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So, some of you might have heard, I saw U2 on Thursday....
Tickets were expensive as hell, and we were sitting literally five rows from the top, so I was thinking: This better be good.
We've seen Duran Duran twice this year and the Eagles once. In the past, we've seen Disturbed (twice), Goo Goo Dolls (twice), Incubus, and I saw Hootie and the Blowfish when I was thirteen. And I may have seen the Backstreet Boys with my sister-in-law for my nineteenth birthday. So far, the Eagles have been sitting smugly at the top of Felak's Concert-going Castle.
They're now sharing that space. Bono, meet Don. Don...Bono.
U2. Was. Freaking. Awesome.
They opened with "The City of Blinding Lights," which always makes me think about Tirion for some reason. (Okay, I couldn't have an LJ post and not mention Elves!) I always gain a soft spot for any song with pretty lyrics and a lack of "Ooooh, baby" and similar vapid-minded hogwash, and so "The City of Blinding Lights" does me quite well. "A city lit by fireflies..." mmmmm.... It's actually my favorite track off of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. (Before my husband told me on the way to the concert, I never knew the title to this song and always called it "Track Five." Because it's the fifth track on the CD. I'm so creative.) So, when they started playing it for their opening song, I went, "Squeee! It's Track Five!" <--dork
The stage was interesting. The main stage was small and kind of oval. Out from the main stage was a huge ring around which they could--and did--walk. Of course, when we got to our seats, I had to make a joke about "the One Ring," earning looks from Bobby and Potter.
Around the stage and the "ring" were running multi-colored lights that did pretty things to match the different songs.
For some songs, they lowered a curtain of lights behind the stage. Of course, during "The City of Blinding Lights," the curtain was down with patterns reminiscent of a cityscape. It was probably the prettiest stage set-up that I've ever seen at a rock concert.
Of course, I wasn't there to look at the stage....
They played "Vertigo" second, which surprised me, as I figured they'd open with that one. (Not that I was complaining!) After that came "Elevation," which kicked up the crowd a bit (including my husband for whom--I didn't know this before last night--"Elevation" is his favorite song).
I've been to plenty of concerts where the singer chats up the audience. Actually, all of the concerts except Incubus, were this way. But none have ever blended it so seamlessly as Bono did. The band would play the theme of the song in the background, and he'd start talking and it just fit with the music. Of course, he talked about world issues, namely the AIDS crisis in Africa and world poverty. He made things seem possible.
And it occured to me then why I love their music so much.
They are upbeat. Upbeat but not sappy. Two of my favorite songs are "Beautiful Day" and "The Sweetest Thing"; both are such beautiful songs, uplifting in a way that doesn't make you feel like you need a barf bag nearby. Except for the songs that talk about real world situations, I cannot think of a wholly dark U2 song. *waits for another U2 fan to point out the one I've certainly missed* But there's no angst, depression, that marks so much modern music today. Some bands market based on this. (Stabbing Westward comes to mind. Oh, I want to get those poor guys some Prozac...but not really, as I like their angsty songs.) It's all upbeat, beautiful music and beautiful lyrics. Throughout the concert, I kept thinking that I wanted to quote a song or piece of song in my journal, like I did for Duran Duran, but every song, a stanza or two would beg to be the one, and I couldn't choose.
The middle of the concert focuses mainly on their old stuff. The stadium came all the more alive for "Bloody Sunday"; even up in the nosebleeds, we were on our feet. And we stayed on our feet.
Then they played "Where the Streets Have No Name." Oh, Eru.
(This is Felak's favorite U2 song.)
I didn't pee on the floor with happiness, as I'd threatened, but I did sing to the whole thing. Really, though, this wasn't a big deal. I sang to the whole concert.
At times, Bono would stop singing and let the crowd sing in his stead. Not a big deal--most bands do this. I think it strokes their egos to hear thousands of people singing their words to them. But never, never in my concert-going experience have I heard a crowd sing like this one did. I think every person was singing along. The room was full of voices; all the dischordant ones (like mine) were negated by their neighbors; it was beautiful and very powerful. We sang entire versus. Everyone knew the words. But of course.
Bono spoke about how DC has always been a special place to him, and I'd never thought of it, but I suppose it has. Given his political activism, this place is the crux of his success. He spoke of his recent triumph this week, in securing more money for funding the purchase of antivirals for the African AIDS crisis. (In some places there, one in three people have HIV. Businesses literally hire three people for every job opening, with the expectation that AIDS will wipe out at least one of them.) This was a special week for him, he said, full of hope. The music reflected it.
They ended on "One" and then did two encores. When it was over, our ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton from the sound and my voice was raw from singing.
Afterward, I laughingly told Bobby: What a stereotypical band to number among my favorites! Here is a group that preaches peace, coexistence, activism. At one point, Bono sang, "Love and peace!" with the peace sign. He had the audience sing, "Power with the people."
Felak was very, very happy. I'm still in the midst of afterglow, more than a day later.
If you have not already, please add your name to the list at The One Campaign to eliminate world poverty. It is a wonderful and simple gesture: It will literally take you ten seconds. (I just did mine.) The hope was to have one million signatures by years end. They have two million already.
But that is no reason to stop now :)
Tickets were expensive as hell, and we were sitting literally five rows from the top, so I was thinking: This better be good.
We've seen Duran Duran twice this year and the Eagles once. In the past, we've seen Disturbed (twice), Goo Goo Dolls (twice), Incubus, and I saw Hootie and the Blowfish when I was thirteen. And I may have seen the Backstreet Boys with my sister-in-law for my nineteenth birthday. So far, the Eagles have been sitting smugly at the top of Felak's Concert-going Castle.
They're now sharing that space. Bono, meet Don. Don...Bono.
U2. Was. Freaking. Awesome.
They opened with "The City of Blinding Lights," which always makes me think about Tirion for some reason. (Okay, I couldn't have an LJ post and not mention Elves!) I always gain a soft spot for any song with pretty lyrics and a lack of "Ooooh, baby" and similar vapid-minded hogwash, and so "The City of Blinding Lights" does me quite well. "A city lit by fireflies..." mmmmm.... It's actually my favorite track off of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. (Before my husband told me on the way to the concert, I never knew the title to this song and always called it "Track Five." Because it's the fifth track on the CD. I'm so creative.) So, when they started playing it for their opening song, I went, "Squeee! It's Track Five!" <--dork
The stage was interesting. The main stage was small and kind of oval. Out from the main stage was a huge ring around which they could--and did--walk. Of course, when we got to our seats, I had to make a joke about "the One Ring," earning looks from Bobby and Potter.
Around the stage and the "ring" were running multi-colored lights that did pretty things to match the different songs.
For some songs, they lowered a curtain of lights behind the stage. Of course, during "The City of Blinding Lights," the curtain was down with patterns reminiscent of a cityscape. It was probably the prettiest stage set-up that I've ever seen at a rock concert.
Of course, I wasn't there to look at the stage....
They played "Vertigo" second, which surprised me, as I figured they'd open with that one. (Not that I was complaining!) After that came "Elevation," which kicked up the crowd a bit (including my husband for whom--I didn't know this before last night--"Elevation" is his favorite song).
I've been to plenty of concerts where the singer chats up the audience. Actually, all of the concerts except Incubus, were this way. But none have ever blended it so seamlessly as Bono did. The band would play the theme of the song in the background, and he'd start talking and it just fit with the music. Of course, he talked about world issues, namely the AIDS crisis in Africa and world poverty. He made things seem possible.
And it occured to me then why I love their music so much.
They are upbeat. Upbeat but not sappy. Two of my favorite songs are "Beautiful Day" and "The Sweetest Thing"; both are such beautiful songs, uplifting in a way that doesn't make you feel like you need a barf bag nearby. Except for the songs that talk about real world situations, I cannot think of a wholly dark U2 song. *waits for another U2 fan to point out the one I've certainly missed* But there's no angst, depression, that marks so much modern music today. Some bands market based on this. (Stabbing Westward comes to mind. Oh, I want to get those poor guys some Prozac...but not really, as I like their angsty songs.) It's all upbeat, beautiful music and beautiful lyrics. Throughout the concert, I kept thinking that I wanted to quote a song or piece of song in my journal, like I did for Duran Duran, but every song, a stanza or two would beg to be the one, and I couldn't choose.
The middle of the concert focuses mainly on their old stuff. The stadium came all the more alive for "Bloody Sunday"; even up in the nosebleeds, we were on our feet. And we stayed on our feet.
Then they played "Where the Streets Have No Name." Oh, Eru.
(This is Felak's favorite U2 song.)
I didn't pee on the floor with happiness, as I'd threatened, but I did sing to the whole thing. Really, though, this wasn't a big deal. I sang to the whole concert.
At times, Bono would stop singing and let the crowd sing in his stead. Not a big deal--most bands do this. I think it strokes their egos to hear thousands of people singing their words to them. But never, never in my concert-going experience have I heard a crowd sing like this one did. I think every person was singing along. The room was full of voices; all the dischordant ones (like mine) were negated by their neighbors; it was beautiful and very powerful. We sang entire versus. Everyone knew the words. But of course.
Bono spoke about how DC has always been a special place to him, and I'd never thought of it, but I suppose it has. Given his political activism, this place is the crux of his success. He spoke of his recent triumph this week, in securing more money for funding the purchase of antivirals for the African AIDS crisis. (In some places there, one in three people have HIV. Businesses literally hire three people for every job opening, with the expectation that AIDS will wipe out at least one of them.) This was a special week for him, he said, full of hope. The music reflected it.
They ended on "One" and then did two encores. When it was over, our ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton from the sound and my voice was raw from singing.
Afterward, I laughingly told Bobby: What a stereotypical band to number among my favorites! Here is a group that preaches peace, coexistence, activism. At one point, Bono sang, "Love and peace!" with the peace sign. He had the audience sing, "Power with the people."
Felak was very, very happy. I'm still in the midst of afterglow, more than a day later.
If you have not already, please add your name to the list at The One Campaign to eliminate world poverty. It is a wonderful and simple gesture: It will literally take you ten seconds. (I just did mine.) The hope was to have one million signatures by years end. They have two million already.
But that is no reason to stop now :)
