HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
U2 DOES WELL AS BONO DOES GOOD
By LARRY ATKINS
TODAY AND Sunday, May 22, will be Beautiful Days for Philly fans of the Irish rock group U2, which will play at the Wachovia Center as part of the Vertigo Tour.
In March, U2 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Fame. Deservedly so. As far as rock bands go, U2 deserves to be on Mount Rushmore, along with the Beatles, the Who and the Rolling Stones.
The Beatles were the musical equivalent of Baseball's Sandy Koufax - six or seven dominant years of musical genius. U2 is more like Steve Carlton or Warren Spahn - consistent excellence over 22 years.
The band consists of Bono (Paul Hewson), the Edge (Dave Evans), Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen. They released their first album "Boy" in 1980 and "October" in 1981, but their breakthrough came in 1983 with "War," featuring the hits "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day." They have two hits off their new album, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."
What makes U2 stand out is their excellence and relevance over such a long span. No other rock band can match U2 in this regard. The Stones were great and they still put on a good show, but they haven't had a hit album since "Tattoo You" in 1981. The Who hasn't released a studio album since 1982, and they've spent more time apart than together since then.
It's remarkable that U2, a bunch of guys in their mid-40s, still connect so intensely with their fans. The first set of Vertigo shows in Philadelphia in May sold out the 20,000-seat Wachovia Center in around 15 minutes. Two September shows sold out in around two hours.
It was the Live Aid concert in 1985 that catapulted U2 into superstar status. It's appropriate that a humanitarian band stole the show at a humanitarian event.
Lots of bands and musical artists play charity concerts. But U2 has emerged as this generation's voice of social conscience through their music and their deeds. Bono is on his way to becoming as significant a figure as Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. He's equaled the energy and social conscience of John Lennon. Bono is believed to be one of the 144 nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Recently, Bono and a host of prominent entertainers, celebrities, and politicians formed the One Campaign, which was launched last year in Philadelphia and is Bono's latest attempt to help Africa and Third World countries. Bono is the co-founder of Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa (DATA), an organization that works to raise awareness of the crisis facing Africa.
Among DATA's goals is to fight the AIDS crisis through fund-raising and providing drugs, development assistance and urging wealthy countries around the world to relieve the unpayable debts of African countries.
In explaining how he got involved with social causes, Bono has said that his journey began in 1985, the summer of Live Aid, when he and his wife worked at an orphanage in Ethiopia for a month. "We found Africa to be a magical place - big skies, big hearts, big shining continent, beautiful royal people... Anyway, on our last day at this orphanage, a man handed me his baby and said, 'Would you take my son with you?'
"And he knew in Ireland that his son would live, and that in Ethiopia, his son would die. It was the middle of that awful famine. Well, I turned him down, and it was a funny kind of sick feeling, but I turned him down, and it's a feeling I can't ever quite forget."
Many people believe that entertainers should just shut up and play, not preach about social causes. They also say that artists are out of the mainstream and don't influence the public.
But after an era of Britney Spears and 'N Sync-type frivolity, musicians are again becoming socially relevant and speaking out against injustice. There's a strong tradition of this, like Woody Guthrie's music, Vietnam protest songs, the No Nukes concerts, Live Aid and Amnesty International.
Throughout the years, musicians have proven that music can make a difference. You may say that Bono's a dreamer. But hopefully he's not the only one.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/opinion/11645550.htm
By LARRY ATKINS
TODAY AND Sunday, May 22, will be Beautiful Days for Philly fans of the Irish rock group U2, which will play at the Wachovia Center as part of the Vertigo Tour.
In March, U2 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Fame. Deservedly so. As far as rock bands go, U2 deserves to be on Mount Rushmore, along with the Beatles, the Who and the Rolling Stones.
The Beatles were the musical equivalent of Baseball's Sandy Koufax - six or seven dominant years of musical genius. U2 is more like Steve Carlton or Warren Spahn - consistent excellence over 22 years.
The band consists of Bono (Paul Hewson), the Edge (Dave Evans), Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen. They released their first album "Boy" in 1980 and "October" in 1981, but their breakthrough came in 1983 with "War," featuring the hits "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day." They have two hits off their new album, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."
What makes U2 stand out is their excellence and relevance over such a long span. No other rock band can match U2 in this regard. The Stones were great and they still put on a good show, but they haven't had a hit album since "Tattoo You" in 1981. The Who hasn't released a studio album since 1982, and they've spent more time apart than together since then.
It's remarkable that U2, a bunch of guys in their mid-40s, still connect so intensely with their fans. The first set of Vertigo shows in Philadelphia in May sold out the 20,000-seat Wachovia Center in around 15 minutes. Two September shows sold out in around two hours.
It was the Live Aid concert in 1985 that catapulted U2 into superstar status. It's appropriate that a humanitarian band stole the show at a humanitarian event.
Lots of bands and musical artists play charity concerts. But U2 has emerged as this generation's voice of social conscience through their music and their deeds. Bono is on his way to becoming as significant a figure as Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. He's equaled the energy and social conscience of John Lennon. Bono is believed to be one of the 144 nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Recently, Bono and a host of prominent entertainers, celebrities, and politicians formed the One Campaign, which was launched last year in Philadelphia and is Bono's latest attempt to help Africa and Third World countries. Bono is the co-founder of Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa (DATA), an organization that works to raise awareness of the crisis facing Africa.
Among DATA's goals is to fight the AIDS crisis through fund-raising and providing drugs, development assistance and urging wealthy countries around the world to relieve the unpayable debts of African countries.
In explaining how he got involved with social causes, Bono has said that his journey began in 1985, the summer of Live Aid, when he and his wife worked at an orphanage in Ethiopia for a month. "We found Africa to be a magical place - big skies, big hearts, big shining continent, beautiful royal people... Anyway, on our last day at this orphanage, a man handed me his baby and said, 'Would you take my son with you?'
"And he knew in Ireland that his son would live, and that in Ethiopia, his son would die. It was the middle of that awful famine. Well, I turned him down, and it was a funny kind of sick feeling, but I turned him down, and it's a feeling I can't ever quite forget."
Many people believe that entertainers should just shut up and play, not preach about social causes. They also say that artists are out of the mainstream and don't influence the public.
But after an era of Britney Spears and 'N Sync-type frivolity, musicians are again becoming socially relevant and speaking out against injustice. There's a strong tradition of this, like Woody Guthrie's music, Vietnam protest songs, the No Nukes concerts, Live Aid and Amnesty International.
Throughout the years, musicians have proven that music can make a difference. You may say that Bono's a dreamer. But hopefully he's not the only one.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/opinion/11645550.htm
