by Bob

Having seen U2's Elevation tour at London's Earl's Court, I can finally see what all the fuss is about. This band is a world-class outfit.

Having seen their PopMart tour twice previously, I was looking forward to a more quintessential U2 show where the sound was more Joshua Tree widescreen and less Pop drum loops.

Credit to Bono for his 'show must go on' attitude, despite the death of his father the same day. As a result, there was a fair degree of emotion during one of the highlights of the evening, Kite, which was performed beautifully.

London being London, you got the feeling that some of the crowd where there simply to say to their friends that they had been to see U2's much praised tour, thus detracting from the atmosphere a little.

However, the majority of the standing crowd were very appreciative and no doubt those sitting down were no less enthusiastic.

The real boon of seeing U2 is of course the fact that this four piece would sound good playing in your living room without all the showbusiness tech that a modern rock tour demands. The bonus of four giant TV screens for each band member, a mini-PopMart screen behind the stage and some excellent projection and lighting mean that songs like New York become brooding odes to an intriguing relationship that Bono has developed with the Big Apple. This was another of the evening’s highlights.

The show left me with the feeling that to have seen U2 in their Joshua Tree tour days would have been very special indeed. There were rare glimpses of the Edge’s shadow on the back of the stage in particular during the lower-lit songs, similar to the opening of Streets on the Rattle & Hum video, which no doubt proved nostalgic if you had witnessed the band fourteen years ago. All that was missing was the silhouette of a fedora, the Edge now preferring to wear a Pope-like close fitting skullcap type hat.

It doesn’t affect his guitar playing however and the band as a whole sound better than ever. Thanks, U2, for a trip down memory lane.

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