What can I say? I spent much of last week listening to an Indigo Girl up close and personal, and “eavesdropping” as she and her dad talked with one another about the spirituality of music and the power of song to transform the world, and it was wonderful; but two and a half hours of U2, even from a distance, left all that in the dust. Well, you might say that U2 embodied much of what they were talking about, and they did so with the energy of a, well, an Atomic Bomb, I guess.
The trip went very smoothly. After a lazy morning, we bummed around Philadelphia all day Saturday, mainly walking around the Reading Terminal Market, which is a huge warehouse with stalls crammed full of foodie delights—ziplock bags of fresh ground spices; refrigerator cases filled with seafood; bin after bin of sumptuous, exotic produce; candy, preserves, pastries. One of these days we will actually live in a city that has one of those public markets, but in the meantime, we will visit and covet.
After a quick dinner we arrived at the Wachovia Center ridiculously early. The opening band went on at 7:30, U2 went on around 9 and wrapped up by 11:30, and we were home by 3 a.m. I was bleary-eyed but happy at worship the next day, and regaled my Sunday School class with tales of the concert (smoke and mirrors for my not exactly knowing my lesson cold, having planned it days before).
There are and will be plenty of reviews of the concert. Here are my highlights:
By contrast, U2 closed their show with “40,” that is, psalm 40. As the audience sang the final line, “How long to sing this song?” again and again and again, Bono shined a hand-held spotlight on the crowd, and the light swept around the arena like a slow wave. Then he placed the spot on the stage next to his microphone, creating a beam of light that shined up to the rafters. Then he reached into his shirt, took off a set of black rosary beads, gently hung them on his microphone, and exited.
Now that’s how to end a concert.
25 Responses to “the concert”
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Asides
» I have been remiss in posting SBJ’s latest stats: 23 pounds and 27 inches at six months. Yes, I’ve got the big mama biceps.
» Aaaaaand little she-who-is lost another tooth this week!
» SBJ is four months old, 19 pounds 5 ounces, and 26 inches tall. GIGANTOR!
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~sighs~ and the rest of us can just dream about it. I am so glad that you got to go.
Yum!
I read recently that our generation is the last to experience collective television moments - “who shot J.R. and that kind of thing.” (Don’t know if this is a good or bad thing.)
So, does U2 provide sociologically collective moments for us musically? I don’t know anyone, county or rock fans alike, that doesn’t love U2.
I can still remember almost every moment of seeing them in concert on the last tour in Atlanta…
I’m so glad y’all got to go.
Why is it whenever I think of “that period” in their career (the unspeakable albums you named but I will not) and then I listen to their newer wonderful stuff, I flashback on Victoria Principal waking up and seeing Patrick Duffy coming out of the shower…
[banging head against monitor]
Frankly, I don’t get you people. Why so quick to throw Zooropa under the bus? I mean, maybe Pop I can understand, but does everything have to be Joshua Tree?
(the unspeakable albums you named but I will not)
“ZOOROPA,” Nascar. I believe you’re thinking of “ZOOROPA.”
Look, Zooropa had some good stuff on it. Numb, Lemon, Stay, Dirty Day, …Some Days Are Better than Others??
Hello? Is this thing on?
It’s a unique album, one of the few I can think of to be so overtly inspired by the tour that preceded it. And Zoo TV was one of the most creative spectacles of the last two decades in the twentieth century.
But you people are angry if it doesn’t have “Where the Streets Have No Name” on it. For shame, people, for shame!!
You ask me (and I know you do), this latest album reminds me why they started getting all experimental, hints of it in their greatest album, Achtung Baby!, then full-blown in Zooropa, then incomprehensible in Pop: The whole Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum sound was growing contrived, recycled, dare I say “stale.” *gasp!*
So maybe they didn’t hit one outta the park, but at least they took it in a new direction. You can only wave a white flag while screaming “Wipe your tears away!” for so long.
I’m glad I could illuminate you all to the truth, before it was too late…
Sincerely,
DC
Music Critic At Large
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T.S. Eliot
Look, every band needs its Ravi Shankar phase. Go, sow your wild oats, discover who you are, then get back to doing what you do. (This is what REM has failed miserably at.) The last two U2 albums are just quintessentially *them*, not recycled from the old days (IMO), but 21st-century riffs on who they are at their core.
The very fact that NOT A SINGLE SONG from the Philly show (nor any other playlist I’ve seen) comes from either of those albums speaks volumes. Like Zooropa if you want, but even they would seem to agree, it’s chaff.
P.S. I’m no Joshua Tree zealot. Many of us liked them before (yes I’m one of those self-righteous fans; also think REM’s Murmur is the stuff dreams are made on). Joshua Tree was their breakthrough album, but I don’t genuflect before it. Good solid record, but one of many. Great cuts on it, but it puts its pants on one leg at a time.
Rattle and Hum, ugh. Am I buggin’ you? Don’t mean to bug ya.
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
–Robert Frost
Like Zooropa if you want, but even they would seem to agree, it’s chaff.
–reverendmother
Forgive them, Father. They know not what they do.
–Jesus Christ
*sigh* Your words fill me with great sadness, RM. They hang heavy upon my soul. Please excuse me - I must now stroll aimlessly around downtown DC, contemplating the weight of these unfortunate developments.
(If you haven’t guessed, it’s a slow Monday here in the newsroom…)
Alright then, at least think about this: If they hadn’t put out those two albums, mercilessly described by “chaff” by certain parties who will remain nameless, you wouldn’t nearly have appreciated the last two as much.
What if ZOOROPA and POP (Nascar) were just two more J-tree clones, bridging the two J-tree clones we’ve received most recently? You wouldn’t have the same level of excitement, right? C’mon, at least throw me that much.
I am but a voice, crying out in the wilderness…
Zooropa I could mostly do without, but I think that “Numb,” “The First Time,” and (most notably, by a long shot) “Stay” are standout cuts.
Pop is uneven, but there’s some truly excellent stuff on there. “Staring at the Sun” is one of my favorite U2 songs, and I also have soft spots for “Discotheque,” “Mofo,” “Wake Up Dead Man,” and (to a lesser extent) “Gone.” If I were U2’s producer for the album and they’d handed Pop to me, I would have been thrilled, and then I would have said, “Excellent … there’s some great raw material to work with here.” before getting back to work — much like what happened with How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if Bomb got a little more work — I could totally do without “Original of the Species,” for example.
I can’t wait to see U2 in New York and DC on the third leg of the tour. It’ll be my first time seeing them since the Joshua Tree tour, and I’ve been a fan since 1982.
Wow. I’m completely ignorant of the U2 mythology. I’m staying out of this one. Glad you had a good time.
Sarah, I view your words as an olive branch - a way to bridge this contentious rift between RM and myself. Let the healing process begin.
While I respect your choices on Pop, I would keep “Discoteque” and “Staring at the Sun,” replacing the other selections with “Playboy Mansion” and “Velvet Dress.” “Miami” is the worst thing the band ever released.
I think your thesis linking Pop and HTDAAB merits considerable discussion.
And I humbly bow to your counsel since you go back to the October era.
Oh Dickie. I bicker because I love.
Dylan also wrote the book, or at least portions of it.
I love the readers of RM’s blog…
DC, I’ll give you Lemon…and the eternal right to your opinion, so long as you keep telling us what it is…cuz even when you are wrong, for example, now, you are witty, articulate, urbane, and self-depricating…This is why I fear for you in DC, where all of those qualities are frowned upon….
Concerts are my favorite religious experiences. There’s nothing like singing along with the Indigo Girls in an open air venu. There’s nothing like experiencing some connection with a HUGE group of people and feeling like a community for just a little while. There’s that little hum and surge of electricity through the crowd. Only music can do this. Even phenomenal preaching can’t come close. This is a blog waiting to happen for me. Of course, I’d have to GO to a concert…
REM, ah, I knew them when. (I really did. I’m from a little town near Athens. I can still fake my way through “Driver 8″.) And I still love them. As a matter of fact, as much as I want to be cool and love Atomic Bomb the most, I dl’ed Around the Sun from iTunes at the same time and it’s still getting more playing time for me.
I manage to hit a lot of concerts each year, but apparently of a totally different ilk. I’ve never seen anything like you’ve described. Well, once a violinist threw a little tantrum while leaving the stage….
Sounds like quite an event, and I will not even try to jump into the evaluative conversation here!
RM writes “Rattle and Hum, ugh. Am I buggin’ you? Don’t mean to bug ya.”
Well, you have.
I love Rattle and Hum.
And you really haven’t bugged me. Just thought I’d go with your (Mr Vox’s) flow.
And I still love my concert shirt! and the weekend with C!
I read some sociologist once, can’t remember the name, who compared rock concerts and hollywood to the bachic rites of the ancient world. I think the main point was that humans have always needed ways to transcend the order of society in ways that fully engaged a sort of primal expression that the very order disallows. This made some sense to me of the “religious” nature of rock concerts — sort of a liminal opportunity (in Victor Turner’s language) - pressing to the edges of civilizing structures in order to reclaim something that gets lost despite what is gained through the regular order.
And you, Mr. Cloudy, have just hit on one of the main points of the Saliers/Saliers book we read for the class last week.
a peak concert experience for me was when itzhak perlman—i think that’s who it was, anyway he was a physically-challenged string player/ (is that do how you spell his name?) and the conductor of the national symphony orchestra (can’t recall who, mayabe slatkin) came out on the stage at an outdoor venue at the same time. the conductor carried perlman’s instrument (is it a violin or viola, i can’t recall). perlman, using braced crutches (the things that hook around the forearm) carried the conductor’s baton. after they were both onstage, they traded. i cried.
Yes, Anne, it *is* Perlman. He got polio at age 4 and has been on crutches ever since. He plays the violin, has 5 children (all pretty musical he says). Started playing the violin at age 5. Has a great sense of humor, btw, and makes jokes about his strong arms able to maneuver the crutches carrying such a big load (pointing to his stomach)….how do I know all these things?
Watching Perlman on Mr. Rogers with C this past weekend…
oh, mamala, don’t even get me started on mr. rogers. when he died i called each of our three adult children to personally tell them of his death—like he was a member of the family or something. in a way, he was.
I am now compelled to point out…
Mr. Rogers. Presbyterian Pastor.
As much as I love Perlman, and I truly do, watching Yo-Yo Ma is a transformative experience…It is as though one is witnessing something spiritual, sensual, and intimate all at the same time…His rapport with the cello is jaw-droppingly incredible.
And I’m hoping Mr. Rogers is my dorm R.A. in heaven.
several years ago yo yo ma did a 3 or 4 part tv collaboration w/ folks from other artistic disciplines. i can’t recall all of them, but i think one was w/ either an architect or a landscape architect and i think one was w/ dancers. when two completely different disciplines are joined the sum is…well you know the rest of that story.
don’t know whether they’re available on dvd, but they’re worth catching if you ever get the chance.
when I was a student in div school, the U had a regular hit parade of speakers….coretta scott king, clintons, maya angelou…and bunches of other smarty, smart pants big famous muckity mucks.
the speaker that commanded the largest audience?
Mr. Rogers.
I love him.
A very good friend of mine just took a call to a church in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. Her new office? Constructed and furnished with money he left the church. As in “The person who gave the money to make ML’s new office was Fred Rogers.”
Sigh…I miss having little kids. Sometimes.
This has morphed a long way from U2.