U2 face the wrath of Glastonbury, and Twitter
Jonathan Harwood
JUNE 24, 2011
The band will face protests over ‘tax exile’ status as Twitter turns on Bono
Irish rockers U2 had more to contend with than just the weather when they took to the stage at Glastonbury tonight. Anti-capitalist festival-goers were planning a protest over the band's 'tax exile' status amid growing disenchantment on Twitter over the group's very existence, let alone their billing at the festival.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that U2 have spent much of their career campaigning against poverty, they have come in for heavy criticism for moving their finances off-shore in order to become "tax efficient".
And at a time of global economic crisis their efforts to avoid paying tax to the Irish government, a country that almost went bankrupt during the crash, have not gone down well among more politically active music fans.
Direct action group Art Uncut announced earlier this week that it had operatives in the Glastonbury crowd who would stage a protest as the "world's biggest band" took to the Pyramid Stage tonight.
The protestors claimed that their stunt would be a "visual spectacular".
One of the organisers, Anna Walker, said: "Everyone there will see it. If the BBC do not broadcast it, there is little doubt that it will have been an editorial decision."
The band have always divided opinion but it is clear that the least popular member of the quarter is the perpetually sunglassed frontman Bono, who is widely regarded as a hypocrite. As Johnny Dee wrote in The First Post last year: "In common with so many celebrities, he's a man who enjoys the glow of global philanthropy while rarely having to dig into his own pockets."
The anti-Bono sentiment on Twitter appeared to increase as the U2 concert approached. A joke originally posted by band Stanton Warriors, who are also playing at the festival, was retweeted several hundred times.
"What's the difference between God & Bono?" it asked. "God won't be wandering around Glastonbury festival thinking he's Bono."
Fleet Street Fox, the anonymous news reporter, also got in on the act. Paraphrasing Bono's old line about children dying in Africa, she tweeted: "Oi Bono! Every time you click your fingers, someone thinks you're a [at][at][at][at]."
She added: "Apparently a chopper is £5k an hour. I'm prepared to go up, don body armour then bellyflop onto the mainstage and take out Bono."
Tarryn Blackwood contributed to the negativity. She told her followers: "If you're sad you're not at Glastonbury, just remind yourself that U2 are headlining, and be glad that you won't have to endure that."
Journalist David Quantick is obviously no fan of U2 either. He wrote: "I mean, surely we'll all see U2 when we die if we've been bad. No rush then."
And some felt a separate announcement that the band were about to reissue some of their 1990s albums was designed to capitalise on the publicity from the Glastonbury show.
"How convenient that #U2 have said they are re-releasing Achtung Baby and Zooropa a day before they perform live on TV," wrote the cynical James Hamer.
There was one final insult for Bono on a day he may end up wanting to forget. One of his peahens apparently escaped from his garden and annoyed a neighbour so much that she was moved to phone an Irish radio station to vent her frustration.
thefirstpost.co.uk