Bono: Rock Star 5000!. See all 3 set poses! Staggered hunch, integrated microphone stand, with optional extendable right arm! Pensive stance, arm protectively gathering in the other, head bowed! And all new for this year, the audience interaction model – including disorientated fan-boy seated uncomfortably beside Action Bono up on stage! You can lie him down for added dramatic effect yourself, if required. And you can of course pull a cord and hear some generic shouty motivational drivel too – you know the stuff.
It is Paul Hewson’s (not sounding so enigmatic now, eh?) exaggerated lack of humility that makes him seem most plastic. Rock star for him isn’t just a profession, or extension of self, but his faith, with himself in the pole-role of grand redeemer. And such a sense of self-image makes him as absorbed and pre-programmed as the politicians he courts and seeks to influence like some great revolutionary master. Which is a shame, as his messages are sound, beneath the hubris. But still, it’s no mystery as to why some unapologetically save up their hatred for the man. If only he were that bit more human.
And he is on predictable form throughout this DVD concert footage. There’s little doubt he left identical impressions the following and previous nights also. But it is also true that he is so much of a cliché that he can’t fail to satisfy on some level where you have expectations. The songs themselves may be direct, but are never really preachy. And without the talking points he fits these like a rib-hugging leather jacket. What this tour seemingly proved though, was that when you take all the distractions and pneumatic theatrical idiosyncrasies away from the U2 live experience you are left with a cooking little band, sparking with efficiency, drive and diligence, though admittedly hardly drowning in impulse. We’d forgotten.
So essentially it’s just a band on stage (once upon a time an immediately thrilling proposition). Only there’s also an extravagant in-the-round stage complex and a relatively basic lights set up – so intelligent it probably took the GDP of Romania to develop – using single and largely primary colours imaginatively. We are talking U2 here, this is their lo-fi. And whatever, it was probably a great deal easier to shoot for commercial release than the Zoo TV tour. And it is shot with a wide and fitting unfussiness, with just the faintest hint of an artistic appreciation. Much like the band.
The newer material stands up surprisingly, ‘Vertigo’ and a successfully adapted-for-stadia ‘Elevation’ ably mixing with company, but remaining best placed as an introduction. They are still blown a new hole by the early placement of the early ‘Cry / The Electric Co.’ and the later appearance of one of the greatest songs ever written, ‘One’. Not to mention ‘The Fly’ and ‘Pride (In The Name Of Love)’. But then U2 are not a band who couldn’t walk into a great set with their eyes shrouded – which Bono actually does at one point, taking the weight of the world’s conflicts onto his shoulders, just briefly.
But that’s one of the guarantees on his box. Would you expect any less? Against all probable odds U2 prove that less can be more. It’s a welcome discovery.