Do You Feel Loved? > Weblog

You said a lot that I've been saying about this tour (although you said it much better, espeically re: Sunday Bloody Sunday), although my experiences differ from yours - I still rate them hugely excellent concerts, even if I feel a few moments of boredom during the "heart of darkness" set. There's just something about the great (or even good) parts of a U2 show that completely overshadows the rest for me. Nothin' like it.

Posted by Alicia at November 27, 2005 01:03 AM

I was going to link this at U2log.com but I'm not sure if you want that particular traffic.

Re: the walking man. Bono has a thing about his father's walk. After the old man died, Bono says he himself started to walk differently, more like his father did. You can see his walk is affected/exagerated during that song, or during other parts of the show when he gets a little boy up on stage (mostly during Into the Heart, which you missed.) and walks him around the ramp, hand in hand.

I don't like this tour much, for much the same reasons you've stated here and my interest during the show sags halfway through and only picks up if something interesting happens during the encores, like when they started doing The First Time. I'm not as bored during the encores as I was on the last tour though, anything's better than 'Walk on'.

I find the political stuff on this tour quite grating at times. While I understand Bono's predicament and my head knows dining with the devil is the only way he's going to get things done, it isn't 'sexy' and doesn't really work well in the context of a concert where more basic emotions ('down with the opressors', 'fuck the revolution', etc) would play out better.

Posted by Caroline at December 3, 2005 06:16 AM

I'm partial to the Miracle Drug/Sometimes segment though and feel Sometimes is stronger than the (emotionally similar) 'Stuck' on the last tour. What I like and have always liked about U2 (or Bono as a lyricist) is this ability to merge (or fudge the lines between) the personal with the political. I liked particularly the little comment he sometimes makes between 'Sometimes' and 'Love and Peace or Else': 'Now look what you've started', which I think is as a comment to his father. As if Bono's childhood experience of family life created this monster that *has* to go out and relentlessly force love and peace on the world. Or else. (Or else the bomb explodes?)

The autobiographical elements of U2 shows make them special to me. I guess I've never been that interested in the activist side of them anyway!

Posted by Caroline at December 3, 2005 06:37 AM

You know, I hate to let you down on this, but I saw U2 back in April and they did the An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart bit, as I expected. Even for a die-hard fan like myself, it was a major disappointment. The song was completely dead! I can't imagine how dull it must have been for the people who had never heard it before. This was when people started sitting down and getting beer. But happily they seem to have dropped it now. Maybe they're realizing that it takes more than just an "Ooh, this old" feeling to keep the crowd in it. You're bang on with the Heart of Darkness comments.

Posted by Fraser at December 22, 2005 04:51 PM

Well written piece. Couldn't agree more re "Bullet" . Just wish U2 had the courage to drop this from the set completely. They've been using it as some sort of theatrical crutch for way too long , though the anti gun lobby, mark chapman ,rap on elevation resurrected it slightly. bono's dedication to the US military each night (in the USA Concerts ) sits very uneasy . (OK - it turns my stomach!)

Posted by anthony at December 23, 2005 06:34 AM

Please note: After a certain period of time, all comments threads are closed and further comments cannot be added -- this is to prevent abuse of the system by spammers and trolls. I know it's obnoxious, but in this sad world it simply has to be that way. If you've got something to say about a post with disabled comments, feel free to send me an e-mail. If your comment doesn't seem to show up after you've posted it, then it may contain a word or term that's on my blacklist (another anti-spam measure); some prescription-drug names and p0rn-related terms trigger it, as does the word "socialism" (look inside of it, think about erection medication, and maybe you'll figure it out). My apologies for the inconvenience.