U2 kick off ‘3 Nights Live’ in Los Angeles

'LA is where so much started for us' says Bono

U2 kicked off a series of radio interviews to promote their new album ‘No Line On The Horizon’ with a session at Capitol Studios in Hollywood last night (March 9).

The Irish band, who were interviewed by Garbage frontmwoman Shirley Manson, discussed the making of the new album as well as their high esteem for Las Vegas rockers The Killers.

“The first thing we did was invite Brian Eno and Danny (Lanois) into the studio to shake it up and get something new and fresh,” The Edge said of the album’s co-producers.

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U2 has two instincts that are polar opposites from each other,” added Bono. “We can experiment or be very much ourselves. When the two things are equal, we end up doing our best work.”

The band did not play a live session as was rumoured to occur, but discussed each song from the new album as it was played from the studio’s speakers. “The bass part on ‘Magnificent’ is one of the best bass parts ever,” said Bono as he air-guitared Adam Clayton‘s part as the song played.

During ‘Moment Of Surrender’, Bono said that the song was U2‘s “21st-century version of ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ ,” referring to the 1967 chart-topper by British band Procol Harum.

Drummer Larry Mullen Jr arrived late to the session, as he was feeling under the weather. “He’s really not well,” Bono said.

During a commercial break, Bono told the small crowd gathered in the studio that “LA is where so much started for us,” citing an article that ran in the city’s major newspaper when U2 was first starting out, which the singer credits with helping launch the band. “Edge has a soft spot for LA seeing as he fell in love with a Californian girl,” Bono added.

When an audience member suggested that the band visit her hometown of Las Vegas, Bono quipped, “We’d go anywhere to be closer to The Killers. I love the fact that they want to take on the world the way we do.”

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Meanwhile, outside Capitol Studios, fans queued up clutching albums and other U2 paraphernalia, hoping to grab a moment with the band while police stood by making sure things didn’t get out of hand.

Shortly after the interview, the band were set to hop on to a plane to Chicago where they are scheduled to participate in another radio session tonight (March 10). The three-night series will culminate in Boston on Wednesday with an interview and an intimate performance.

‘No Line On The Horizon’ was released in the US last Tuesday (March 3) and a day earlier in the rest of the world. It is expected to top the US Billboard chart in its first week of sales when data is released tomorrow (March 11).

–By our Los Angeles staff.

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