prosaic interlude #11

A Caustic Review

Sound sounded canned, reverberating off walls, landing clumsily on my ears. I can only imagine what the band was hearing. At roughly 9:30 (half-hour tardy) Larry Mullen, Jr. walked down a run-way and set the beat for “Sunday, Bloody Sunday.” That felt right, strained beats bouncing to and fro. The Edge came next, riffing the opening chords effortlessly. I thought of the other times I'd seen this band, where they had sounded so much better, where the acoustical design of the venue did their phenomenal music justice. It was the Zoo TV tour, March 30, 1992 at Target Center. Bono and the band pushed through, though, insistent to break the sound barrier. Two songs off War and The Unforgettable Fire put them at an apt segue to begin the tour's namesake; The Joshua Tree. Fire's “Pride” bled into “Where the Streets Have no Name” with resounding influences of the slain civil rights leader. Forty-nine years later the street still have no name collectively. They are mostly white and along the way, within those four decades, they have become more unidentifiable with the Rodney Kings et ad nausea.

There were the brief snippets of rock theater I expect at a U2 concert. At one point Bono corralled the entire stadium to lift their cell phones, to light the place like stars. It was a moment, it was a spectacle indeed. Gone was any overt politics. Reference to Trump was limited to a clip from a 50s Western about a huckster trying to build a wall. His name, fortuitously, was Trump. Was it a second set or an encore? Maybe the latter, as it consisted of fewer songs than what had proceeded their exit. (These are not like a Springsteen show. U2 played 20 songs.) Included in the “encore” was Achtung Baby's “Light my Way” which incorporated an homage to the women in politics. It called for the continued struggle for women to achieve total equality in every aspect of life. A back screen featured pioneering women (Gloria Steinem) and current models and ceiling scratchers (Hillary Clinton). That was the big political theme for the night. During the playing of Joshua Tree “Mothers of the Disappeared” also buoyed the theme. I am always intrigued by the way people from other nations see our country now. I am inspired by the hopefulness and resilience Bono sees in America, almost like Trump is not doing something every day to either create a world war or reverse all the rights that years of marching, protesting, and standing strong have won. It is curious to me that an Irish band, a famine struck people who lived with English occupation for centuries, a nation whose immigrants came by the hundreds (something Bono acknowledged) can see America with such passion, an almost envious sounding sentiment.

The billion dollar stadium was built for Ziggy, it was built for the Vikings, not bands with any kind of poignant message or masterful music. I thought I was the only one, but the review of it in the STRIB confirmed US Bank Stadium was no sound garden. It also blasted the lack of signage with which I agree. It is colossal and going against the current before a concert would easily take 30 minutes to walk its perimeter. The concert ended and, as people turned to file out, I (Springsteen fan) really thought they were coming back. It floored me how fast the stadium cleared out. It was efficient and people who assisted us (guest services) were friendly, competent, and knew the stadium like a dashboard GPS. That is contrary to what the STRIB review wrote they heard from concert goers.

First Impessions Transcend Time

In 1987, when Joshua Tree came out, people went to the tour not having heard the songs a million times. They went not knowing the exact order of the record. I went to see U2 last night much because they seem to come to Minnesota so rarely. I am a fan, and they are one of the few acts that I'd pay 200$ to see. (A review stated that fans complained that 52$ was over-priced for the 1997 metrodome concert.) I did not go to Springsteen's River tour because of the rehash. I did not go because I can play the River in its entirety whenever I please. It is a double album and most of the show would be just that album. Last night I heard songs from at least five other albums. In general, I don't think these type of tours work. I couldn't put my finger on it last night as I was watching a rote rendition of the album, complete with page break (Bono announced side 2). This morning it dawned on me, it lacks spontaneity. The audience knows exactly what to expect, although here the tree album was somewhat cleverly book-ended with old and new songs, the seeds that grew the tree that spawned everything succeeding it, a musical pro and epilogue. Bono and the lads worked it. They dodged the tameless sound ricocheting around US Bank. Their story-telling, Bono's timing and political restraint, his flamboyance and charisma made it work. It was still spontaneity, in spite of the refining factor, their purpose in being there. They worked it, perhaps, like Americans might.