The U2 concert I went to in Chicago last week was one of the best of my life - and I've been to my share of concerts.
As a closer, the band barely sang or played "One", letting the audience carry it. Singing along on that one acapella with 30,000+ other people or, say, the chorus to "Bad" or "Pride (in the Name of Love)" is simply unforgettable. Hard to imagine more positivity in one place, no matter what you think of Bono and his bully pulpit activism. (Personally, I'm all for the guy. You got a platform, go out there and use it and do some good in the world, dammit!)
This is on top of the incredible video and stage setup for this year's Innocence + Experience Tour - I could go into it, but I'm sure you can read about it elsewhere, if you're interested.
I'll buy merch from the indie bands I see didn't buy a $40 U2 shirt, because I figure U2 doesn't exactly need more of my money or my promotion. Then again, concert shirts are a form of connection - I wore one of my Hold Steady shirts and at the end of the concert, after the house lights came on, I was suddenly the lifelong best friend of these drunk fortyish guys who proclaimed The Steady the best band in the world - "even better than U2!" - and were basically inviting me to move into their homes because of mutual admiration of Craig Finn & Co.
Anyway, the picture above is of my only souvenirs of the show, which consist of my ticket and three scraps of confetti dropped on the crowd. Turns out the confetti was chopped up pages of high-falutin' literature! I got Dante's Divine Comedy, Psalm 44, and Alice in Wonderland. Is that awesome or what?
As a closer, the band barely sang or played "One", letting the audience carry it. Singing along on that one acapella with 30,000+ other people or, say, the chorus to "Bad" or "Pride (in the Name of Love)" is simply unforgettable. Hard to imagine more positivity in one place, no matter what you think of Bono and his bully pulpit activism. (Personally, I'm all for the guy. You got a platform, go out there and use it and do some good in the world, dammit!)
This is on top of the incredible video and stage setup for this year's Innocence + Experience Tour - I could go into it, but I'm sure you can read about it elsewhere, if you're interested.
I'll buy merch from the indie bands I see didn't buy a $40 U2 shirt, because I figure U2 doesn't exactly need more of my money or my promotion. Then again, concert shirts are a form of connection - I wore one of my Hold Steady shirts and at the end of the concert, after the house lights came on, I was suddenly the lifelong best friend of these drunk fortyish guys who proclaimed The Steady the best band in the world - "even better than U2!" - and were basically inviting me to move into their homes because of mutual admiration of Craig Finn & Co.
Anyway, the picture above is of my only souvenirs of the show, which consist of my ticket and three scraps of confetti dropped on the crowd. Turns out the confetti was chopped up pages of high-falutin' literature! I got Dante's Divine Comedy, Psalm 44, and Alice in Wonderland. Is that awesome or what?