With this magnificent concert performance and by virtue of being rock and roll’s biggest superstars, U2’s position at the top will stay unchallenged for a long time to come.
Before I start, let me first paint you the scenario surrounding this U2 concert performance at Slane Castle.
Venue: Slane Castle, Republic of Ireland
Date: September 1st, 2001
Event: Second concert date of U2´s Elevation Tour in Ireland (the first concert date at the same site was the previous Saturday on August 25th, 2001)
Preceding this concert are the following events:
• Slane Castle was the site that U2 used to record their 4th album, "The Unforgettable Fire" in 1984.
• The concert date marked the 20th anniversary of U2´s first performance at Slane Castle, opening for another legendary Irish rock band Thin Lizzy at the inaugural Slane Castle Festival.
• The unfortunate death of Bono´s father, Bob Hewson, with the funeral just 24 hours before U2´s first historic homecoming concert on August 25th, 2001.
• Soccer World Cup qualifying match between Ireland and Holland shown on the giant screen at the concert venue earlier in the day. The Irish team won, by the way, with a strike by Jason McAteer.
With all these events that I just mentioned in mind, you will get a clearer picture of the significance of this particular concert performance.
Anyone who has attended U2´s Elevation tour dates in the U.S. or watched their "U2 Elevation Tour 2001 - Live From Boston" concert DVD will be familiar with the stage setup and the order of most of the songs. Apart from the giant screens on top of the stage and to the side, there is also the familiar hollowed out heart-shaped walkway in front of the stage. There are slight differences from one concert to another, depending on the circumstances of that particular date and the venue. Compared to their previous concert tours like the sensory-heavy ZooTV Tour or the glitzy PopMart Tour, this Elevation Tour is sort of a back-to-basics, no-frills and pure rock and roll show. After spending most of the 90´s experimenting and reinventing their sound with electronica and dance music, U2 came back strongly in 2001 with their new album, "All That You Can´t Leave Behind" on the back of their wildly successful single, "Beautiful Day". While a majority of the songs in this concert are from their latest album, old favorites from "The Joshua Tree", "War", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Achtung Baby" and "Rattle and Hum" albums are also performed to the delight of the crowd.
In front of an 80,000-strong crowd of screaming and adoring fans, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. slowly step on stage to the opening melody of "Elevation", the high-energy opening song for all their concerts on this tour. Already pumped-up from cheering their national soccer team to victory earlier in the day, the crowd is electric and Bono feeds off this energy with glee. Although many enjoy songs from their latest album, fans usually look forward to the older songs--standards like "New Year´s Day", "One", "With Or Without You", "Pride" and many others. So when The Edge starts playing the all too familiar keyboard melody to "New Year´s Day", the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. For this particular rendition, Bono wraps himself with the Irish national flag and proclaims, "For just once, I´ll be Jason McAteer!", to the mighty cheers of the crowd, still reveling in the aftermath of the country´s just-concluded soccer victory over the Dutch. Next up is the seldom-played "Out of Control" from their debut album, "Boy". The group rarely revisits their songs from "Boy" and it is always an occasion to celebrate when they do. During the song, Bono introduces each member of the group--"From Malahide, Adam Clayton!"--and also takes the chance to turn the song into a salute to their families and their sacrifices during the group´s early years when they were struggling to make it in music.
To fully enjoy the music of this Irish super rock group, you need to understand what the four lads are about and what they stand for. Most prominent in the group is of course, Bono--poet, leader, political activist, environmentalist, AIDS activist, 3rd world debt relief campaigner and now a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Quite a heck of a resume for a Dublin boy, don´t you think? Born Paul David Hewson to a Catholic father and a Protestant mother, Bono grew up in the dark and looming shadow of the religious violence in his homeland, soon transforming himself into the unofficial spokesman for tolerance and compromise in that region. U2 has always advocated social and political change and their songs and concerts reflect their stance on various issues.
For example, U2´s anti-gun and anti-NRA views flash across giant screens during concerts just before performing the song "Bullet the Blue Sky". For this Slane Castle concert, U2 instead, concentrated on the global arms sales by naming the 5 permanent members of the United Nations as the 5 biggest military suppliers in the world.
"Across the field you see the sky ripped open
See the rain through a gaping wound
Pounding on the women and children
Who run
Into the arms
Of America"
In "Pride (In The Name of Love)", U2 demonstrates their affinity to history and in some ways, religion with their ode to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (or Jesus Christ, depending on whom you speak to). Part of the song goes like this:
"Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride"
Hitting very close to home is Bono´s announcement of all the 29 names of the car bombing victims that died at Omagh in 1998 at the end of the rallying number "Sunday Bloody Sunday", which coincidently refers to another tragic event in Northern Ireland´s history. Immediately after this song, Bono sings a heartfelt solo rendition of "Wake Up Dead Man" without any musical accompaniment.
"Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday"
Love is also a theme that is visited frequently during the course of the concert. Dedicating the song "Kite" in memory of his father, Bono´s soulful rendition brought tears of joy rather than sadness when he sang:
"Who's to say where the wind will take you
Who's to say what it is will break you
I don't know
Which way the wind will blow
Who's to know when the time has come around
Venue: Slane Castle, Republic of Ireland
Date: September 1st, 2001
Event: Second concert date of U2´s Elevation Tour in Ireland (the first concert date at the same site was the previous Saturday on August 25th, 2001)
Preceding this concert are the following events:
• Slane Castle was the site that U2 used to record their 4th album, "The Unforgettable Fire" in 1984.
• The concert date marked the 20th anniversary of U2´s first performance at Slane Castle, opening for another legendary Irish rock band Thin Lizzy at the inaugural Slane Castle Festival.
• The unfortunate death of Bono´s father, Bob Hewson, with the funeral just 24 hours before U2´s first historic homecoming concert on August 25th, 2001.
• Soccer World Cup qualifying match between Ireland and Holland shown on the giant screen at the concert venue earlier in the day. The Irish team won, by the way, with a strike by Jason McAteer.
With all these events that I just mentioned in mind, you will get a clearer picture of the significance of this particular concert performance.
Anyone who has attended U2´s Elevation tour dates in the U.S. or watched their "U2 Elevation Tour 2001 - Live From Boston" concert DVD will be familiar with the stage setup and the order of most of the songs. Apart from the giant screens on top of the stage and to the side, there is also the familiar hollowed out heart-shaped walkway in front of the stage. There are slight differences from one concert to another, depending on the circumstances of that particular date and the venue. Compared to their previous concert tours like the sensory-heavy ZooTV Tour or the glitzy PopMart Tour, this Elevation Tour is sort of a back-to-basics, no-frills and pure rock and roll show. After spending most of the 90´s experimenting and reinventing their sound with electronica and dance music, U2 came back strongly in 2001 with their new album, "All That You Can´t Leave Behind" on the back of their wildly successful single, "Beautiful Day". While a majority of the songs in this concert are from their latest album, old favorites from "The Joshua Tree", "War", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Achtung Baby" and "Rattle and Hum" albums are also performed to the delight of the crowd.
In front of an 80,000-strong crowd of screaming and adoring fans, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. slowly step on stage to the opening melody of "Elevation", the high-energy opening song for all their concerts on this tour. Already pumped-up from cheering their national soccer team to victory earlier in the day, the crowd is electric and Bono feeds off this energy with glee. Although many enjoy songs from their latest album, fans usually look forward to the older songs--standards like "New Year´s Day", "One", "With Or Without You", "Pride" and many others. So when The Edge starts playing the all too familiar keyboard melody to "New Year´s Day", the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. For this particular rendition, Bono wraps himself with the Irish national flag and proclaims, "For just once, I´ll be Jason McAteer!", to the mighty cheers of the crowd, still reveling in the aftermath of the country´s just-concluded soccer victory over the Dutch. Next up is the seldom-played "Out of Control" from their debut album, "Boy". The group rarely revisits their songs from "Boy" and it is always an occasion to celebrate when they do. During the song, Bono introduces each member of the group--"From Malahide, Adam Clayton!"--and also takes the chance to turn the song into a salute to their families and their sacrifices during the group´s early years when they were struggling to make it in music.
To fully enjoy the music of this Irish super rock group, you need to understand what the four lads are about and what they stand for. Most prominent in the group is of course, Bono--poet, leader, political activist, environmentalist, AIDS activist, 3rd world debt relief campaigner and now a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Quite a heck of a resume for a Dublin boy, don´t you think? Born Paul David Hewson to a Catholic father and a Protestant mother, Bono grew up in the dark and looming shadow of the religious violence in his homeland, soon transforming himself into the unofficial spokesman for tolerance and compromise in that region. U2 has always advocated social and political change and their songs and concerts reflect their stance on various issues.
For example, U2´s anti-gun and anti-NRA views flash across giant screens during concerts just before performing the song "Bullet the Blue Sky". For this Slane Castle concert, U2 instead, concentrated on the global arms sales by naming the 5 permanent members of the United Nations as the 5 biggest military suppliers in the world.
"Across the field you see the sky ripped open
See the rain through a gaping wound
Pounding on the women and children
Who run
Into the arms
Of America"
In "Pride (In The Name of Love)", U2 demonstrates their affinity to history and in some ways, religion with their ode to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (or Jesus Christ, depending on whom you speak to). Part of the song goes like this:
"Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride"
Hitting very close to home is Bono´s announcement of all the 29 names of the car bombing victims that died at Omagh in 1998 at the end of the rallying number "Sunday Bloody Sunday", which coincidently refers to another tragic event in Northern Ireland´s history. Immediately after this song, Bono sings a heartfelt solo rendition of "Wake Up Dead Man" without any musical accompaniment.
"Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday"
Love is also a theme that is visited frequently during the course of the concert. Dedicating the song "Kite" in memory of his father, Bono´s soulful rendition brought tears of joy rather than sadness when he sang:
"Who's to say where the wind will take you
Who's to say what it is will break you
I don't know
Which way the wind will blow
Who's to know when the time has come around