Did You See Us ? We Saw U2 !

This past Saturday night Linda and I were at MSG to see U2 kick off the NY edition of their Innocence and Remembrance tour. Kristin and Kaila gave us the tickets as a gift, and boy are we glad they did. The tickets were marked "BS" so we wondered if our daughters had pulled out all the stops and gotten us back stage passes (let's get there early Lin so we can visit with Bono), but as we soon learned that stood for bar stools. The seats were great and that's no BS !

In 1982 a band in New Jersey named "The Watch" played the gamut of popular New Wave tunes and that was my first exposure to U2. They played "I will follow" although I did not know at that time it was U2. Saturday night Bono stated that "when we started out, we were classified by some as a punk band. And in many ways we still are". After 33 years, its nice to get that genre classification from Bono, although U2's complex music and profound, relevant, socially conscious lyrics are far from punk to me. But who am I to question Bono, the Pope of Rock'n'Roll ?

About 3 songs in, The Edge played the opening chords of "I will follow" and I began to realize that seeing U2 live is unlike anything I have experienced. The crowd was now jumping, fists pumping, and shouting the lyrics as the rules for the evening started to emerge. Perhaps more than anything else a U2 concert is a major technological extravaganza, and although I had heard and read about this, I was pleasantly caught unawares. A huge screen ran the length of the real estate between the main large stage and the distant smaller round stage beneath us. It was 50 feet high and displayed live close-up feeds of the band, video footage, special affects of the live action, animation and U2's famous word association stream of consciousness.

The band never stayed in one place, all members walking, dancing, and running  from stage to stage, under and through the massive main screen, based on how high it was hanging.A rollicking Mysterious Ways was played to a reggae (calypso ?) beat, Bono dancing with a fan  from the crowd. Bono invited 2 fans from the crowd to dance and hang with him, apologizing to another holding a sign "great guitarist", saying that "I've gotten into trouble with the band before by doing something like that".  Bono plugged the smartphone from one of the fans into the main input feed and her texts, icon's and Bonos face and all activity flooded all screens.

Larry Mullin strapped on a portable drum kit reminiscent of the Fife and Drum bands of the American Revolution era for a very stark, stripped "Sunday Bloody Sunday". To think the Fife and Drum era preceded our own civil war by 100 years made this song about a watershed moment in the Irish Civil war even more poignant. A full drum kit was moved twice between the 2 stages, and when a piano appeared on the stage beneath us, with just Bono and The Edge visible, we knew something important was about to happen. As The Edge played the opening notes, I thought "One", but I was setting the bar too low. "October, when kingdoms rise and Kingdoms fall". Wow, I think this was the high-point of the concert for me. From the 1981 album of the same name, this very short diddy features just Bono's voice and the piano. Afterward, his voice I am sure recovering from notes designed for a 1981 Bono, he revealed that "I haven't sung that song in  25 years".

Bono explained that his mother Iris, died when he was 14, and dedicated the song by the same name from their latest album to everyone in the crowd who lost a loved one at an early age.

Crowd pleasers Vertigo (the only offering from Atomic Bomb), With or Without You, City of Blinding lights and Until the End of the World (1 of 3 Achtung Baby titles), Bullet the Blue Sky (1 of 5 from Joshua Tree!) were notable. Encore of Still Haven't Found what I'm Looking For, Where the Streets have No Name and One (sung mostly by the crowd) sent everyone home happy.

Observation: Bono is a huge presence, and truly seems to care about the fans. He introduced the band at least twice, and explained what a large part they play in his life. His stories and philosophical meanderings were priceless and left you wishing he did more of that. A Springsteenesque story-teller he is not.

Startling Observation: perhaps dues to the lights and effect of the video and animation, Bono often reminded me of Robin Williams. DOH !

Grade: B+, if you are a fervent fan, or have never been then upgrade to A.


After seeing U2 in the greatest city in the world with Linda, what can one say other than:

Keep the Faith and Grow the Basil !