U2 – June 7th – Pepsi Center

Photo by Jim Mimna
(Taken During The June 6th Performance)

The Scene: If you are like me, then concerts in arenas might not be your favorite way to experience live music but, for some bands, there just isn’t any other way to see them.  U2 is one of those bands.  Multiple night runs in arenas and stadiums are they way U2 has toured for years now and, given their massively creative ideas for staging these kinds of monster shows, it wasn’t so bad going to the Pepsi Center to see them do their thing.

The crowd was decidedly of the “I was cool in the 90’s” variety and the fashions that strutted around the corridors before the show betrayed that in spades.  It was clear that this was a crowd that doesn’t get that out that much any more and, given that it was Sunday night, things didn’t exactly get too crazy as a day in the office loomed large on the horizon for most of these folks.

U2: Despite a 7:30 start time listed on the tickets, it was nearly 8:30 before Bono made his grand entrance onto the smaller stage at the end of the long catwalk that split the arena in two.  With the house lights still most of the way up, he stood in a characteristic “Rock Star” pose, and soaked in the adoration that rained down on him from the crowd.  While it struck me as a little self-indulgent, hey, it’s Bono . . . why should I expect anything different?  The band launched into “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)” in full Arena Rock glory before Bono introduced “Out of Control” as their first single and the boys from the North side of Dublin made it perfectly clear that they had been writing catchy, hook laden Rock songs from the very beginning.

While “Vertigo” seemed a muddy in the otherwise good house mix, and probably didn’t the reaction from the crowd it should have, the place erupted for “I Will Follow” as Bono moved almost theatrically on the catwalk.  Sadly the energy in the room was sapped a bit when the band dropped three songs from their most recent record, Songs of Innocence, after the massive out-pouring of that was “I Will Follow” but it gave them a chance to introduce arguably the most important part of the show.  The giant screen that split the arena in half came to life with photos of his mother Iris during “Iris (Hold Me Close)” and then Bono appeared on an elevated catwalk inside the screen for “Cedarwood Road.”  As Bono walked slowly down the catwalk animations played on the screen giving the audience the surreal experience of walking through the legendary Irish singer’s childhood neighborhood with him.  It was a stunning effect.

As the first set moved on I was struck by two things.  One, there was a darkness that hung over the performance. I’m not sure if it was due to the subject matter of the Songs of Innocence material (which I admittedly wasn’t that familiar with before the show), or the overt political overtones of songs like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” which featured references to the trio of car bombings in Dublin on May 17th 1974 and led (both literally and thematically) into “Raised By Wolves.”  And two, there was a theatrical quality to the staging and performance that made it seem more like a Broadway play than a Rock concert.  Every move the band made seemed choreographed and planned, to the point where Bono seemed to have a hard time ad-libing some of his between song banter.  Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but a little more spontaneity would have gone a long way.

After a very brief, five to eight minute, set break during which a stylized video of Johnny Cash serenaded the crowd, the band suddenly appeared all together on the elevated catwalk for “Invisible.”  From here the show began to take on a different life as the band seemed to loosen up as they delivered a stripped down mini-set from the smaller stage that included fiery takes on “Even Better Than The Real Thing” and “Mysterious Ways.”  The latter of which featured Bono bringing a girl named Megan up onto the stage to dance with him and then shoot video of the band that was broadcast out to the world on the internet during the song “Volcano”.  While the whole thing seemed a bit contrived, Megan was clearly having the time of her life.

A highlight of the show came when Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton left the stage and allowed Bono and The Edge to serenade the crowd with “Every Breaking Wave.”  Though I wasn’t familiar with the song, the intimacy the pair created with just vocals and an upright piano was enveloping and set the stage perfectly for a barrage of hits that ran from “Bullet the Blue Sky” into “Pride (In the Name of Love)” into “Beautiful Day” before finally wrapping the second set with another sing-along in the form of “With or Without You”.  While there were a few political overtones, most notably during “Bullet the Blue Sky” when Bono pulled out a Stars and Stripes emblazoned bullhorn for the “outside it’s America” segment and preached that “America isn’t a country, it’s an idea,” they were delivered in the context of a Rock show in the way that only Bono can and somehow added to the immense power that the band brought to this section of the concert.

The three song encore brought the show past the two-hour mark and closed with a rendition of “One” that allowed Bono to take a vocal breather as he yielded the floor to the crowd who sang along beautifully with Edge’s guitar as I just soaked in yet another classic Rock and Roll moment.  It wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen, in fact it was really just above average, but there is something undeniable about the innovative way that U2 presents themselves to the world.  They are constantly pushing the boundaries of the concert experience and that alone is reason enough for me to go see them live.

Energy: A-
Musicianship: A-
Sound: A-
Set/Lights: A+
Stage Presence: A-

Overall: A-