DebbieSG
Refugee
I was looking through some old magazines the other day and found this article in Spin from their June 2001 issue. Now they're Band of the Year, but back then it was not a very flattering "spin"...
U2: March 24, 2001
National Car Rental Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
And coming around what may be their final turn: U2, the once-and again mighty saviors, now fortified with a renewed commitment to sincerity. Elevation is the nostalgically uplifting name of their latest tour, the first since the relative debacle of 1997?s Pop Mart extravaganza, but a more accurate name might be Reclamation. After all, it?s been a decade since anyone besides fanatics went to a U2 show to hear the new stuff, and the triumph of All That You Can?t Leave Behind has sent the aging rockers questing for their old job as World?s Greatest Band. They know this may be their last chance, so they?ve jettisoned the lemons and olives in favor of a utilitarian stage smaller than a New York City rooftop. They?ve also dropped the irony and replaced it with old-fashioned l-o-v-e.
At various points during this sold-out show, opening night of a 33-city tour, Bono wished his wife happy birthday, dedicated a song to Michael Hutchence, and stopped the show to hug his bandmates on a heart-shaped catwalk that jutted into the audience. While risky both artistically and literally (Bono accidentally toppled into the audience during the ?Until the End of the World?), the close connection with their fans paid off in the music. It was particlularly striking to see how the crowd connectected with the new material like ?Elevation? and ?Beautiful Day,? the newest shout-along anthems driven by the Edge, whose melody-oriented playing continues to chime like church bells.
The band treated the requisite oldies with the same passion as the lesser-known songs. Freed from the ironic distance they once brought to their live shows, U2 got over almost solely on the intensity of their playing. By midset, about the only visuals we?d seen wer black-and-white shots of the band on monitors above the stage. But as the show progressed, up popped U2?s famed self-indulgence. Bono sang the first verse of ?Mysterious Ways? lying on his back while a video screen lifted him skyward. Six new color screens then flashed in silhouetted woman belly-dancing inslow motion. Even as they approach the finish line, U2 still beg us to love them, metaphorically waving that same flag from Red Rocks so many years ago. They?ll win the race by a nose, with their egos coming in a close second.
?Nick Marino
This needs serious revision...I can only hope that by now, after U2's hugely successful tour, album and response to 9-11 the author is changing his tune!
Though in a way he is indicative of what U2 was up against when they released ATYCLB.
You gotta have faith!
U2: March 24, 2001
National Car Rental Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
And coming around what may be their final turn: U2, the once-and again mighty saviors, now fortified with a renewed commitment to sincerity. Elevation is the nostalgically uplifting name of their latest tour, the first since the relative debacle of 1997?s Pop Mart extravaganza, but a more accurate name might be Reclamation. After all, it?s been a decade since anyone besides fanatics went to a U2 show to hear the new stuff, and the triumph of All That You Can?t Leave Behind has sent the aging rockers questing for their old job as World?s Greatest Band. They know this may be their last chance, so they?ve jettisoned the lemons and olives in favor of a utilitarian stage smaller than a New York City rooftop. They?ve also dropped the irony and replaced it with old-fashioned l-o-v-e.
At various points during this sold-out show, opening night of a 33-city tour, Bono wished his wife happy birthday, dedicated a song to Michael Hutchence, and stopped the show to hug his bandmates on a heart-shaped catwalk that jutted into the audience. While risky both artistically and literally (Bono accidentally toppled into the audience during the ?Until the End of the World?), the close connection with their fans paid off in the music. It was particlularly striking to see how the crowd connectected with the new material like ?Elevation? and ?Beautiful Day,? the newest shout-along anthems driven by the Edge, whose melody-oriented playing continues to chime like church bells.
The band treated the requisite oldies with the same passion as the lesser-known songs. Freed from the ironic distance they once brought to their live shows, U2 got over almost solely on the intensity of their playing. By midset, about the only visuals we?d seen wer black-and-white shots of the band on monitors above the stage. But as the show progressed, up popped U2?s famed self-indulgence. Bono sang the first verse of ?Mysterious Ways? lying on his back while a video screen lifted him skyward. Six new color screens then flashed in silhouetted woman belly-dancing inslow motion. Even as they approach the finish line, U2 still beg us to love them, metaphorically waving that same flag from Red Rocks so many years ago. They?ll win the race by a nose, with their egos coming in a close second.
?Nick Marino
This needs serious revision...I can only hope that by now, after U2's hugely successful tour, album and response to 9-11 the author is changing his tune!
Though in a way he is indicative of what U2 was up against when they released ATYCLB.
You gotta have faith!
