The U2 Covers - No. 25: 'Pop: The Questions'

It'S BIG, it s bold, it s brilliant it s PopMart. To coin a much-used phrase, after a three-year absence the music s coming home. Yes, I m delighted that after much deliberation U2 will play Dublin. Nevertheless, I m sure you ll forgive me if I say I m even more ecstatic at the news that the band are now also playing Belfast, one week earlier.
PopMart is simply the greatest rock n roll show on Earth. Last June I caught the show in New York; it was superb. Last week I caught it in Sweden and it was even better. Make no mistake about it, U2 playing Belfast isn t just another gig. In my estimation it s the most positive and exciting event since Bill and Hilary popped over to turn the Christmas lights on.
The band last played Belfast in 1987 at the King s Hall, with Lou Reed in support. Memorable as that night was, it left the fans craving another musical fix, a cry that has now been answered after a lengthy ten-year absence. If U2 had played Sarajevo and not visited Northern Ireland their legions of faithful fans would have been gutted. Thankfully, the band recognised the time was right.
To be truthful, I genuinely believe the band have wanted to play the North for years but the contributing factors of the Troubles and the lack of an appropriately large venue or site have stood in their way. In their early years I believe that although U2 talked and sang passionately about the North they still had a lot to learn about the complexity of the situation. I feel they themselves would be the first to admit the same; however, I also believe that some folk in the North likewise misunderstood U2 a situation which no longer appears to be the case. U2 are of course hugely successful, but when you cut to the chase they are four blokes of mixed traditions who would rightly describe themselves as a microcosm of Irish society.
The North is currently experiencing a new Ceasefire, people are tired of the grief, and moods of optimism and cynicism run side by side. As we cross our fingers in hope of a better future for all, it is encouraging to see Belfast s Unionist and Nationalist city councillors alike greet the prospect of U2 s rock n roll spectacular with open arms. U2 are making front-page headlines of a pleasing nature on a daily basis, occupying space usually reserved for doom and gloom.
Although organised at short notice, and unlike other ports of call, Paul McGuinness told me, this has been the easiest gig on the entire tour to organise. The co-operation from all the relevant authorities has been immense, they couldn t do enough. This gig is going to be special, if not the high point of the tour.
U2 are well up for the Belfast gig and so are their fans. The Belfast show at Botanic Gardens will be a unique moment in rock n roll history for all communities, all traditions, all music-lovers get your dancing boots on!
Mike: Throughout your career, you ve constantly reinvented yourself, redefining the very concept of what U2 is.
Bono: You ve just got to keep yourself interested, right? Because what happened to all of those rock dinosaurs of the 1970s was that they got loaded, they got their fancy cars and they started owning fish farms in Wales! This is a problem. Living in Wales is a great thing but, for heaven s sake, don t own a fish farm if you re in a band!
They started to chill out and get it together in the country and they started repeating themselves and eventually by giving the people what they thought they wanted, the people eventually decided they didn t want it anymore. That s always a problem.
So you ve got to keep yourself going. You ve got to be selfish. Our effort to reinvent ourselves, as it is called, is nothing other than our musical curiosity in action.
Some people think that Oasis should take a leaf out of your book and experiment a little more.
Noel Gallagher has just as much musical curiosity as us but you have to remember that Oasis are only on their third album so give em a chance. In the 80s it was a crime to be in a big band in England. You know, you were knee-capped for wanting to be in a big band. Thank God in the 90s people are more optimistic. All that old cynicism is gone and they want Oasis to succeed. But sometimes I think people expect too much of Oasis. Let them go at their own pace.
How do you feel about the controversy about the Lansdowne Road gigs? It must have been a very frustrating experience?
Larry: Yeah. I think different people in the band had a different reaction to it. I found it kind of strange and funny at the same time. Obviously, we wanted to play but if it hadn t happened we would have found some alternative. But we re happy that s it s now on. . .
Bono: It s mad. Three posh individuals holding up 80,000 rock fans. People in Europe were laughing up their jumpers at us. And so whereas Larry may have found it funny, I found the episode a little embarrassing. I thought the court case sent out a very odd message to the world. But, you know, fair enough. I m really happy that it all worked out in the end. We were very excited when we heard the good news that we d got the go-ahead. It was a very good day. We played for two-and-a-half hours in the rain in Leipzig, in the former East Germany. It was a brilliant gig, one of the best ones. The point is that it does matter to U2. I m proud of our country and I think in the last ten years, Ireland has really gotten exciting not just in Dublin, but throughout the island. I m proud that when people think of Ireland, they think about music, literature, film-makers . . . They don t think about banks, about boring things.
It seems bizarre that just three people might be able to stop so many thousands of people from having fun.
Bono: I m sure it will be a pain in the arse for those three sweethearts having to put up with us. But we have stadiums for sport. And music only occupies a few days in the year in these places. These stadiums have to serve the whole community. And to me music people are as important as sports people.
Perhaps it s good that the controversy happened because you ve actually stuck to your guns and, by taking the case to the Supreme Court, hopefully forced a change. Otherwise, what s it going to be like if some other top band wants to visit Ireland and the kids are denied again?
Bono: I hope so. I really, really hope so. Because Irish audiences are amazing. Whoever you re talking to Oasis, George Michael they always mention that. And it would be terrible if they felt that it was gonna be too much trouble getting planning permission. Why do you need planning permission to put on a gig? I want planning permission to mow your lawn, missus! But I m delighted it went our way. It s great to play your hometown.
After a few years away from treading the boards of the world s stadiums, were you chomping at the bit to get back to it or did you feel nervous anticipation?
Adam: Nervous anticipation (laughs). But we felt both, really. It s great to be back on those stages but it is a strange thing to be doing it!
Do you ever get sick of playing the old hits?
Bono: The great thing about being spoilt rotten and having success at an early age and all that bollocks, is that you don t do anything you don t want to do. That s probably what makes us SUCH a pain in the arse but I can tell you this, we would not be playing Pride (In The Name Of Love) if we didn t want to play it. What we re trying to do when we put our set-list together is to tell a story, if you like, and Pride is part of our story. I m really proud of those songs. It was a real test to play I Will Follow after Mofo . But it worked! I think they sit very well together.
After all, it was exactly the same band. We had the same aspirations, the same ideas. In a way we were as out of kilter then with what was going on as we are now. We ve always been the way we are. Megalomania set in at a very early age with us! Even when we were playing small rooms in places like Manchester. For us it felt like the centre of the earth.
We don t have any guest musicians or anything. We ve never had anyone else in our band. (Thinks) Well we did actually, once. We had Edge s brother, Dick, for a while when we were 15 or 16.
But it wasn t U2 then, was it Edge? We were called The Hype. Dick was a very fine guitar player . . . maybe that s why we got rid of him! Speak Up, The Edge (laughs).
Edge: That was it (laughs).
Were you any good as The Hype?
Bono (pensively): We re still a bit erratic but we were very erratic then. The wedding band from hell, maybe. We could never play anyone else s tunes. That s why we started writing our own!
Do you feel a nostalgia for the past at all, either personally or professionally?
Bono: Did you say nostalgia? Very dangerous word, nostalgia, because I find it amazing that, with three years to go to the next millenium, people are still so caught up in the 60s, so caught up in the past. If there s one thing U2 are not, it s nostalgic.
The late William Burroughs said that you have to cut up the past to find the future. That s what hip-hop music and sampling s about: you don t just steal from it, you don t just take it wholesale. That would be nostalgia and that s dangerous.
We have this guy called Walt who designs our underwear. He designs everything we wear actually. He s a brilliant bloke; he s from Belgium . . . but don t hold that against him. Anyway, he designs all the clobber that we wear onstage. Adam wears his underwear. It says on the front: Kiss the future . And on the back it says: Fuck the past . And that s our motto.
But in our personal lives, it s different. Cos we still hang out with the people we did at the start . . . we hang out with new friends too, but Dublin is a retreat and we go back there and I think we probably are nostalgic in that sense.
Adam: I sometimes get teary-eyed when I see a Ford Transit on the M1!
I understand that the PopMart tour marks the 20th anniversary of your association with your soundman, Joe O Herlihy.
Adam: I m alarmed to hear that Joe s been working with us for 20 years. He s a very important part of the U2 team because if we re having a good gig and Joe s not having a good gig, then we all suffer. But I m glad that he s out there. He s a part of the journey that we ve been on for the past 20 years. You wouldn t want to leave it to a new boy.
Bono: We ve been in this band since we were about 15 or 16 and we met Joe in Cork and he had a beard and he convinced us that therefore he was much older than us. I thought he was old enough to be my dad! But he was only a few years older. And he s been with us all the way.
He is the soul of the band. Howie B s been out DJing and also as a producer on Pop and he s been working with Joe and they ve been riding the board a lot more and making the sound more dynamic.
I ve seen the PopMart tour twice and I ve thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought your New York show was a blinder and then in Gothenburg, it was even better. Did the negative publicity that greeted the early shows affect you in any way?
Bono: We had a bit of bad press in the UK for the Las Vegas show. A load of people came over and they thought we hadn t got our act together and that we were a big band and so they gave us a clip around the ear. I have no problem with that.
It was reviewed very favourably everywhere else in the world. The New York Times gave it a great review. When you get close to home, the knives get sharper. But you have to roll with the punches.
A lot was made of the episode where you rang the NME to defend the PopMart tour against that paper s criticisms.
Bono: The funny thing about that is that they rang me. That s actually the truth. But the way it comes out is that I rang them. I was actually happy to answer some of the criticisms because the truth of the matter is that in Los Angeles, when we started out on this tour, we were a bit ropey. What can I tell you? It s our band, we can be crap if we want to. What happened was we didn t have as much time to get our shit together as we d have liked.
We d just taken possession of a whole pile of cosmic junk, including a 150 ft drive-in movie screen and a 40 ft lemon and all that kind of thing. It was all a bit much, really. But I didn t care because it s not a Broadway show and I just thought it s OK, we ve always been a bit crap at the start of our tours . That s part of the fun of it.
We re not overly slick. Some journalists came over and got into the spirit of it and could see the potential of PopMart. But some people thought, They re a big band. They re charging in. They should be better than this . And they gave us a bit of a kicking. So I defended myself with a speech from the dock.
Do you think the negative publicity was directed at you because you re now seen as an Establishment band?
Bono: That s the logic, right? But it s an old-fashioned logic. That thinking ruined British music for 10 years and it destroyed a lot of great bands; bands that we grew up alongside, really cool bands Echo And The Bunnymen, The Smiths, The Clash . . . who were all kicked so hard by the press that eventually they gave in.
We didn t give in. And we ve been press darlings here and there. What goes around comes around. I m amazed Pop the album was reviewed so well. When I saw the reviews, I turned to the others and said, well, they re gonna sharpen the knives for the tour, then .
So I think that when we try and do something like PopMart, maybe we could do with a little bit of encouragement. They should say, here s a great band who aren t crap, who haven t taken the money and ran, who are actually trying to kick rock n roll into the next century .
When journalists become nerdy and picky, you want to say FUCK OFF and grow up . If we re crap, tell us we re crap but are we really? No! You mightn t like it, you mighn t dig it. But we re not crap. We re not fish farmers. This is not a part-time endeavour. Music is our life. And we re fucking good at it.
But I don t wanna bash the media cos I do think that one of the reasons why UK music is so good is partly to do with the music press. In the 90s, there should be a more upbeat, positive attitude. If something is good, say it.
It s fantastic that you re coming to play Belfast as well as Dublin. Do you feel a special affinity with the North?
Bono: It s funny cos as a band, we re a mixed-up bunch of kids. We come from all traditions. I think we represent the whole of Ireland, in that sense, North and South. I think when we play the North, it will be extraordinary and I hope both communities will take us to their heart because we feel a part of both communities.
You re interested in the Tibetan situation and you ve done a lot of work for War Child and all the rest of it but when you look at Northern Ireland, do you despair at the situation to a degree where you can t be interested in it anymore? Or do you take an active interest in it?
Bono: Of course we take an interest in it! But I would hate to be the boring rock n roll pain in the arse who shoots his mouth off about subjects he doesn t know anything about.
I understand that these situations are complex. People in the South don t fully understand the situation up North. I am conscious of that. So I won t shoot my mouth off about it.
I m just really excited about the ceasefire and I think there s some people on both sides. . . from what little I know. . . who want to make a difference. I m sure there s an old guard on both sides that are sticking their feet in but they re part of the last century we re onto the next.
That s a good quote. Ash are, of course, playing support for the U2 gig in Ireland. Do you like them?
Bono: I m a real fan of theirs. I don t know what they think of our group but I m a fan of theirs. There s some really smart songwriting going on in that band. I m proud that they re playing with us. But I d like to point out that they re not just there because they re Irish; they re there because they re a great pop group.
Are you nervous before going on stage to thousands of people?
The Edge: We get worried. And then blind panic sets in and stays with you until you actually set foot on stage and then you just get completely intoxicated by the reception of the audience and you re fine.
You re never tempted to take anything for nerves?
Bono: You don t need to do drugs if you re in this band, I ll tell you that! To be honest with you, I woke up about 7 in the morning which wasn t the plan cos I only got to bed about 5 and I thought that s very bad news for tonight. And that s when the fear began.
I spent the whole day trying to go back to sleep. I watched some Swedish documentary about mental hospitals they ve some strange telly over here!
I was actually terrified. Sometimes I feel so sick, I wanna vomit . . . it gets that bad. But then sometimes you walk out and and it feels like you re at home in your living room. A funky living room, mind you: a 40 ft lemon and all!
But sometimes it feels like you re on the moon and it is a very trippy experience. If a gig is great, you can be high for 24 hours after it. You should try this it s great!
So how do you unwind after the show?
Bono: I ask myself that question every night: what am I gonna do tonight to climb down? Some nights you don t bother, you just surf on it. That s what we did last night. But tonight, I m not going to. Tonight I m gonna go to bed, cover my head, go to sleep and not get up till Monday.
There a bit of everything thrown into the PopMart show. You re up running around the big stage one minute and the next, you re on a small stage doing an acoustic vibe, then you re back all huddled together like a wedding band. It s a cocktail, isn t it?
Bono: It s a heady cocktail! We re still the wedding band from hell; we re the Kelly Family from outer space! Over the last 15 years, we ve done some good things and we ve done some bad things. But this show is all about the good things. n
Mike Edgar hosts BBC Radio Ulster s Across The Line programme 8pm 10pm Mon Thurs.

See also Stuart Bailie s Hit The North, page 67 and Matthew McGee on the U2 tagging sub-culture, page 59