1. Adam said Larry, the band’s 56-year-old drummer, also has to have physical therapy. “He has to have physio an hour before the show and an hour after. He’s in pain and his muscles need to function,” Adam said.

    2018
  2. "Then there is Mullen. “The bulls--- detector,” says Clayton. He is largely self-trained as a drummer, a powerhouse who now struggles with the physical toll of a lifetime of pounding. He’s the least public of the group’s four members, by far. The interview he gave for this story was, he said, his first in seven years. He’s blunt — he says if the band plays live in 2023 it will likely be without him, as he needs surgery to continue playing — and admits the dynamics in the band are not the same as they were decades ago. As the ’80s wore on and U2’s stature grew, band decisions would be made by what they called the “Politburo,” named after the policymaking committees in most communist systems. In Mullen’s view, the system that served the band well for so long has now become more of a benevolent dictatorship.

    “You only do this if you’re having the best time,” Mullen says. “And not everyone is going to make it because the price is so high. So I think the challenge is for more generosity. More openness to the process. I am autonomous and I value my autonomy. I don’t sing from the same hymn sheet. I don’t pray to the same version of God. So everyone has their limits. And you only do this if it is a great time you’re having, you know?”"

    That quote seems a bit out of left field to me. He could be alluding to any number of things here but to me it sounds more like the business side of things.
  3. Yes definitely sounds like business matters. He most definitely preferred the 4 of them + Paul vs the world, and it’s not that way anymore. I hope they can find a way to make it work for everyone. It’s not U2 without all 4 of them. He just seems less willing to go along with being a piece of meat to be bought and sold.

    This has most likely been the main reason for the bands lack of output and activity recently. That and his physical condition. It would be a shame if after 40+ years, it was money and business disagreements that broke up U2.
  4. That's interesting.. thinking of Bono's quote from the Irish Times a few weeks back on whether U2 still has their greatest album ahead of them:

    “The question we have got to ask ourselves is: are we ready to pay that cost, and the cost will be in relationships?” he says.

    “Are we going to go in there and give it all of our life, because that’s what art demands in the end?" Definitely interesting, maybe turbulent times for our band
  5. Quite sad that at a time that is supposed to be a celebration of U2’s enduring legacy, we find a band that seems to be in turmoil.

    I’d love to hear more of Larry’s interview for context. Does he have anything positive to say?
  6. Also wonder if he had planned to get surgery but had to delay it for a bit? Back when Covid was raging, a lot of surgeries were delayed/postponed
  7. These rockstars are a bit precious though. A lifetime of toiling away banging the drums giving him back issues?

    He hits the skins for two and a half hours a night four nights a week for 10 weeks of the year on tours every four years..?

    Try having been a bricklayer and actually working a real job.
  8. Originally posted by dylbagz:These rockstars are a bit precious though. A lifetime of toiling away banging the drums giving him back issues?

    He hits the skins for two and a half hours a night four nights a week for 10 weeks of the year on tours every four years..?

    Try having been a bricklayer and actually working a real job.
    What a strange and ridiculous comment.
  9. Originally posted by dylbagz:These rockstars are a bit precious though. A lifetime of toiling away banging the drums giving him back issues?

    He hits the skins for two and a half hours a night four nights a week for 10 weeks of the year on tours every four years..?

    Try having been a bricklayer and actually working a real job.
    You say what? I have no physical job but still have backpains everyday. So why can't Larry? And maybe nowadays he plays a lot less, but i bet he played a lot more than only the shows, like album recordings and soundchecks. Also i'm he sure practiced a lot, cause if he didn't he wouldn't be a drummer at all