Band Really Was Playing
Howdy,
I was at the Conan Show and I assure you that the every band member was definitely really playing his instrument. It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! The sound really filled up that little studio. Everyone told me that Conan's set was small, but I had no idea it would be SO TINY!!!
I'm a big U2 fan (as in I have all their albums and see them every time they're in town, not that I know which band member is lactose intolerant), so it was just a non-stop one-hour thrill. The only awkward parts were during the commercials, when I just didn't know what to do. Here are these amazing rock demi-gods just standing a few feet in front of you, tuning their instruments, making small talk with the crew, and you're just kind of sitting there. Normally, I would want to go up and chat, but that's obviously not acceptable on the set, but I even felt like I should be clapping--"way to drink that soda!"--I mean this is U2! But you're just kind of expected to sit there and wait for Max and the boys to finish up their little interlude music (which is excellent, by the way). My personal highlight was when, as Bono was starting on a short speech (don't get me wrong; I loved his words!), the Edge made eye contact with me and we nodded to each other, as if we were saying "Ah yes, here we go again!"
In short, they were a class act. Unfortunately, they only played four songs--we cheered as long as we could for an encore, but it didn't happen. It's too bad they cut out the end of Vertigo as it was rockin--Bono went even crazier with the camera afterwards--but they also cut out other little bits from the show to maximize the amount of music they could show--plus one of the Edge's comments on "In the Year 2000" was a little too hot for TV. Another one that Conan did just wasn't funny, so they were edited out. We also saw a longer opening bit out in the crowd--it was HILARIOUS!
On a Conan note (king of late night), it's awesome how both he and a warm-up guy come out and spend some time with the crowd before the show to get us worked up. Conan was definitely extremely excited about having U2 on. He kept saying that it was going to be the best show ever and that he actually meant it this time. I couldn't have agreed more!!!
--Jake