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U2 add date to world tour — at the Four Courts
Posted on Sunday, June 26 @ 11:22:06 CEST by Macphisto
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(Sunday Times) -- WHEN Bono hits the final notes of Vertigo at Croke Park tomorrow night, having wowed almost 250,000 Irish fans, the U2 show will move on to an altogether different arena — the Four Courts in Dublin.
The band, which will gross €175m from its tour, is heading for the Circuit Court to seek the return of £3,500 (€5,000) worth of trinkets from their former stylist.
At least one of the four group members will have to testify in the case, which is before court number 27 at 10am on Tuesday. The band is fighting to get back mementos, which include a hat and trousers worn by Bono. Lola Cashman, who worked with the band in the 1980s, had tried to sell them.
It is not known if all four will turn up at court on Tuesday, when a judge will be assigned to the case. They do not have a gig that night but they play Cardiff’s Millennium stadium on Wednesday.
The four members of U2 are listed as plaintiffs in the case against Cashman, who wrote an unauthorised biography about the band entitled Inside the Zoo with U2 in which she claimed that Bono was obsessed with his appearance and wore shoes with lifts to appear taller. Cashman claims the band gave her a number of items, including the hat worn by Bono on the cover of Rattle and Hum, a sweatshirt, silver earrings and a pair of tour mugs, when she worked with them during their Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum tours.
When she tried to sell the memorabilia at Christie’s in London a few years ago the auctioneers contacted the band’s management to authenticate the items and were told they were not hers to sell. When U2 issued a writ claiming the items were theirs, Christie’s removed them from auction and have held on to them pending resolution of ownership.
Cashman is thought to be counter-suing for defamation. U2 will be represented in court by Philip Lee Solicitors of Dublin while Delahunt Solicitors are handling the case for Cashman.
The case is set to draw intense media interest, like that involving the lead singer of the Cranberries and her nanny last year. Dolores O’Riordan said, after she emerged victorious, that she had chosen to fight the case, exposing her private life to scrutiny, on principle.
Last night, U2 played the second of their three homecoming gigs on their Vertigo world tour which is set to be their highest grossing yet.
Much of the cost of policing the events at Croke Park, estimated at around €300,000, will be paid by the taxpayer. While MCD, the concert promoter, will have to pick up the tab for garda security costs inside the venue, the public has to cover the cost of policing outside the stadium. At the moment, only gardai stationed inside Croke Park or other venues for major sporting or music events are covered by the organisers.
However, this may be the last event where the public is left to foot the bill. Michael McDowell, the minister for justice, said in the Dail last week that he is considering a scheme under which concert promoters would pay for the cost of policing outside profit-making events.
The weekend is set to be a boon for the tourist industry though, with every hotel booked out in the city. The Dublin Chamber of Commerce expects the capital to take €60m over the weekend.
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