by V. Brand

So we happen to know someone who works for the show, and he kindly let us come and sit with his wife in the writers' room. Apparently the place had been packed when U2 had played their soundcheck earlier in the day, so security was turning away anyone who didn't have an official SNL pass, and we couldn't get to the floor during the show. I had to watch the broadcast version of "Vertigo" and "Sometimes" through a tiny crack in the curtained window that looks out from the writers' room. Which was immensely disappointing, to get so close and have to watch them that way. But fortunately ("just as all hope had been lost") our friend managed to find a way to sneak us onto the floor at the end for the last segment, from "I will follow" to the end. I don't think I've been that close to the band, even inside the heart on the elevation tour.
They had such a lot of energy, Bono was throwing himself on the floor during the second 'Vertigo'; I had the sense that they were very happy to get back in front of an audience. Bono's interactions with the cameras, I'm told, were carefully rehearsed: he still has the ability to make his speeches and antics seem spontaneous, it gives you such a happy, lucky feeling. Adam's smirk was more pronounced than usual. I did get the feeling that the songs are still rough around the edges (if you'll forgive the expression), which is no doubt why they're playing them, to prevent another PopMart. Their energy more than eclipsed any musical insufficiencies, and as I left I kept thinking that if they keep the energy and hit the right arrangements, the tour in the spring will be the best thing since ZooTV.

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