2009-10-04

Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, USA

Set List of Show:

U2 Related Performances:

"Children of the Revolution"
"I Want to Live"
"King of Trash"
"Another Blow on the Bruise"
"The Last Song I'll Ever Sing"
"Sweet Jane"
"The Jean Genie"

Additional Music

Snippets of Other Songs Performed by U2:

Show Details:

Up next for U2 is a celebration for their long time friend, and regular collaborator, Gavin Friday. It is Gavin’s 50th birthday and to celebrate an event called “Hal Willner Presents: An Evening With Gavin Friday and Friends” is organized for Carnegie Hall in New York City. The concert, open to the public is part of the (RED) Nights event series.

The full line-up of performers include all of U2, but not necessarily all together on every song. Also featured are advertised performers Laurie Anderson, Antony, Elizabeth Ashley, Andrea Corr, Flo & Eddie, Joel Grey, Bill Frisell, Guggi, Courtney Love, Lydia Lunch, Patrick McCabe, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan, Eric Mingus, JG Thirlwell, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright, and Chloe Webb.

The show was announced at the start of September and tickets went on sale on September 16. Tickets range between $35 and $250 for the event, and a portion of the proceeds goes towards elimination of AIDS in Africa via (RED).

The performances break down into two acts, the first sees the following performances:

“Apologia” – Gavin Friday
“Children of the Revolution” – Gavin Friday, Flo & Eddie, Bono and The Edge, Herb Macken
“I Want to Live” – U2, Flo & Eddie, Maurice Seezer
“He Got What He Wanted” – Gavin Friday and Antony, Maurice Seezer
Spoken Piece about the Virgin Prunes – Paul McGuinness
Spoken Piece about the Virgin Prunes – Courtney Love
“Sweet Home Under White Clouds” – Virgin Prunes with J.G. Thirwell, Herb Macken, Maurice Seezer
“Caucasian Walk” – Virgin Prunes with J.G. Thirwell, Herb Macken, Maurice Seezer
“You Made Me the Thief Of Your Heart” – Martha Wainwright, Maurice Seezer
“The Ballad of Immoral Earnings” – Gavin Friday and Maria McKee, Maurice Seezer
“The Light Pours Out of Me” – Gavin Friday and Courtney Love
“Mr Pussy” – Gavin Friday, Scarlett Johansson, Rufus Wainwright
“Benares Song” – Gavin Friday, Rufus Wainwright
“A Rainy Night in Soho” – Shane MacGowan, Maurice Seezer
“Falling Off the Edge of the World” – Gavin Friday, Maria McKee, Flo & Eddie

The second act sees U2 appear on stage a number of times:

“Angel” – Gavin Friday and Antony
“You Take Away the Sun” – Gavin Friday
Breakfast on Pluto Reading – Patrick McCabe
“King of Trash” / “21st Century Boy” – U2 with Flo & Eddie
“Knives in the Drain” – Lydia Lunch
“Caruso” – Gavin Friday and Eric Mingus, Maurice Seezer
“(RED)” (“Poker Face” Improv) – Lady Gaga
“Angel” – Gavin Friday, Antony, Flo & Eddie
“Love is Just A Word” – Gavin Friday, Chloe Webb, Flo & Eddie
“Another Blow on the Bruise” – Gavin Friday and The Edge
“Time Enough for Tears” – Andrea Corr and Gavin Friday
“The Last Song I’ll Ever Sing” – Bono, Maurice Seezer
Improv – Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn
“Sonnet 40” – Gavin Friday, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, Larry Mullen, The Edge, Shane MacGowan
“Sweet Jane” – Gavin Friday, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, The Edge, John Zorn, Larry Mullen, Shane MacGowan, Flo & Eddie, Maurice Seezer
“Jean Genie” – Gavin Friday, U2, Eric Mingus, Courtney Love, Jenni Muldaur, Flo & Eddie, Andrea Corr, Herb Macken, Shane MacGowan

More information about the event is available on Gavin Friday’s site.

Gavin had made a one off comment about playing Carnegie Hall before he turned 50, and Bono remembered the comment when the birthday was coming around. Gavin explains on U2.com, “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!’”

The evening includes a mini-Virgin Prunes reunion with Gavin, Guggi and Dik Evans (The Edge’s brother) coming together to perform. Flo & Eddie are the backing vocalists who featured on a number of T Rex songs throughout the years. Antony is the lead singer from Antony and the Johnsons.

In a review of the evening David Fricke of Rolling Stone shared about the U2 appearances, “Bono was not just passing through between stadiums. He, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. were on and off stage half a dozen times; U2’s Friday covers included ‘I Want to Live’ (done with techno drive and Joshua Tree-like space) and the crusted-glam bomb ‘King of Trash.’ Bono also took a solo spot, turning on his Irish Sinatra for the Shag Tobacco elegy ‘The Last Song I’ll Ever Sing.’”

Officially Released Tracks