by Loren Toy

[Written by the guy wearing the ARMIN VAN BUUREN t-shirt in the front pits]

TIMING & CONTEXT ARE NOW U2's MODUS OPERANDI

U2 concerts have become so scripted & highly choreographed that it's hard to tell if you're watching a beauty pageant or an actual rock concert. There was a time when a U2 concert was a spontaneous affair that you never knew what to expect from one night to the next. Even at times in the 80's & the 90's when they were stuck in a rut, they usually played with such all-out balls-to-the-wall energy, & fly by the seat of your pants passion that it really didn't matter if they played the same set 2 nights in a row.

Alas, times have changed. Bono, Edge, Adam & Larry are not the young men of 25 & 26 they were 20 years ago. Now, they are middle aged rockers whose hearts & minds are in the right places, but they cannot escape or hide from the fact that age has caught up with them. They seem more concerned about packaging their product for mass consumption by the general audience than taking risks that would throw the average concert goer for a loop. Surprises & random mistakes are not necessarily a bad thing.

First things first; Rocko & the Devils were a real treat to watch; hands down, they ROCKED !!!. These guys are roughly about the same age if not older than their employers & they put U2 to shame, even if the set was only 30 minutes. Major KUDOS to Rocko & his band for playing the Ramones "I Wanna Be Sedated".
(4 out 4 stars)

I'm not a fan of Pearl Jam, but they also put on a solid show. The highlight for me was when Eddie played a cover of a Hawaiian folk song by Israel 'Iz' Kamakawiwo'ole. Major props to all the locals in attendance at the concert & a genuine, emotional way to recognize they're in Hawaii. (3.5 out of 4 stars)

U2's set; I'll try to avoid commenting on every song and just offer commentary on the different parts of the show.

The first 4 songs of U2's set were a great way to start off tonight's show and got everyone pumped up for the show. Did anyone else notice during 'Elevation' that the U.S. flag that Bono planted on the main stage fell over? It was kind of hilarious, but an attentive roadie quickly spotted the hiccup & got flag back upright.

Then things slowed down & the band seemed to lose its momentum. At times the band seemed to go off on tangents. I suppose that after a 21+ year absence from Hawaii, the band could probably get away with playing just about anything. But let's face the facts: The majority of the audience at tonight's concert came in from out-of-town & most of us have already seen U2 in concert during previous legs of this tour or listened to bootlegs so we already know what to expect.

I Still Haven't Found sounded lackluster and tacking on In A Little While(acapella) turned the song into a train wreck. Beautiful Day with references to Honolulu & Diamond Head was a nice touch. Angel of Harlem had a different arrangement on this tour, but if you've seen the LoveTown, ZOO TV, or Elevation tours, you've already heard some version of if before.

The duet with Michael Mitchell plucked from the audience for 'Wild Horses' was one of the highlights for me. Yes it was spontaneous, yes it was unrehearsed, & yes, U2 probably hated it because it came from out of left field. But this is what the best moments in rock concerts are all about. On the fly, totally unpredictable, & it didn't sound bad at all. Kudos to Michael for pulling it off, because U2 wouldn't have done it were it not for his passion & conviction.

As much as 'Zooropa' is my favorite U2 album, 'The First Time' really brought the show to standstill. Yes, I understand why they played it; U2 wouldn't sound like U2 were it not for the Edge & yes, these last 10 concerts almost didn't happen because family comes first. But at this point I felt like U2 was playing with our emotions like a yo-yo.

The sequence from Love & Peace or Else to One of course is the heart & soul of any Vertigo concert so for those of us who have seen previous concerts from 2005 this already seemed familiar to most of us. The same can also be said about the first encore.

Love & Peace Or Else I heard twice in Vancouver during the fist leg of the Vertigo tour in 2005, so there was nothing special about this. Ditto the next 9 songs as these were mainstays of most set lists in 2005.

The little girl that Bono plucked from the front pit during Sunday Bloody Sunday was staged as anyone down in front would have noticed that a security guard was carrying her down the security aisle during Love & Peace & placed her in the spot where Bono pulled her up from the audience.

Pride (In The Name of Love) was anti-climactic for me. What was most disappointing was Bono's failure to mention the special connection the song has to the city of Honolulu. It would have been more heartfelt & emotional if he mentioned that the song was conceived during their soundcheck when they first played here back in 1983.

As I mentioned earlier, U2 are not young men anymore and it is most noticeable in their playing style. They do not play with the same energy level or speed that they did 15-20 years ago. A lot of the songs were much slower than on previous tours; for the most obvious example, listen to U2's performance of One Tree Hill from Auckland on this tour compared to performances of One Tree Hill from the Love Town tour. There's no comparison.

As Matt McGee wrote in an article on his atu2.com website, Larry's playing time was minimized during the 3rd leg of this tour, presumably to reduce his risk of injury from tendinitis. This concert performance would seem to support that theory.

Only during the second encore with all the guest appearances did this show feel like a genuine U2 concert again. Surprises, spontaneity, passion, and the little touches are what make a U2 concert go from being a good one to a really great concert.

After seeing what U2 played in Australia, New Zealand, & Japan, it was disappointing that we didn't get Party Girl, Kite, or One Tree Hill.

Finally, but not the least, I want to give a HUGE shout out to all the people I met in the GA line who came from all over: Julian, Val, Julie, Arjen, Rakesh, Alex & Fulvio, John & Jamie, & the 2 guys from Arizona. Despite the newspaper reports about A-list celebrities being in the VIP area, like Laird Hamilton (pro surfer), the cast of LOST, or actress Kelly Hu, I didn't even notice they were there so it didn't make a lick of difference to me. U2 concerts are about the fans who come out to these shows so many thanks for making our mini-community. Now that was a highlight in itself.

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