Go read what Moby has to say about U2

[*Ally*]

i thought maybe some of you would rather hear what a fellow musician has to say about U2's superbowl performace, as opposed to a bunch of buttoned-up conservatives. here's what he wrote in his internet diary:

Watching U2
2/3/2002 - New York City

So forgive me, for last night I didn't watch the super bowl but I did watch U2 perform during the half-time show.
And I loved their performance apart from two things...and I'm sorry to complain, but these two things troubled me.
During 'where the streets have no name' they were scrolling the list of names of people who were killed on 9/11, and I thought that it was very moving. But then they would cut to shots of people in the audience cheering and hollering and partying, and it seemed like a distasteful juxtaposition.
I can't imagine that if I were in the audience I would be capable of partying as the names of 3,400 innocent terrorist victims scrolled in front of me. That put a bad taste in my mouth and it seemed disrespectful.
The other thing that bothered me was when the giant screen cascaded down.
It was WAY too reminiscent of the twin towers falling down and it actually made me gasp in a shell-shocked survivor sort of way.
But I love U2 and I thought that there performance was great. I just wish that the audience could have been a little bit more respectful as the names of the terrorist victims scrolled in front of them. Seeing the list of the terrorist victims reopened my feelings of great sadness and anger. I really do aspire to forgiveness and love, but I hate the terrorists so much that it troubles me.
Ok, I don't want to get bogged down in such negativity. I'm eating rice and tempeh and my new album is finished and I have a bottle of juice in front of me, so it seems foolish to focus on hatred.
I hope that you all had a nice weekend.
-Moby


it's weird, but yesterday i didn't even think twice about the curtain falling. but now that numerous people have mentioned the similarity between that and the twin towers, i'm starting to think differently. it's quite freaky, actually... i wonder if U2 intened that parallel to be drawn?

 

[joyfulgirl]

I didn't think anything of the screen dropping down either, and still don't.

But I appreciate Moby's thoughts...because he's thoughtful.

People could indeed have been more respectful, but I'm wondering if they were told by the network (or somebody?) to really go wild. When I saw the post-9/11 Elevation show, the audience was very respectful--somber, even-- during the list of names. But they'd had time to absorb an entire concert before that moment came. The small group of people they had down in and around the heart for the Superbowl were probably just in awe of being that close to U2 for such a short time.

 

[sharky]

I didn't think about the WTC/curtain falling reference either. I actually thought it was cool because even more of the names were being projected on the crowd-- kind of we're one but we're not the same, a reminded that the victims were no different than us. As for the crowd reaction, I can see the argument that the crowd cheering and the names scrolling was strange.

That being said, I always love Moby's posts about the band. He's one of the few artists out there who loves music purely for the music aspect. Doesn't have a posse he has to support, just off to the side supporting music.

 

[scatteroflight]

Originally posted by *Ally*:

During 'where the streets have no name' they were scrolling the list of names of people who were killed on 9/11, and I thought that it was very moving. But then they would cut to shots of people in the audience cheering and hollering and partying, and it seemed like a distasteful juxtaposition.
I can't imagine that if I were in the audience I would be capable of partying as the names of 3,400 innocent terrorist victims scrolled in front of me. That put a bad taste in my mouth and it seemed disrespectful.
The other thing that bothered me was when the giant screen cascaded down.
It was WAY too reminiscent of the twin towers falling down and it actually made me gasp in a shell-shocked survivor sort of way.

I actually exactly agree with what he said here. I thought of the towers collapsing the moment I saw the screen fall, and that really bothered me. And I kind of agree with the cheering thing too. I was really smiling with everyone going nuts during BD, but it felt a bit different when they started tying it to Sept 11. I wonder if someone did instruct them to go nuts? The crowd looked SO insane!



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Love was never a single emotion

-ACROB@T

 

[Slapnutz]

To be honest I think half of the people in and around the heart hadn't heard a U2 album in their lives. Most of them had their backs to the band and were waving at the cameras. "Look, mam, I'm on TV!" comes to mind.

------------------
'Closer than ever to everybody's wife'

 

[martha]

Originally posted by *Ally*:
I'm eating rice and tempeh and my new album is finished and I have a bottle of juice in front of me, so it seems foolish to focus on hatred.

-Moby

1. Moby needs to get over himself.


2. The audience in the Superdome was drunk.

 

[pax]

I thought Moby's comments were, as they always tend to be, thougtful and well-written. Has anyone here ever read the little essays in the liner notes of "Play"? He has some interesting things to say.

When I went to see them in Philadelphia (11/2), they did something sort of similar, although it was formatted differently so that the names went by much more slowly. They also did it to "One" instead of "MLK." Everyone around me was hugging each other and crying, and definitely not "going crazy."

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If you cannot live together in here, you cannot live together out there, let me tell ya. --Bono

You've got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice... --Bono

 

[baker6621]

The falling of the names for me was a SYMBOL of moving on and trying to contine with the future. The curtain 'erased' in a way, then fell and was taken away. The strobe lights were in full force, showing JOY, PASSION, HOPE for the future. It's what I got out of it. It was GREAT.

As for cheering, It's U2. Did you not cheer at the concert during ONE? Cheering can be tears, etc, but yelling at Bono too because you want to touch him during that moment.
Also, the people in the crowd were very young and obviously hadn't seen U2 before. They were blown away, and since STREETS is so good, well, they had to cheer. I would've.

------------------
"Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, live like there is no tomorrow, dance like no one is watching." --Bono

"The only limits are the limits of our imagination. Dream up the kind of world you want to live in. Dream out loud. At high VOLUME".

 

[anitram]

Originally posted by baker6621:
As for cheering, It's U2. Did you not cheer at the concert during ONE? Cheering can be tears, etc, but yelling at Bono too because you want to touch him during that moment.

You know, as much as people say they saw fans "weeping" during One/Walk On, I must say, that from what I remember, most people right around me (up front, centre heart) were still cheering, still trying to grab for Bono, still celebrating being at a concert.

 

[Peeing Antelope]

Moby is liek 1 of fav artist doods. plus bono thikns e luks like a nipple! and that maks him soo kooler dude.

 

[kariatari]

Originally posted by baker6621:
The falling of the names for me was a SYMBOL of moving on and trying to contine with the future. The curtain 'erased' in a way, then fell and was taken away. The strobe lights were in full force, showing JOY, PASSION, HOPE for the future. It's what I got out of it. It was GREAT.

I was just going to say the same thing! I thought the symbolism with the screen was brilliant!

 

[madonna's child]

Originally posted by *Ally*:

The other thing that bothered me was when the giant screen cascaded down.
It was WAY too reminiscent of the twin towers falling down and it actually made me gasp in a shell-shocked survivor sort of way.

my dad made that comment while we were watching it. probably never occured to the band.



------------------
"A word I've always liked more than happiness is joy. Happiness is a mood that comes and goes, whereas joy is just there." -Bono

The CIRCLE only has one side.

MESH RULES!!!!!
(thanks to Bono's American Wife)

Love,
Emily

Visit my webpage for U2 wallpapers:
www.geocities.com/springtime5348/index.html

 

[Peeing Antelope]

Originally posted by baker6621:
The falling of the names for me was a SYMBOL of moving on and trying to contine with the future. The curtain 'erased' in a way, then fell and was taken away. The strobe lights were in full force, showing JOY, PASSION, HOPE for the future. It's what I got out of it. It was GREAT.

du bist reit

 

[~LadyLemon~]

Originally posted by martha:
1. Moby needs to get over himself.


2. The audience in the Superdome was drunk.

Haha, Martha--yes, I'm sure everyone was smashed. I did think it was a bit weird to have Streets playing with all the names. I guess I'm used to One, and it being extremely emotional. It just didn't seem right to have all the names showing during such an exhilarating song...but it still kicked ass.

------------------
You will believe in me
And I can never be ignored

 

[sharky]

It did seem a bit weird to have the names during Streets but also remember the third leg was right after everything when we were all still in shock. Now we've healed more and I think its less about mourning and more about celebrating the lives of those who died. Call me cheezy and religious but the streets don't have names in Heaven so I'm taking my celebration from that.

As for the crowd, someone on the U2NYC list said it was actually made up of military personnel and people that helped set the stage up so they may not be diehards but I thought it was great that the band gave that opportunity to military folks. The cousin of my U2NYC friend is in the Coast Guard and was the one that brought the US flag in to the heart that was in front of Adam.

 

[spinninghead77]

Moby thinks that was tasteless???

I think that it was tasteless that immediatly after his attacks he went on his website and let everyone know that HE was okay.

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***Spinny***
Here I go and I don't know why
I spin so ceaselessly
Could it be he's taken over me????

 

[u2loopy]

Originally posted by Slapnutz:
To be honest I think half of the people in and around the heart hadn't heard a U2 album in their lives. Most of them had their backs to the band and were waving at the cameras. "Look, mam, I'm on TV!" comes to mind.

I totally agree with you. It was infuriating to watch the "Fake Fans" in the heart bouncing around not even paying attention to U2.


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Work like you don't need to
Love like you've never been hurt
Dance like no one is watching

 

[z edge]

What the hell is a fake fan anyway? I'm sure that not everyone has the time to be as 'real' as us. If they weren't 'real' fans then they probably are now. Hell, I'd be willing to bet a lot of people in the Superdome went out and bought ATYCLB yesterday, since we know it is selling stronger right now. They were probably just as blown away to be there as we were when we got to see them.

I thought the show was in good taste, and the 2 images I remember most are Bono coming through the crowd singing and some really hot chicks apparently 'grabbing' him and he could hardly keep a straight face while singing BD. The other was him opening up his jacket at the end to show the flag-a genuine gesture on his part even to those of us who have seen it before. He's been doing it since the 'elevation' video that I like so much.

As far as the terrorist names on the thing, I didn't see that and wonder what in the hell that is all about.

 

[u2loopy]

Originally posted by z edge:
What the hell is a fake fan anyway?

...Uhm... The reason I refer to them as Fake Fans is because they were VOLUNTEERS. Did you not hear about that? They hired Extras to bounce around in the heart.

I would in no way imply that one U2 fan is more of a fan than the other because of the time they spend focusing on the band.

Those people were legitimate "fake fans", like extras you see in a commercial or something.

And yes, hopefully after seeing the band they maybe got into U2 a little bit. But I'm sure the ones who were waving frantically at the camera weren't even paying attention to the band.

I'm a little sore about this subject because I really miss the band on Tour and I think it would've been a great opportunity for some fans to have seen them there, maybe by winning some kind of contest or something.

Now, do you capisce???


------------------
Work like you don't need to
Love like you've never been hurt
Dance like no one is watching

 

[z edge]

No because you are still speculating, you don't know the extent of what those people like about music or U2. For example; me and a friend had tickets to PoPmart, but we "posed" as caterers to try and get even closer to them.

 

[u2loopy]

Originally posted by z edge:
No because you are still speculating, you don't know the extent of what those people like about music or U2. For example; me and a friend had tickets to PoPmart, but we "posed" as caterers to try and get even closer to them.

Speculation, Shmeculation. I'm sure when you "posed" as caterers (which is very creative by the way), you focused on the band and not the food correct?

Here, I'll give you this. Maybe 75% of the crowd were "extras" and 25% were fans,allrighty?

------------------
Work like you don't need to
Love like you've never been hurt
Dance like no one is watching

 

[z edge]

It didn't exactly go as planned, they fired us when they realized how drunk we were and we started raiding the flow of ale, and I snuck to a "restricted area", a very intelligent and powerful irish woman chased me away

 

[womanfish]

As for the "fans" being volunteers, I disagree. It was reported by several sources that they were all contest winners ClearChannel had done. So most were probably at least interested in U2 if not fans. But I was also pissed to see these people who would have Bono 5 feet in front of them, and they would turn around to wave at the overhead cameras!!!!????!!!!
I'm sure they were given instructions on how to act etc... as Bono would have been ripped to shreds if they didn't tell them to keep their hands off him. So they should have said watch the band, not the cameras!

oh well.

Anyway, as for Moby and the names falling thing - I am really tired of everyone pretending that the whole 9/11 thing didn't happen. People act as though we can no longer watch or see or hear anything that might remind us that the Trade Centers DID fall. That there were people in those buildings who died. I thought the curtain falling did look like a tower falling and guess what, I thought that it was a solemn reminder that those were real people with real names that went down in those buildings. In fact I knew two of those real people with real names. Maybe we can finally face the facts and come to terms with that.

You can only play the "shell-shocked survivor" for so long, then you have to let it go.

[This message has been edited by womanfish (edited 02-05-2002).]

 

[u2loopy]

Originally posted by womanfish:
As for the "fans" being volunteers, I disagree. It was reported by several sources that they were all contest winners ClearChannel had done.
[This message has been edited by womanfish (edited 02-05-2002).]

Really??? Ooops, My bad. I truly thought I heard that they were volunteers and extras. I'm just bitter cuz they were there and I wasn't.


------------------
Work like you don't need to
Love like you've never been hurt
Dance like no one is watching

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Originally posted by *Ally*:
I have a bottle of juice in front of me,

Hang on a minute...he's happy because he has a bottle of juice in front of him?

I guess some people are easily pleased

 

[scatteroflight]

Originally posted by womanfish:


Anyway, as for Moby and the names falling thing - I am really tired of everyone pretending that the whole 9/11 thing didn't happen. That if we no longer can watch or see or hear anything that might remind us that the Trade Centers DID fall. That there were people in those buildings who died. I thought the curtain falling did look like a tower falling and guess what, I thought that it was a solemn reminder that those were real people with real names that went down in those buildings. In fact I knew two of those real people with real names. Maybe we can finally face the facts and come to terms with that.

My problem with that is that some people thought of the screen falling as a celebratory thing, moving on etc, some people saw it like the towers falling. I can kind of understand the cheering and wanting to be emotional when the names are scrolling, though it's maybe not the way I would want to go about it myself. It's a way of remember those people, celebrating their lives while seeing an incredibly emotional song performed, etc etc. But when the screen fell, there was also an extra explosion of white light, HUGE cheers, and so on--and if that actually was supposed to be symbolic of the tower falling I found it completely inappropriate. When the towers fell it was a terrible and sickening moment. If that screen actually was supposed to be a tower falling, everyone should really have been quiet and serious, because there are no words for something like that, and certainly not cheering and screaming.

Again, sorry if I offend anyone, it's just my opinion on this, and the only thing that really struck a bit of a sour note for me.



------------------
Love was never a single emotion

-ACROB@T

 

[sharky]

Originally posted by scatteroflight:
My problem with that is that some people thought of the screen falling as a celebratory thing, moving on etc, some people saw it like the towers falling. I can kind of understand the cheering and wanting to be emotional when the names are scrolling, though it's maybe not the way I would want to go about it myself. It's a way of remember those people, celebrating their lives while seeing an incredibly emotional song performed, etc etc. But when the screen fell, there was also an extra explosion of white light, HUGE cheers, and so on--and if that actually was supposed to be symbolic of the tower falling I found it completely inappropriate. When the towers fell it was a terrible and sickening moment. If that screen actually was supposed to be a tower falling, everyone should really have been quiet and serious, because there are no words for something like that, and certainly not cheering and screaming.

Again, sorry if I offend anyone, it's just my opinion on this, and the only thing that really struck a bit of a sour note for me.

I think it was just all a way of celebrating. Its not about mourning anymore or the shock of it all, its about celebrating the lives of those who died. The bright light, the idea that those people transcend any building that killed them or any piece of gauze that reflected their names. As for the cheering, I think it was ok. In NYC in October we cheered during One. We cheered when the screen said each flight number and when it said NYPD and FDNY. And we cheered not because we were happy-- we were and still are a sad lot in NYC-- but because we celebrate the lives of those who died.

 

[*Ally*]

i completely agree with sharky.

maybe some of you should go listed to "One" from the NYC show on 10/24/01. it was the first time U2 played in the city after Sept. 11th. they were playing to a crowd of people who had been affected by the events more than most. As you'll hear in the version of "One" from 10/24 (www.u2audio.com has the audio for that show), New Yorkers cheered the loudest when the flight numbers and names of the victims came up. and when the FDNY scrolled up towards the end of the song... wow, the place just went nuts. don't get me wrong: we weren't happy in the traditional sense of the word. in fact, most people had tears in their eyes. but we cheered as the hundreds of names scrolled by in order to pay tribute to the lives of those who perished.

That version of "One" gives me chills every single time i listen to it. i highly recommend that you go check it out if you haven't heard it.