by Collin Souter

This will be my ninth review for this site and I’m running out of superlatives. What are we gonna do now that it’s all been said? No new ideas in the house and every book has been read. Not true, actually.

I will start by saying that those responsible for producing and releasing the upcoming DVD of the Boston Elevation show should hold off on it and film a whole new concert with the current set-up. What Elevation accomplishes should not go silently into the goodnight. It should be viewed, experienced, savored.

U2 takes us to the highest of highs as they take the stage, proceeds through a whirlwind of energetic arena rock, playfully waxes nostalgic with “Out Of Control,” takes a detour of spontaneity by inviting an eager guitarist to accompany them on “People Get Ready” (Great job, Louis!), drives us to church and back with the gospel choir arrangement of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (We’re the coir), then reminds us of the virtues of pride.

Then the encore. With the rows of red, white and blue spotlights hovering behind them, the band rips into “Bullet The Blue Sky,” a song most (myself included) thought would not make the rounds this time around, for obvious reasons. But U2 has never shied away from provoking thought, no matter how upsetting. “Bullet” ends with Bono stuck in a moment, one where he seems to be casting out a demon he thought he left behind. “Outside is America…outside is America!!!,” he screams. Chants is more like it.

“What’s Going On” takes us further down the road of recovery. We know we have a problem, now we must question the roots of it. “Talk to me/ Then we can see/ What’s going on.” Please, please, get up off your knees.

“New York” turns the mood back to a celebration of strength and will in the face of tragedy. The altering of verses change what, in my opinion, used to be a throw away song into an important reminder of what we love, but sometimes take for granted. “Even Chicago loves New York,” Bono sings. It’s true. We look at our triumphant skyline quite differently now.

But if the new presentation of “One” doesn’t put a lump in your throat…well…I don’t know what to tell you. You must be dead, so let’s arrange a funeral. Behind the band as they perform their crowning songwriting achievement, passenger names of the September 11th American and United Airlines flights scroll up in memorial. Hard to work up the energy to applaud after such a gut-wrenching moment, but a defining moment, nonetheless. That reason alone elevates this U2 show far above and beyond any other rock show ever mounted.

As usual, the show ends with “Walk On,” as well it should. After being put through the emotional mill, U2 urges us to remember that what we’ve got, no one can steal. Certainly not terrorists. “He who makes his friends laugh is close to God,” Bono says. “I’ve read the Koran. It doesn’t say anything in there about hate.” So, walk on.

The lights come up, we catch our breath and we try to put together what we went through. Some of us had our questions answered as to what U2 would do this time around, in light of the attacks. Would they remind us of them somehow? If so, how? True not everyone who goes to a rock show wants to be reminded of current events, but there’s a reason “Grace” plays over the speakers as we file out. I think of it as the thesis statement to “All That You Can’t Leave Behind:” Grace finds goodness in everything.

This presents U2 in its finest hour, and we need more than bootlegs to preserve it.

Unto the almighty!

Hallelujah.


Collin Souter

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