HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
By Chris Lowrey
2005.10
As an opening I'd like to pose the following question: Who really does not like U2?
Whether it's the early times with anthems such as "Gloria" and "New Year's Day," critically acclaimed masterpieces such as the "Under a Blood Red Sky,” "The Unforgettable Fire" and "The Joshua Tree," an interlude with "Rattle and Hum" through the '90s with the brilliant "Achtung Baby," "Zooropa" and even "Pop" with its trance grooves, right up to the '00s on "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and, most recently, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," U2 has always been there for the masses.
Rare indeed is it to find a band that is able to infuse such strong political and humanitarian content into its songs and actually make them tuneful, sing along-good songs at the same time. And while The Edge's staccato riffing can at times sound like other tunes in U2's repertoire, it has evolved and been tweaked enough to make the band's 29 year career full of variety and hit tunes so as to allow for two maybe even three totally different set lists without repeating tunes.
It never happens like that of course. Most bands have to stick to similar set lists for logistical reasons and it is the same with U2, although one look at recent Vertigo Tour set lists shows how the band is able to keep each night fresh for adoring fans who well might attend more than one concert on any given tour.
It was an extremely wet Saturday in New York but huge full-page headlines of "Bomb Scare in the Subway" and a mere few inches of rain weren't enough to keep the masses from Madison Square Garden for U2's second of five nights in the city this month. The support act Keane, an up-and-coming English band with a singer, keyboardist and drummer (no guitarist in sight), warmed the growing crowd up with its melancholic and beautifully sung tunes that owe a lot to U2 as singer Tom Chaplin mentioned on several occasions. This band, which blends parts of Coldplay, Travis and Starsailor, is distinctive enough and has the charm and presence to ensure a burgeoning career will continue in an upward trajectory. Groups of young women around my area sang along to many tunes including the brilliant "Everybody's Changing" and "This Is the Last Time" from debut album "Hopes and Fears" and the signs are good for a long and illustrious career for the three Englishmen.
Right on cue at 9:30 the lights went down and a tremendous roar erupted as Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton, The Edge and Bono emerged from various parts of the stage and the stunning sound and light show commenced with "City of Blinding Lights." What a way to get 20,000 rabid New Yorkers into the groove.
The stage itself was circular with wild snippets of light flashing and chasing each other around the floor in patterns as the band performed. The outer stage was an oval encapsulating the lucky fans in the pit and allowing band members to get out and closer to the audience. It also featured the blipping, racing lights resembling a gigantic circular heart rate machine. Most stunning of all however was the giant clear glass tubes that hung down at the back and sides of the stage and were raised and lowered on cue, these resembled giant door hangings that one may have on their caravan annex to keep flies out over the summer and at various times had images of New York buildings, international flags and humans in a kind of join the dots formula that was visually stunning.
The familiar, multi-lingual refrain heralded the arrival of the best promotional tool Apple iPod has ever had in the form of monster world-wide hit and tour title, "Vertigo." The crowd participation was astonishing, even threatening to drown out the band at one stage and even dwarfing my memories of an English soccer final. This dancing, clapping and vociferous singing continued through the tracks "Elevation" and "I Will Follow." The "Woo-Hoo" chant in "Elevation" had Bono grinning from ear-to-ear.
At this point I commented to my concert going partner Anna, "How will they keep this up?" and, true to form, "All I Want Is You" followed allowing the punters to relax their bodies if not their voices. This was short-lived as the band bounced into "Beautiful Day" causing the already fever pitch atmosphere to grow another leg. "Miracle Drug" interspersed with Patti Smith’s "People Got the Power" was well-received and set the tone for many messages of world peace and unity that underpinned the evening either directly or indirectly.
The next couple of tunes echoed "Miracle Drug's" ballad tone and wistful introspection was palpable in the crowd as Bono crooned "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" and "Love and Peace or Else." The crowd erupted again for "Sunday Bloody Sunday," seemingly trying to outdo the live version of the same song off that live album so many moons ago. Perhaps they had inside knowledge that the gig was being recorded for a future live release as in 100s of concerts I haven't heard anything like it. With Saturday's effort, "U2: Live From Madison Square Garden" would make such an effective live album so as not to require overdubs of any description, except perhaps the false start The Edge had on the acoustic guitar for "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" to which Bono laughingly mocked his long-time pal with a friendly, "That's not very professional."
The medley of "Bullet the Blue Sky/The Hands That Built America/When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was stunning and had every American in the house feeling supremely patriotic.
Next came the highlight of the night, a version of "Miss Sarajevo" where Bono told the story of the young woman who performed a beauty pageant amidst a hail of mortar and bullets in defiance of war on her city. He also told us that although Luciano Pavarotti was not there to sing his part, Bono was and would do both. What followed was the most moving moment of the night as Bono seemed to take on the persona and voice of Pavarotti singing the part completely in Italian and hitting the notes so well that I'm sure the great man would have clapped as wildly and had tears in his eyes as most in the house did. The highlight of the night for yours truly.
The still resonant and relevant "Pride (In the Name of Love)” followed, whipping the crowd back to fever pitch before "Where the Streets Have no Name" maintained the passion. The next surprise and the final song of the set, was the entrance of Mary J. Blige who dueted with Bono on the band's signature tune "One." Although I felt she was a bit rusty for the first couple of lines, Blige redeemed herself and really enhanced the song with her arms draped around Bono to receive rapturous applause at the conclusion of the tune.
After a brief interlude Bono and The Edge returned with the "The First Time" and an acoustic take on "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" at the top of the larger oval part of the stage. When Larry and Adam returned for "With or Without You," the crowd was already back in the band's hands. A touching moment occurred when Bono danced with a young woman, and then picked out another girl to dance with before finally pulling a man wearing a turban on the stage and dancing with and hugging him. The guy sang with gusto and the moment was unbelievably poignant and followed the night's theme—we're all in this world together.
The final encore of "All Because of You," "Fast Cars" and "Original of the Species" capped the night off beautifully but the final song, my favorite, the fabulous "40" closed the night off in spectacular fashion. Even five minutes after the lights came back up the crowd was still singing "How long, to sing this song?" over and over and over. Incredibly this was still happening as we walked down five or six flights from the top tier at the Garden. In fact people were still singing this refrain as they walked right back out into the heavy rain and down the subway to catch the subway trains.
The gig was beyond stunning and exceeded my expectations in every facet, the band still sound in top form—a form U2 has held for at least 20 years.
2005.10
As an opening I'd like to pose the following question: Who really does not like U2?
Whether it's the early times with anthems such as "Gloria" and "New Year's Day," critically acclaimed masterpieces such as the "Under a Blood Red Sky,” "The Unforgettable Fire" and "The Joshua Tree," an interlude with "Rattle and Hum" through the '90s with the brilliant "Achtung Baby," "Zooropa" and even "Pop" with its trance grooves, right up to the '00s on "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and, most recently, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," U2 has always been there for the masses.
Rare indeed is it to find a band that is able to infuse such strong political and humanitarian content into its songs and actually make them tuneful, sing along-good songs at the same time. And while The Edge's staccato riffing can at times sound like other tunes in U2's repertoire, it has evolved and been tweaked enough to make the band's 29 year career full of variety and hit tunes so as to allow for two maybe even three totally different set lists without repeating tunes.
It never happens like that of course. Most bands have to stick to similar set lists for logistical reasons and it is the same with U2, although one look at recent Vertigo Tour set lists shows how the band is able to keep each night fresh for adoring fans who well might attend more than one concert on any given tour.
It was an extremely wet Saturday in New York but huge full-page headlines of "Bomb Scare in the Subway" and a mere few inches of rain weren't enough to keep the masses from Madison Square Garden for U2's second of five nights in the city this month. The support act Keane, an up-and-coming English band with a singer, keyboardist and drummer (no guitarist in sight), warmed the growing crowd up with its melancholic and beautifully sung tunes that owe a lot to U2 as singer Tom Chaplin mentioned on several occasions. This band, which blends parts of Coldplay, Travis and Starsailor, is distinctive enough and has the charm and presence to ensure a burgeoning career will continue in an upward trajectory. Groups of young women around my area sang along to many tunes including the brilliant "Everybody's Changing" and "This Is the Last Time" from debut album "Hopes and Fears" and the signs are good for a long and illustrious career for the three Englishmen.
Right on cue at 9:30 the lights went down and a tremendous roar erupted as Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton, The Edge and Bono emerged from various parts of the stage and the stunning sound and light show commenced with "City of Blinding Lights." What a way to get 20,000 rabid New Yorkers into the groove.
The stage itself was circular with wild snippets of light flashing and chasing each other around the floor in patterns as the band performed. The outer stage was an oval encapsulating the lucky fans in the pit and allowing band members to get out and closer to the audience. It also featured the blipping, racing lights resembling a gigantic circular heart rate machine. Most stunning of all however was the giant clear glass tubes that hung down at the back and sides of the stage and were raised and lowered on cue, these resembled giant door hangings that one may have on their caravan annex to keep flies out over the summer and at various times had images of New York buildings, international flags and humans in a kind of join the dots formula that was visually stunning.
The familiar, multi-lingual refrain heralded the arrival of the best promotional tool Apple iPod has ever had in the form of monster world-wide hit and tour title, "Vertigo." The crowd participation was astonishing, even threatening to drown out the band at one stage and even dwarfing my memories of an English soccer final. This dancing, clapping and vociferous singing continued through the tracks "Elevation" and "I Will Follow." The "Woo-Hoo" chant in "Elevation" had Bono grinning from ear-to-ear.
At this point I commented to my concert going partner Anna, "How will they keep this up?" and, true to form, "All I Want Is You" followed allowing the punters to relax their bodies if not their voices. This was short-lived as the band bounced into "Beautiful Day" causing the already fever pitch atmosphere to grow another leg. "Miracle Drug" interspersed with Patti Smith’s "People Got the Power" was well-received and set the tone for many messages of world peace and unity that underpinned the evening either directly or indirectly.
The next couple of tunes echoed "Miracle Drug's" ballad tone and wistful introspection was palpable in the crowd as Bono crooned "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" and "Love and Peace or Else." The crowd erupted again for "Sunday Bloody Sunday," seemingly trying to outdo the live version of the same song off that live album so many moons ago. Perhaps they had inside knowledge that the gig was being recorded for a future live release as in 100s of concerts I haven't heard anything like it. With Saturday's effort, "U2: Live From Madison Square Garden" would make such an effective live album so as not to require overdubs of any description, except perhaps the false start The Edge had on the acoustic guitar for "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" to which Bono laughingly mocked his long-time pal with a friendly, "That's not very professional."
The medley of "Bullet the Blue Sky/The Hands That Built America/When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was stunning and had every American in the house feeling supremely patriotic.
Next came the highlight of the night, a version of "Miss Sarajevo" where Bono told the story of the young woman who performed a beauty pageant amidst a hail of mortar and bullets in defiance of war on her city. He also told us that although Luciano Pavarotti was not there to sing his part, Bono was and would do both. What followed was the most moving moment of the night as Bono seemed to take on the persona and voice of Pavarotti singing the part completely in Italian and hitting the notes so well that I'm sure the great man would have clapped as wildly and had tears in his eyes as most in the house did. The highlight of the night for yours truly.
The still resonant and relevant "Pride (In the Name of Love)” followed, whipping the crowd back to fever pitch before "Where the Streets Have no Name" maintained the passion. The next surprise and the final song of the set, was the entrance of Mary J. Blige who dueted with Bono on the band's signature tune "One." Although I felt she was a bit rusty for the first couple of lines, Blige redeemed herself and really enhanced the song with her arms draped around Bono to receive rapturous applause at the conclusion of the tune.
After a brief interlude Bono and The Edge returned with the "The First Time" and an acoustic take on "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" at the top of the larger oval part of the stage. When Larry and Adam returned for "With or Without You," the crowd was already back in the band's hands. A touching moment occurred when Bono danced with a young woman, and then picked out another girl to dance with before finally pulling a man wearing a turban on the stage and dancing with and hugging him. The guy sang with gusto and the moment was unbelievably poignant and followed the night's theme—we're all in this world together.
The final encore of "All Because of You," "Fast Cars" and "Original of the Species" capped the night off beautifully but the final song, my favorite, the fabulous "40" closed the night off in spectacular fashion. Even five minutes after the lights came back up the crowd was still singing "How long, to sing this song?" over and over and over. Incredibly this was still happening as we walked down five or six flights from the top tier at the Garden. In fact people were still singing this refrain as they walked right back out into the heavy rain and down the subway to catch the subway trains.
The gig was beyond stunning and exceeded my expectations in every facet, the band still sound in top form—a form U2 has held for at least 20 years.
thanks for the review
