U2.com announced a few more opening acts for the US leg today:

Lenny Kravitz - Salt Lake City, Anaheim I, Anaheim II, Denver
The Fray - Oakland, Seattle, Edmonton
Interpol - Minneapolis, East Lansing, Toronto, Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia

No word about the shows in Monteal and East Rutherford at the moment.

The U2.com fanclub presale times for the Salt Lake City show on 3 June 2010 have been changed to the following schedule:

Horizon subscribers: 10am, Thursday 18 February
Breathe subscribers: 3pm, Thursday 18 February

Boots subscribers: 10am, Friday 19 February
Magnificent subscribers: 3pm, Friday 19 February

The presale closes at 5pm on Saturday 20 February for all subscribers.

The public sale will begin at 10am on Monday 22 February.

U2.com has just announced via an e-mail to subscribers that the US leg will start in Salt Lake City on 3 June 2010. U2.com also says this is the final date announced for North America.

The presale schedule is as follows:

Horizon and Breathe subscribers: 10am, Thursday 18 February
Boots and Magnificent subscribers: 10am, Friday 19 February

The presale closes at 5pm on Saturday 20 February for all subscribers.

The public sale will begin at 10am on Monday 22 February.

The presale schedule has been updated on 17 February 2010. Check the new schedule here.

U2.com has just announced via an e-mail to subscribers that a second show will be held in Zurich on 12 September 2010, following the sell-out of the first show on 11 September 2010. This is the first time U2 have ever played two outdoor concerts in the same Swiss city on a single tour. U2 previously played two indoor concerts in Zurich on the second leg of Elevation.

There will be a fanclub presale commencing tomorrow. Entry times for different subscriber groups are not as staggered as usual. In Zurich local time, they are:

Horizon and Breathe subscribers: 10am, Tuesday 2 February
Boots and Magnificent subscribers: 10am, Wednesday 3 February

The presale closes at 5pm on Wednesday 3 February for all subscribers.

The public sale will begin at 8am on Friday 5 February.

Today, I would like to commemorate the first anniversary of an article I wrote about the 23rd anniversary of U2 going "inthistowntastic" 24 years ago today. Does that make barely any sense to you? Good, because the performance itself barely makes any sense.

In fact, the performance makes absolutely no sense if you think about it too hard. Or too little. Or at all.

Or maybe it is the only thing U2 have ever done that makes perfect sense?

By this point, you are perhaps wondering what on earth I am going on about. Well, gather around, for U2 folklore is full of all kinds of bloopers, mistakes, and hilarious moments - but none quite rival the band's ramshackle and presumably drunken appearance on TV Gaga on 30 January 1986. The aforementioned article from last year provides a summary of the two original songs that U2 debuted on an unsuspecting audience that was surely even more confused then than you may be now. It explains why the performance has been dubbed "inthistowntastic" after one of the few lyrics Bono could remember, and it comes complete with videos of those two songs.

What last year's article lacks is a video of the final song of the setlist. Yet no experience of Inthistowntasticism could possibly be complete without a video of what was undoubtedly the highest low point of the night. The band decided to end their appearance with a cover of Bob Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door - a cover that swiftly descends into farce. If Bono forgetting the lyrics, struggling to maintain his balance or composure, and giving Ronald Reagan a random shout-out were not enough, he then swaps roles with an audience member. And compels Edge to swap roles with another audience member.

Or possibly they swap with seagulls. It really is hard to tell.

Hence, for your amusement on this inthistowntastic anniversary day, and to pass the time in the lull between legs of the 360° Tour, I present to you the video I wanted to give you last year. YouTube now provides the goods. Enjoy.