First 4 times I saw it...nothing. Like I was expecting the flood or rush...that never came.
It happened at Chicago 3 though, not like always...but close. He finally had his rhythm of the "Also an African dream, from the bridge of Selma on the Mississippi to the mouth of the river Nile, from the swamplands of Louisiana, Bigotry!.. to the high peaks of Kilimanjaro...from Dr. Kings America...to Nelson Mandela's Africa...the journey of equality moves on...ON!" speech. He finally believed his own words it seemed. Conviction was in the delivery, and that was conveyed to me.
The imagery there of the crossing of the bridge from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama...the Nile...the mountain peaks, the heartland of America. He is a poet. He is a master showman. He isn't always spontaneous though...and it takes him a while to hit his best notes sometimes.
I have always been a fan of U2's idea of America. Their criticism and praise isn't always well received...but their version is a country I want to live in. They have always helped me visualize what it is I find good in this country and what needs work. It is that irish sensibility that I remember from my first generation grandmother. Tell it like it is, the truth. This country embraces the memory of Dr. King...sometimes. It embraces its race history...sometimes. It is the heat of the contradictions that are so uniquely American. U2 has always been able to paint with these colors more vividly and with more passion than others. Perhaps they understand what it is to be American...not the geography or economics of it...but the spirit of what so many of us want it to be. The Ellis Island stories, the big ideas, going to the moon, race riots, bigotry, religion, the Irish American story, foreign policy, the good, the bad, and the ugly. The underdog...bleading from his lip...but still fighting. A blue collar band with aspirations of royalty. Is there anything more American? Street's celebrates this...and connects this countries tumultuous past with present day Africa. It is the most challenging version of the song I have seen, and I thank them for it.