U2′s newly announced Late Night With David Letterman residency — they’re playing the show every weeknight from March 2 through March 6 — is "unprecedented," according to the press release I just got. It also seems a tiny bit, well, desperate. Does a band of U2′s stature really need to work that hard to drum up interest in their new album? (No Line on the Horizon comes out March 3, a fact you will no doubt be hearing frequently if you watch Letterman that week.)
Hey, maybe they do. Nobody can count on guaranteed album sales these days, obviously, and I can’t really begrudge Bono & Co. for doing everything they can to remind their fans of their latest project. I bet I’ll end up tuning in for at least a couple of nights that week just to see how U2 is sounding, anyway. How about you? Is five nights in a row overkill, or are you thrilled to be getting so much U2 in a single week? What songs do you hope they’ll perform, once they get current single "Get On Your Boots" out of the way?
More on U2:
They kicked off our Grammy performances gallery
Is "Get On Your Boots" any good?
Their U2 3D movie got an A– review
More PopWatch on U2
White Stripes had a 5-night residency on Conan’s show years ago. So it might be “unprecedented” for Letterman, but not late-night TV in general.
Hell yes, I will be watching. This is going to be awesome – remember that they had Conan dedicate a whole show to them for the release of their last album and that was great.
Are you serious? Of course! I’m going to DVR it and watch all five performances over and over again. This is the greatest band in history still making new, excellent music. Living legends that dwarf the rest of the musical community of the past 30 years.
Hells yeah!!
I still loved the night they were on Conan.. magnificent.
Why is U2 being called “desperate” for this, when The White Stripes and The Cure were considered “cool” for doing the exact same thing?
“U2 Hating” is getting a little old…
It’s been done before, it’s not weird. I doubt one of the biggest bands in the world is “desperate”. In fact, that’s a pretty weird thing to say. They’re promoting their new album, the same way Bruce played the Super Bowl to push his new cd. Pretty good marketing, actually. Over 5 days, they can play most of the new songs as well as past huge hits.
Why would they waste their time marketing themselves to the same audience for 5 nights. Spread the love around to other program watchers.
I’ll be watching, should grab some big ratings for Dave.
Are they really working that hard? Seems like a bit of genius marketing, if you ask me. 5 opportunities to play a new song off the album every night and Letterman gets the bonus of the world’s biggest band on his show during sweeps. U2 does stuff like this all the time. Remember the promotion they did with iPod for their last album? You should EXPECT rock stars to make a splash.
U2 is good but a little overrated. Not anywhere near as excited as I was when the White Stripes did it on Conan.
Yes, yes and yes I will watch!
I will watching! A great way to get us excited about the new tour!
There great, only U2 can pull this off!!
Should be good if they mix in some of their old stuff. Not desperation, good marketing/publicity for u2 and letterman.
I’ll be watching for sure. While they’re not in my “Top Ten” U2 songs, I’d like to hear them do Angel of Harlem or When Love Comes to Town with Paul and the band. Good brass section songs.
Paul Shaffer and the band are amazing and I’d love to see them get some added, well-deserved exposure.
A nightly does of Dave *and* U2? Hey, life could be one helluva lot worse. I’ll definitely be there!