Remember how snow and ice proved fatal to the Germans in the 40’s? Bono will have the same effect on all Russian presence in Ukraine. Checkmate, Putin
Yep no need for them to join Nato or anything now. Game over once they see Mr sunglasses
Christ, have they not suffered enough at this point?
This was why Zelenskyy said Ireland was practically there with their support
Apparently he struggle to find his way to the venue after accidentally wandering into a bombed out neighbourhood where the streets have no names
Exactly this - send him to Moscow ffs
Take him up to Moscow Moscow Moscow. Take him up to Moscow
It’ll be awkward as hell if they have a ‘Development Fee’ like at Knock Airport.
We all know what Bono’s like when it comes to paying his fair fucking share.
I'd gladly take that Russian nuke.
Expected this to be the top comment and wasn't disappointed.
That’s nothing Amigo rumour has it those two bare bum boxers Jedward are also making a special appearance .
Maybe he should sing some of the songs from his failed $75m Broadway musical Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark to lower Russian troop morale.
This phrase is very over used
Exactly. Once I saw the story I said to my missus that this would be the top post, and here it is. Can they never give it a rest?
I think this is a very nice thing for him to have done regardless of whether you dislike him or not.
I'm a U2 fan and I love Bono, but even I have to admit, I was thinking to myself....
"Bono's going to do an impromptu concert there.... any minute now.... any minute now"
I'm surprised it took him this long.
But in fairness to him, he could be lounging around his mansion, but instead, he's out there trying to help people.
Also, he was invited to do so. It's one of things where he's just Bono to us, but to Ukrainians and many around the world, he's one of the biggest rockstars in history who champions victims of atrocities and demands the world's attention to an issue. To Ukrainians, they're happy out that he's there, for the very most part.
Would I be correct in saying that our musical exports such as U2, Cranberries etc are way more valued abroad than they are here? I've never once met an Irish person who is a fan of either U2 or the Cranberries but they've sold millions of albums.
Coming from Slovakia, I can confirm that Irish musical export was huge part of my music library back home. Music has the ability to cross borders almost effortlesly. I don't think people necessary asociate the musicians with Ireland that much other than general awareness that this is the country they came from.
But yeah, I'd say for locals this is essentially western celebrity singing in their metro in support of Ukraine. I wouldn't look much deeper into this, outside of Ireland few people really care about Bono's tax dodging or whatever other bullshit. Again just basing this on my personal experience, I wasn't really aware of any of that before coming to Ireland and starting to pay more attention to local media.
As an immigrant, U2 were the only thing I knew about Ireland before coming here. I was honestly surprised to know how disliked they are here
They might not be all that popular but neither of them are disliked here, this sub is just full of absolute bellends
This is anecdotal, but I'm here nearly 20 years now, and I've run into quite a few people who aren't too fond of them. I still haven't worked out if it's the tax dodging, or the usual envy that we're all guilty of.
That being said, the shot of the Poolbeg stacks at the start of the video for Pride is one the most iconic images of Dublin and Ireland to me, and it was wild to see them with my own eyes. I know it's not necessarily relevant, but again, people look at me funny when I say I love looking at the stacks whenever I'm out that way
The phrase ‘a nation of begrudgers’ gets to the heart of the issue.
No, it's a weird Irish schizophrenic reaction - They are hugely popular in Ireland, but they get a lot of criticism as well. It's kind of nuts, but it's been going on ever since Rattle and Hum came out. Mostly because Bono was seen as being "too preachy" but at the same time we (mostly) all love him and his songs.
You can't have 'notions' about yourself as an Irish person. Bono has said notions about himself.
Here in Japan you'd be hard pressed to find someone in the right age groups who doesn't know Enya or the Nolans.
Years ago I was in the Philippines and when our regular taxi driver found out where I was from, he held up his collection of Boyzone CDs that were sitting on the front seat and demanded to know if I was friends with them. I had to give him every detail I knew about the lives and loves of those boy-band bastards. :D
I'm Aussie and was even approached by an elderly guy on a train in Japan who just wanted to chat about Enya for the trip. Irish music has had a huge impact overseas.
Cool!
Not sure about the Cranberries, but u2 is considered one of the best bands of all time by many people
I agree
Yes, but also, you're young (I'm guessing). I'm mid 30s and that would make me a young U2 fan, but I am. I couldn't not be. All that You Can't Leave Behind was massive when I was in my teens and it got me into their back catalogue from the 80s.
Most of their fans are in their 50s now, minimum, so they're not likely to be talking about them much.
U2 were truly global and toured the globe, which means that they're held in reverence everywhere. Like, if you're Turkish, how many global bands might you ever have had a chance to see? How many come there? U2 have.
We're rich here in Ireland (on a global scale). So there's hardly a single big act in the world who hasn't come to this small island. The Chili Peppers have played here like 20 times to my memory. We take it for granted. But U2... man, they played to Moscow, Mexico.... to 150k people people in Italy once. They big....
I love Dolores
IMO Bono is one of the most overhated celebrities ever. I'm not going to defend his tax evasion, and I find it totally understandable that people find him haughty and self-righteous. I will make a few points in his favor though:
I recognise this is just by contrast, but he receives visceral hatred when compared to other Rock stars of a similar age (some of which are still going today) like Don Henly, many many others who you'd be shocked by he wasn't this weird sex addict taking advantage of young teenage groupies, loads of bands and musicians with shockingly sordid histories just get overlooked. He's kept committed to his wife and children and he's not nearly as sleazy as most other rock stars.
His charitable work is impressive, he's a very effective unelected representative for some causes. You can say he steals the limelight, but this works. Infamously he was crucial to Bush and the Republicans efforts to fight aids in Africa. He even made the bigot Jesse Helms cry by appealing to Religious sensibilities: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4621714 and got him to support this incredible package to help Africa.
Yes, he's a shit at times but he's IMO far better than other rockers of his kind.
Also donated millions towards buying PPE for Ireland at the start of the pandemic, which was pretty decent. Did a message for all the primary school kids graduating during lockdown one which was appreciated. He's annoying, but the hate is too much.
I’ve the same attitude. I’m not really a fan of U2 but Bono is far from a fucking monster.
I genuinely believe his heart is in the right place most of the time. He’s grand.
He obviously is trying to do good, like. What’s the point of begrudging that?
We really suffer fromthe tall poppy syndrome in Ireland tbh.
Whether you like their music or not, U2 are one of the biggest and most successful bands in the world. You'd think we'd as a country be proud of them and delighted that so many people love them, but instead the begrudgery is overwhelming. Sad really.
*Tax Avoidance. I don’t believe it was ever proven he evaded tax. I’m indifferent to Bono, but I often wonder if the average joe was give millions of euro would they use the same means to avoid tax. I’d wager they would.
I'll edit that! Always make that mistake!
Attitudes like that is part of the reason why there is trillions of dollars currently sitting in offshore accounts around the world instead of going back into society like what happens with regular peoples taxes, when they're not being stolen/mismanaged.
Yeah just because its legal doesn’t make it right
Then fix the loopholes. There's no reason whatsoever to pay more in tax than you are legally obliged to, I don't think anyone would. The problem isn't with people following the law, it's that we have loopholes in our system that, deliberately or not, allow people to shield large sums of money from taxation. We shouldn't be relying on the charity of wealthy people to pay more than they are legally required to, they should simply be legally required to pay what is needed.
Then fix the loopholes
And how are you going to do that..start by raising awareness every time you hear someone spout bollox like 'tax avoidence is legal'.
Saying that it's illegal would be a lie.
The fact that these tax avoidance schemes being used are legal is probably the strongest argument for reform.
It's wrong to have a mindset of 'it's legal and I would do the same myself if I could'.
Focus instead on those who avail of it and in the process, they negatively impact the standard of living for everyone. And yes, reform is needed.
Focus instead on those who avail of it
Like every self employed person on the island?
Rich people aren't going to ride you pal.
Of course it’s deliberate
Tax avoidance is. done by everyone. Anyone that has ever claimed their medical expenses has "committed" tax avoidance. It's a legal method of minimising income tax owed. That said, do I think it should be done to that scale? Absolutely not. But don't hate the player, hate the game. The system needs serious reform, to prevent this from being a legal means of tax reduction.
I do hate the game because it’s stacked so in favour of the rich who can afford such novelties as accountants and the vehicles of tax avoidance. Try that as a paye person
like what happens with regular peoples taxes,
You mean regular people who claim back tax exemptions and tax credits every year?
And, honestly, the way to become a rich rockstar (as opposed to most of them nowadays who just act rich, but live in suburbs [no, really]) nowadays is to have a scary fucking accountancy and management team who turn the small music revenue streams into actual money that pays staff and pays back investment fees to the record labels.
Bone et al certainly have that. (As does Arcade Fire and just about every other big name band you've heard of)
We just look at Bono et al harder because he's such a famous and Irish figure. Deservedly so, mind you.
Aw ffs really? I love the boys of summer
In 1980 paramedics were summoned to the home of Don Henley of The Eagles, where they found two girls, aged 15 and 16 respectively; the former was arrested for being under the influence of drugs and the latter, who was naked when the authorities arrived, charged with prostitution
Have a look at don Henley controversies on Google. Not too hard to find
Nice one. That’s grim.
Don't look up Led Zeppelin then, they went around the world with a 16 year old girl.
Her name was Lori Mattix and she was actually only 13.
Not Bono
Yeah, just a shocking story there. For me this sort of thing has never really bothered me in terms of purely enjoying a product. Kevin Spacey is a garbage person, but he was a fantastic actor who starred in loads of my favorite movies from the 90's. But different strokes for different folks.
You've won me over. It's definitely a combination of his preachy way of speaking and his middle class upbringing which the begrudging Irish masses always pick up on. Geldof is Bono taken to the extreme.
Fair points. I liked him/U2 so much when they played "Beautiful Day" live at Obama's first inaugural. It was the perfect song for that day. It was really moving and I'll never forget it.
Lots of miserable people in this country. As you can see from that thread, people seem to be quite happy with this. Bono is a bit annoying alright but I like this
Yeah I agree. I think people are projecting their misery onto Bono when they make these shitty comments about him. He might come across as annoying sometimes but in general he's a nice fellow I think.
Fair play to him. He didn't have to go. He could have stayed safe and supported them from afar. But instead he put himself at risk.
Exactly.
Not to mention a brave thing to do.
Fair play. Bono is not a pox.
Also, the band was invited to perform by Zelensky, according to RTE News, like. I've been in this country 10 years and I still don't get the massive overblown hate U2/Bone get. I'm not a fan but like, why??
It is. People are sour fuckers. It's tall poppy syndrome to the extreme.
Things soured a bit when he passed around a hat at the end
I think it depends on whether you think he is using himself to shine a spotlight on Ukraine, or is using Ukraine to shine a spotlight on himself.
I know which I think.
I genuinely think he did it out of goodwill.
Just feels like he's doing this more for his ego even if it's a nice thing to do.
I came here to laugh at the guy, but they made some fair points. I’d argue it’s hard to know where anyones ego ends, and their real charity begins. The two may be hopelessly intertwined in a decent human. But, he’s not Donald Trump. The worst you could say is that he’s a well-meaning, but otherwise useless celebrity that hasn’t made enjoyable music in decades. At best, he regularly leverages his celebrity status to increase awareness of important and often overlooked injustices in the world. He really did a lot to raise awareness about sanitation workers here in Springfield, America, and I’m grateful for that.
He did make sure the sanitation folks are jolly friendly blokes, girlish and easy going. After all, they do mop up the floor when you’re overflowing. And tell you when your arse is showing, in fairness.
That's fair, I'm not going to pretend I don't have massive personal biases regarding him. There's hundreds of different possible perspectives to have on Bono depending on who and where you are. I'm not Ukrainian, I've not experienced the same things they have so I can't say for certain that Bono singing to them is or isn't helping.
As with all things in life there's nuances even though we want them to be simple and easy to understand.
Ara fair fucks to him. We’re awful hard on him, tax paid or not
Zelenski invited them, Bono and the Edge turn up at their own risk to what is still very much a warzone. Ukrainians appreciate it, helps their cause and morale, what's not to like? Just the usual EdgeLords who wouldn't scratch themselves to help others. Wasting away their days wanking each other off with cynicism on social media.
Exactly fair fucks to them
Wasting away their days wanking each other off with cynicism on social media.
If I could wank people off with my cynicism I would be the number one prostitute in all of Kazakhstan.
Agreed. He may have made a great day there for a few folks there and that’s good enough.
You might say, a beautiful day even... I'm sorry.
Good on him and the band. I hope more artists follow this lead.
Yeah I don’t have a huge amount of time for Bono and it’s easy to mock his earnestness but fair fucks showing up in Kyiv at Zelenskyy’s invitation
Right? Lots of easy jokes and all that. But good on him.
Well he's doing more for the Ukrainians than any of us in the comments I suppose so fair play to him. Important to keep Ukraine in people's awareness
Hah. Well it reared it's head. Then I felt guilty :/
He's also raising money.
But I would imagine that some of the people in the comments sent money too. Or, I would hope so...
A national treasure. Only when he's dead will everyone in ireland agree.
Why don’t you just marry him
I bloody might.
We are kinda mean to him his heart is in the right place
At least it’s not Bob farken Geldof.
Leave Bob be, as a Dad I don't want to even begin to imagine what poor chap went through.
Good on him. Never really get the levels of hate Irish people reserve for Bono. He is one of the most well known people on the planet. He's made some incredible music. His voice has lost some of it's oomph, but fuck me, he could sing. Any other country he'd be deified. In Ireland we've a tall poppy syndrome and can't help but sneer at anyone who does well.
And yea, there's hypocrisy there esp around tax, but he's far from the worst person going and I don't think he's ever come at any of these things with a cynical view of what he could get out of it for himself other than knowing he did the right thing.
He didn't need to go there but he did. They didn't need to go to Sarajevo or make a point about it on the Popmart tour either but they did.
These actions are important to get people engaged who might otherwise not engage. Music can cross borders and prejudices in a way that speeches and politics can't.
As someone who thinks he is a bit of a cunt, I can't find fault with what you said. Fair enough.
Bringing hope and some sort of normality to kyiv ..not a fan of bono but fxck me it's a push against putin and its regime of anti westernised doctrine. Hopefully Springsteen or Dylan next .
Good on them. People love to hate Bono but I cant see anything negative about what he's doing here.
I always kinda hated Bono and U2 for some reason (I think just being a little younger, not listening to them in 80s/early 90s etc) but then I moved to the US and got stoned with one of my buddies a lot here and watched some of their live show recordings and holy shit they are actually awesome.
Fair play to U2.
Honestly we're some begrudging cunts in Ireland. He was asked to play and did. Fair play to him.
Is Bono wearing Lynne’s mum’s cataract glasses?
Yes he wrote half that album over there. And the other half... over there
Largest collection of hatchbacks in the country, apparently.
He’s not Bono, he’s rubbish
"The Edge is fine"
The drummer is foyn
I saw them at a pap concert
"This next one is from the Batman movie where Jim Carrey played The Riddler and I hope you like it."
Fair play to Bono
Fair play to him 💪🙌🙌🙌
You’ve selected “Bono lean forward and yell” as your next attack; the attack worked! Your opponent is now considering self-harm.
Single handedly doing more than every fat loser on this sub combined
Weirdly aggressive message of support lol
Wow. The state of these comments.The levels of begrudgery here is so sad and pretty disgusting, and yet, so typical of us...
Your hatred of him is based in both your jealousy of his success and a generic countrywide attitude towards him, so better play along rather than deviate from the crowd.
Grow up the lot of you. Have a bit of a think about your actions and attitudes towards a man that has stood for nothing but Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll.
Jill Biden was also in town.
Might explain why bono was there too. He does love to sniff around power.
Fair play, takes balls to do this.
there's a wall of cameras and equipment stopping anyone from even seeing him lol
Where the streets have no name
Because they've been taken down
So that Russian parachutists will be lost
And they'll get caught when they ask for directions
Was anyone else first reaction "Awh F*** Off Bono"?
Also donated millions towards buying PPE for Ireland at the start of the pandemic, which was pretty decent. Did a message for all the primary school kids graduating during lockdown one which was appreciated. He's annoying, but the hate is too much.
I feel like sheep who hate them do it out of peer pressure at this stage. There’s just no real reason to hate just because they are trying to do something kind. These same muppets don’t hate McGregor and other complete losers.
Have we got his geo position to give to Putin right now for a clean head shot
There he is with 2 war criminals!
The one thing worse than being stuck in a bomb shelter.
Being stuck in a bomb shelter with Bono.
aging Marlon Brando & Orson Welles vibes
Putin,Putin Stop the shootin, Stop the traffic, Rock’n’roll
What a clown
Ah it's himself, the property developer busking again for people who have found themselves homeless.
Will put on a concert for a blown down fence
The Shit has arrived
"Every time I clap my hands, a bomb drops on Kyiv"
Just what people in a war zone need, to be serenaded by a gobshite. Did he at least bring supplies with him?
Did more than 99% of us
It must be so embarrasing and humiliating for Putin to pretend to claim victory tomorrow when Bono is playing in Kyiv today like nothing's happening. It gives me Charlie Zelenoff vibes
A digital copy of their latest album for every Ukrainian, whether they want it or not
He put on a little weight recently. How many curics is the record at now i wonder.
Haha. Quoting my friends of the short time I lived in Ireland
"Every time something happens, Bono shows up singing thinking he's finally gonna change the world, and everyone in Ireland is like, oh please shut up Bono"
Absolute hero, good man Bono
Jesus. Haven't the poor fucker suffered enough. Should send him to Moscow... For good
Bono rules.
Wow that is hard to watch. He's so pretentious
What a bellend.
Haven't they suffered enough...
Insufferable prick
A wanker if ever there was one
Send him to the front lines
"Everytime I clap my hands, a child dies."
"Then stop fucking clapping"
Oh that was brilliant. That smartass should have got a prize, first class heckle.
Fair play to him. Just a shame he didn't bring his bucket with him to carry the tune.
Surely they've suffered enough
Looking a bit rough these days.
Gobshites
Thanks to this pro Bono action, Ukraine now has The Edge. Hopefully their enemies are now Russian back to their country.
hes an unbareable kant
C R I N G E
How many courics is he these days I wonder..
OMG Bono is auuuuuch a good person isn’t he lads? Let’s all go buy u2 albums like it’s 1990!
Difference between God and Bono? God doesn't walk about thinking he's Bono.
Haven't they suffered enough
How many appearances did they make in Iraq or Afghanistan?
I dunnonif he went but he did raise money at one point for Iraq
Fucking cringe
Fuck, Bono has aged badly
Why is he screaming at the woman in the jean jacket and groping the woman in blue?
Ffs, is he still doing the rounds? Nobody cares, Bono.
The war is about Bono now lads
Those poor people, haven't they suffered enough 🤣🤣
the guy likes to sing, that's for sure
Maybe he can do one in the Mariupol mento next?
What a strange war the way loads of high profile people go in there all the time.
Paul really does think that he's helping.
Brian McFadden sorted out ISIS. Bono sorting out Russia.
Unleash the Hoff
I'm a huge U2 fan, but hate with or without you. They should have gone for an inspiring type of song.
He's such a pretentious gobshite
Uuuggg I forgot about that prick thanks lads 👍
Scumsucking prick
Haven't the Ukrainian people been through enough?
Haven’t the Ukrainians suffered enough
Haven’t these people suffered enough already without having to endure this shite
Kyiv my hole. Probably in the same set that the moon landing was shot
for the first time since the war began i hoped to see a russian death squad storm down those steps
He is familiar with war crimes, of course, having been a victim of the Orangemen.
Oh god he's a fucking arsehole
You're sounding like the asshole rn to be honest
Fuck bono
I don't think he would want to fuck you tbh
I wonder if this is another one of his tax dodging schemes
EDIT: ah shuh don't mind him fucking over everyone by not paying taxes he's a great man really - gobshites on here
Russian news reporting Zelenskyy is close to the edge, It’s grand.. I’ll see myself out !
This is nothing short of a war crime
The International Criminal Court are investigating reports of the torture of civilians in the Kyiv Metro.
Without you preferably.
Putin's fucked now lads.