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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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"U2
Elevation Tour: Trying to Throw Their Arms Around the World
HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY May 31, 2001 By Glenn McCarty Photos by Jim Rinaldi The heart-shaped walkway that juts out from behind the stage and into the audience on U2's current back-to-basics Elevation Tour isn't just an obvious representation of what has always been front and center in the Irish rockers' career. It's also, we are told, the best shape to deflect crowd pressure for the standing-room-only crowd packing the arena floor. This symbol is fitting, however, since the heart serves as a lingering visual reminder of what Elevation Tour 2001 is all about. For the four from Dublin whose career has gone from emphasizing spiritual awakening to social change to toying with sensuality and irony, the current tour is a refreshing and riveting reminder of what U2 does best: play inspired, uplifting rock and roll. Indeed, it's as if a whole big gob of good feeling has been dropped right down into the middle of the arena, swallowing any who would offer critical words about sentimentality and (gasp) old age. What separates U2 from nearly all other rock bands, past and present, is their seamless blend of style and substance, making the recent stop in Buffalo, New York a first-class exhibition of all that is both raw and righteous. One might have gotten the impression from the band's entrance to the HSBC Arena under full house lights to the first grinding guitar chords of "Elevation" that the critical backlash to the over-the-top Pop Mart tour had undercut the band's sense of theatrics. The four chaps walked on stage as if it were a celebratory parade, waving amicably to the crowd for a few seconds before plugging in and wailing away on the current smash single. It wasn't long, however, before the true genius of the stage design revealed itself. After the lights suddenly dropped out on the chorus, a myriad of more subtle surprises were revealed slowly, spread out over the course of the show with delicate precision for maximum effect. Full white lights enveloped the band from all sides as the chorus of "Beautiful Day" sprang to life; four individual video screens above the stage, one devoted to each band member, powered up later in the song and played intermittently throughout the night in tasteful black and white. Video walls that seemed to move, screens that lowered gently from the ceiling to have abstract images projected onto them, and rotating spotlights were all utilized so delicately through the show that one began to wonder whether this really was the band who rode a giant lemon to the stage not so long ago. One thing that has changed little over the years is U2's ability to nail a song head-on and wrench every ounce of emotion from it. If anything, the tour's stripped down staging allows the power of U2's songs to be put on full display. The deceptively inventive rhythms of Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton lay the foundation for The Edge's brilliantly orchestral guitar work to build upon. On top of it all is Bono's incomparable vocal work, which has in his later years developed a soulful rasp, but can still manage plenty of acrobatics and even reach for the gentle falsettos which have been his trademark. No U2 show would be complete without its dramatic and emotional moments, as when Bono and The Edge stepped out to the end of the catwalk for "In a Little While." After dedicating the tune to the late Joey Ramone, Bono explained how it "changed from a song about a hangover to a sort of gospel tune," since "that's how cool Joey Ramone was." The duo also pulled "Stay (Faraway So Close)" from the commercial disappointment Zooropa, and in typical hyperbolic fashion, Bono introduced the song by commenting "This might just be the best song we ever wrote." The band did well to satiate older fans with "I Will Follow," "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and even "Bad," while still adding a newfound zing to recent numbers like "Kite" and "New York." Blended delicately into the night were references to the band's spiritual tendencies; Bono followed "Bad" with the chorus of "40" and ended "Walk On," the night's closer, by singing "Hallelujah." Alongside these moments of religious meditation, however, were the sensual "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and "Mysterious Ways," during which Bono strutted the catwalk like a fashion model and knelt before the giant image of a belly dancer on the video wall. It is perhaps these contradictions that make U2 most appealing, as they have learned to balance the heavenly with that of earth, making for a fascinating commentary on the complexities of modern life. For all its metaphysical
moments, when all is said and done, this tour is really all about relationships--
those between band members, whom Bono introduced individually, and who
exchanged hugs as the night ended; between the band and its fans, during
several instances when Bono pulled unassuming fans onstage for a shared
moment in the spotlight; and even between fans, for those with little more
than elbow-room on the arena's floor gazing up at the band's larger than
life presence. It would seem that while perhaps U2 didn't completely change
their ways after Pop Mart, they have certainly learned a lesson or two
about what format will elicit widespread acceptance for their music. As
the critical and commercial success of last year's All That You Can't
Leave Behind revealed, fans are always ready to receive the leopard
that didn't change its spots. As evidenced by the approving cheers of the
sellout crowd at the HSBC Arena, one might say that a new generation of
fans have found what
Buffalo Set List: Elevation
Encore
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