THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE

It's a long way from Limerick Civic Week to Madison Square Garden but U2 have made that transition - and in such magnificent style

It was back in 1978 that the band made their first dent on the consciousness of the world's music-loving public by winning the pop section of Limerick Civic Week's talent competition. It was, needless to say, a small dent - an infinitesimal dent even! But for the four school-going kids who had played only a handful of gigs previously, it was as significant an affirmation as they could possibly have hoped for, at that fledgling stage in their musical development.

Doubtless that first sweet taste of success fuelled their hunger for more. Equally, it must have fuelled their commitment to a vision which is entirely and uniquely their own. They won that contest performing original material, with a conviction that would have been rare in much more experienced outfits. That clear-sightedness and defiant sense of purpose has been a hallmark of their work since then.

From their earliest sightings, there was a ring of authenticity, of longevity, of some vast potential to U2's music. To feel the atmosphere in a packed Madison Square Garden, to watch the flaming lighters held aloft from the 20,000 strong army of U-2 fans in the audience, to hear the mighty rounds of applause, the thunderous wave of a mass emotional release as they walk on stage, one by one, is to realise that that magic is still there - only magnified I 00-fold!

As they crash into the opening riff of "11 O'Clock Tick Tock", New York goes ape. The audience in the Big Apple is notoriously among the most difficult in the world to convert, but they've fallen head over heels in love with U-2 and there's no holding back now. In a seated venue, we're on our feet from the word go and the floor of Madison Square Garden is moving a solid foot up and down under the dancing forces. It's a wild celebration that's sustained through ninety exhausting minutes of sheer musical fervour ...

A storming I Will Follow" is next, completing a brace of early classics - delivered nowadays with the power and authority of a supremely integrated musical task force. Then it's through to the "War" album and a message addressed by Bono, in his introduction, to the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. "It takes a second to say goodbye!" the Edge sings centrestage and the band pound into one of their funkiest vehicles, a pressure cooker topped with a heavyweight, compulsive chant.

Bono describes "2 Hearts Beat As One" as a love song about how it should be, introducing a more tender note into a gig that's so far been notable for its toughness, its muscle. But it's with the healing lullaby "MLK", directed to the spirit of the late black civil rights leader Martin Luther King, that U-2's range begins to reveal itself fully. It's a haunting and beautiful piece of music, quiet and melancholy, the Irish inflections in the melody lending it a distinctive grace: lighters flare all around the vast expanses of The Garden, a moment where ritual and symbolism meet with a unique sense of appropriateness. "If the thundercloud passes rain, so let it rain, rain on me", Bono sings and the deep resonance of the music achieves a cleansing purity. "Sleep, sleep tonight and may your dreams be realised". It's an emotional calm, a moment of lucid evanescence shot through with a tender vein of optimism.

Then to the ambitious soundscapes of "Unforgettable Fire". There's no string section in attendance but the melody aches as lovingly live as on record and Bono is delivering the plea with feeling: "Stay, stay with me tonight". He doesn't have to ask: in any context it's one of U-2's finest achievements.

It's a reflection of U-2's maturity that such a wide range of emotional pastures are covered with such evident poise. And that the crowd are carried with them every step of the way: the attention never dissipates, the response is never less than highly charged and there's an incredible absence of fans trying desperately to dictate what should be next. For Madison Square Garden tonight, U-2 can do no wrong.

An electric "Wire", is followed by "Sunday Bloody Sunday", the opening strains of which are greeted with rapturous applause. A tricolour bearing the legend U-2 on the white section is passed up through the audience to Bono, and then another. He drapes them over the mike. and covers them with a white flag: it's a risky moment in that the gesture could be interpreted negatively. But it's a statement for peace and reconciliation , against bigotry, that accurately reflects the sentiments in the lyrics: "how long must we sing this song - Sunday Bloody Sunday?"

A wildly exciting "Electric Co." follows and the audience erupts again before the soothing balm of "A Sort Of Homecoming", dedicated by Bono "to the one I love": along with other members of the band's immediate families and close friends, she's there in the audience tonight to share in the promise " I’ll be there, I’ll be there, tonight we will be as one tonight"... Bono sings the song, wrapping his vocal chords around the melody in longing, like a lover stretched on the rack of desire, for warmth, for friendship, for intimacy.

In contrast, there's nothing romantic about the urban metal of "Bad". "Everybody in Dublin isn't as lucky as us, joining a rock band and seeing the world", Bono announces. "In Dublin, where we come from, a lot of young people are unemployed. And to take away the pain a lot of them feel, they turn to heroin. This song is about a friend of mine whose girlfriend sold him enough heroin ... to kill him". After that harrowing excursion through the badlands of Dublin's smack addicts, the opening piano chords of "October" induce a feeling of fierce sadness ...

There's a hint of melancholy too on a superbly executed "New Year's Day" - the Edge switching smoothly from piano to guitar and back again throughout the song – before "Pride(In The Name Of Love)" uplifts and inspires in a big, heartfelt tribute to a man who has clearly made an enormous impression on Bono, Martin Luther King. It's a highly dramatic, moving end to a set that's been worked and honed 'till it sparkles and shines, diamond bright and twice as fine.

Throughout, Bono has revealed a highly-tuned empathy with the crowd. As of old - I remember it was a feature of one of the band's early McGonagles gigs - he inveigles a girl from the audience up to dance with him and she nearly collapses when he kisses her lips right up there in front of 20,000 people! Equally he handles a couple of stage invasions superbly, throwing his arm around the intruders and talking them quietly off the stage: one he rescues from a couple of slightly determined looking bouncers, before he's been aggressively manhandled. Now back for the first encore, he's asking if there's anyone in the audience who can play guitar. And it isn't a crude ploy to introduce Miami Steve Van Zandt (who as it happens is on the premises). This gawky youngster clambers over the security, onto the stage and Bono hands him his acoustic guitar. The message is that simple songs are often the most powerful: he teaches his protege the four chords and they launch into Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". The kid can't play for nuts (as it emerges when the band bring it right down later in the song) but he'll live forever on the shapes he throws: this truly is a magic moment, deceptively simple and risky in its way, but utterly memorable.

Another encore, and it's "Gloria" full throttle and full choral style. And finally, after prolonged and thunderous demands, flaming lighters held high for the umpteenth time, it's back again for "40".

And what a way to go! A football style chorus on the refrain "How long, to sing this song" and the band depart one by one, leaving just drummer Larry Mullen - who's been superb throughout - laying down a flawless beat for the audience to chant to. Larry keeps it going for a minute more, stops dead, waves to the sated fans and it's all over...

In Madison Square Garden. 20,000 hearts beat as one. On stage the unforgettable fire and conviction of U2's music had won them over, and won them totally. But it wasn't only a night of fire and brimstone - it was one of tenderness and emotion and inspiration.

After this triumph, their return to Ireland at Croke Park, after a two year absence on June 29th, should be some magnificent sort of homecoming for Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Bono and the Edge. I can't wait.

Niall Stokes

Vol 9 No. 7 April 26th, 1985