Concert Review – U2

The gentle drips of fall showers were instantly evaporated by the blazing performance of one of pop rocks biggest dynasties last night. After an eager crowd of fanatics waited hours, some even days, outside BC Place, the doors were thrown open. The first lot of rock hungry music lovers, sprinted through the venue to get a good spot. Literally thousands of people running at full speed, to establish their 2 foot by 2 foot piece of real estate for the next 6, or so, hours. Admittedly I was one of these breathless faces, charging the stage. Upon reaching the holy land of the general admission floor a sense of awe hits you with almost jaw dropping force. The stage setup was bar none the most extravagant I have ever seen. Sitting off center of BC Place’s concrete field, is what appeared to be a four-legged arachnid inspired spaceship. The stage consisted of a center circle which was surrounded by 360 degrees of fans. Then that section of fans was wrapped with an additional stage. With both stage sections then being connected by bridges which were able to spin freely; turning around the center piece like the hands on a clock. Needless to say it was a spectacular site.

The Black Eyed Peas were the opening act, and set the tone with a energetic performance. Although the vocals were hit and miss throughout their set, the pure explosiveness of the presentation made up for it. Sitting above the main center stage, hanging from the underbelly of the spaceship, was a giant cylindrical screen. Fergie and her crew made use of this prop and ran a constant stream of music video style supporting feeds. At first the U2 fans were standoffish about the opening act. Although popular themselves, the pairing of U2 and the Black Eyed Peas had some of the onlookers baffled. For the first part of their set, there was almost no reaction from the mass. After the first three songs, there was a shift in attitude, and the reception going forward was with open arms. The remainder of their performance was well put together. Fergie’s vocals were off the entire set, Will-I-Am’s presence was of body but not of mind, and the rest of the some what unknown members were merely doing there job. None the less there job had been done, the crowd was fired up. The fans were ready and waiting, and had wet their appetite on the entree; now to the main course.

During the intermission between the two performances, some serious activity took place around the four legs of the spaceship. The lights which had seemed to be fixed to the legs were suddenly being lowered on cables . Once closer to the ground it appeared that each of the three lights, per leg, were in fact manned spot light stations. Each seat was then occupied by a stage hand, and when all the seats were taken; the lights were hoisted backup. While the rest of the stage crew ran around like little worker ants, the audience became over eager. Now I have been to many shows, and seen many fans; U2 fans are some of the most intense i have ever seen. Within minutes of the Black Eyed Peas leaving the stage, and the lights coming back on, people started passing out. I am not sure if it was from exhaustion or pure excitement, but I saw three separate people wheeled off. Soon after that there were fights in the crowd, honest to goodness fist fights. How ironic that the fans coming to see this peace seeking band were fighting over floor real estate. The small spurts of chaos were all soon over and the people were ready to rock. Suddenly the lights dimmed slightly, and David Bowies Space Oddity began emanating from the hanging speakers above. Roars of excitement popped sporadically in the mass. It was time.

One by one the four members of the band filtered to the stage, finishing with Bono. Without missing a beat they jumped into an exquisite set. It wasn’t the best vocal performance by Bono. Nor was it a stand out show for the Edge, but they brought every once of passion with them, and left it all on stage. The set list was the usual list of classic hits and new pieces, with the odd rarity thrown in. The point during the show where I really questioned Bono’s voice was when they dove into With or Without You. He pulled the heart and soul out of the song and made it sound as if it was a newly released Cake cover. With half spoken lyrics as opposed to ballad like emotion. The Edge seems very cocky on stage and did not cater to the audience very well. Sharing a stage with Bono makes it inconsequential though, he feeds the masses at his feet with heaps of crowd shmoozing antics.

The level at which this band can performer is reminiscent of the Rolling Stones. They dart around the stage, constantly moving; forcing your eyes to shoot back and forth at every moment. There is not a single second where you have any lack of stimulation bombarding your senses. The show from start to finish is masterfully orchestrated to keep you completely overloaded. From a musical stand point the night was slightly above average with Bonos vocals being a major week point. It is the performance and stage presence that takes this night into a whole different dimension. They swept everyone away with the entire package none the less; the weaker points being over shadowed by the strong ones.

There were many over the top props aside from just the shear size of the spaceship. For one you had the rotating bridges in the center of the stage, allowing Bono and company to transfer between inner and outer stages when they wanted. Not mentioning the points where they hung off the bridges, swinging over the crowd below and reaching for the grasps of over excited fans below. You also had the cylindrical mega screen, measuring approximately 100 feet in circumference and 60 feet high. This allowed for 360 degrees of display to the entire stadium. On top of that the screen expanded downward , separating into a sort of honeycomb, and spreading its reach to almost 200 feet high. This gave the spaceship the look as if it were “beaming” down to the band. The coup de grace was when the band returned to the stage for its final encore. Bono donned a metallic suit covered in nearly a hundred laser pointers. He spastically traversed the stage while billows of stage mist shot up around him. The beams of the lasers made visible by the mist shot out from him like he was made of pure energy. It was such an over the top presentation, but provided the most amazing visual.

The night ended on the highest of notes, and the slow crawl of the enthralled mass began pouring from the venue. U2 had put an a near two and a half hour set, and done so with the passion and dedication fans deserve. I will definitely return to future shows this band has to put on, with the eager anticipation displayed by the onlookers I met last night. Final verdict on the show places it in the top 10 of my favorite shows of all time. Although in the future I would want to see them from a seated position. Waiting in line combined with performance time, had me standing for nearly 7 hours in a row. Every ache and pain in my body today, was worth it to have been at that show last night. U2 is legendary and will be around for many years to come. They wont age gruesomely like the drug ravaged predecessors in The Rolling Stones or Aerosmith. Their future holds many more healthy years, many more tours and possibly a few more albums. The dynasty that is U2 left its imprint on our fair city, for this we thank them.

Happy Concerting

Jamie Taylor
www.concertaddicts.ca

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Tagged as: review, u2

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Jamie Taylor – who has contributed 3308 posts for Concert Addicts.

"With a love for live music, way too much to say and inability to put down his camera , photojournalism was a logical step in his journey. Concert Addicts was born from a desire to express his opinion, share his photography, and share knowledge. Now the community is no longer his, it is ours."

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