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"It is when we are playing that we are at our most U2yness. I suppose in a way [it's] about purity, about the four of us and whoever the witnesses are." -- Adam, 2004 |
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"It is when we are playing that we are at our most U2yness. I suppose in a way [it's] about purity, about the four of us and whoever the witnesses are." -- Adam, 2004 |
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Column: off the record..., vol. 9-381
@U2,
October 25, 2009
What a night…what a show…Zooropa, it's all over. Oh wait, fast-forward 16 years and after Tuesday leg two will be history. The U2ube webcast has just concluded and I am gobsmacked. I piped my laptop through my 40-inch television and went full-screen with it. It was a beautiful thing. This webcast is a rarity for U2 fans to take in because it's completely unedited, warts-and-all. The best that I can remember, the closest thing to this was the ZooTV: Live from Sydney pay-per-view that I paid $24.99 for back in 1993. If you study the PPV and the commercial release, you'll find the differences. The webcast captured almost every angle of the show, giving fans a true taste of what this show is about. After seeing it three times, there is so much you miss with the show. I know I'll be watching this again over the next 24 hours and finding new things each time I watch it. Director Tom Krueger did a superb job translating the essence of this tour. And, the AstroZoobaby freekin' rocks! I'm so glad to see him come back to life. My only disappointment is that the replay did not include the 30-minute pre-show with the various videos and Rocko Reedy's peptalk to the audience. The best was Edge's greeting from backstage where Bono's giving him a ribbing about the webcast. For those who have attended the tour in North America, there seems to be two common themes outside of the concert itself that are holding up as truths. First, the local staff at each of the stadiums this leg has been unable to effectively cope with the 20% increase in attendance. Whether its with parking, access to General Admission zones, merchandise kiosks, pedestrian traffic flow, or communicating with fans lining up for General Admission prior to the show, local stadium staff have been unable to clearly communicate with U2's tour staff or with the fans themselves about what to do. In Dallas, the fans were incorrectly told they could not enter the inner-circle in GA. In Pasadena, GA ticket holders couldn't enter GA because the facility ran out of wristbands. In Chicago, the exits were too narrow fans to leave the venue efficiently. Second, as I mentioned last week, commuting to the show is an adventure in itself as you can expect large traffic jams. I should hope that when they come back in 2010, the venues are better prepared with a full plan in place and crystal-clear lines of communication. This is the most frustrated I've seen fans at shows. Bigger isn't always better, and as we've found in North America, these venues can't handle it. While on the topic of the Pasadena show, I found it fascinating that U2 chose to go the route they did with the online content distribution for the show. Here was a great opportunity to give a value-added to the paid members of U2.com, and instead they opened it up to everyone. Don't get me wrong -- I am glad that they offered the show for free to so many around the globe. However, with the exception of a few key areas of U2.com that are for paid members only, I'm trying to reconcile the fact that they have gone up on their subscription prices by 25% for the 2009-2010 membership cycle. While following the Zootopia conversations about the second show at Giants Stadium on September 24, Zootopia admin/moderator "Big Wave" surveyed U2.com members asking, "hey folks, just a quick poll here, who would pay for an official live coverage of each show, maybe not the full show, but extended coverage and live official pix, video audio from each show. Would you expect this as part of your current membership, or would you be prepared to pay extra for it, and if so, how much Per show, or per leg, etc." Most replied that they would expect the cost to be part of the membership and nothing more. As fans are already jumping ahead through offering live video streams from phones through sites like qik.com and posting audio through 1000mikes.com, it would be beneficial for U2.com to offer that type of audio or video stream for a variety of reasons. First, it would drive more traffic over to U2.com. Second, it would provide quality control over the audio/video. Third, fans at the show can actually enjoy the show instead of constantly making sure their cell phone battery is still good. It would certainly make me justify the 25% price increase in the membership rate. Ironically, I believe it was the same "big wave" who broadcasted Las Vegas via 1000mikes on Friday. I thoroughly enjoyed tweeting with the hundreds others also following along. Sharing the show in such a way didn’t detract from it -- only added to the common bond we all have. Just a side note about the timing of everything too -- what better way to promote a new leg of a tour than to offer a free two-hour concert experience (or infomercial) giving you a taste of what you'll enjoy to encourage you not to miss that excitement when they come to your area. You couldn't have a better advertisement than what YouTube offered. The Pasadena concert has also sort-of overshadowed the fact that The Unforgettable Fire remaster is being released this week. Or, is it their wily PR team making this week the Unforgettable Week of U2? Live concert on Sunday, the 2010 tour announcement on Monday, major U2 remaster release on Monday/Tuesday, leg two of U2360 tour ends on Wednesday, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Celebration concert on Friday, and Larry Mullen's birthday on Saturday...that leaves Thursday to catch their breath and recover from the crew's party. I'm a big fan of the remasters. I enjoy everything about them. The behind-the-scenes notes from The Edge are brilliant snapshots into that moment in time. The beautiful packaging of the deluxe set gives me the feeling of opening the best present on Christmas morning. The bonus features and hidden items found within them make my inner-collector giddy with delight. Unfortunately, I have to wait a little while longer before I can get mine as my in-laws all chipped in and ordered the super deluxe for me. Please, amazon.com, don't let me down! (Thanks to the U.K. fam for hooking me up.) Here's a quickie -- there is a new Music Rising website "coming soon." Next year marks the fifth anniversary of the natural disaster. I have a feeling they've got something planned to mark the occasion. Stay tuned. NME reported back on October 8 that U2 was reconsidering partnering up to do a video game like The Beatles Rock Band. They reported "Bono and co had talks last year with the makers of the game, MTV Games and Electronic Arts, but a deal wasn't agreed because of what bassist Adam Clayton called 'compromises' they wouldn't agree to." Adam said in the article, "We definitely would like to be in there," he said. "But we felt some of the compromises weren't what we wanted. That could change. I love the idea that that's where people are getting music and we'd love to be in that world. We'll figure something out." Those compromises might have been what upset Courtney Love regarding the use of Kurt Cobain in Guitar Hero 5. According to The Guardian, "Love launched a Twitter tirade, insisting that she never agreed to Kurt Cobain's final appearance in the video game -- let alone the functionality that lets him lip-sync to Bon Jovi. "[I] never signed off on the avatar, let alone this f***ing feature!" she wrote. "There's been four breaches of a very strict contract." Knowing how close the band is to Courtney, I am certain they are taking all of this into account. However, the popularity of The Beatles Rock Band is certainly something that piques the interest. Not to mention, there’s been a strong focus this past year on U2 being very much a four-piece band and not just "Bono and the boys" or "Bono" or "who's that playing bass with Bono?" As cool as it would be for a U2 song to be used in Guitar Hero, it doesn't promote U2 as a band in the truest sense. My bet will be that when the time does come, it will be in the form of a rock band product. Personally I can't wait to drum like Larry. It's been fun holding down the fort these past few days while the rest of the @U2 crew traveled to Las Vegas and Los Angeles. On behalf of everyone on staff, it has been a privilege to provide you with the best coverage we could of leg two. We hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have had bringing it to you. Safe travels home to the news team! And finally...in honor of the 20th Anniversary of the LoveTown tour, here’s a special treat with cameos from Dennis Sheehan, The Daltons (Alton, Luke, Duke and sister Betty), Edge's hair, and a guitar solo that *is* on fire. Happy 48th Birthday, Hitman! © @U2 / Lawrence, 2009.
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