|
|
U2 Live, June 15th, 2001 . . . MCI Center in Washington D.C.Jun 19 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Music
The Bottom Line Good, not great. It is not a painful experience to go, and you'll have fun, but it's not the "be all end all" show I was hoping for.
Friday night June 15th, 2001 in Washington D.C. I witnessed U2 play live for the first time and came away with some divergent feelings. Before writing this epinion I quickly browsed some other U2 concert reviews here at epinions and was amazed at how everyone seemed to absolutely love the show. Hardly a negative word to be found and all I can say to that is, "to each his own." First of all let me say that I have grown to respect U2 through the years as they have consistently put out one highly successful album after another. I'm not a huge fan, I own a couple of their albums and usually don't change the station when any of their songs come on the radio, but I certainly do not dislike them. I think respect is a good word to describe my feelings about them, in much the same way as one respects an athlete that has been at it for a while, say a Cal Ripken or a John Elway. I wasn't a huge fan of either of them in their prime but after so many years you just grow to have an affinity for them. The reason I am belaboring this point is that I want you to understand my mindset going into the concert to help you better relate to my epinion of the show. We had floor tickets and got there early in hopes of getting inside the "heart." (The stage was set up with a large heart coming out from the front of it and a few lucky fans were allowed to go inside of it, this also worked nicely to allow the members of the band more room to move around and get close to more of the audience) Unfortunately, we were unable to get inside the "heart." but were probably the last few people that didn't get in so we were positioned just a few feet outside of the "heart." We were actually quite satisfied to be able to be so close in such a large arena, our view was completely unobstructed and at times Bono and the other band members were no more than 6 feet away from us. They opened the show with "Elevation," a great "big crowd" song from there latest album "All That You Can't Leave Behind," and the song rocked. Every note was perfect, the crowd was singing along and everyone loved singing the sound effect part (forgive me if you don't know this song but I think you understand what I mean if you do) whewhoohoo . . . whewew . . . whewhoohoo. I was psyched! I remember thinking to myself, "wow, this is going to be great if they can keep this up." After the song and the cheering subsided they proceded to plow through nearly all of their "hits" with workmanlike professionalism. I was absolutely in love with this show in the beginning but that "workmanlike professionalism" is what began to prevent me from loving the show. I couldn't help but thinking that I was seeing nearly the exact same show I would have seen had I gone to Charlotte, or Philadelphia, or Boston. I only attended one show but I'm willing to bet that everything was staged to perfection. From the movements Bono made and when he chose to run around and when the guitar player (the "Edge") took his turn walking out to the top of the heart, it all just seemed very rehearsed. This is fine if you're watching a movie or a play but not what I go to a rock concert for. Even when they would "jam" going into extended solos, I couldn't get over the feeling that they were doing the exact same "jam" they did the night before. In summary, if you're a huge U2 fan you'd probably love the concert because you love their music so much but if you're a "rock concert" fan there are fresher, edgier (is that a word, you know what I mean), and more innovative shows to be seen. These guys have some truly great songs, but maybe they have just played them a few too many times together.  |
| Read all comments (3)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
by PacManY2J
by kiwifella
![Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast Reviews](http://di2.shopping.com/images/pi/95/a4/8a/2006752046-100x100-0-0.jpg?p=p14.a8bb0b1258c9b9c092c5&a=2&c=1&l=8071320&t=120602232515&r=1)
