Let Me Tell You About The Bono Effect...

You know that theory of Six Degrees of Seperation? That everyone in the world is only six people away from anyone else? It's true. It must be true. Because Kevin Bacon is on drums, I've seen Bono so much on TV now it feels like he's practically family, and everyone else here seems to think the same way.....

No one comes to U2 to see the support act, no one. Glasvegas, whose debut was no.2 in the album chart upon release, seem to a prime example. The drummer appears to have absconded from the White Stripes, only less talented, and the singer appears to the worlds first professional Joe Strummer lookalike. It doesn't make them any good. Because they are not - the sound is muffled, indistinct and terrible, and the songs all merge into one. I've seen some stunning support bands, and this lot aren't one of them.

Everyone seems to be here for the main attraction then, it seems. Can't blame them. Because there's a moment tonight when I see a stadium dancing in unison to "Mysterious Ways", a entire stand waving their arms in unison - and in time to the beat.A moment of surrender to the music. Like the moment in "City Of Blinding Lights" when the entire crowd thrusts their arms in unison with Bono when he sings "oh you look so beautiful", just as he does. Like a football match, but everyone is on the same side, no one goes home with the cold hand of crushing defeat on their shoulder, and no one gets slashed in the carpark for wearing the wrong colours on their shirt.

Because thats the thing about music. It unites. It brings people - people who've never met before - together. Its the Six Degrees of Seperation thing again ; everyone united by something in common. One Nation under Bono, if you like.

And somehow, I think Bono likes that.

Bono once said "My God isn't short of cash, mister". Judging by the 164 feet high stage set, I can tell. Its nothing short of expensive - and but also revolutionary. The typical stadium gig sets up a linear stage at one end, and everyone faces that way ; this places the set in the middle of the stadium, propped up on four legs. Rather than blocking off one end of the stadium with staging, the audience surround the band on every side. Its U2 360 degrees. And its stunning. And - given that it expands the stadium capacity by 20% - economical, by way of maximising available seating. Which means a lower ticket price than last time they toured, four years ago. And at the top, the seats are cheaper than over a decade ago....  

From the opening "Breathe", to the closing "Moment Of Surrender", this is no nostalgia show. Bookended by new material and sandwiched with hits, U2 take a while to connect with the audience. The opening duo of "Breathe" and "No Line on the Horizon" just don't translate well live - or on record either, the latter particularly seeming to have been lifted from an obscure shoegazing outtake by My Bloody Valentine - but when the recent single "Get On Your Boots" starts up its a different ball game. Things just connect, for the first time of the night. The words dash across the screen, and the words shout out from the crowd. "Magnificent" follows, and its one of the highlights of the new material ; its U2 at their most U2-esque.

From an unusual start loaded down with a surfeit of unfamiliar songs, its when the big hits come out to play that things start to happen . "Beautiful Day" you most probably know, and for the first time, "Mysterious Ways" actually makes sense. On record it always stuck out like a sore thumb, but here, the stadium comes vibrant and alive from the opening chord. I turn around and see an entire stand of people moving in time to the beat. Five thousand pairs of hands in the air as one. Now thats something you don't see everyday. Or hear everyday, judging by the opening lines of "I Still Havent Found What I'm Looking For" which are sung back by tens of thousands of people, as is "Stand By Me". And "Stay" - from the neglected, experimental "Zooropa" album - is a unexpected and extremely welcome surprise.

Sometimes you just those moments when something is plucked out of the air, it takes you to that other place... When something just connects. Tonight seems to be one of those nights. Maybe, in U2World, every night is a special night, but this seems more special than most. Sometimes its like watching the superlative U23D... but in 3D. In Real Time. The video above us, with its curved 360 degree screen split into 90 degree segments, dominates large portions of the show, but the live footage comes from two remote control cameras circling the stage, treated and ran back with pre-recorded video also...its almost too much to take on one show. Almost.

Some songs, brilliant on record, come across limply live. "The Unforgettable Fire" - brilliant in its studio version - loses its subtlety and texture, being lumpen and disappointing. "City Of Blinding Lights", on the other hand, suffers no such problems and a massive audience response. "Vertigo" is all bludgen and raw power, but sadly misplaced and losing its immeadiacy by coming halfway through.Its a great song, but out of step here. "I'll Go Crazy" here is played as a dance remix, and is completely unfamiliar. You know the words, but the song is so dependent on the dynamics of the music that to lose allthat in favour of a generic 120bpm disco beat is as unneccessary as it is completely pointless.

Running into the final third of the main set comes the predictable string of big hits and stadium 'classics', instantly familiar and predictable to anyone whose ever seen one of their many live DVDs. So along comes the obligatory torch song of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", which they've played on every tour in the past 26 years. Its as predictable and it is boring. And, forgive the heresy, but its not even that good a song anyway. And neither is "Bullet the Blue Sky", Which they've dropped for the first time since 1987.  Thank God they've dropped that. There's not a single person here who will miss it.

Believe me, is such predictability that makes the performance staid, predictable, formulaic. There's a difference between killing the golden goose and ossifying into irrelevancy, and U2, for all their attempts and going boldy forward, need to leave such predictability behind. Break the mould, and play some songs people don't expect - the resurfacing of "Unforgettable Fire" being one such move tonight. But such is their predictability,  you just know "Pride" is just around the corner. No matter how good the song is, the final few of the set haven't really changed in two decades. Its the home straight of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Pride", "Where the Streets Have No Name" that tell you its time to change the costumes and power up the lasers for the encore.

None of this predictability detracts though, from just how good they are. Knowing what song is coming next, robs the show of its immediacy. But that doesn't make it any less vital. So when "MLK" turns up - for Martin Luther King - after "Pride", its breaks that predictability with a fitting interlude before leading into "Walk On".

Now "Walk On" happens to be one of the best U2 songs ever, but it suffers from the commonly known "Bono Effect". Now, to some the Bono Effect is when he uses his celebrity to fuel the oxygen of publicity for some righteous cause he passionately believes in. Like Human Rights, Amnesty International, or Debt Relief. The problem with this is quite simple; can you find anyone who thinks that any of the above are bad ideas? I don't think so. Except third world dictators, and they aren't the sort of people here tonight.  

To me, the "Bono Effect" is something very different. Its when he states the absolute obvious like its some sort of relevation, and does nothing less than hector us about something we all know is right already anyway. Preaching from the pulpit of the stadium to the already converted and already aware, thats what it is.

Now, I know that war is BAD, that debt relief is GOOD, that the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is an act of political oppression. I don't need Bono to do my thinking for me. You see, what is Bono's day job? Political activist? Or the Singer in U2?

Hmm, thats a toughie.I'd argue the latter, not the former. Lets see him carry this show on the road, just him and a microphone, and see if he can fit 80,000 voices into the stadium on his spoken word political lecture tour. But to use the medium people enjoy and turn it into a political soapbox, is not something I appreciate.

Not that its not valid for him to have these opinions, but there is a line to be drawn between expressing your political beliefs and have them hijack your day job. I'd argue that when being a political activist compromises your day job, its time to know when to compartmentalise your life. I don't think Bono can. After all, If I start doing political campaigns from my job, I think My Boss would notice, don't you?

So "The Bono Effect" is for me, when he starts telling the audience how to think, and thats when I switch off. The odd occasional speech on stage is one thing, but asking 100 people on stage wearing masks of political prisoners to make a political point is another. But thats mainly because I) me, and most of the people here, already know the bleeding obvious and don't need to be told such things or hectored into submission and II)the target of his political activism isn't in the stadium. I don't see Thein Sein, the prime minister of Burma here. Do you? Take the politics to the politicans, Bono. And take the music to the people who've paid you to play it - he wouldn't turn up to the negotiating table with an acoustic guitar now, don't you think? And to me, when the politics intrudes on the personal, thats the line.

"Walk On", however, is a brilliant, brilliant song. To me it has a meaning that all of us can relate to - that of leaving behind these things that trap us and moving on in life. Obviously, It doesn't mean to me what it means to Bono. So to write such lyrics that work on multiple levels, and then ascribe only one meaning to them, is to alienate everyone else who has paid to hear that song. And thats leaves an aftertaste in my mouth, being told what to think, what to feel, when I already know these truths to be self evident. No one likes being preached at, and thats why you don't see Bono at a Ted Nugent gig, do you?

And just to think, this was probably the least political of the recent tours. There's no hamfisted declaration of human rights here between songs, thank the lord. There's a big difference between making a political comment, and a political rally. I don't need millionaires to tell me how to think, I can do that all by myself thank you.

"Where The Streets Have No Name" recovers the stadium in one quick, fell swoop. The red on the screen above us and the keyboards fade in... and then its all go.Guitars chime, and thousands of bodies jump up and down as one as the build up kicks in... tens of thousands of people In one unified experience. One. One Life. One Love.

And then the hectoring continues. Desmond Tutu on the theme of unity. One Life. One Love. Its through the power of unity, of people coming together, that gives us hope. that gives us the possibility of a better world. All set on the video screen. Such interstitials detract from the power of the music. Come On, if we don't know by now such blatant and obvious truths, how stupid must we be?

Sometimes people must be shown the way to a better world, and its their choice to take. That doesn't mean you buy them the ticket and frogmarch them onto the train with the destination of Hope St, does it? And "One", a song with many meanings, but mainly one of regret and hope, the recognition of a failing relationship, seems to be very popular at weddings, which makes it obvious how misunderstood that song can be.

However, it falls flat tonight, for all Bono's impassioned histrionics. Its not the anthemic set closer they think it to be. It would work much better about six songs in, like it was on the Zoo TV tour. And it is sadly, one of those songs that if feels like the band are obligated to play.

And then there is "Bad". "Bad" is one of U2's finest ever epics - a twinkle of synths, a guitar here and there, building up and up, seemingly into the stratosphere, before the slow comedown back to ground, like the junkie and their first hit. Its a rare song to hear on the tour, one I've waited and longed for for years,and a stunning moment, to close with a 25 year old album track. Never mind the hits, this is it.

And then, to step off stage to the tune of the traditional "40" sees the entire stadium singing along and along until the mirror ball drops, and Bono in a suit mounted with lasers. Did I mention the mirror ball? Its "Ultraviolet" - an obscure album track from 1991, reworked and rejigged. "With Or Without You" is perfunctory, obligatory - practically every gig has this in the slot as the second song of encore - and again, such predictability doesn't detract from the beauty of the song.He's singing his heart out, but he does every night to this. And lets face it, the worlds best Bono impersonator is Bono himself. He's worn that mask so long, it must be hard to remember who you are when you take it off.

It closes, not with a whimper, not with a bang, but with a Moment of Surrender. A slow, elegaic meditation of isolation, and breakdown. The moment when you let go, and let god. A fitting, subtle end. Or as subtle as you can be when you've spent $40million on a 165ft high metal claw in front of 80,000 people.

There's moments tonight when everything falls into place - moments of brilliance, awe, and information overload. Moments of crass political hectoring and badgering. Moments where the message outweighs the music, and drags it down. Moments when you just wish Bono would stop using the toys he has at his control to tell us off for these sins we have not done. Moments when you let yourself go and let the music flow, when you surrender as one, where the music takes you to that other place. Moments when the guitarist runs around the staging and does a 360 degree lap of the stage just for the fun of it, moments when you shout for joy. Moments when the fact you've been playing  air guitar and airdrums for the past two hours really does do not matter, moments when you just let go your burdens and let go. Moments when the band is truly deserving every accolade in the book - and moments when you just wish they'd let the music do the talking.

Its a revolutionary stadium gig, and revelatory - the solution so simple you wonder why no one else has ever tried it before, except on grounds of sheer economics.

Tonight was a great gig - possibly the finest single stadium show I've ever seen. You can talk about the songs you didn't hear but would loved to have heard, but thats not going to detract from it at all. Its a dream setlist, a brilliant overwhelming show, and the band showing themselves to be one of the best enetertainers in this - or any other - business. But at the end of the day, tis songs you came to hear. if only you could get Bono to shut up every now and then, and let the songs talk, then U2 might finally get over "The Bono Effect" where vast swathes of their audience switch off with disinterest during the party political broadcast, and let themselves go with the music wherever it takes you.

A brilliant band, on top form, in one of the best gigs you'll ever see. Its worth it.

Setlist:
Kingdom [Intro] / Breathe / No Line On The Horizon / Get On Your Boots / Magnificent / Land of Our Fathers - Beautiful Day / Mysterious Ways / I Still havent Foudn What Im Looking For / Stand By Me / Stay (Faraway, So Close!) / Unknown Caller / The Unforgettable Fire / City of Blinding Lights / Vertigo / I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight [Remix] / Sunday Bloody Sunday / Pride (In The Name Of Love) / MLK / Walk On / Where The Streets Have No Name / One / Bad / 40

Encore: Ultraviolet/ With Or Without You / Moment Of Surrender

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