U2Man said:
Great .- which papers are you referring to, are there any who have their reviews online?
THE GUARDIAN
by Dorian Lynskey
Some rock bands use a world tour itinerary as a chance for sightseeing. Bono takes the opportunity to bend the ears of world leaders over debt relief. The day before the first European date of U2's Vertigo tour, he shared a press conference with the president of the European commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, who confessed to finding inspiration in lyrics from Zooropa.
The two hemispheres of Bono's public life are now inseparable. When he roars the set opener, Vertigo, you find yourself thinking, Hey, isn't that the guy from the Labour party conference? During Beautiful Day it's a case of, Hey, isn't that the guy from the Labour party conference? Boiling down complicated geopolitical issues into the kind of sentiments that get stadiums on their feet is a tightrope walk but Bono is as much preacher or politician as rock singer; when he rushes to the front of the stage's protruding walkway, he could be a faith healer.
In recent interviews, the 45-year-old frontman's avowed mission has been to communicate with as many people as possible, no longer willing to risk confusing the slow ones at the back. U2's unadorned opening sprint through rockers such as Elevation and Vertigo is merely an aperitif for a run of songs which blur the borders between stadium rock and political theatre. Anyone who finds Bono unbound a bit hard to take is advised to sprint for the exits the moment he dons a headband spelling out COEXIST, using the symbols of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. This later gets pulled down over his eyes in an obvious evocation of Abu Ghraib.
There is more where that came from: the UN declaration of human rights scrolling down a bank of screens during Pride (In the Name of Love); a kaleidoscope of world flags to accompany Where the Streets Have No Name; a speech about G8 preceding One. During an encore that reprises the black farce of the Zoo TV extravaganza, Bono, never knowingly understated, goosesteps across the stage. On paper it seems dangerously heavyhanded, but U2 have a gift for alchemy.
Stadium rock, with its Brobdignagian bombast, is a wretched invention; only U2 consistently use it to take risks. The tightrope may wobble, but U2 never lose their balance.
© Guardian, 2005.
THE INDERPENDENT
by Pierre Perrone
The launch of U2's European tour is an event which makes front page news and fills seven pages of La Belgique Libre and the other Brussels papers.
Bono has been meeting European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and banging the drum for Africa ahead of Live8 but can the biggest and most committed rock group in the world still deliver in a stadium? Sixty thousand Belgian fans certainly think so.
Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen Jr and Adam Clayton, all wearing black, stroll in casually and set out their stall with a garage-y "Vertigo", the lead off single from the latest album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
The tour has already played to half a million fans in the US and grossed $41m (£22.6m) but the U2 juggernaut is only just getting started. Indeed there is the feeling that the band are limbering back up to speed on the first night of their European tour.
As the Edge windmills through "Until The End Of the World" while Bono jumps up on the spot before planting a kiss on Adam Clayton's cheek. As singer and guitarist venture on to ramps which lead away form the main stage into the middle of the crowd, the show shifts up a gear.
On their US dates U2 have been going back to their Boy album. As the group feel their way back in they offer a Euro-friendly set but still manage to inject as much energy into "The Electrical Company" as when I first saw them 24 years ago.
The Edge's guitar riffs reach to the back of the stadium as Bono throws water over the front rows and sings to the heavens. He has always been one for the grand gesture and invokes the rock'n'roll spirit of other bands . He croaks a snatch of "I Can See For Miles" - The Who were a defining influence on the Irish band. Later, Bono ad libs The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun" and the Walker Brothers' "There's No Regrets".
The singer compares the crowd to a little box of chocolates and says: "I'm going to take a little bite out of every one of you" - and the Belgians lap it up.
They play "Elevation" before Edge multi-tasks at the piano and guitar for "New Year's Day", which segues into "Beautiful Day" - rescued from its Premiership hell. The Edge turns out to be U2's secret weapon and remains arguably the most innovative guitarist in rock since Jimi Hendrix.
His stellar playing shines through time and again, his trademark atmospheric chimes sending shivers down the spine as he glitters all over "City Of Blinding Lights".
With its reflective lyrics, "They're Advertising In The Skies For People Like Us", the track tells U2's story - the story of a band that believed harder than most and triumphed where their early contemporaries The Skids, Joy Division, Simple Minds and Echo & The Bunnymen failed to stay the course.
U2 still manage to shake stadium rock to its foundations. Twenty six years on they draw over 50 per cent of their live set from their two most recent albums - a feat that the Rolling Stones have never managed. They are still the biggest band in the world.
© Independent, 2005.
dont worry to much about news paper reviews, the UK tabloids have slagged U2 off in the past, and now they seem to be all over them
(don't mean to be a chauvinistic piggy but I think this time Im' allowed
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