Bono Performs Running To Stand Still at Glen Hansard's Annual Dublin Busk

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This was really an incredible rendition. Bono's voice has evolved in his advanced age, but he is finding it.
 
The seemingly arbitrary lyric changes at the beginning were kinda dumb but this got better as it went along.

Just relieved that he broke out the harp at the end, I was worried he wouldn't.
 
That was great.

He seemed timid, but (a) it fit the mood, and (b) he hasn’t had to sing in 2 years, he’s just got some rust to knock off. If we get more U2 shows, he’ll get back into shape for them.
 
Awesome. Chills when he got into it at the 2:00 mark and harmonica. Superb backing. Only wish he had been less timid with the halleluiah ending.
 
I had the same thought about whether this is an insight into the acoustic stuff they talked about recently. If so then I’m excited. Could you image this RTSS arrangement with Edge making some subtle magic in the backgorund! Would be great.

The thing I like best is Bono giving up on the strained high register vocals and finally using his lower register. The whisper when he’d normally hit those high notes fits the arrangement and mood perfectly.

Bono needs to sing beneath the music rather than wanting to dominate it.
 
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A couple things. Definitely a good performance and cool with the Hallelujah backing with the musicians. Of course the acoustic thing came to mind here. While this would be a good one, does it really do anything new? I really don't think so. This pretty much a more low-key and not as gripping performance of the ZooTV version which was the peak for this song in my opinion. Adam made it seem like they were trying to "reimagine" songs that would bring a new perspective and emotion to them. So not sure this fits that bill. But still sounds great.

I do like to hear Bono in the lower register as I think it would be cool to hear more of that in new songs they are working on. Definitely lends itself to a more elder statesman, accepting their place in time and not trying to have Bono strain to hit notes that come off a bit... meh.

When I first saw this, I had just listened to an album by someone that my brother recommended. A piano singer songwriter who did a full album, I believe at this church. And I was thinking how that would be a cool idea for U2 if they do the acoustic thing, to record in a special place with it's own incredible acoustics to lend to a different sound.
 
This brought such a smile to my face. Merry Christmas to everyone still around…
 
God, this was amazing. To paraphrase the great Leon Black, Bono fuckin' brung it. His voice has...entered a new phase, and while it's kinda sad it could also be very powerful and be a catalyst for a new direction.
 
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His voice is worrisome, but he’s inhabiting the character particularly well here, and he just *feels* things in a way that no other rock star does.

Really good.
 
I really enjoyed that performance and has been said, the vocal was perfect for the arrangement and he wasn't straining at any point.

He is looking old though, which I know has been done to death on here, but I still find it a shock sometimes, even with the hard time of it he's had over the last 6/7 years.
 
Finally watched.

The best I've felt about this band since the JT32 shows of 2019.

Just goes to show that Bono has still fucking got it. The man who turned in an embarrassing, horrendous vocal performance for the Sing 2 soundtrack delivers a flawless rendition of my favourite U2 song. I started crying when I realised they were doing the hallelujah coda, and then lost it when he did the harmonica. Such a fucking special song.

Ugh :heart:
 
I'm surprised to see so many people worrying about his voice. Have a listen to the abomination that is Song Saved My Life, or any of the horrendous pop tracks from the last album, where he's straining his voice to go to a place it can't anymore. Here, he's singing within his limits and it's beautiful. On Song Saved My Life he sounds absolutely atrocious.

The seemingly arbitrary lyric changes at the beginning were kinda dumb but this got better as it went along.

Agreed, although he's been singing it with those changes for years now. Nice that he left "we're", usually that gets changed to "I'm" I think.

The thing I like best is Bono giving up on the strained high register vocals and finally using his lower register. The whisper when he’d normally hit those high notes fits the arrangement and mood perfectly.

Bono needs to sing beneath the music rather than wanting to dominate it.

Totally agree, and on this...

God, this was amazing. To paraphrase the great Leon Black, Bono fuckin' brung it. His voice has...entered a new phase, and while it's kinda sad it could also be very powerful and be a catalyst for a new direction.

Call me crazy but i think Bono will be revitalized as an artist in his 60s

There's so much potential here. I've been saying this for fucking years, but if he and the band just ditched the relevance thing and sung and performed within their limits, they could completely revitalise their career AND get all the praise they're trying to get going the banal pop route.

I listen to a song like Cedars of Lebanon - THAT is what I want. Bono's singing within his limits as a 60yo man and he sounds fantastic.

When I first saw this, I had just listened to an album by someone that my brother recommended. A piano singer songwriter who did a full album, I believe at this church. And I was thinking how that would be a cool idea for U2 if they do the acoustic thing, to record in a special place with it's own incredible acoustics to lend to a different sound.

Nick Cave did this last year with Idiot Prayer - performed and recorded solo piano versions of his songs in an empty Alexandria Palace. I'd be all for a U2 version of that.
 
I echo what everyone else has said. What an amazing performance. Heartfelt. Beautifully understated. Simple yet powerful. I'd love to see more of this. However, I don't make the leap some are making from here to "see, he's got to stop trying to do xyz that he can't do anymore and do this."

There have been plenty of inspired vocal performances- both studio and live- in recent years. Just take Raised by Wolves, Red Flag Day and Crystal Ballroom as examples. Sounds very youthful and energetic. Or look at live performances of I Will Follow and Electric Co the last few tours. Still keeping up with those. Let's not lose site of that.

Anyways, I digress. Regardless of abilities or going for notes or whatever, anyone who watched this would have to admit this kind of performance is right in Bono's wheelhouse these days. I hope he pays attention to that.

I also hope the band leans further into what they've started in the 2010s decade- namely the 2011 leg of 360 with AB- and acknowledges that while they always will look forward, their greatest asset is their amazing catalog. It's okay to lean on that! When they have, reviews have been very positive. Angel of Harlem and Beautiful Day on Fallon in 2015. Bullet on Fallon in 2017. JT 30 tour. The list goes on.

I just hope they're gradually realizing that a performance like this is going to have far, far more impact and get much more praise than forcing Get Out of Your Own Way on a freezing barge in front of the whole damn world.

I think many of us here, myself included, underestimate the good will that JT 30 brought them. I attended the San Diego show and there was another big act in town around the same time. Forget who it was- may have been GNR. I was talking to some people in the hotel hot tub who complained that the other act they saw played too short of a setlist and not enough songs people knew.

They were very interested in my seeing U2 and wanted to know how it stacked up. These were casual music fans who had no more knowledge of U2 than the average non fan. I explained how they started with the 4 iconic Pre JT songs (SBS, NYD, Bad, Pride), then did JT straight through to the encore. I described the encore as a hand full of songs that came after JT in their career- highlighting BD, Vertigo and One.

They all looked at each other, nodding in agreement and one guy finally said "that sounds like a really great show." A younger woman then chimed in "yeah, I don't even like U2, but that's an amazing way to structure a set. I would see that show."

And of course, I had walked out of the stadium the night before with my setlist complaints firmly in place. I got acoustic best thing and no I Will Follow or Little Things. For all of us, myself included, it was a reminder that sometimes we need to take a step back and see what we've got with this band.

Including pointing out some GREAT things that have happened with them over the last 10 years. For me, at the top of that list is their willingness to dig in the catalog more and actually embrace their past.
 
They're certainly embraced some more obscure album tracks, including major fan favorites like Acrobat. But if they were truly embracing their past, they'd at least acknowledge that Pop exists.

But next year is the 25th anniversary, so I guess the window hasn't completely closed yet.
 
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