Bono & Edge Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela at 90 concert!

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I was at the gig in Hyde Park and it sounded very well indeed over the PA. The video was shown in a perfect spot right before headliners Queen. The crowd responded almost as if they were there and sang along with the chorus. A perfect day!
 
That's cool, and good to hear from both u2search and pride346, since someone else mentioned that it didn't get a very good response from the crowd... maybe it just was the parts of the crowd you guys were in. Very cool that you were there!
 
pride346 said:
I was at the Hyde Park concert on Friday night & it was a great moment when the video was played-very emotional.
Nelson Mandela visited London last August to unveil a statue of himself in Parliament Square & he announced then that he hoped to return in 2008 for a 46664 concert to celebrate his 90th birthday.The timing of it is probably logistical / costs.As it is a charity event, it will have saved them some of the costs to have it this weekend when the same stage set up etc is also being used for 2 other major concerts-Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow & John Mayer gig on Saturday night & The Police , KT Tunstall & Starsailor on Sunday night.Nelson Mandela has been in UK since last Monday for other events climaxing with the concert on Friday night.Now he can spend his actual birthday-18th July- back home in South Africa with his family & friends.
I had been hoping for Bono & Edge to appear in person at the concert, but in the end wasn't too disappointed as I felt the video worked really well-a polished performance.With it being pre-recorded there was no chance of any potentially embarassing mistakes being made.It would have been a difficult song to sing live & with the show being watched globally by millions on tv, internet etc this was probably in their thinking.
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hey pride346, thanks for your eyewitness report back from the concert!

What a fabulous opportunity that you had to be there.:applaud:



I was wondering if some of the reason for the timing of this concert wasn't also logistical - and your response confirms that possibility.

The timing of the concert was probably a combination of factors.


I appreciate the fact that you realize just how hard Wonder's "Happy Birthday" is to sing. It has a style all its own and is part talk/part song.


You are correct that for Bono & Edge to perform it live (and acoustically) might have made those potentially embarassing mistakes occur so maybe that was part of their decision to stay on video. :wink:


Anyway, thanks again for your input into this thread and thanks to all the posters as some of your comments were really quite humorous....and I could use a good laugh right now. :sexywink:
 
VH1 keep's showing little teaser pic's of Bono and The Edge everytime they go to commercial.
Even though I've seen the video countless time's, they know what will draw viewer's (fan's) attention. :wink:
I'm there.. :sexywink:
 
Queen is on right now. Brian May's hair really frightens me. This is a good smilie for his hair: :crazy: Queen is to my brother what U2 is to me. He forced me to see them a few years ago with what's his face from Bad Company as the singer. Not bad really but still not my cup o' tea by any means. :tsk:
 
Bona Vox said:
There was a concert exactly 20 years ago, where musicians called for Mandela's release from prison. It was called "The Mandela Freedom At 70 Campaign". I think that's why it was yesterday and not on his actual birthday...
I really loved Bono's and Edge's birthday song. Bono had such a strong voice! :applaud:
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This just brought to mind that the turn of the decade from the 80's to 90's was truly a time of great change with the end of the Soviet Union as we knew it and DDR and the Berlin wall coming down and also the end of apartheid in South Africa and the release of Nelson Mandela, all these events demonstrate that real and positive change is possible! :yes:
 
hcbiggs2002 said:
This just brought to mind that the turn of the decade from the 80's to 90's was truly a time of great change with the end of the Soviet Union as we knew it and DDR and the Berlin wall coming down and also the end of apartheid in South Africa and the release of Nelson Mandela, all these events demonstrate that real and positive change is possible! :yes:
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Very well said!
 
hey pride were you wearing a U2 shirt?
just thought id ask, i saw someone on TV with one on!
 
I watched the VH1 show last night. I wonder how many artists actually performed, because it didn't seem like they showed that many. They had Amy Winehouse on at the end with tons of people on stage singing the Specials song "Free Nelson Mandela". Don't know why she got to sing the whole thing. Saw Annie Lennox there, but never heard her perform. That must be VH1's programming decision :der: Showed one song each from Leona Lewis, Will Smith, Simple Minds, Amy Winehouse (2 songs, I forwarded thru one), um... Josh Groban with someone (I forwarded thru this too), and... I can't remember much else :scratch:

And I liked the Queen performance with Paul Rodgers. I love Paul's voice, and saw them perform a couple of years ago at the Hollywood Bowl. I know it's not Freddy (RIP). But I was fortunate to see the original Queen back in the day :heart:
 
Just heard the birthday song for the first time, and although it has been said a hundred times before in this thread, I have to say it once more: Bono's voice sounds so fantastic!! I wasn't to keen to listen to it, because I'm not really a Stevie Wonder fan, but their version of this song was so fresh and beautiful. Can't wait for the new album ... It seems such a long time till October.
 
saro said:
Just heard the birthday song for the first time, and although it has been said a hundred times before in this thread, I have to say it once more: Bono's voice sounds so fantastic!! I wasn't to keen to listen to it, because I'm not really a Stevie Wonder fan, but their version of this song was so fresh and beautiful. Can't wait for the new album ... It seems such a long time till October.
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agree . We'll be getting the first single long before Oct. :hyper:
 
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MBD2.jpg


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I finally got to watch the entire concert, the other night on cable. I loved Bono and Edge's performance of the Stevie Wonder song, "Happy Birthday."

Nelson Mandella seem to be in great spirits. Here's to him, and I hope he lives to be 100 years young!
 
pride346 said:
With it being pre-recorded there was no chance of any potentially embarassing mistakes being made.It would have been a difficult song to sing live & with the show being watched globally by millions on tv, internet etc this was probably in their thinking.
Click to expand...

Not an "embarassing mistake", but even though it was pre-recorded, Edge still makes a minor flub. And its really only noticeable if you watch the vid on the happybirthdaymandela.com site where you don't hear the crowd noise.

I play guitar and was trying to learn the song by playing along with the recording...thats how I noticed it. Edge almost switches chords too early going from the 1st verse into the pre-chorus. You can see his fingers lift, hear a few wrong notes and then he quickly gets back to the right chord. Bono kinda looks at him mid-lyric and smiles and Edge kinda looks down and smiles kinda like "oops!" lol

So even pre-recorded, mistakes can happen...and it makes me love Edge even more!! :love:

And gosh did they both sound great! Bono's voice was just...:drool:
 
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