Eoin Murphy’s GREEN ROOM
U2’s unforgettable fire for music still burns bright
THERE is a word that has haunted U2 for the past few decades and it is relevance. Critics of the rockers have been hurling charges of irrelevance at them over previous albums. It is a charge that I can thankfully revoke as utter twaddle. U2 are as relevant now as they were 30 years ago when they last took to the road with the Joshua Tree album.
This time around the hair is thinner, the beards are a bit more salt than pepper and the movement is not as free flowing, but as a concert experience, those with tickets to Croke Park are in for a real treat. I flew to Seattle this week to spend time with the band and get a look at the new show. I knew that I was in for a special night of entertainment but the new music, eye-watering giant screens and possibly the greatest live album performance of their career proved once again that U2 are both current and relevant as well as relentlessly innovative. The Century Link arena is home to NFL titans The Seahawks and holds the record for the loudest cheer in North America. That record was surely challenged last Monday when, in front of 62,000 fans, A Rainy Night In Soho by The Pogues blared out of the loud speakers and Bono, The Edge, Larry and Adam took to the stage and kicked off the American leg of their Joshua Tree Tour.
AS the lights dropped, an orange screen lit up behind the stage and excited fans could see the black outline of the namesake Joshua Tree, the iconic backdrop for their 30-year-old album. Larry immediately set the tone as he pummelled his kit and the crowd erupted in joy to the drum beat of Sunday Bloody Sunday. That was followed by New Year’s Day, A Sort of Homecoming, MLK and a blasted-out version of Pride (In the Name of Love) rounding off the appetiser, whetting the crowd’s appetite for the main event.
The opening five tracks are played on a small B stage in the middle of the main round and give a musical map that leads all the way to Joshua Tree National Park. Suddenly the giant backdrop, which is the length of a football field, went crimson, silhouetting the band and a giant tree as the opening riff of Where The Streets Have No Name sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The tour gives a unique opportunity to hear the entire album from start to finish, including Redhill Mining Town which the group has never played live before. It is clear that U2 have discovered new meaning and intrigue from reimagining this album of protest 30 years later. Choruses were altered by the crowd to chant ‘No Trump’. The 2017 Tour features the complete Joshua Tree album played in sequence alongside imagery from long-term collaborator Anton Corbijn and a selection of highlights from U2’s extensive catalogue of songs. During the album-closing song Mothers of the Disappeared, Bono called out, ‘Where is Eddie Vedder? Spirit of Seattle, spirit of Chicago, spirit of America. Where’s Eddie?’ Out walked the Pearl Jam frontman to share a hug with Bono and take a verse for his own. That wasn’t all, as Bono also welcomed tour openers Mumford and Sons for the song’s closing moments. The band spent the second half of the show playing recent hits like Elevation and Beautiful Day. A specially commissioned film by French artist J. R, which accompanies ‘Miss Sarajevo’, was shot at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, home to some 80,000 Syrians forced to flee their country. And a visual roll call of pioneering women accompanies Ultra Violet (Light My Way) (from ‘Achtung Baby)’ and supports the ONE organisation’s on-going Poverty Is Sexist campaign. Mary Robinson stands proudly alongside Michelle Obama, and Oprah Winfrey in a tribute to the world leaders of the fairer sex.
Keeping the best for last, U2 ended the night by debuting a new track from their eagerlyawaited album Songs Of Experience. Little Things That You Give Away is a melodic, uplifting rock song that shows, while their older music is still relevant, there is life in the old dogs yet. Bono told me that Songs Of Experience is all but finished. And this little taster suggests they are onto a winner when they drop it next year.
For those of you lucky enough to have Croke Park tickets, clutch them tightly to your bosom. By the time U2 make their way home they will undoubtedly put on the show of their lives. For those critics who will be waiting to compare Bono of ‘87 to modern day, I can save you the energy. They are virtually incomparable. It is the same album but in a very different context and setting. For me it was not about nostalgia, but creating new memories and recognising that U2 are still rock titans, with a lead singer who still moves and talks in Mysterious Ways (even if it is a bit more gingerly). And that is what relevance means to me.