5 Questions for Matt McGee, manager of @U2 and author of U2 – A Diary

Matt McGee is the manager of @U2, maybe the best site for news and stories related to the great band U2.  Besides going a great job with the site, Matt is about to release a book on the band called U2 – A Diary, which is scheduled for release on or around October 13.  In order to spread the news about the book, Matt gave @U2 readers a chance to ask him 5 questions about the book or the band that he would respond to. These responses could then be put on our blogs or websites.  I grabbed this opportunity to ask 5 questions as I am really looking forward to adding the book to the collection of U2 related books in our library (plus it could serve as the first ever interview on this blog!).  Matt responded quickly and gave some great answers so here they are:

1. What was the motivation to take this step and write this book? 
 
The motivation was Omnibus Press opening a door and inviting me to write it. I’d love to claim the idea as my own, but I was in contact with them to pitch a different book idea. They weren’t interested in my proposal, but were interested in doing a U2 diary-style book — similar to a Beatles diary-style book they’d already published to considerable success. Since I’ve always been fascinated by U2’s history, and had lots of good material on @U2 to use as a starting point, it was pretty easy to say yes. 

2. What do you think U2 fans will enjoy most about this book? 
 
I think it’ll probably be different for everyone, or for different types of fans. I hope newer and more casual fans will appreciate learning some new things about the band that maybe they didn’t know before, or maybe the way I describe certain events will give them a new understanding of the importance of certain events. I hope longtime fans will enjoy the reference aspect of the book; since it’s the whole history of the band broken up into year-by-year chapters, it’ll be super easy to look up some date or event and quickly get the details you want to know. 
 
And I hope that everyone appreciates the timeline format and how, in my opinion, it really helps get a better sense of the band’s development and how what happened one year really impacted what happened the next year. 
 

3. What do you enjoy the most about managing @U2?  
 
There are three things that I love about being involved with @U2: 1) I get to work with some of the smartest, coolest, nicest, and best people I’ve ever met. The @U2 staff is just a really super group of people, and I’m blessed to call them friends and have them working on the site, too. 2) Getting emails from readers that just say “thanks for all you guys do” and stuff like that — it’s awesome. 3) Very similarly to that — it’s great to meet @U2 readers at concerts or other U2 events. Everyone is always so cool and so nice, and it just reminds you why you love being a U2 fan. 
 
 
4. What was the best U2 show you ever attended? 
 
Easy answer: San Jose, April 20, 2001. That’s the one that both Willie Williams and Bono both agreed was one of their best ever. I think Bono even said it was his best show ever. It was absolute magic. Crazy energy in the arena. There’s a great description of it in U2 Live – A Concert Documentary. 
 
5. In your opinion, what U2 song best captures what you believe is the true spirit of the band? 
 
I don’t know if I could pick just one song, because there’s so many faces to U2. No, actually — scratch that. Five minutes later, and my answer is “One.” It’s the quintessential U2 song. Bono always talked about wanting U2 to work on three levels: political, spiritual, and sexual. I think that song works on all three levels (and more). It’s probably one of the best five or ten songs ever written. Don’t you think?  (Phil response: without a question!)

The book can be ordered at Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.  I look forward to reading it and adding it to the library. 

Of course, this all adds to my excitement for the upcoming album and tour!

The ticketmaster enigma – How are tickets allocated?

Today, my wife and I tried to get tickets to see Oasis at Madison Square Garden on December 17, a show I have been looking forward to since I heard they were releasing a new CD and were planning on touring. The presale was scheduled for Tuesday with the General Sale scheduled for today, October 3. 

The presale tickets that popped up were all in the second half of the arena, the area further from the stage. I tired pulling tickets up a few times in hopes of getting seats closer to the stage but did not get anything so I figured they were saving the seats up front for the general sale so I did not buy any and waited for today.

This morning, at 10am, my wife and I try for tickets and immediately starting getting tickets in similar sections in the back of the arena that were being offered in the presale.  I tried a few times and it was the same each time. After about 15 minutes, we figured we should jump on a pair of these seats in case the show sells out and we were left out of the show and we did, a pair in the 300s, about middle of the arena.  Once these were locked in, we tried for fun to see if the show would sell out and suddenly, out of the blue, a pair of tickets in the 100s, right at the side of the stage pop up! We ended up grabbing those and hope to sell the others at face before the show. Once we got this solitary pair in the 100s, we just checked again for fun and the tickets popping up were in the back of the arena again.

Where were the good floor seats and the rest of the sections near the stage? I understand that some are saved for radio stations, VIPs (whetever that means) , etc but usually some good seats are available based on the hundres of shows I have bought tickets for in the past.

Anyway, Im in and I cannot wait. I have seen Oasis about 10 times and they have been awesome every time!

Project Runway 10-1

First off, I was super excited when the contestants were borough to the New York Botanical Gardens for the challenge. I always love seeing the Bronx represented well in popular shows!

I never expected I would have turned on Kenley so fast as I have after the last two weeks.  While I was able to overlook some of the combativeness earlier in the show, she has reached new lows in her refusal to accept criticism.  She had MAJOR attitude during the runway show. What I also found weird was that she took a floral-based challenge and got a vision of scales of a fish. And the best part was that when Tim Gunn mentioned it, she said that was exactly was she was looking for!

Overall, I didn’t find any of the designs last night too appealing although I believe Jerell rightfully won.  I think they are bringing back all 4 for the finale because, as Heidi said, they were interested to see what Kenley could do but I dont think they wanted to eliminate Korto based on this one performance after being so string throughout the show so I think it was the right thing to do.

Power Rankings:

1. Jerell

2. LeAnn

3. Korto

4. Kenley