... which I love. It will be an unrepeatable night and I'm planning on enjoying it. "............

I wonder what Bono wants for his 50th birthday...

MWSAH

15 years

They'll play Mofo

germcevoy

15 years

just read that the band are down to play 'individual performances'

germcevoy

15 years

Twittering the event. . .

Bono and Edge just did Children Of The Revolution. Full band on stage now

Genaro92U2

15 years

What ever happened to the Elvis Costello tv show event that happened last month? Wasnt it going to air on Canadian television. Any word on that?

u2joost

15 years

From U2gigs.com:

Members of U2 appear with Gavin Friday

Today at Carnegie Hall in New York, Gavin Friday held a concert in celebration of his 50th birthday. An Evening With Gavin Friday And Friends is part of the Red Nights series of concerts held by Product Red to raise money for the fight against AIDS. All four members of U2 are on the bill for this concert, although listed separately.

The songs featuring members of U2 were:

1. Children Of The Revolution (Bono and Edge with Gavin Friday)
2. I Want To Live (All four U2 members with Gavin Friday's musicians, but not Gavin)
3. King Of Trash (All four U2 members with Gavin Friday's musicians, but not Gavin)
4. Another Blow On The Bruise (Edge with Gavin Friday)
5.The Last Song I'll Ever Sing (Bono with Gavin Friday's musicians)
6. Sweet Jane (Edge and Larry with Lou Reed and Gavin Friday; Bono joins in at the end)
7.The Jean Genie (finale featuring all four U2 members with the night's other performers)

don't know if I am the only one who thinks so, but I just think this is really exciting.....