by Blair

I strongly believe all of us that enjoy going to live concerts need to remember one thing...the band is on the road, in your town and on that stage to promote their new material. They're proud of the new songs that they've recently created. They want to play these new songs live and share them with you. They're excited and anxious to perform songs from their latest collection. They want to see and hear your reaction to the fresh tracks. Sadly, so many fans complain after concerts that, "They played too much new stuff, and not enough of the old". And, that's not right.

Immediately after securing tickets for this latest U2 360 show, I went out and bought the new CD...I was excited and anxious to hear the new material. I kept No Line on the Horizon in my car for weeks and months and became familiar with the great new songs, memorized the lyrics, sang along with Bono while driving my car and learned to appreciate the songs for what they were. Then, come show time, it's fun hearing the songs live! Hearing new material should not be frowned upon with bewilderment and anger...but expected.

If other entertainers, for instance, your favorite stand up comic that you've seen 8 times, repeated the same old jokes at the start of every single performance and you knew every punchline how much enjoyment are you getting? You'd probably be wishing to hear some new jokes!

The point is that I feel as fans and concert goers we should absorb and appreciate the new stuff. Certainly we all enjoy hearing the old songs from U2's deep and impactful catalogue of material and they will delve into those songs during the course of the show...no need to worry. Perhaps, go out before the concert, buy the latest CD and listen to every song. Remember the days of vinyl...the days of old when we would put the record on Side 1 and listen to all of the songs in order from start to finish. We listened to an album like we read a book...from the start until the end. Only then can you truly appreciate the story. The men of U2 have amazing stories to tell. Listen to these stories, learn to appreciate the structure and lyric of the song.

When U2 steps on stage next time, expect to hear their new stories. Listen to the words closely for these are the musical authors of our generation.

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