by Matt McGee

Dear U2,

Thank you for your recent application to return to the position of Best Band in the World. We received many applications from interested bands, many of whom are qualified and fully capable of accepting this position. As you know from past experience, Best Band in the World is a position which carries great responsibility and is not to be taken lightly. Because of this, we have given your application intense scrutiny -- most recently from our 20,000+ screening committee at the Tacoma Dome on April 12.

We are pleased to inform you that your application has been accepted and you can begin immediately with your new responsibilities. (Truth be told, many of us on the screening committee believe you never lost the job in the first place and are somewhat incredulous that anyone thinks you need to reapply.)

On behalf of the Tacoma committee, I offer the following comments on your application:

The sheer energy in your performance left most of us utterly exhausted. The entire collection of 300 fans inside the heart pogoed through the entirety of three songs: Elevation, I Will Follow, and Streets. Great thanks for having the foresight to spread those songs out in your setlist; pogoing through even two straight songs would have required immediate medical attention, three would've been certain disaster. As this review, err ... acceptance letter is written almost 48 hours after the show, the author's legs are still sore from bouncing up and down after a day of standing in line. But no complaints. No pain, no gain.

I was very impressed by the joy in your performance. You would think that the process of applying for the Best Band in the World job would be a nerve-racking experience, but I have never seen the band so loose, and that's counting back 14 previous shows all the way to 1985. Bono's "We also do weddings" comment after "In A Little While" was a great laugh, but beyond the obvious things like that, it was seeing the face-to-face interaction between band members that was the real joy of this show. Unless you're in the heart and up at the front, you probably missed all the glances, smiles, and smirks between all four guys on stage. That was great fun, the best part of the show for me -- to take in and see that 25-year relationship up close and personal.

But that's not to slag on the music! The setlist was the longest of the tour to date, and many of the songs were the best versions I've ever heard. "One" stands out -- it was by far (by far!!) the best version of that song I've heard. "Sweetest Thing" is a million times stronger as a live track than I would have ever expected. "Stuck In a Moment" was not an album favorite, but the live version is terrific -- Adam's bassline being much more pronounced in the arena than on the record. Likewise with "In A Little While," which quickly became a concert favorite. The band even showed some impressive resilience during a problematic "Until the End of the World": Edge broke the most important string he needs for that song soon after the start, but managed to play on for most of the song -- including the guitar solo -- before Dallas (his guitar tech) delivered a replacement tuned specifically for the song's finish. The only track that seemed lost in the arena setting was "New York", a favorite of mine when it was played during the album promotional appearances; but in the arena, with Bono donning a cowboy hat and making moves as if he were on horseback ... the image and the song were lost on me.

The band put on display a lot of symbols and icons of times past -- Bono holding a spotlight during "Bullet the Blue Sky", Edge's rehash of his 1981 moves during a full version of "I Will Follow", playing the Under a Blood Red Sky version of "Sunday, Bloody Sunday", Bono dancing with a female fan called up from the crowd (he also danced with two of Edge's daughters) and many more -- but none of these came across as tired or contrived.

Critics who use the success of the current tour to diminish Zoo TV and PopMart are completely off-base; those were brilliant shows that no other band dare try to top. Elevation is no less brilliant, but for a different reason: on this tour, U2 is celebrating being U2, no pomp and circumstance, no 150-foot video screens, no traveling TV stations. It's not the size of your stage that matters, it's what you do with it. And Elevation is U2 wearing its heart on its stage.

Application accepted.

Matt McGee
Member, Tacoma Screening Committee

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