The house lights stay on, the screens off, at the start, providing the somewhat bizarre spectacle of the band almost rehearsing, whilst unleashing a tremendously relentless - despite being aired in an aircraft hanger - opening sequence of 'Elevation', 'Beautiful Day', 'Until The End Of The World' and 'New Year's Day'. Much like this year's rather innocuous 'All That You Can't Leave Behind', everything is stripped-back. Having worked their way through the punk energy, rock and roll bluster, humour and excess of their previous incarnations and the ensuing, beyond ostentatious stage pyrotechnics, the gimmick of the 'Elevation World Tour' is that there is no gimmick. Equally resonant and disturbingly well-publicised is the rather saddening reality that Bono's father is on his death bed. Yes, U2 are still banging on, and with activism against the world eating itself finally embraced by the likes of Radiohead, REM and the Beastie Boys, it would seem that being pictured with the Pope, taking calls from Bill Clinton and getting holed-up with world leaders as corporate smashing riots explode outside has some worth after all.Įither way, it comes as no surprise that this show - beyond the musical vision - circles the smoking bonfires of the collapsing peace process, Jubilee 2000 and the appetite for arms within the superpowers. Rock and roll was, and should be, about inciting and inspiring, pioneering and protesting, particularly now, when the ceiling is falling in on a lousy procession of say nothing, mean nothing guitar bands, the pointless, mind-numbing pop infestation and culture of self-serving celebrity. However, U2's renaissance in the nineties, as they sought to replace ham with irony, industrial with industry, has allowed a redressing of the balance. Wearing cowboy hats while waving white flags and much talk (in an American accent) of apartheid, the Bible and "f*cking the revolution", a chest exploding with emotion, was not considered a commendable agenda for a rock star. Ten years ago, Bono and his three less culpable childhood friends were lampooned by the pious, cooler then cool music press for being, well, pious and politically opinionated. And that's despite this Earl's Court concert being just the latest in a mammoth worldwide trawl set to put the band in the record books. Never could it be suggested that U2 shows lack a widescreen worldview, a genuine emotional tug, all told creating an incessant spectacle. Judas betraying Jesus, the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland past and present, heroin addiction and gun-running in South America, writes Ben Gilbert for .uk. From The Ground Up: U2.Com Music Edition 18.
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