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Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Bono – Stories of Surrender review: The life and times of this gifted raconteur is an elegant affair
We might add to this list a night in late 2022 when Bono brought the debut show of his all-singing, all-sharing book tour to the Olympia Theatre. Marking the release of his memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, the night was attended by a who's-who of Irish life; everyone from heads of state to broadcasting giants. What greeted them was a side to the U2 frontman perhaps less seen, part opera star, part seanchaí, relating the knots of his extraordinary life from a stage of rare intimacy. Stripped-down versions of songs would helix through stories about his parents, his upbringing in Dublin, meeting wife Ali and his eventual bandmates (in the same week), and the globe-gobbling stardom that would eventually come. Two things seemed to strike anyone lucky enough to get a ticket or an invite that night – the stagecraft of the entire performance, and the sheer dexterity and control of the then 62-year-old's vocal cords. One music industry friend of mine, someone who has seen all the greats down through the years, put it in the top five things he had ever seen staged anywhere in our capital. That show's beguiling format of yarns and renditions from one of the most famous people on the planet has been captured on camera without too much in the way of reverence or pomp. Andrew Dominik's film brings just a slick monochrome sheen and some light digital trickery to proceedings as it swoops about New York's Beacon Theatre. Accompaniment is provided by producer and occasional U2 collaborator Jacknife Lee, who strips those arena-filling compositions back to their essence with vocal and instrumental help from Crash Ensemble cellist Kate Ellis and harpist Gemma Doherty (of Saint Sister). That aside, it's just a table, a few chairs, a bit of a lighting rig and a gifted raconteur cherry-picking from his bestselling memoir. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more As with the book, the 'eccentric heart' trouble that hospitalised him in New York in 2016 is a jumping-off point for what is essentially a scenic route through a newfound sense of mortality. And then it's right into Cedarwood Road, The Ramones and a complicated parental dynamic. More than in the print memoir, Bono's over-arching niggle in Dominik's film is father Bob, the opera-lover who married protestant Iris (much to his own family's disapproval). Following Iris's death when then Paul Hewson was just 14, much head-butting went on between the punkish teenager and the nonchalant, old-school Bob. All good frontmen carry the 'look at me, Mum' gene, but while Iris's death certainly played a role, it was Bob's reluctance to really acknowledge his pride in the rising superstar that provides the emotional cornerstone for these stories. By the time Bono is re-enacting their stunted Sunday afternoon conversations in Finnegan's pub, the delicate dynamic is tangible but somehow never mawkish or self-pitying. Always there is a sense of forward momentum, a dance that, much like the operas his father would sing along to, have their ebbs and flows. A brilliant mimic who is naturally predisposed to physical showmanship and far-reaching activism, you come to appreciate just what a rare and unusual creature Bono is and how wide of the mark are those tiresome slurs on his character (he does pay taxes, by the way, as do all members of U2 – find a new hobby). And what of the songs chosen from that imperious back catalogue? Well, there are moments in this show where a classic track bubbles up to the surface of an anecdote – see the penning of debut single Out of Control or Pride (In the Name of Love) – that are so cannily timed they arrive like goosebumps exploding. Hate them all you like, but there can be no denying that U2 and their singular frontman push buttons that no one else has really found access to. While an early Christmas present for fans, for everyone else this is an elegant, classy, fun and often poignant one-man opera that revels in the limitations of its setting. Four stars
Extra.ie
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Film Review: Bono
Bono talking. That familiar voice opens over a blank screen. 'It is preposterous to think that others might be as interested in your own story as you are.' Is he being disingenuous? Surely Bono knows better than anyone that people are interested in and even fascinated by his story – and that's probably as true of the league in the wings with slings and arrows at the ready as it is for admirers. U2's last three albums have been all about telling their story, and even the Vegas residency looked into the past, albeit in the most futuristic way imaginable. More specifically, they've been telling Bono's story with songs like 'Cedarwood Road' and 'Iris'. Maybe it was the brush with mortality, coming at an age when looking back is the natural inclination. Maybe it's the lingering aftershocks of the loss of his father. Or maybe it's even a deliberate clearing of the decks before the new album they keep talking up finally arrives. Whatever the reason, we've had Bono's big book, then the audiobook, the backwards glance of the Songs Of Surrender do-overs, and the solo 'book tour' – so now here's the movie of the tour of the book. The Stories Of Surrender jaunt started in New York's Beacon Theatre in November 2022, made several stops across America and then came to Europe, including Dublin's Olympia Theatre. I offered up my immortal soul for a ticket, but there were no takers. Turned out I was diagnosed with COVID the day of the show. Would I have kept schtum and gone anyway, putting the health of Ireland's glitterati, which had just reminded me I wear the wrong trousers, at risk for the sake of a rock n' roll show? We'll never know. Bono returned to The Beacon for a six-night run (where most of this film was shot) and then finished up at the Teatro San Carlo Napoli in Naples, more of which anon. Filmed in glorious monochrome by director Andrew Dominik, because as U2 discovered around the time of Rattle & Hum, everything just looks better in black and white, Bono: Stories Of Surrender is populated by the ghosts of both the living and the dead as the man in the shades confronts the past to take him back to his present. He nearly turned fully incorporeal himself back in 2016 and speaks candidly about the heart problem that could have closed up the shop. He's back on the table in Mount Sinai Hospital, having his (war) chest opened up to save his life. He can't breathe. He calls the names of his God, but for the first time, his God isn't there. How did he get here? Look at that bare table and the chairs that, apart from some fancy, if subtle, lighting, which is still a long way from Vegas, constitute the set. Who does that remind you of? There's a distinct bang of Beckett, with Bono as Krapp listening back to his old tapes, and then there's the influence of the man Friday. Speaking to me for this magazine, Gavin Friday (who is there in the end-credits as the show's creative director and, no matter what they're paying him, a raise should at least be considered) said, 'Give me a bentwood chair, a bulb, a cigarette and a microphone and that's theatre.' Friday employed it in Vicar St last month, and Bono has taken his old friend's maxim to heart, using the sparse furniture to great dramatic effect throughout this theatrical, musical memoir/confession. 'The most extraordinary thing about my life is the people I'm in relationships with,' he tells us, and the chairs fill in for those people who aren't there. There's the ghost of his mother, Iris, scolding him for making a show of himself when that's all he wants to do with his life, who enters and never leaves. Her name wasn't spoken in the house that became an opera after she died, the house where older brother Norman threw the young Bono a lifeline, a guitar, another voice to pray with, which lead to his first proper song, written on his 18th birthday, 'Out Of Control' – and the realisation that he could do this. There's the rest of U2. The suspicious Larry Mullen, who, when he loves, loves completely. Adam Clayton, a true rock n' roller who had everything even when he couldn't play. And the genius of The Edge, who, apparently, used to go for walks with a young Alison Stewart. Another reason to keep an eye on him. The best 'band' scene is the creation of 'I Will Follow' where Bono takes the Gibson Explorer off The Edge and starts making sounds. Go on, says Edge, I'm not sure I like it, but go on. Edge takes it back and turns Bono's graffiti into 'Some fuckin' Raphael Mother and Child' while Larry and Adam are burning down the gallery. Playing just a snatch of the original recording is masterfully effective. 'What a complete fucking eejit I was,' Bono admits and calls this his quarter man show because he knows he'd be just another drowning man without the other three. And there's the other band, The Jacknife Lee Ensemble, who take the music of U2 and reshape it around a never more exposed Bono, whose voice is at just the right soulful and expressive juncture to handle it. While every track hits in a way that Songs Of Surrender only promised to, there are stand-outs. The beautiful harp on 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' ('religious art meets The Clash' and 'a way forward for U2'), and 'Pride', the song that allowed Bob Geldof to forgive Bono for the mullet, as if he can talk, and secured them a Live Aid slot that changed everything, morphs into the soulful prayer that it always really was. It reminds me of John Legend's version, recorded, appropriately enough, for a History Channel celebration of Martin Luther King. It's also worth mentioning that the stately 'rehearsal' version of 'The Showman,' which plays over the end credits, all plucked cello double-bass and finger-snaps, knocks the take on Songs Of Experience into the bin. There's Paul McGuinness, asking his baby band if their God wants these young men in doubt to renege on legal contracts. And there's Alison Stewart, the girl he asked out the same week he joined U2 and the woman who wrote part of this story, suffered the 'selfishness implicit in the desire to be great at something', saw to him by seeing through him, and knew what he had before he even had his name. There's even a revealing, fourth wall-breaking section where Bono's ego is placed in the chair for examination. Is all this saving the world carry-on just a child-like desire to be at the centre of attention? Well, yeah, probably. Will such an admission silence his critics? No, but it shows an awareness of what drives the Bono Is A Pox crowd demented. Bono spoke of 'competitive empathy' with Brendan O'Connor on RTÉ over the weekend ('I feel this wound more than you!') and while it's a valid point, his relative silence – until the Novellos – over Gaza and his acceptance of a medal from Joe Biden at the worst possible time did not make for good optics. 'I'm used to this,' he told O'Connor, so in one way it might be water off a duck's back – but here, and remember this was recorded some time ago, he offers another answer to his detractors. He's aware of his hypocritical status, the over-compensated rock star telling others what to do, but in the end, 'What does it matter? Who cares? Motives don't matter. Outcomes matter.' Will this bring the anti-Bono brigade over to his side of the fence? Not a hope, but again, he's got a point. Floating above it all, however, is the ghost of Bob, Bono's Da, whispering in his ear. Like every son since Cain and Abel, Bono sought his father's approval and understanding, and when he didn't get it, he sang louder, which in the end gave him the life he has, so he owes him thanks for that at least. Armchairs represent the Sorrento lounge in Finnegan's Pub out in Dalkey, where father and son would meet up, although they'd mostly sit in silence. 'Anything strange or startling?' the father might ask. 'How about Pavarotti calling the house?' Bono offers, thinking that surely a call from the great man would impress this lifelong opera fan. 'Why would he be calling you, did he get a wrong number?' 'Pavarotti wants me to write him a song, now who's the fuckin' eejit?' There's an undercurrent of potential violence in that last line, something every father and son who ever butted heads, i.e. all of them, will understand. 'He is,' replies Bob, defusing the situation. Bono takes Bob to Modena, and there's a gas encounter with Princess Diana where 800 years of oppression disappear in 8 seconds. Back in Dublin, Bono wonders if the son is starting to make sense to the father. 'I wouldn't go that far,' says Bob. 'But I heard your song 'Pride' on the radio and I may have felt some.' Just when Bono feels his father might be giving up some answers, he gives him the slip by dying, and there's the realisation that comes from imagining this story from his father's perspective. Maybe he was protecting his son all along by telling him not to dream because dreams, in most cases, only lead to disappointment. You realise too late that your father was your friend. The film ends in the aforementioned Teatro San Carlo Napoli in Naples. The Bay of Sorrento links back around to Finnegan's lounge. Bono's Father had left one of his favourite melodies to haunt his son, 'Torna A Surriento', Come Back To Sorrento, a Neapolitan song sung by everyone from Caruso to Pavarotti. You can hear its melody at the start and at the end when Bono belts it out unaccompanied, the baritone having finally become a tenor, as a hymn to him. You know it even if you think you don't, because Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman adapted it for one of Elvis Presley's best-selling singles back in 1961, before Bono was even a year old. What did they call this song, which connects rock n' roll and opera and The Boy with The Bob, the reason the opera is in him in the first place? Surrender.
Scottish Sun
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
London's newest tourist town in ‘forgotten' district is £1.3bn attraction with hotels, theatre and rooftop bar
A MAJOR UK attraction has revealed plans to start reopening later this year after a £1.3billion upgrade. Olympia London has undergone the huge renovation to turn it into a new "cultural hub," having become a forgotten district in the city. 7 Olympia London is reopening some of its huge £1.3billion redevelopment this year Credit: Olympia London 7 New hotels, restaurants and bars are part of the makeover Credit: Olympia London 7 Olympia Theatre is the biggest new purpose-built theatre in 50 years Credit: Olympia London Known for being the home of global events including BBC Good Food Show and Comic Con as well as live music and fashion shows, the major upgrade started back in 2019. Spread across 14 acres it will be a new "arts, entertainment and exhibition district". Two new hotels will open on-site, including the 204-room Hyatt Regency and 146-room citizenM design hotel. A new Music Hall with a 4,000-capacity arena will be run by AEG Presents, the second biggest live music promoter in the world behind Live Nation. Olympia Theatre, run by Trafalgar Entertainment, is the biggest new purpose-built theatre in 50 years, with space for 1,575 people. Another 30 restaurants and bars will open including street halls and rooftop venues, alongside a boutique gym. And a new office space, performing arts school and pedestrianised streets are also part of the plans. The project is being backed by Deutsche Finance International and Yoo Capital, who are funding the full £1.3billion. The website states: "We're now looking forward to our next chapter, as we bring new life to one of the UK's most iconic heritage sites and become part of something much bigger." Yoo Capital added: "The £1.3 billion regeneration of Olympia will create London's newest creative district: a destination for culture, education, entertainment, exhibitions, incredible offices, eateries and over two acres of public realm." I tried the London tour that lets you make the viral TikTok doughnuts - and you can book for Easter 7 Olympia London first opened in 1886 Credit: Alamy 7 The huge venue is now home to more than 200 shows a year Credit: Alamy Parts of the renovation are opening this year, although others such as the new ICC conference space will open next year. Olympia London first opened in 1886, following the success of Crystal Palace's Great Exhibition in 1851. Upcoming events include London Tech Week, London Film and Comic Con and Hyper Japan Festival. The venue also has its own train station with Kensington (Olympia) having both overground and underground services. 7 The complex is known for hosting global events Credit: Olympia London Already open is a huge new glass canopy which launched at the end of last year and was inspired by the original exhibition halls. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, founder Thomas Heatherwick, said: 'Olympia was once a people's palace – a place to come together and experience unusual things. "Having lost its way over the years, we're now working to bring back its original spirit and make Olympia open and available to everyone." In the mean time, a new "first of its kind" Titanic attraction is set to open in London. The UK's only Guinness attraction is opening in London later this year as well. And we've rounded up 15 attractions across the UK where you can find £1 entry tickets.
The Irish Sun
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
London's newest tourist town in ‘forgotten' district is £1.3bn attraction with hotels, theatre and rooftop bar
A MAJOR UK attraction has revealed plans to start reopening later this year after a £1.3billion upgrade. Olympia London has undergone the huge renovation to turn it into a new "cultural hub," having become a forgotten district in the city. 7 Olympia London is reopening some of its huge £1.3billion redevelopment this year Credit: Olympia London 7 New hotels, restaurants and bars are part of the makeover Credit: Olympia London 7 Olympia Theatre is the biggest new purpose-built theatre in 50 years Credit: Olympia London Known for being the home of global events including BBC Good Food Show and Comic Con as well as live music and fashion shows, the major upgrade started back in 2019. Spread across 14 acres it will be a new "arts, entertainment and exhibition district". Two new hotels will open on-site, including the 204-room Hyatt Regency and 146-room citizenM design hotel. A new Music Hall with a 4,000-capacity arena will be run by AEG Presents, the second biggest live music promoter in the world behind Read more on redevelopments Olympia Theatre , run by Trafalgar Entertainment, is the biggest new purpose-built theatre in 50 years, with space for 1,575 people. Another 30 restaurants and bars will open including street halls and rooftop venues, alongside a boutique gym. And a new office space, performing arts school and pedestrianised streets are also part of the plans. The project is being backed by Deutsche Finance International and Yoo Capital, who are funding the full £1.3billion. Most read in News Travel The website states: "We're now looking forward to our next chapter, as we bring new life to one of the UK's most iconic heritage sites and become part of something much bigger." Yoo Capital added: "The £1.3 billion regeneration of Olympia will create London's newest creative district: a destination for culture, education, entertainment, exhibitions, incredible offices, eateries and over two acres of public realm." I tried the London tour that lets you make the viral TikTok doughnuts - and you can book for Easter 7 Olympia London first opened in 1886 Credit: Alamy 7 The huge venue is now home to more than 200 shows a year Credit: Alamy Parts of the renovation are opening this year, although others such as the new ICC conference space will open next year. Olympia London first opened in 1886, following the success of Upcoming events include London Tech Week, London Film and Comic Con and Hyper Japan Festival. The venue also has its own train station with Kensington (Olympia) having both overground and underground services. 7 The complex is known for hosting global events Credit: Olympia London Already open is a huge new glass canopy which launched at the end of last year and was inspired by the original exhibition halls. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, founder Thomas Heatherwick, said: 'Olympia was once a people's palace – a place to come together and experience unusual things. "Having lost its way over the years, we're now working to bring back its original spirit and make Olympia open and available to everyone." In the mean time, a The And 7 The developers have said it will be a new "cultural hub" Credit: Olympia London
Irish Examiner
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Gig review: Qween reign supreme as they roll out a tribute to Freddie and co
Qween and The Dublin Gospel Choir, Olympia Theatre, Dublin, ★★★☆☆ Queen rule and those who claim to disagree are only fooling themselves. Sadly and for obvious reasons we won't see them again, although what remains of the band played a great Marlay Park gig in 2018, so their beloved music is perfect tribute band material. As the Bootleg Beatles, mop topping for forty-something years, and others have proven, there's plenty of interest in this sort of thing if it's done right. Enter, then, Qween who've deservedly sold out several large venues across the country, including Limerick's King John's Castle. There wasn't much wiggle room in the Olympia last Saturday either, and with good reason as Qween put on a proper show. Right from the opening extended One Vision freak out, John Deacon (Eoghan O'Neill, in appropriate O'Neill's GAA short shorts), Roger Taylor (Graham Sheridan), and James McGeehan on keys are tight as a recession budget. To be honest I look more like Brian May than Thomas Brunkard, but that doesn't matter because his guitar is on fire. Tapping the neck one minute, pulling out a slide the next, he gets that sound right on everything from a stately Who Wants To Live Forever to a fierce Hammer To Fall. Qween performing I Want To Break Free. It all centres on Freddie, though, and the marvellous Brian Keville is equal to the task. The moustache he claims is real deserves its own dressing room and he suggestively employs the trademark half mic stand when appropriate (ie all the time). He parades about in drag with Hoover for I Want To Break Free, sports a jacket possibly pinched off Carmen Miranda, and even does the Mercury mouth wriggle. On top of all that, his voice is spectacular, whether he's commanding the histrionics of The Show Must Go On, leading the crowd through Mercury's call-and-response of 'Aaaa-OH!', or making us all weep during These Are The Days Of Our Lives. The appearance of two scantily clad females with suitably ample posteriors for Fat Bottomed Girls is one thing, and they unquestionably do make the rocking world go round, but the addition of the Dublin Gospel Choir is inspired. Providing vocal support throughout, although Keville hardly needs it, they come into their own for an absolutely superb Somebody To Love and the gloriously over-the-top operatics of Bohemian Rhapsody. As it should be, it's a celebration of those immortal hits from soup to nuts, delivered with skill that surpasses mere imitation. Go see them.
