BigYawn

Let’s get Muse(261) out of the way, shall we? I love Muse, and have for some time. I am not a fan of the Queen-themed theatrical approach they have taken to on parts of the last two albums, I prefer the harder and louder numbers from any of the first three albums. But I also can’t fault them for going in this direction, and frankly, the writing was on the wall, at least to anyone who has seen Bellamy and co. perform live before. Their over the top performances suggest this new style musically was a long way coming.

How they snagged an opening spot for U2(261) I don’t know, but for anyone who hasn’t yet seen them at a more intimate venue than FedEx field, say the 9:30 Club for example, you are likely shit out of luck. Deservedly or not, the band is going to stick to the Patriot Center or some other large venue moving forward. (Just please no DAR guys, ok?) The performance wasn’t bad, but the sound in our seats was. Quite terrible in fact. The way the speakers were angled — see the pic below — meant that unless you were facing a speaker, the echo was going to be a killer, which it was. Quite sad unfortunately. Maybe next time guys.

Thankfully — kudos to my friend Chad — we moved seats for U2 and were greeted by significantly better sound. Hooray for that. The spectacle that is U2, again see the picture (taken from their Milan show), was rather impressive. That stage and all the lights and screens on it were pretty incredible. The performance was awesome, easily one of the best shows of the year. They relied a little too heavily on the most recent album, which I am not in love with, but with so many other classics to pull from, it is hard not to hear a lot you like, even if not everything you like. I was satisfied aurally and visually.

This show got me to thinking though, as it was my first time seeing U2. Is anyone this big an act? I mean, aside from Obama, can anyone fill stadiums like U2? Paul McCartney played FedEx field earlier this Summer, and I hear the crowd was this big, but not in 360. I mean, this band is enormous, like Michael Jackson without all the bad press. Where do they go from here? Anywhere? Unlike the Beatles before them, they are still together and seemingly quite happy with each other. They continue to make popular music that does well — even if it is a bit bland from time to time, “Get on Your Boots?” Really? — and have a back catalog even the most high-brow of indie snobs has to appreciate. They put out a string of five albums in the 80’s and early 90’s I would put up against anyone’s best five: War, Under a Blood Red Sky, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, Achtung Baby. Who can top that? Granted that was 18-26 years ago, but it’s not like they’ve been putting out complete crap since either. Just unbelievable.

It may have been set-up, but Bono pulled some kid from the crowd and walked around with him on stage, and eventually sent him off with the pair of his trademark shades he was wearing. I wanted to be that kid, everyone there did. Those shades were a bigger blessing than a kiss from the Pope. There, I said it. U2 is now officially bigger than God. Damn, I can’t wait to see what that first church is gonna look like.