This is the complete Q&A interview with U2 bassist Adam Clayton by San Diego Union-Tribune pop music critic George Varga. His story on Clayton and tonight's kickoff of U2's tour here appears in today's Union-Tribune.
ADAM CLAYTON: Hello. Is this George? This is Adam from U2.
QUESTION: Where are you calling from?
CLAYTON: In Vancouver and on my way down to L.A., where we're doing a few more rehearsals before we open the tour in San Diego. So that's exciting.
Q: U2 is launching its world tour in San Diego Monday. Are you at all nervous?
CLAYTON: (Laughs) We are nervous, yeah. We're always nervous when we're starting a new tour. It's [been] four years since the last one and we know we've gotta come up with something just as good, if not better than, the "Elevation" tour. Were playing around with a lot of material, so -- as well as learning how to put across the new songs in a live situation - we're also working on pulling out some old songs and some unexpected songs as well. So between now and Monday there's a lot to straighten out before we get it right.
So we're a bit nervous. We've set a high standard in the past, so maybe the first show will have a few kinks in it. But it will be 98 percent of what we want it to be.
