Oh my GOD..
If the band ever bring back Electric Co the people next to me will have to prop up my limp body from the floor, I will faint from sheer excitement. This is one of those mythological songs that I missed live in the early 80's, when I WAS a fan, when I wanted to see them live but couldn't b/c they never came to my town. (Albany NY). And I was what, 13, 14 on the UF Tour? The late 80's I started to buy boot videos and so I knew what I has missed very early on.
I remember the first time I heard SBS live, it was at the Harness Track in Saratoga in August of 92 when they played an outdoor show for 40, 000 people. It was the "polite" slowed-down version that they do now, but just hearing it made me get the chills. One of the favorite songs from my mythological childhood, and here it was....
The thing about Electric Co is that, like Streets, the song's structure makes it impossible for the band to play it in a "polite" version. Like Streets, it drives forward fast and aggressively. It is one of the songs that the band used to place in the middle part of their early 80's shows, the part of the show where everybody was whipped to a frenzy. I think. All I can remember from my tapes was the audible screams of people in the audience during this song, and that didn't come during many other parts of the show After the infamous "Los Angeles Riot" in 1985, the band structured their shows more carefully, having the setlist move to a "peak" and then taper down with slower songs until they closed with 40.
I have so many bootlegs of early 80's shows. EC is practically undanceable, like Streets, so there is no choice for the audience but to just stand there and clap along. Which means their attentionis focused comletely on the stage.
Message to Edge: I don't think it would be a nostalgiafest if Bono were to drop his "Amazing Grace" bit in there too! In fact, it's even more relevant now.
