by PatrickL

The Biggest Homecoming of All.

At the end of the day, what is it that makes a good concert great? The venue? The company? The atmosphere? If these are contributing factors them I could not have done much better than my recent trip to London see two of U2’s Earls Court shows. There the venue was good, the company great and the atmosphere electric. As a result I was considering going to the Slane gig as more my duty as a resident Irish fan. The thought of standing in a field all day long to appreciate U2’s music brought back too many bad memories of stadium rock. The arduous travelling. The standing all day. The tolerance of mouthy lager mobs. The endurance of trying to remain safe amid crushes. All nothing to do with music. Especially a show as intimate as Elevation 2001 has turned out to be. So to say I wasn’t expecting much of U2’s Irish dates would be an understatement.

As it happened I looked set to endure all of the above, had it not been for a kindly security guard who offered myself and company salvage from the 76,000 by way of a wristband into the exclusive pit that held a much less packed 4,000. There with the freedom to move and breathe the day took on a new possibility. The countdown to U2 was made much easier by the support line up, JJ72, Coldplay. However it was The Red Hot Chilli Peppers who with their incredible level of audience participation (the sight of 80,000 people swinging their tee shirts above their heads is not one easily forgotten!) made me fear for the challenge of any band following them on stage. Such fears, however were glady misplaced as U2 took the stage and the unimaginable happened!!!
I turned 18 again and was jumping up and down again in Croke Park 1987. I was punching the air at their New Years Eve 1989 Point Depot show. I was marvelling at their Zooropa and Popmart shows of 1993 and 1997. I was seeing U2 again on Irish soil and living all the hype, pride and glory that comes with witnessing U2 playing live in their home land. Only this time I was shouting louder, jumping higher and losing it more because U2 are playing so bloody brilliantly than ever before! It is surely the eight wonder of the world that a band at their twenty-year status are so fresh and at the peak of what they do. Judging by the scenes of pandemonium breaking out all around the venue it seemed everyone else was feeling just as jubilant. “Elevation”. Beautiful Day” Until The End of The World”. I didn’t catch my breath until the poignant “Kite” The cynics could have had a field day with Bono going public on his father’s death. (the national newspapers didn’t help by plastering scenes of the funeral services all over their front pages), but for anybody who admires the singer they know his art and his grief could not be separated. For a performer who has always worn his heart on sleeve, they are one. If “Kite” was heartbreaking at Earl’s court a week before, then Bono took it a step further by finishing the song with a few lines from The Supremes “When Will I See You Again?”. Memories of a different type flowed with performances of “A Sort of Homecoming “, “I Will Follow” and Sunday Bloody Sunday”. Unlike their more technically led shows there is a freedom about this tour that allows for some interesting set changes. Of the three shows I’ have seen on this tour none have been the same.

‘Stuck In A Moment’ had everyone singing along while the reminder of U2’s first Slane concert back in 1981 as support to Thin Lizzy was beautifully served with their ‘wedding band’ version of Lizzie’s ‘Dancing in The Moonlight.’ Philomena Lynnott, Phil’s mother was acknowledged as being present and her wishes to have a statue erected to her son in Dublin publicly endorsed by the band. It was at moments like this that U2 felt truly home. That for all their global trotting they are still one of us. Still an Irish band. Four blokes, who walked our streets, shared our culture and political issues. After a wonderful, but all too short (it seemed!) two hour set U2 made it personal again with the screens turning to images of Bobby Hewson for the duration of “One”. At one moment it seemed like Bono may not be able to finish the song as his voice broke off and he turned his back on the audience for a few private moments behind his guitar. “Walk On” lifted the spirits once more and sent everyone home with a soundtrack to what surely must have been one of the best nights of their lives. Young and old alike.

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