The show is about to get started.
I
am writing this as I sit in the center of the plaza at the Arrowhead
Pond in Anaheim, CA where U2 is going to rock
soon. This is the Vertigo Tour!
It is 6 PM! The doors opened and crowd starts to flow in, or rather rush in. The security guards are yelling "Slow down, Ladies!" And the ladies giggle and act a little subdued. I can feel the excitement and energy building around the arena. The crowd quickly starts building in front of the stage. Earlier as I pulled my car into the Arrowhead Pond, I saw a lot of people camped out in the front. I heard they were here overnight. Then there is a small group of hardcore groupies waiting at the ramp where Bono and the rest of the band are scheduled to arrive later in the afternoon. I simply cannot believe this!
If
only I knew back then... Back in 1987, I bought my first U2 album Joshua Tree. It was back when we used to listen to music on tapes! That album became an instant favorite for me. I had never heard anything like that before. As a new U2 listener, Bono's unique piercing voice tore right into my already crowded brain and has been permanently lodged in there along with a few of my other favorite rocking voices. The lyrics were awesome, though some of it I could not really understand or relate to most of it having grown up in a small town back in India, where you were frowned upon if you listened to any music western, especially Rock music. And there I grew up when, my mom, started introducing western music and pop culture to us. I was 12 years old. She bought us a couple of tapes I don't even remember them anymore. And she found a guy who could get us a tabloid called The Sun which covered music and pop culture. Even today, I am amazed how resourceful my mom was in that small town. I still believe that we were the only subscriber to that magazine in the whole town. The first rock album i remember my mom bought us was Deep Purple's Made In Japan. What an album to start with for a kid who had never heard Rock music before! Since then, Smoke on the Water is permanently inscribed in my brain as I kept listening to the only rock album I ever had until I turned 15. I still had that tape when I graduated from my engineering school. And Smoke on the Water became the anthem song of my band at the school concerts, not that the audience cared, except for us and those other kids that were on pot. I cared because I was in the band. That seems like so long ago... Sorry, I digressed...Back to U2.
Am
I really here? At the U2 concert?
Not only here, but working with the concert crew. We are all waiting at the
crew box to do each of our parts. You see Sun is involved in this. Mary
can tell
you about that better than I can. I meet with the other crew members, who
show me all the things they do to make the show successful. There is so much
stuff. The amount of technology that goes in here is mind blowing.
The stadium is a bit more than half full now and it is almost 7 PM. The southern grunge rock band of 3 brothers and their cousin called Kings of Leon will be opening for U2. I have never heard their music before. I hear it is high energy and fast paced. Not sure if I will like it. The Kings of Leon take the stage and get the show off the ground. The music is loud, beats are fast and I can hardly make out the lyrics. I put my earplugs on and keep in on for most of their set. These earplugs don't block out the sound entirely, so i can still hear the muted music. The crowd seems supportive. It goes on for an hour. I know everyone is waiting. At least I am. Earlier that afternoon, I happened to see Bono and team rehearse. I just got the set list, looks like some changes were to the San Diego set. I love it because it has all my U2 favorites. The crowd is building up. The excitement is building. The anticipation is building. I can feel it. Kings of Leon finish their set. The crowd cheers for them. And then the crew begins resetting the stage. There is a lot of hustling and bustling. And a guy walks around stage holding The Edge's guitar checking and tuning. Crowd cheers. Crew is shuffling around on stage making last minute adjustments. The crowd is getting restless.
Suddenly
the crowd roars!
I take that as a signal that the Band entered the arena and are backstage.
Then everything goes dark. The crowd cheers loudly. The speakers boom with
a voice saying "Everyone, Everyone, ...." and then comes a sound
of a Jet which fades as the bass starts sounding. Then there is Edge with
a huge flashlight walking on the The
Ellipse around the stage. The beam from Edge's flashlight starts
scanning the crowds. The crowd is ecstatic. As Edge walks on, the second band
member walks on with his flashlight. It's Adam, the bassist. And soon after,
Larry the drummer walks on with his flashlight. The audience is roaring. And
finally, the last flashlight leaves no doubt who it is. Ladies and Gentlemen,
Bono is in the house! The crowd goes nuts!! I have to quickly pull my
earplugs out of my pocket and plug them in. Bono starts shining his flashlight
on each section of the audience. He is particularly fond of the sections that
are farthest from the stage. He puts the spotlight on one section that is
on the farthest end of the stadium and they go wild! The noise level is deafening.
The stadium is electric and the crowd's energy feels like it could blow the
roof off the Arrowhead Pond. And that's with my ear plugs on! Damn
the earplugs. I pull my ear plugs out [and keep them out for the rest of the
show]. I will probably be deaf by midnight, but who cares. I have to hear
this in its full glory. Man! This is crazy fantastic!
Awesome
Set! I look at the set list that was handed to me just before the show. This should be a good show. It has many of my U2 favorites. I hid the list as soon as I got it because people in the audience just walk up to you and ask for it. If I were them, I probably wouldn't do that, because I want and like to be surprised. But, I had to look at it to know what I have to do. I am here after all along with the crew. Would that make me a roadie too, Mary?
Edge
is now in position on stage and so is the bassist. Quietly a tom-tom and cymbals
have appeared on the right side walkway of the ellipse and Larry has started
drumming on it. Bono is on the left side of the ellipse. The bass and drums
are thumping and the crowd gets into the rhythm. And the concert is on to a
great start. Bono and co. start belting out Love and Peace. I call
my family at home and we can't hear each other. My son IMs me "Wow! That
is LOUD!". I IM back, "Yep, they got gazillion watts pumping here,
wanna keep listening?". And so, my family ends up listening to the concert
on the tiny speakerphone over the next hour.
Bono moves on to Vertigo. I love the lighting on the stage.
The Lighting is brilliant!
They
have 6 sections of LED lights called MMD. Each section has M number of LED bulbs
arranged on N number of rope wires. Each LED bulb is uniquely addressable and
you can send a signal to each bulb specifying the color and intensity. And the
entire section of NxM number of bulbs are controlled like they are a screen
of N x M pixels, where each pixel is an LED bulb. So you can project any bitmap
image to this screen, of course they are not hi-res. You can see the red display
of circles and helixes effect shown during one song.
There
is also an overhead screen right above the stage that gets feed from 4 different
cameras and each camera is focused on one band member. This offers a great close
up view of each band member, but the screen is not really huge. But the concept
is really nice because you catch a glimpse of each band member in action that
they really suit the song. The band moves on effortlessly one hit after another.
The Show Goes On
City
of Blinding Lights starts off and i love the guitar riff on it by EDGE,
it reminds of some old imaginary Eastern Indian tune that, non-existent, but
yet so familiar. The powerful lights on stage are synchronized with the music
so when they light up, the lights are so bright and blinding. This makes for
a fitting display for this song. And then we get to Sometimes You Can't
Make It On Your Own. The mood is a little mellow. Bono is at his best.
And at the right time, the LED screens light up with what looks like a AOL man
in a white shirt and black pants, walking on. This looks really great and once
again a fitting image sequence for this song. The crowd is loving every minute
of it. And so we move on through the next hits. Sunday Bloody Sunday gets
a really good treatment. Bullet the Blue Sky goes off fantastic with
the screens displaying a blue F16 jet flying, twisting and turning over a skyline
throughout the song. Mysterious Ways is as usual a delight. And the
band is off the stage. The lights are still out. There is a huge cry from the
crowd for an Encore. The band comes back and sing Pride and I get to
hear my all time U2 favorite Where the Streets Have No Name.
Bono and The PopeSomewhere along in the concert, Bono talked about Pope John Paul II. He said that the pope was the greatest showman. He told us about when he met the pope and offered him his glasses "Would you like this Holy Father?" and the pope said "Yes". So Bono gave them to the pope. Pope puts it on and turned his head with a big smile. Bono made the face and said, "He (the pope) did something like this". Bono tilted his head and smiles. The crowd cheers!
Look
at the Stars!
The band is just about to start singing One. And this is the time for Bono's
UNITE. Bono starts rallying the crowds! He
asks everyone to pull out their cell phones. The crowd starts waving cell phones
like lighters (click on the picture to see movie). He wants 1 Million americans to rally to his cause of fighting
Debt, Aids and Trade for Africa. If you don't
already know, Bono is a huge influencer and proponent of forgiving Debt to poor
African nations that were siphoned off by bad corrupt regimes. You must visit
DATA.org and learn about the debt
crisis. I am always skeptical when a celebrity takes a stand on some social
political issue. I felt the same earlier when I started seeing Bono take the
stand that he did and I remember thinking - Bono, stick to singing please.
But as I have learned more and more about him, and what he is trying to do,
I have become a bigger fan than ever. This guy is not just any Rock Star. He
is smart, intelligent, influential, and the president and world leaders take
his calls. Which other Rock star can do that?
The End
After One, the band goes off stage for a second time. After a few minutes
of crowd roars, they are back for the second encore. Is this a blast or what?!!
When they sing Yahweh, I feel that it is a better rendition (accoustic/vocal)
than the one on the CD which sounds more pop than rock. I like the live version a lot better. I hope someday
they will release this version. And the end with "40", which
I heard is the way U2 likes to end their concerts.
All in all, this was the best Rock concert I ever been to so far. I will remember this for a long long time! Thanks Bono! Thanks U2!
