Ten To Check From 2005

Jan

2006

Ten To Check From 2005

The band are taking a break for a few weeks before Vertigo '06 kicks off next month and we figured this might be a good moment to remind you of some of the cool content that has arrived on the site in the last year.

So welcome to our totally random U2.Com Top Ten of 2005 - in no particular order!

1. Even before Vertigo '05 kicked off, the band were inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame by The Boss himself. As well as making a moving and funny speech, for one night only Bruce Springsteen joined U2. It's here and on the same night Larry, Adam, Edge and Bono made some great speeches. Check them out too.

2. The launch of the Vertigo Tour was pretty memorable back in March and apart from our launch coverage from San Diego, U2.Com also went behind the scenes to reveal the new stage production with its groundbreaking 'elipse' design and light curtains. Catch our video

3. Adam and Larry had a chat with us during rehearsals.

4. As the shows got underway, U2.Com took its cameras under the stage, on the stage and behind the stage. We visited EdgeWorld, courtesy of the one and only Dallas Schoo.

5. And we climbed behind Larry's drums, thanks to Sam O'Sullivan, who showed us what the drummer sees and hears during the show.

6. The one and only Willie Williams, U2's longtime show-designer, sat next to us on Vertigo Air somewhere over America and added his inimitable commentary to his choice of ten great Vertigo show images to create an exclusive Vertigo '05 Slide Show. Take a look.

7. Being on the road for nine months was no obstacle to creating music for a series of side-projects including a Leonard Cohen documentary and the soundtrack to the new Wim Wenders film Don't Come Knocking.. Edge talked to U2.Com about this and generously provided us with the title track of the film to listen to.

8. When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the band took part in a televised MTV benefit show. They performed a mighty version of Love and Peace. Watch it here.

9. No surprise that amongst 3.5 million U2 fans who saw the band this past nine months, one of two of them were pretty well known themselves. We talked to a real, live Soprano - actor Christopher Moltisanti - about which parts the band members would play if they were in The Sopranos, and why he's loved U2 for so long. We also tracked down Paddy Boom, drummer with the fabulous Scissor Sisters, who told us he learnt to play the drums 'initially by copying Larry'.

10. And at the end of the year we hosted a special exclusive - a dazzling new U2 video, directed by Catherine Owens, for the fifth single off the album, Original of the Species. You've got to see it to believe it, and you can here.