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"To some people the church is their ticket to respectability, a certain bourgeois point of view, a safety net for when they go to bed. My idea of Christianity is no safety net, a scathing attack on bourgeois values, and a risk to respectability." -- Bono, 2002 |
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Column: off the record..., vol. 9-382
@U2,
November 01, 2009
The last time I wrote an OTR column, I had just seen U2 play in Raleigh, NC. Since then, I've seen one more show: Las Vegas, on October 23. The Vegas show was three weeks after Raleigh, and the set lists were pretty similar, but the show was completely different. So much had changed in three weeks -- the visuals, some transitions between songs, the band's actions/gestures on stage. It's one reason why I don't get all the set list complaining. You might hear the same songs, but if you're paying attention to the entire performance, it might be completely new from one night to the next. On a related note: There are a lot of fans saying that Bono is singing songs like "With or Without You" and "Moment of Surrender" as if he's bored and doesn't want to sing them. I agree 100% that "With or Without You" doesn't have the power that it had many tours ago. But I also think it's not supposed to. Have you considered that maybe Bono is singing these songs in character? That he's holding on to the end of his rope (quite literally; watch how he holds on to that microphone) and is about to reach his moment of surrender? That he's completely broken? "Stripped to the metaphorical bone," as Neil McCormick described it (after Bono described it to him)? Bono has always portrayed characters in his live performance, and I'm pretty sure this tour's character is front and center for the final three songs of this tour. I think it's no coincidence that those final three songs never changed between Barcelona and Vancouver. Friday night was something of a disappointment for us here at @U2. We had two of our crew at Madison Square Garden for U2's appearance at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame anniversary concert. Cara was in the audience, and shared some thoughts and videos on our blog already. That went well enough. Tassoula was with the music media in the press room, where the artists would come talk after their time on stage. Except U2 never showed up. Sigh. And she was all set to steal the show and pepper the band with questions about Songs of Ascent, about next year's tour, and even the Spider-Man project. But it wasn't meant to be, I guess. It seemed like a strange night for U2 on the whole. For starters, what on earth was Black Eyed Peas doing on stage during a concert meant to celebrate the history of rock and roll and the rock hall of fame? I've nothing against BEP -- they put on a fun performance before the Vegas show -- but they didn't belong on that stage. I gather that each of the main acts was invited to choose its own special guests, but I think in this case someone needed to say "no" to U2. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to watching the HBO special later this month and already planning to buy the inevitable DVD since that'll probably be the only way to see U2's entire performance from start to finish. My wife is what I'd call a ... casual U2 fan. Yeah, that's the word. She's seen a handful of live shows -- two on Zoo TV, two during PopMart, and one Elevation show. But none since then, and never gave any indication she wanted to see a show on this tour. And she pretty much tolerates me and my fandom, and my son's fandom, too. Then one night last week I wanted to show her how I had connected my laptop to our HDTV and watched the Rose Bowl concert on YouTube on the big screen. I let her pick the song to watch and she chose "With or Without You." Bingo. She was fascinated by the staging, by Bono's performance, by his suit of lights, by the video screen, and so forth. She loved it. So Sean (my son) and I decided that she also needed to see "Ultraviolet," "The Unforgettable Fire," and "City of Blinding Lights." It took four songs and now she wants to see a show next year. Meanwhile, my 7-year-old daughter has been telling us for a while now that she hates U2. She rolls her eyes whenever a song comes on or when we're talking about them. The "U2 fan" gene did not get passed to her. Or so I thought. We're driving home from church today, and she tells us she's been keeping a secret that she wants to share. The secret? "I actually like U2. I've liked them all along." Ha! She tells us that "Vertigo" is her favorite song. Sean asks if I'm writing OTR tonight, and when I say I am, he says I have to write about this. She agrees: "You have to blog about this," she says. "And put it on Twitter, so the whole world can know!" Looks like we might be doing the family concert thing next year.... Speaking of the Rose Bowl concert, the band has started adding individual songs to its official YouTube channel. Pretty convenient -- you don't have to load and fast-forward through the full concert video to find your favorite song. And finally ... how about your favorite U2 vinyl turned into a cereal bowl? It's not too late to bid! (thx DM)
See you next time! © @U2, 2009.
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