TAKE ME HIGHER
Wednesday night was the second time I got to see U2 live. A bit weird when you consider I have been a fan of this band for almost 30 years. My first show on the Vertigo tour almost exactly 5 years ago was an intensely emotional experience that took me to another place even if I saw the band from quite afar. This time, even if I was overexcited I knew I was capable of being more rational. Wednesday I did RZ on Edge's side and got a nice spot at the rail almost at the tip pointing towards the main GA field. The view of the stage and the band was great (naturally Adam was a bit far - but we did get him a couple of times close on the bridge and the catwalk). The caveat was obviously missing out on the claw visuals and perhaps not getting the feel of the whole stadium. This I think was also due to the half roof that covered all the seats area which gave the place a very different atmosphere than what we're used to at River or Vélez where traditionally all the concerts are held in Buenos Aires. It made the place look smaller than it actually is and the feel was proportional to that perceived size. 360 is definitely a show to attend more than once as to be able to get it all in. At least twice: one from outside the claw (seats, GA at the back) and one inside (pit, GA up front, RZ).
I got to the show at 4 pm which was the time gates were to be opened and since the RZ Will Call point was supposedly to open at 1 pm I predicted a quick pickup and get in. Wrong. I forgot tickets were being run by Ticketek, which is the most sickening company I know. I won't go into details. The only thing I will say is that the Will Call point opened at 3.30 pm (3.33 perhaps???) meaning there was a long queue to pick up the tickets and only two people to serve, who had to check each person's credit card, ID information, deal with off-the-norm situations and go through a pile of envelopes labeled with each ticket holder's name to find the correct one. No queue control which meant some queue jumping from the usual smart arses and hence lining up for one hour and a half under a blazing sun (a kid got sick) to pick up the ticket and bracelet and then queue for another half an hour to get in. It's useful to remember that we paid almost $400 (I mean US dollars) for each of these tickets so I think we deserved better treatment. Finally I managed to get in at 6 pm. The rail was naturally completely taken up but I made second row. But then us gals know how to wangle our way into what we want...
so I finally ended up at my privileged spot at the rail.
At 8 sharp Muse was onstage and did a neat yet powerful 45 minutes set with an excellent sound quality. This point is to be noted since the audio at the beginning of U2's show was a bit fuzzy. (By GOYB old Joe got his act together and the sound was good, but never as clear). So at 9.30 when the clock on the screen was approaching "midnight" (or noon?) we were all set for frenzy. Since I hadn't been following rehearsals information I just expected BD as in the previous few shows, so when I heard the first bars of EBTTRT I was completely out of control - on fire - as we say here: prendida fuego
What a fucking awesome opening! With no time to recover we rush into IWF and hell breaks loose. I thought my heart was about to give out to so much frenzied jumping and yelling (definitely NOT singing) the lyrics (note that I'm only a couple of years younger than Bono!). The opening was definitely a highlight of Wednesday''s performance.
Next we had GOYB which fortunately slid past quickly without much fuss and straight into Magnificent. As much as I love this one I think this slower-tempoed version is somewhat lacking and doesn't do the song any justice. I feel it needs some reworking to be performed live to its full potential. Perhaps a good remix could work better. After the tried and trusted MW off we go to stadium uplifter Elevation. I must admit that I like this one even if I hate the motives behind this type of song. Especially when right after it we get an awesome version of UTEOTW with Edge playing the blues right in front of me just a few feet away on the bridge!
Buenos Aires!!!! Palermo!!!! San Telmo!!!! SAN TELMO!!!?!!!?!! - OMG that's my neighbourhood! and a rather ridiculous band introduction playing with the names of local football players. Sometimes I wish Bono would stop embarrassing himself - U2 don't need to do this. Happy birthday to some friend who's in town led by Edge and on to the anthem ISHWILF. Acoustic version of North Star - most people in the stadium didn't know what it was. Nice albeit the mixup. End of first part of the show.
From this point on the show dives into a pit. Tour into lame city: BD, IALW, Vertigo, COBL. To the surprisingly mild enthusiasm BD awakened, IALW was only noticed because of the inevitable girl onstage. MS (Bono's voice was really good on this one - much better than in 2006) gives us a breath of fresh air but it can't haul this segment up on its own especially when buried in the middle of these four. This was also one of the rare moments we got Bono close. I feel he neglected our side a bit and though he was intense throughout the show I saw him a bit detached unlike Edge who was well into it even if he later hit the Walk In solo on another key. At this point some pumping up was needed and Vertigo did its job (I must admit I joined in) and when I hear Fez/BB I say to myself "phew we're through this", but no it was only a teaser to lead in to the unbearable COBL which had everyone but me jumping. Only nice thing about this one is the screen part.
Dance club time: Discotheque? No. DIGPFYCC? No. Lemon? No. Crazy (!).
I didn't think much of the song originally but could tolerate it, but oh brother this remix is definitely horrid. It rips the song to pieces (which isn't a bad thing in itself coming to think of it) but this version really had me wincing and wondering what they were thinking. And this comes from someone who loves Zooropa, Pop and most of the remixes - I mean the good ones. Fortunately we are rescued by SBS but immediately we're shoved into snoreland: Walk On. Walk On??? Wasn't Aung San Suu Kyi released? Isn't the "rejoice" speech enough? Why the heck are we getting FOUR songs off ATYCLB (and none off TUF, Zooropa or Pop)???? Didn't we get a tour for that album called Elevation Tour or something like it? Where's Unknown Caller or No Line On the Horizon or the less likely (though I'd kill to hear it live) Cedars of Lebanon? Next tour perhaps. Or never. End of show. People content but not over the brim. Well, it's understandable when you decide to end the main set with Walk On of all songs! Proof is there was almost no chanting though everyone knew the band would be back anyway.
1st encore, the obvious, the expected, the beloved... One. "You ask me to enter but then you make me crawl". That line never fails to give me the goosebumps. Up next MOTD. Buenos Aires is stigmatised with this one. They've played it on every single tour here. The song's OK, we're sensitive to the issue, they've already made the point. It's unnecessary. Someone please tell them. Fortunately it was only a snippet to lead on to Streets... in La Plata, the city where the streets have no name....Simply epic.
But we knew there was more. Aliens whistle, Zoo baby...are we getting Ultraviolet????? This was the moment I had been waiting for since I heard UV was being played on this tour, though I suspected that with the addition of EBTTRT the odds were against the invisible light. Sadly my hunch came true. It's Batman's time. A rather flat version of a great song. Not really worth the swap. The letdown is even greater. Laser changes hue and the beautiful and immortal WOWY wraps around us to lead to the grand finale in the hands of that HUGE song, Moment of Surrender, the one that lets me know that U2 still have it and makes me want more.
In sum, a show that started out as a killer, fell somewhat flat in the middle due to a crappy setlist choice and ended in grandeur. I enjoyed it, saw the band close as I never dreamed I would, but I had this feeling that it could have been the show of my life (and believe me I have been to many) and fell short of it. I took me high but I needed U2 to take me higher.