Review: U2 In Concert
Last Sunday, I got to fulfill a lifelong dream by seeing the 2nd greatest band of all time IN CONCERT. IN THE FLESH. It was the 2nd great concert for me in as many months, but this one was unlike any other I had ever attended. I finally put together some excited thoughts on the once-in-a-lifetime experience I got to have.
The Venue
The first indication that this was a show unlike any other I'd seen was the sheer size of the venue. Previously, the biggest concert I'd been to was Coldplay, who played in Atlanta's NBA arena. That show felt huge to me, but this? This was massive. Ford Field is an indoor stadium, but it may have well been an outdoor venue with how high up the seats go and how expansive the ceiling is. (Completely unnecessary but satisfying side note: it was great to stand on the field where this happened.) I worried that with the roof enclosing us, the volume might actually destroy my eardrums, but they balanced it well, to the point where it was quite loud but not overwhelmingly so. I guess after 40 years or so of touring, they've kind of got this whole thing down.
The Opener
Another funny thing about seeing a globally famous band is that you've actually heard of their openers. On this tour, U2 has had Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers, and OneRepublic all as openers, but our opener was (for the first time on their tour) Beck. If you have paid fairly close attention to current music over the last 15 years, you probably know who Beck is from "Loser", "Devil's Haircut" "Girl", and more. If you haven't, you may know him as the guy who beat out Beyonce for Album of the Year 2 years ago, touching off a Kanye tweetstorm. Anyways, point is: Beck's been around for a while and he's made some good music. He was a great opener! Very high-energy, played to a nice big crowd, had a chill and gracious onstage demeanor, and ran through most of his biggest songs. It set the tone nicely for a great show, and turned me into a Beck fan.
The Setlist: Part 1
After over an hour of waiting between sets, most of the lights went out, and all of a sudden, Larry Mullen was walking down the runway to a small stage out in the middle of the crowd. Then, all of a sudden, the famous gut-punching drum intro to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was starting. Then, all of a sudden, The Edge and Adam Clayton were walking onto the stage, strumming. Then, all of a sudden, Bono was cooing into the microphone, then walking onto the stage as well, singing "I can't believe the news today!" It's pretty surreal to all of a sudden see the band you've grown up on maybe 40 feet away from you, opening their show with your favorite song. The transition from SBS into "New Year's Day" was seamless, and after that song Bono gave a trademark mini-sermon about being together and healing, about how "left and right, all are welcome here". He concluded by saying, "Maybe some of you need to find something tonight, maybe some of you need to let something go....just let it go", and the recognizable chords to "Bad" began. I teared up for the 2nd time. They then played "New Year's Day," which also sounded more heartfelt than usual. And then...
The Setlist: Part 2
The organ to "Where the Streets Have No Name" began, and the 4 walked back up the runway to the main stage where they were dwarfed by a screen nearly the width of the field (more on that in a minute). I teared up for the 3rd time of the night, because this was THE song I've wanted to see in concert my whole life, and it sounded just about as incredible as I could have hoped. From there, they played the entire Joshua Tree discography. I don't want to gloss over the entire setlist, but don't also want to break down every single song. The main things to know were that:
The visuals were remarkable. The screen typically displayed breathtaking landscapes of Southwestern America, the kind of landscapes that inspired Joshua Tree, but also often would show the band in the middle section while using the vast side panels to display little mini-videos. There was effective use of distorted cameras and multiple other effects.
Bono frequently slipped in little mini-samples of other bands' songs in the middle of a track; Simon and Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones, and David Bowie all made lyrical cameos.
Every song sounded incredible- Bono's voice notably a little less strong at his age, but no worse for the wear in terms of intonation. But the real highlights were the ones you may not have expected to shine. The incredible arrangements served as a reminder that there is absolutely no weak spot on Joshua Tree. My pick of the night? "Bullet The Blue Sky." An already intense song's intensity was ratcheted up even more on stage, with all 4 lads absolutely in perfect form. In addition, the video accompaniment was flawless: a distorted camera angle of the band in the middle complemented by side videos of Americans of all age and color looking grimly into the camera while fastening a military helmet.
The setlist concluded with "The Mothers Of The Disappeared," which was an already beautiful song, but made even more when Patti Smith was there on stage to sing it with them!! She seemed to just appear behind a microphone, and softly said My name is Patti Smith. I am a mother, and my children were born on Detroit." and as the crowd went nuts, she and Bono launched into a medley of "Mothers Of The Disappeared" and "People Have The Power."
Setlist: Part 3
U2 finished with the aforementioned "Mothers," but didn't take too long to come back out on stage to the raucous fans. The Encore setlist was mostly newer hits: "Beautiful Day," "Elevation", and "Vertigo". They also broke out "Mysterious Ways", which sounded great. Bono pulled up a woman from the crowd to dance on stage, which was partly cute, party-- given Bono's age and the way he was more leering and staggering than dancing-- weird. They followed this up with "Ultraviolet (Light MY Way)", from Achtung Baby. Before they began, Bono dedicated the song to "all women, who inspire us, who change us, who change the world", and the screen cycled through a slideshow of 100+ portraits of important female figures. My sole bone to pick of the whole night was the fact that they shouted out Lena Dunham and Madonna, but not Amy Poehler or Beyoncé?? Shame, U2. Shame.
The actual final song was "One," which just seemed perfect in so many ways. And that's what the whole show was: perfect. It felt so more surreal than every other concert I've been to, so much more dreamlike. I wasn't just seeing a favorite band or artist, I was seeing icons. And they did not disappoint.