by gemwind

Our beloved U2 has lost touch with what made them a fresh, vibrant, urgent, in your face band. They have become too commercial, too massive and too corporate for their real fan base to stand by in silence. Banners exclaiming "Blackberry Loves U2" were obvious signs of a sellout to corporate sponsorship, apparently so necessary in a digitally open society with no real revenues from music sales. Although the set design and light show were spectacular, they only showed that corporate bucks buys cutting edge technology with which to wow the masses. Unfortunately, all the razzle dazzle came at the expense of the true heart and soul of this band. The performance was lackluster, the choice of songs dismaying, and the audience was bored enough to find lots of time to wander in search of memorabilia of the U2 of days past. It wasn't even a nostalgic trip down memory lane for the middle aged bulk of the audience. I have always returned for a second night on previous tours, but this time I have had enough. This show never came close to the sincere energy of the Joshua Tree show at MSG, understated in black & white, with Bono wincing to play Running to Stand Still despite a broken arm in a cast, nor did it pack the technological punch of the Zoo TV extravaganza at Yankee Stadium with the depth of the cuts from the Berlin era of Achtung Baby. Those tours created truly moving moments, whereas this show's most moving moments came during Stuck in a Moment with Bono acknowledging the rain - ironically showing a washed out Bono stuck in the rain, pleading with the audience to bear with the moment, and the stronger statement of Burma's house-bound leader whose face was paraded by a string of supporters marching on the runway around the stage. The political moments meant something in the days when Bono played the punk calling the white house to have his voice heard from the stage at Yankee Stadium. Today the politics have become too contrived and too much a part of U2's M.O. rather than an urgent cry for freedom and recognition of the voice of a generation tired of war, famine, poverty and evil. Respect to Bono for trying so hard to be the good guy but this whole event was overdone and missed the point...

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