by Tim Cupery

Last night Mark Elliott and I drove over from Chapel Hill, NC, to see U2 in Charlotte. I wasn't planning to go, but Mark had an extra ticket way back but straightaway from the stage, and I ended up taking it. And U2 were really all that, and perhaps moreso now than ever. Even back in the upper deck, far from the floor and the stage, it was the best, most amazing, most winsome and meaningful etc. concert I've ever been to, which is saying a really lot given who I've seen over the years (Radiohead, Midnight Oil, King's X, Bruce Cockburn, Over the Rhine, Eddie from Ohio, Ben Folds, among others). Have you ever crossed yourself with tears in your eyes at a rock concert? Me neither, until now. The biggest thing that differentiates U2 from most rock bands is that they believe in what they're singing, and it's generally worth believing in, from African aid and debt-relief issues, to the integrating "In a Little While" into "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," just to emphasize that the latter isn't a song of doubt but rather about hope of the resurrection and fully renewed world. The singing-about-stuff-that-matters means that they have a basis to draw people in, year after year, and not become a parody of themselves. Much of the concert was a thinly veiled worship service, including their playing "Gloria" which hasn't been a live staple since the 1980's. The final encore, which finished up with "Yaweh" and "40," was beautiful. With the crowd singing "How long... to sing this song," they left one-by-one - first Bono, then Adam (who played guitar for the song), then The Edge, leaving the crowd singing on with Larry drumming away until he ended things with a tumultuous flourish.

They played a good mix of new and old songs, and the new stuff held up well in comparison. Even if HTDAAB didn't have the incredibly layered and nuanced production of "Achtung Baby" or POP (and I don't think that it does), the new songs themselves are very strong, although people weren't always as familiar with them so crowd participation was sometimes lower. But it's good to see that U2 aren't fossils, coming around to play "You Can't Always Get What You Want" yet again. Not that I would mind if they were, and of course they played a lot of old favorites as well. But again, those old songs mean as much now as they did then (with the exception, in my mind, of "Mysterious Ways," which has never particularly drawn me, though it is a cool song). Apart from being meaningful and relevant, the old songs aren't musically fossilized either. New lyrics are spliced in every so often, drum rhythms and basslines vary, and The Edge added some smoking rock guitar solos, especially on "Bullet the Blue Sky." Guitar solos! No one does them anymore. But some of those played were stunning.

Despite sitting so far from the stage (albeit with a great view of the light show), I felt very much a part of the experience of the concert, and not just an observer. Much of this is due the aforementioned meaningfulness of U2's songs, but the crowd knowing and loving many of the songs helped also. I often turned to look at the people in my vicinity, standing and singing and waving their hands and being "sold" on what U2 was putting out there. Speaking of tracking with the band and what they're playing, I was sold on the experience from the start. And having Mark next to me didn't hurt; he also knows and loves all the songs as I do. But the crowd was somewhat disappointing. They knew "Vertigo" but generally people weren't engaged for "Original of the Species" and "Yahweh." I was also funny how many people cheered for the "having a good time" line from "Until the End of the World" - the line actually satirical and dark, but the crowd perked up and cheered in a rock-show-hype sort of way, oblivious to the line being generally about people missing the gravity of a situation generally, and the apostles being unaware of Jesus' impending death specifically. It was almost as ironic as fans singing along with Nirvana on the "but they don't know what it means" line from "In Bloom." It was also interesting to see the relatively small proportion of people really tracking with "40" at first, perhaps distinguishing fans along ideological/religious lines? The song is unabashed theism, at least.
Finally, an older guy sat behind Mark and me, and asked me to sit down at one point. I did for a minute, because it was during the slow beginning of "Original of the Species", but Mark said that I should have grabbed him by the collar and said, "Mannheim Steamroller was last night! This is rock and roll!" (And yes, Mannheim Steamroller had played at the Charlotte Bobcats arena the previous night.)

Included is a picture of the band onstage, with Bono and Larry at the front of the ellipse, during "Love and Peace or Else," on which Bono kept beating on the tom-tom at the end of the song and the rhythm merged unbroken into "Sunday Bloody Sunday," which he is said is "America's song now" (given that stuff with the I.R.A. is officially finished).

1. City of Blinding Lights
2. Vertigo
3. Elevation
4. Gloria
5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/In a Little While
6. Beautiful Day/Many Rivers to Cross
7. Original of the Species
8. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
"War Medley"
9. Love and Peace or Else
10. Sunday Bloody Sunday/Rock the Casbah
11. Bullet the Blue Sky
12. Miss Sarajevo
13. Pride
14. Where the Streets Have No Name
15. One

Encore (with Zoo TV-ish lead-in):
16. Until the End of the World
17. Mysterious Ways
18. With or Without You

Second Encore:
19. Stuck In a Moment
20. Yahweh
21. 40

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