Another bad review from the good old british media, this time from wharf.co.uk (never heard of them myself), why oh why is it that most fans are saying this was a really really great concert, but yet the media are slagging the band off?,plus yet again if you read to the end it has another little dig at the new album:
MUSIC
U2 live at Wembley Stadium
3/5
IN A NUTSHELL
Have U2 lost their edge as the veteran Irish band go through the motions on their latest world tour.
REVIEW
The band's legendary guitarist was very much present on the futuristic stage at Wembley at the weekend, but their ability to wow an audience with a live show seemed to be missing because this was a gig that promised a lot more than it delivered.
The Irish quartet have been at this game for over 30 years now and as ever their playing was faultless. It was just the pace and focus of the show that was full of holes.
It wasn't helped by the fact they apparently appeared late on stage on Saturday evening, something that might have contributed to the feeling that they were rushing through things a little, resulting in momentum being lost when they should have been cranking the audience up to a fervent peak.
To their credit the multi-millionaire band had slashed ticket prices for their 360 tour, although the swathes of empty seats at the stadium indicated the ploy had not worked as well as they had hoped.
There was still plenty of pre-concert anticipation among the crowd, which comprised the now standard mix of grizzled veterans and fresh-faced adolescents eager for their first taste of the Dublin band's legendary live performance.
But, sadly, there was something missing here. It was hard to put your finger on it at first, but as things developed it began to become apparent - passion.
This was a show lacking any real sense of passion, which is ironic considering Bono is probably the most passionate man on the planet when it comes to any number of causes. Maybe he's finding the music a bit of a distraction these days.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a U2 fan of longer-standing than I care to remember and had the privilege of seeing them in their late 1980s pomp.
There were still some great moments. Pride (In The Name Of Love) is such a great crowd pleaser it would have been impossible to ruin it, while One remains an emotional masterpiece, but too often it felt like the band was simply going through the motions.
Perhaps, having striven to make themselves relevant throughout the 1990s and beyond, U2 have lost track of what made them great in the first place, sacrificing their distinctive sonic sculptures for rather too much thrash and bash.
Maybe it's an age thing. Tracks from more recent albums, including this year's effort No Line On The Horizon, lack the tingle the band's back catalogue inspires.
Evidence came from the raucous reception greeting classics like New Year's Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Where the Streets Have No Name, compared to a relatively muted response to newer songs.
And it was never really about the message for most of us. The sublime guitar work of the Edge, Adam Clayton's thudding basslines and Larry Mullen Jr's peerless drumming made Bono's persistent sermonizing bearable.
But even the political message seems tired these days. Apart from an admirable dedication of Walk On to imprisoned Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a cameo appearance on the big screen from Desmond Tutu, this was strictly a rock show.
The much-maligned staging, a giant claw-like structure costing several millions of pounds, was designed to give fans an almost perfect view of the band, although given the distance most of the 70,000-plus audience were from the stage the four members remained indistinguishable.
An encore of Ultraviolet, With or Without You and Moment of Surrender rounded things off with Bono thanking the audience for giving the band a great life.
Lucky them. Perhaps the band will come off the back of this tour and give us one final great album.
They've still got the talent and the energy. Perhaps U2 just need to find their inspiration again.
His review is a real annoyance, even if there is also much positive stuff in there.
