“The difference between God and Bono is that God doesn’t feel he has to act like Bono.” This was the Dubliner consensus when my wife and I toured Ireland this past summer. “Sure, we love U2’s music, but Bono’s mouth?”, our tour guide shook her head. “Strange politics that man. Let’s just say shutting up most of the time would do him and the band a lot of good.”
I don’t think Bono should have a voice in the United Nations either, but that didn’t stop me from checking out U2 at the Roger’s Centre last Thursday night. Unlike the majority of my aging friends, I still love live shows. When a couple that I know had an extra ticket, I was more than happy to ditch my wife for the night to attend.
“I’m going to U2!”, I rejoiced as I ran towards the freedom beyond our front entrance. “You’ll be o.k. It’s a great night for television, and it’s not like I do anything around here anyway.” In truth, while the 60,000 screaming U2 loyalists had a wonderful time at the show that night, I don’t think anyone was more grateful to the band than my wife. They got me out of her hair for the evening. Now she knows the relief that parents feel when their children go back to school the day after labour day.
Our seats were in the 500 level, and we climbed up to our row only to discover they were covered by a spotlight. We spoke to the usher, and she informed us that Customer Service would be more than happy to exchange our tickets for new ones. The only problem was that there was only one Customer Service window open for the entire level. And believe me, we were not the only people to get screwed!
Hats off to the Roger’s Centre for having the same amount of Customer Service Staff available for a U2 concert as they do for a Blue Jays game! After all, there’s only 50,000 more people in the building than usual. What could go wrong? And here’s another tip. If you sell tickets that are going to be covered by a spotlight, and you have back up tickets for exchange, sell the seats that are actually seats in the first place! The situation just seemed so absurd. It was like our original tickets were coupons for real ones! The Customer Service lady examined our vouchers, saw they checked out and gave us seats that were actually better than our originals. Miraculously, we made it to our seats before the show began. The roof was open and when U2 hit the stage, the crowd noise was deafening.
“We like to think that Toronto is our town”, pronounced a swaggering Bono. With that, U2 ripped into a rockous rendition of Breathe. The vigil was over. The celebration began.
The early portion of the show promoted U2’s latest studio effort, No Line On The Horizon, before settling into the cannon that has made them, arguably, today’s biggest rock band. Since the concert, I have spoken to people who were disappointed by the early emphasis on the new material, but that’s the nature of a live tour. It’s a commercial for the new record, and once you’ve absorbed that, the band brings you back to your regularly scheduled program. I felt that the new material was lively and energetic enough to keep the show moving, and it set the plate for the show stoppers to follow.
In the end, everyone got what they came for. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Where The Streets Have No Name, New Year’s Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday, With or Without You, One, Mysterious Ways, The Unforgettable Fire, MLK. U2 still knows where to find their bread and butter, and they rewarded an appreciative audience by ramming through the classics.
I found it interesting that some songs from 2000 and beyond have become somewhat revered by the U2 audience. An acoustic version of Stuck In The Moment turned the packed stadium into an intimate setting and may have been the jewel of the evening. It makes you wonder. Maybe, on U2’s next tour, people will be begging, “Stop playing the new stuff! Play Magnificent!”
And of course, the night wouldn’t have been complete without Bono asking the Roger’s Centre faithful to get on the Prime Minister’s back about the evils and atrocities currently happening in Iran. I had my cynical moment as I thought to myself, Hey Bono; Do you want to help the world? How much did that 90 foot tall technological marvel of a stage cost? Maybe you could have given that money to the starving people in Africa? And hey, you’ve just wasted the last two nights of your life playing rock songs to people who are only interested in great melodies. When they file out of here tonight, they’ll all turn a blind eye to the homeless man on the street begging for quarters as they hum Sunday Bloody Sunday to themselves. You want to make a difference? Give up making music. Get into politics! Make changes from within.
I think Noel Gallagher said it best when asked by Bono why he doesn’t get more involved in the war on African debt. To paraphrase Noel, he said something to the effect of, “I’m a guitarist, singer, writer and rock star. What do I know about any of that?”
Politics and seat troubles aside, it was a brilliant night. My absolute favourite moment of the evening may have been when Bono addressed the sky scrapers looming high above the upper bowl of the Dome. “Hey people up in the towers”, he said to them. “If you can hear me, flicker your lights.” There was major doubt in my mind. There was no way that the sound from the stage could travel that distance so crisp and pure. But sure enough, after a three second pause, the lights began to flicker. U2 certainly was a spectacle. I’m glad I attended. I look forward to seeing them the next time around.
Alex Headley (the very Headley of Headley Talks, an online word jumble that solves
nothing.)
That was my favourite moment too! I also loved that crazy guy trying to get people to go to the Rich Tree. Oh and the $5 parking…score!
Wow, i feel as if i were there!
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I just loooooove Bono and U2…I think they are the very best band who ever was!