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In the spirit of complete
self-indulgence (a concept not unfamiliar to most U2 fans), I (Rick) have
written a blow-by-blow review of the Cleveland Vertigo Tour concert. Here goes:
Being the only member of our
tribute band fortunate enough to actually see U2 live in Cleveland on
Saturday, December 10th, I feel a need to share my thoughts on
the show and the whole night as a general experience.
To begin with, as a proud
northeast Ohioan, I have to admit I was a bit chagrined that U2’s
appearance in Cleveland was pushed to the third leg of the tour. I couldn’t help but wonder if the
incredible amount of time they had been on the road would somehow show in
their performance, and I couldn’t help but feel that the “big” cities
were getting a little extra something we wouldn’t be getting. I don’t know if this is heresy for a
“true fan” to admit, and I do know that Bono, Edge, Adam, and Larry put
everything they’ve got into each performance, but maybe this late in the
tour “everything” is a little less than it was a year ago. And honestly, I can’t say for sure
whether it showed in the performance.
I’ll give my observations and let you draw the conclusions.
Anyway, back to the evening
itself. About two days before the
show, my wife received an e-mail from her former college roommate, saying
she had bought a ticket from Ebay and she would like to meet us somewhere
before the show. Long story
short, after meeting for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, we proceeded over
to “The Q” only to discover that the ticket she had bought on Ebay (from
a guy in Texas) was almost directly across the aisle from where we had
bought our tickets ten months ago.
This was the first of a few amazing coincidences for the
evening. We were all located in a
small section of seats that jutted out from the other sections, to the
right of and slightly behind the stage.
Actually, I was able to find a picture online from just the right
angle to see where Jane (our friend from BGSU) is standing:
My wife and I are seated
just to the left of her (behind Adam’s head).
We sat through the opening
band Institute, which turned out to be Gavin Rossdale’s (formerly of
Bush) new band. They were fine as
an opener. Let’s just say they
weren’t Kanye “George Bush doesn't care about black people!” West. Sure, maybe Gavin played a demon
opposite Keanu Reeves, but he seemed like a likeable guy on stage, and
their 45 minute or so set was a harmless primer for the crowd.
About 30 minutes after
Institute’s performance, a Johnny Cash tune served as an obvious signal
that things were about to get started. I’ll have to plead ignorance as to
the origin of the orchestral/choral number that actually serves as their
stage entrance, but if you want to hear it, watch the Chicago DVD. Anyway, upon its conclusion, Edge
began his chimey orchestral opening to “City of Blinding Lights,”
accompanying Adam’s first turn on keyboards that I’ve ever seen. Of course Larry was there too, setting
the tempo and helping to build to the emergence of Bono, who, in the nick
of time, climbed up one of two sets of stairs from below the stage to
sing the first verse. “Lights” is
a good song and a good opener.
The crowd really got into the spirit, singing the “Ooohs” that
begin each chorus and generally giving back to the band every ounce of
energy they were receiving. U2
concerts always have an amazing sense of give and take, and this opener
was no exception. Anymore, a U2
show really is like a family reunion.
And in fact, the guys in the band seemed to have an almost
informal demeanor about them, as if they were just coming back to visit
old friends. I have no idea if
that was what was actually going through their minds, but it was obvious
from the start that they knew they didn’t need to do anything to win this
crowd over, and they seemed okay with that.
Bono said a few words about
Larry’s dancing… or something? I
wasn’t exactly sure because we were in a bit of a sound vacuum where we
were seated. Without any speakers
directly in front of us, we were basically getting the echoes of sound
from areas around us, and it was really tough to pick up everything Bono
was saying. Anyway, he did a
little dance, and then the band launched into a very energetic rendition
of “Vertigo.” It’s a little early
to tell if this tune will end up being a “classic,” but it was great
live.
After “Vertigo” The Edge,
going solo, basically started right into the “crunch wah” opening to
“Elevation.” Bono got the crowd
started on the first verse and for the most part let us take the lead
into the chorus, which ended with the now traditional shouting of “El-E-VA-TION.” What was great about this was that the
rest of the band did NOT come in here.
Edge just kept up the solo crunch wah through the second verse and
chorus. After the second
“El-E-VA-TION” Adam and Larry did finally come in, and the rest was
great, of course. The was such an
intimate way to begin a “big” tune.
Well, the next tune took the
prize of the night for me because it is such a special song from such an
under-appreciated album. “Gloria”
is a tune I have never seen played live, and they really brought great
energy to it. It’s an unusual
tune in that the choruses are actually much more low key than the verses
are, but that somehow made for a great live experience. This song is celebratory and
reflective all at once, and it was the first of several
spiritually-rooted songs that really stood out for me.
After the firmly-planted
sentiments of “Gloria,” it was more than a little ironic to hear the
opening chords of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” but this
is always a welcome song, and during it Bono mentioned something about
“25 years ago tonight playing in Cleveland…” I always wonder if these
references he often makes are literally true. I don’t see why they couldn’t be, but the coincidences are
sometimes hard to believe.
Anyway, he ended with a few lines from “In a Little While,” a
hangover song that, as Bono says Joey Ramone noted, seems to double just
fine as a gospel song as well. It
was during these verses that Bono slipped in one of many references to
our fine city, singing “When I come crawling… to Cleveland, will you be
there?” Well, yes, I will be.
The Edge grabbed his
infamous Gibson Explorer for “Beautiful Day” next, and Bono slipped in
what may be the strangest improvised line of the night during the
bridge. Instead of “See China right
in front of you” we heard “See Santa Claus right in front of you.” This was in fact true, as several
people in front of the stage were wearing Santa Claus hats. This song ended with a few lines from
John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (my spelling), War is Over.”
Next the band started a very
personal portion of the concert with “Original of Species,” with The Edge
playing the entire tune on the electric piano. It was a solid live version of a good song from Bomb. They followed this song with “Sometimes
You Can’t Make it on Your Own.”
After this, U2 moved into
the political portion of the show.
If you want to see what we saw, watch the “Vertigo in Chicago”
DVD. It’s all there, beginning
with the song “Love and Peace or Else,” Bono playing the floor tom and
donning his white headband. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” had Bono bringing a
girl named Julia onto the stage and announcing it was dedicated to her
generation. “Bullet the Blue Sky”
had the light curtains projecting those screaming fighter jets, etc. Again, Bono dedicated this portion to
the brave men and women of the US military, but he also gave the warning
that it is not possible to defeat a monster by becoming a monster. He equated the struggles between Christians,
Jews, and Muslims to a “family feud.”
Bono dedicated the next
song, “Miss Sarajevo” to “Human Rights Day.” This song probably provided the most haunting portion of
the evening as Bono took Luciano Pavarotti’s part with full gusto. I
couldn’t help but think about a line in “Sometimes You Can’t Make it on
Your Own” that refers to his father’s opera singing. It got me a bit choked up.
I’m going to pick up the
pace here…
“Pride” and “Streets”
sounded great, and they’re obvious crowd favorites.
“One” was preceded by Bono’s
One Campaign speech. People
seemed game enough, with cell phones out shining brightly all around the
arena. He announced that the
number of people signed up to the One Campaign would soon surpass
membership of the NRA, okay...
“One” ended with a bit of “Help” by the Beatles.
“Until the End of the World”
was the first encore, and it was the one song of the night that really
took off for me. It really fills
up an arena, especially with Bono in his “Captain Bono” outfit (see above
picture). Captain Bono chased
The Edge around the ellipse at full speed at the end of this song.
“Mysterious Ways” was
ultra-funky. The Edge gets an
awesome tone out of his Rickenbacker.
During “With or Without You”
Bono allowed one young woman from the audience to come on stage so he
could personally serenade her at very close quarters. She was petting his hair pretty much
for the entire duration of the song.
Many people were creeped out.
“Stuck in a Moment” was
great, of course. Directly following it the band went into the chords for
“Instant Karma” and sang pretty much the whole song, I believe. You know, actually there were a lot of
Beatles/John Lennon songs tossed in throughout the night. I don’t think I kept track of all of
them too well.
What would naturally follow
“Instant Karma” but “Yahweh” of course (irony intended)? This was a very low key version, with
Larry playing the keyboard. Very
cool.
Bono got out the old
spotlight for the final song of the night, a song I have never seen them
close a show with, believe it or not.
For “40,” The Edge and Adam switched instruments. Bono pointed the spotlight up at the
microphone before leaving the stage for the last time, possibly giving
the audience a cue to take over the vocals. I think we all did an okay job, although we could have gone
longer. Adam left next, leaving
The Edge on Bass and Larry on drums.
After The Edge left, Larry pumped up his drum part with a lot of
energy. It was just him on stage,
and it was a really cool way to go out.
When he stopped, the crowd went wild, and he walked to the front
of the stage to give his “thank you.”
I’ve seen U2 five times now,
starting with the Zoo TV tour at the Richfield Coliseum (I know, you
hardcore lifelong fans are scoffing right now), and my expectations are
always high. Bono, Edge, Adam,
and Larry all did a fine job with this show, and it had all of the
ingredients of a great U2 concert.
To top it all off, I
unexpectedly ran into two more friends from way back who had made the
journey from Columbus to see the show.
We went back to their hotel room to catch up on what’s been
happening for the past 10 years.
They’re fine, if you’re wondering. You know… kids, jobs, the whole nine yards. It was an amazing and ironic end to a
perfect U2 evening.
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