Torcs4
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Posts posted by Torcs4
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let's all encourage the rich to shirk their taxes and admire them for it, cos we all want to pay much more in taxes ourselves to cover what they don't pay, eh?
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That's a bizarre point but there's an element of truth to it. U2s 360 tour grossed around €600 million since it kicked off, last I checked. Ireland obtained a bailout worth around €100billion plus whatever else the ECB pumped into the banks to balance the money that flowed out of irish bank accounts due to people not having faith in the banks, which may add up to an extra €100+ billion.
So yeah, U2 paying tax on €600 million would have helped but not to the extent you're implying.
Also I'm not sure officials in the States would be happy if the Irish government were taxing U2 on all of that €600 billion considering the bulk of that money was generated in the States.
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I know they are a huge band, but I can't imagine the liability to the Irish tax man would be £7 billion.
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Ah but you could say that in moving their business to a place where royalty payments are not taxed as greatly as their homeland, they have avoided paying tax (quite legally).
Merchandises bought in the global market place and various taxes paid locally is one thing, royalties is another....
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To think Bono is just shaking a can for more aid is a pretty bad misreading.
It's very rare to ever hear him even mention aid, and when he does, it's most often in making very clear that he is not after it. Almost always it's more simple things like better third world access to drugs, debt restructuring or cancellation, more/smart trade etc. Aid always has been and always will be a part of it, but it's really not anywhere near his or his groups focus.
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And if he gets caught out later, in his defence, he could say he never lied, he was always honest.
"Hey? You must have misheard. I never said I couldn't come in because I had a cold today, I said I couldn't come in because I was going to see Coldplay. I'm sorry there was been a misunderstanding. Crap phone reception at Glastonbury hey!"
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Their argument against Philip Green/Top Shop and Bono/U2 is a bit different. Green is not just trying to skirt around paying UK tax on his international earnings, but is trying to skirt paying UK tax on his substantial UK business by ‘basing’ it offshore too. U2 are a rolling global business, not an Irish business. The Irish portion of their business is tiny, and they just happen as individuals to remain living in Ireland, and when U2 Inc. ‘earns’ in Ireland, it pays tax in Ireland. And when U2 Inc. rolls into the US or France or Australia or wherever, then they play some shows, sell some records, and in a sense, they get a cheque for it, and that cheque will have a substantial amount already removed as various local taxes. And both ‘hit and run’ earners, like touring bands (easy targets,) and entertainment products in general (not exactly essentials) already, generally, get hit very hard in most countries. So they’re already paying very healthy amounts of tax in every country they stop in. There’s nothing they can do about that, even if they wanted to.
So they take that cheque home, it already having been taxed 40,50% (?) and then Ireland says, we’re hitting that for another 40,50% (?) because you happen to live in Dublin for X months a year. That’s what they’re trying to avoid, by taking it ‘home’ to a country that says we’ll only hit you the second time for 10, 20% on top of the original 40,50%, not another 40,50% on top of the 40,50% you’ve already paid to the society/economy where you actually earned it.
I think you’ll find – given the few comments they have made on this - that their argument is for smarter taxation in Ireland for people in their situation, not just “We’re not paying tax dammit!” They already pay A LOT of tax, globally. They contribute, globally. And what is fairly Irelands, they give to Ireland.
As I said before, I get the hypocrite line in regards to the pure "this is how tax should be spent/but I limit my tax", I know it’s not quite ‘right’, but I think it is an absolutely understandable move. And I do agree that putting energy into challenging this particular target is pretty silly, given the other available options.
And just on another front, one of the lines against this is that his (Bono’s) Irish tax avoidance hurts the third world he claims to support. Worth noting that the One Campaign and DATA, the two organisations he founded/fronts/runs, are only bankrolled by five or six individuals. Those organisations themselves do not ask for cash from the public, ever. And really - it’s probably not that hard to guess the identity of one of those bankrollers. So you could easily argue that he’s not funding Irelands programs, but he’s very likely funding his own. It’s still going there.
And whenever asked or challenged on private/personal giving - as he quite often is - Bono will say (correctly) that to publicise such a thing is not only crass, but wrong and against the entire point of it. So you’re never going to see him at a press conference with an oversize novelty cheque. But would you really be that surprised if somehow it came out that he gave significant amounts of his own cash? He might not of course. He might actually, truly, be a huge hypocrite. But would it really be that surprising to find out he actually wasn’t, and actually gave a lot personally? I really don’t think it would.
As for protesting at Glastonbury – I think it (and this example) are fine, as long as it doesn’t actually disrupt the set or punters enjoyment of it. That’s where I think the line is. Make a point that is visible for the 100K+ that will be there, and if they’re lucky, maybe the tv viewers, but don’t do anything that will ruin anything for anyone. Some huge and visible-to-everyone banner to the side of the crowd? Absolutely fine. Some huge banner in the middle of the crowd blocking the view for hundreds or thousands? Definitely not cool.
And challenging/debating Bono at Leftfield would be very interesting. I mean that seriously. Billy Bragg is a very old/good friend of the bands. It would probably be a genuinely interesting debate.
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I think it's a bit different, because Rolling Stones aren't actually playing this year.
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That is the funny thing behind the truth: It's not okay for U2 because Bono gives a *huge* amount of his time and effort to this (mostly very, very effective) stuff, but the Rolling Stones get a pass because they give exactly zero time and effort to anything even remotely like this.
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They should protest outside that 'Drop the Debt' bus, or up in the Greenpeace area, or.. do Amnesty have a presence at Glastonbury? Those three groups hate Bono. I'm sure they'd enjoy it.
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This one? Turns what used to be a rant about (80s) US foreign policy into a rant about the NRA/gun control. Pretty bold to take that - complete with Charlton Heston video - on tour across the US.
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Mine was delivered by Royal Mail quite early this morning. I last checked on See Tickets at about 4pm yesterday, and it hadn't updated from the original "Your tickets are in stock" message, checked just after they were delivered and it seems it was updated some time later last night with the "dispatched/due for delivery" message. No other emails or anything. So they're turning it around quickly and without much warning at the moment.
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Bad is played very rarely, but pretty consistently, in that, it will pop up only a handful of times, but usually in fairly predictable places. e.g. On this US/Canada leg, it's not at all surprising to not see it getting played in, you know, Winnipeg, but far more likely later on in somewhere like Chicago or Toronto. It's kind of a 'gift' song to bigger cities or places with a long history with U2, or gigs that are considered 'special' for whatever reason. If it doesn't appear at all in gigs or soundchecks/rehearsals between now and Glastonbury, I don't think that says anything about its chances in any way. I'd say it's a very good bet for the festival. It's exactly the kind of gig they do play it at.
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There's little doubt U2 themselves consider this to be a very, very big deal. They haven't played a festival since the mid 80s, and they will probably never play one again.
Also, haven't seen this in here...
"We are spending a lot of money on it. For U2 we have to do it. It's the biggest show on earth so we are throwing everything we can to please them. It's going to be one hell of a set because they will be playing all their favourite old songs. They'll be on-stage for two hours but I think we will allow them to do a few encores," said Eavis. -
B. All up for it last October, but didn't get tickets, and I couldn't hold them out till the re-sales before booking other summer holidays.
Really looking forward to being solo by day. Looking forward to the 'freedom' of that, to just buzz around wherever/whenever without having to deal with all the hassles of a group. But at night of course, it's a different story and you want to be stupid with fellow stupid people.
I'm going to try for CT, but I suspect I'll be too late.
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Just as long as no one brings pizza.
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My instinct is to say that beyond Thursday night... doesn't sound so charming. But then I'm completely discounting consumption.
Maybe they should give you a badge or something when you have a shower there. "I'm clean! Look! I'm certified! Saturday 2.24pm!"
I didn't even really think about it last year. First Glastonbury and a little bit blown (ha) away by it all, and actually never spent too much time in one place, or really beyond the friends I was with.
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1. During the very very busy period of Wednesday morning last year, there was essentially a line of them, coming and going as fast as they could load up.
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10.33pm Wednesday: So, pretty drunk, methinks.
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Just saw on a U2 message board, a quote from their stage designer saying that U2 had Glastonbury-specific rehearsals in New York in early May. Could easily be 'technical' rehearsals, given that it will of course be with different lighting/visuals etc, but could also be a sign that they're going to do something quite different to the norm, or pull a few songs out that aren't or haven't appeared on this tour.
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After the very early start, slogging all that crap to Paddington, down the lines there, on the train, around the lines at Castle Cary, onto and off the bus, in the cue to get in at the site, then around in circles trying to find the right spot, then fighting the tent for what apparently should only take 5 minutes but ends up taking 25, unloading stuff and getting everything right and together... it's time to crack a can, have a smoke, and take a moment... before getting right into it. *That* moment.
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This is their second trip around the US on this tour - so some of the older/classic songs dropped/switched reflect that, simply shaking it up a bit. Glastonbury is not only a one off/special/unique gig, but their first UK in two years, and probably last for at least another couple of years, so for all three reasons I wouldn't read much into any of the big/classic songs that aren't getting played on 360 gigs right now. They'll squeeze as many in as they can for the festival.
The U2 warm up threads
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Glastonbury is getting The Fly (YES!) and stuff from Pop (YES!), although that possibly could just be Staring at the Sun (meh).
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