June 13, 2001
Ok, let me get this over with first thing - We Had Floor Tickets for U2!!!!!!! Ahhhh ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Good, now that that's over with, we can get on to the more interesting (hopefully) review of the concert itself. MCI Center is the place to be for concerts. It reminds me a lot of Madison Square Garden in that there is a "small" atmosphere. I could see the face of every person in the crowd, which made for a very "intimate" setting. The band PJ Harvey opened the show. Let me just say that this band goes to show that you don't have to have talent to make it in this business. I'm not sure to what subgroup of our culture this band appeals, but in my opinion they set a new record for suckyness (previously held by Paul "Every Time You GO AWAY" Young. The lead singer (and let's be honest here, I don't know who anyone in the band is & don't care) looked a little like Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders on heroin. I do have to admit though, while she couldn't sing worth a damn, she could really do the epileptic fit dance. On Bass was a guy that looked like her Dad, or maybe Randy Newman. The drummer and one of the other guitar players were good. In fact it looked as though they were having a rockin' time, even though the songs themselves were awful. I guess there's something therapeutic to slamming on the drums and playing power chords. The other guitarist was terrible, producing feedback & other noise. Speaking of other noise, this band did everything in their power to showcase what little talent they had. Not only did they play their primary instruments (poorly), but they also played other instruments (equally poorly.) The bad guitarist played what can only be described as that thing that you got as a toy when you were five that was like a recorder but with a little keyboard on it. When you blow into it, it kinda makes a whining noise that varies in pitch when you press the keys. Man, she ROCKED that thing! The lead singer played something (I don't even know what). It was either some sort of flat box guitar or an early synthesizer that had one setting. The other good guitarist noodled around on the keyboards like a third year piano student. Ah, it goes on and on. In fact, that was another thing about this band, they wouldn't stop playing. Towards the end of every song, I thought, "this is the last song." But they kept going. I had to wonder about my own intelligence for standing there doing damage to my ears for such crappy music. About halfway through the set they even turned the volume up, as if distortion and volume could make up for lack of talent. This is not to say that PJ Harvey was all bad, they did stop after about ½ hour.
Onto the rest of the show. The stage set was simple, much simpler than previous tours. This also lent to the feeling of intimacy. The stage was heart shaped & allowed Bono and other members of the band to come out almost into the audience & interact more with concertgoers than usual. There were four video screens at the top of the set so that those of us that could not see the stage could see the action. Interestingly enough, each screen was devoted to one band member. So you could sit and watch the Larry Cam or the Edge Cam, or even (god forbid) the morbid Adam Cam. The video itself was presented in black and white ala Rattle and Hum. I don't think that there's any band in history that looks so good in black and white. It's like the grainy format was made for the Edge's grinding guitar and Larry's strong backbeat. Also, the sound system was exemplary we could understand every word that Bono said. They must have fixed the mix between PJ Harvey and the Boy's appearance.
It's funny, some people, including the Washington Post's review have mentioned that Bono's lyrics are less than they used to be. But to be quite honest, while they may not come off on the album with the force they do live, there is a quality to them that can only be described as Morrisonesque. Granted, Bono has done much to cultivate that kind of black leather sex-symbol image, but his freeform poetry/rap/political statements have gotten more powerful and less preachy over the years. His lyrics can seem sophomoric until you understand the feeling or story behind them. He told many of these stories that he told during the night. At one point he spoke of how they began their first US date in DC, 20 years ago (I wish I could remember what song this was!) How when he walks the streets today, nothing much has changed. Nothing that is, except himself. He then thanked the crowd for helping him to change over the years, exhorting them to keep him changing & evolving.
When walking around the stage near the crowd, Bono seemed to relish (what a surprise) the adulation of the crowd, but never went over the edge. He even stopped to speak with a couple of folks & let them request songs. They played heavily from the new album, What You Leave Behind, opening with "Elevation" and the band's current anthem "Beautiful Day".. However, there were enough of the old songs to make any U2 fan crazy (just ask Gretchen). Some of them were New Year's Day, I Will Follow, Desire, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Where The Streets Have No Name, One, Pride. The band pushed all the right buttons with the crowd, playing a few jumpin' oldies & then sneaking in one of the newer, sleeker songs. It was a good mix & the crowd ate it up. My personal highlight of the evening was one of the encore songs Bullet the Blue Sky. A powerful song in it's own right, Bono and the band made a powerful statement about gun control by first showing a smiling Charlton Heston (Boo!) saying that there were no bad guns, just bad people. They then projected the fact that since 1980, there have been 676,000 people killed by guns, along with images of children & one little girl playing with a gun. During the song, where Bono tends to give a little speech about bombs & war, he instead spoke of someone walking into their local Wal-Mart & putting down $100 ($200, $300) for a gun & stalking John Lennon. "War is Over." Yelled Bono prowling the stage with a giant spotlight, which he trained on the crowd, "We don't need you anymore. We're making war with ourselves! Pull The Trigger!" For me, it was just one of those moments.
It's a great song, one that really makes you want to groove out, but should we be dancing to this monologue? I looked around and found that many of my fellow concertgoers were equally confused. It was a powerful message & even though it wasn't a "feel good" song (in fact, Gretchen and I did not speak of it at all.) it was the moment that I realized (as I mentioned before) that Bono at his best rivals, if not surpasses Morrison in this kind of prose. While Morrison was primarily concerned with freeing people from the constraints of consciousness, Bono's focus has always been on social issues. Time has mellowed him, he doesn't preach as much, or take himself too seriously (during the song One he sang, "Did you come to play Jesus? " and then said, "Because I did." This has, in my opinion, increased his impact. As any parent knows, kids don't like to be lectured. However, you can't deny the power of a good song with political lyrics to sway your emotions and make you think about things.
The night ended with heartfelt thanks from Bono and the band. Bono saying that he's been coming to DC often (for meetings on canceling the debt) and that he appreciates the support that he has received from the town. This too, had a note of sincerity and modesty that surprised me. Often, tours like this are canned affairs. For example I once saw Genesis two nights in a row. Not only did they play the same songs, but the band said and did the same things both nights. While I realize that much of U2's set was planned (it would have to be), I think that they were pleased with how it turned out. As he began to walk off the stage that night, you could see Bono give a little look back at the crowd screaming and yelling & you could just hear him say "Good One". I'd have to agree.