U2, The best live act ever? (UK Tours 2001 in general)

Member Name: shanecahill

Product:	UK Tours 2001 in general
Date:	01/09/01 (213 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing, Outstanding, Emotional

Disadvantages: None

Quite possibly. This year at Slane Castle, they put on a concert. Oh yes, they put on a concert. This opinion is about U2 so I'm just going to put a short note on each of the support acts.

Relish kicked off the day with a lively and bouncy set, including 3 over-sized Relish beachballs, which were always going to go down well. They played the highlights of their excellent debut album Wildflowers, such as You I'm Thinking Of, She Knows and the made to be played to a stadium closing track Rainbow Zephyr. Excellent live, and really lifted the crowd. The album and their live act is really worth a look.

JJ72 popped their heads in, and came dressed all in ... black. Again. Getting a bit predictable, but when you hear their music I suppose it's fitting. This takes nothing away from the set, which started with October Swimmer and ended with Mark smashing a guitar... again. How Mark manages to maintain that amount of shouting for that long amazes me, though he did and it was just another sign of how good the Irish rock scene is becoming that we can produce two bands of the calibre of JJ72 and Relish to suport U2. Hooray for Ireland. Well received by the 16-25 age group especially but visitors from abroad seemed not too keen. May I also mention how stunning Hilary Woods was looking, good show indeed.

Kelis was not good. Well, actually let me re-phrase that: she was not to the liking of the 80,000 people crammed into Slane Castle. Maybe another line-up, another day she would have been well-received but in a line-up of rock bands she was horribly out of place. Most people treated her set as a lunch break, and if people in the heart didn't want to keep their places, I think the entire pit would have emptied. It was hard not to feel a pang of sympathy as her entourage pleaded with the crowd to "Make some noise y'all, for Kelis y'all". Eventually, they did make some noise, but only when she announced this would be her
last track. It was Caught Out There, with the incredibly annoying chorus of "I hate you so much right now", and you felt the crowd reaching for their "Ditto" signs.

Coldplay saved the day with a blend of songs from their album Parachutes and a large dose of new songs from their eagerly awaited album which I must say sounds very, very good. The crowd really joined in for these, with huge sing-alongs for Yellow, Everything's Not Lost and Trouble. They burst onto the stage with Shiver and Chris Martin joined most of the crowd in laughter as we heard fully grown men sing the high parts in it. Coldplay said how honoured they were to be here supporting U2 before they scuttled off. A surprisingly short set, but a damned good one.

Now we come to the real atmosphere builders, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. With an hour and a half set, they managed to cram in all the favourites such as I Could Have Lied, Under The Bridge, All Around The World and Californication. During some songs, I was afraid for some of the younger people in the audience as the moshing went a bit extreme at times but the whole event went off without a hitch. We were all urged to take off our shirts and wave them around our heads. Slightly childish for middle-aged men but looking back on the crowd it was quite a sight. Then it was over and the time had come...

The first chords of Elevation blasted out of the speaker system, everybody took a deep breath and out walked four of Ireland's heroes, the smallest of them all joining the crowd in a chorus of "Woo-hoo... Woo-hoo-hoo". I don't think I've ever jumped so much or so high as I did during that song. With Bono's amazing vocals added to the chanting of the crowd, it really was a moment I'll never forget. Every time I hear the opening notes of the song now, I remember how good I felt that night.

When everyone had calmed down we took a good look at the four men who chan
ged the history of Irish rock n' roll forever. Bono, with the microphone looking as excited as the crowd. The Edge on lead guitar, sweating after Elevation but still grinning. Larry Mullen Jr. on drums with a broad smile. Adam Clayton on bass as calm and collected as ever.

On to the music with Beautiful Day. I had never before seen this song as a jumping song, but this night proved me wrong as the chorus lifted the crowd high. The first single from the new album All That You Can't Leave Behind, and the one that proved U2 could re-invent themselves one more time.

At the start of Until the End of the World, Bono and Edge both made their way to the front of the heart, a walkway built to bring Bono that bit closer to the audience. Here they started a duel between guitar and microphone. Show-offs, that's what I reckon! This track from Achtung Baby went down really well, yet if they'd played S Club 7 at this stage it would have went down well. The atmosphere was electric. Edge's guitar mingled exceptionally well with Bono's voice on this track.

Then it was time for Edge to return to the main stage and his keyboards, for the stuuning song from War, New Years Day. The opening notes were greeted with a huge cheer from the crowd and the chant of "I will be with you again" was heard from Slane to Japan. The four screens above the stage, one focusing on each member of the band were ignored as people had their eyes glued on the antics of Bono.

Then came a solemn moment in proceedings. As a lot of you know Bono's father died recently and it was time for the first tribute from U2, although Relish and Red Hot Chilli Peppers had already played tributes. For Kite, Bono said " I thought I wrote this for my kids, but it turns out my father wrote it for me". His voice choked with emotion, he performed one of the most moving songs I've ever heard. The crowd were completly in awe of him and it r
eceived what was possibly the biggest cheer of the night.

Bono then pointed at the castle next and said "We wrote this one up here"
He was of course talking about A Sort Of Homecoming, from the 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire. Not many people knew this track, but those that did realized what a stunning rendetion it really was. Amazing.

Time for another crowd favourite, I Will Follow. Huge guitar and a sing-along chorus of "If you walk away, walk away, I'll walk away, walk away, I will follow" made for a huge crowd pleaser. It had become recognized as one of U2's greatest live tracks and I'm sure the people at Slane would have no argument with that.

As if that wasn't enough to please the crowd they went on to what many consider as U2's greatest song, Sunday Bloody Sunday. What can I say except ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! The sheer power of the song, mixed with one of Bono's speeches meant the crowd didn't want this one to end and continued to sing after the song was over, and U2 obligingly started it up again for another minute. Incredible.

A surprise track next, from their (in my opinion) extremely under-rated 1997 album Pop. The crowd seemed surprised as U2 played Wake Up Dead Man, as most expected them just to play Discotheque from Pop. Yet they soon joined in to the chorus with loud voices.

Their last track from All That You Can't Leave Behind was 5 songs ago, so, as if to prove this was no greatest hits tour, they broke into a wonderous rendetion of Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, a song written for the late Michael Hutchence by Bono. Another sing-along song which was one of the highlights of the latest album.

The next song they played was an instant classic with fans. In A Little While is a real stadium song, with what are possibly Bono's best vocals over a light guitar. The crowd were ecstatic as they just kept pulling outstanding song
s out of their hats.

Next, Bono talked about how they had played Slane 20 years ago, and how they were, frankly rubbish. They were supporting Thin Lizzy at the gig, and Bono explained how Thin Lizzy had paved the way for them and other Irish rock bands. He said a statue of Phil Lynnott in Dublin was the least this country could do for him. After introducing the band one by one ( Wearing the number 7 shirt tonight, The Edge; The poshest member of the band, on bass Adam Clayton; he started the band and every day he comes close to finishing it, on drums Larry Mullen Jr.) they played a short Thin Lizzy song in a close-knit group at the front of the heart. Dancing In The Moonlight got a huge cheer and those old enough to remember it sang along.

Yet, everbody at Slane was there for the band playing now, and as a reminder of that U2 flung Desire at us and before we knew it we were singing our hearts out to the chorus of " Desi-ii-ii--re" or something like that! With acoustic guitars and a strong drum-line it was always a U2 classic.

Once more we were suprised with a song from Pop. Staring at the Sun, another song with acoustic guitars and a huge sing-along chorus was greeted with a huge cheer, although there were a few murmurs about the absence of Discotheque. Yet it was all forgotten as we were swept away in the song.

If I was asked to say what I thought what track improved the most live I think it would have to be Bad. With a casual guitar riff, and Bono's sometimes hoarse vocals this just took the crowd that little bit higher.

From the opening riff of Where The Streets Have No Name the crowd were on there feet and jumping higher than ever before. We all screamed the first two lines at the top of our voices, "I wanna run, I want to hide, I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside". Beautiful melody that really raised the crowd once more.

The second last song from Achtung Baby was
up next. The funky guitar on Mysterious Ways piped up and the crowd went wild. Bono doing one of his dances and then suddenly taking a pink-haired (yes, I said pink-haired) girl from the audience to dance with. Damn you Bono, why didn't you pick me! Next time, I'm dying my hair pink. She seemed over-awed and she was soon returned to the crowd.

Then they said it was time for the last song. "This song goes out in the name of love" and so started Pride (In The Name Of Love). Written for Martin Luther-King this song from The Unforgettable Fire is one of U2's best loved songs and the audience responded admirably. As U2 left the stage, the crowd pleaded for more. But U2 being U2 of course they dragged it out for all it was worth. Eventually they returned.

Out they walked, with footage of Charlton Heiston's remarkably stupid speech on guns. Yes, you guessed it. Bullet the Blue Sky was the song and my God, was it a long song. With Bono's shouts of "One hundred, twooo hundred" and another huge speech all topped off with Edge's magnificent guitar playing. Tremendous.

With or Without You was the second encore and by now people were overcome with the quality of the concert. "See the stone set in your eyes, see the thorn twist in your side" warbles Bono along with the chant of the crowd. It just doesn't get much better.

Time for the last tribute to Bono's father Bob Hewson. Images of him appeared on the screens above and Bon started One, my favourite U2 song, and indeed my favourite song of all time. I don't think I've ever heard anything so moving in my entire life. The crowd knew this was something special and looking around I knew people would savour this moment for the rest of their lives.

And then it was time for the last live song of the night. Walk On from All That You Can't Leave Behind was chosen as the closer, and a more suitable song couldn'
t have been chosen. Sung with Bono's usual effort it was the pinacle of the entire concert. 80,000 people came together in Slane through their love of music.

As they left the stage the cheers never stopped. The Unforgettable Fire was played as a magnificent fireworks display finished the day. I could barely stand up I was so exhausted, yet I've never been as happy.

Have you ever seen on of Irelands heroes perform an emotionally charged rendetion of One as a tribute to his father? Have you ever seen 80,000 jump in unison to Where the Streets have No Name? I have, and it was the greatest day of my life.

Summary: