U2

The U2 American concert is quite a different beast. Obscenely good organisation leads a lot of very calm individuals into a huge roofed arena. Looking down from the top deck, the band’s heart-shaped stage sits in the very centre of the arena, surrounded on all sides by a placid bunch of mostly seated people.

Those who have made it here early get standing room within the base of the heart, a classic U2 stage ploy which will, for most of the concert, bring the band in amongst the people.

PJ Harvey is singing her heart out, but seems impossibly small within the setting. Despite being a sell-out, the place doesn’t even look full yet, when four Northsiders strut up the ramp to the sound of ‘Elevation’ waving first to the people behind the stage, as if to acknowledge the poor view. Another U2 crowd pleaser.

Strangely the first song is played with all the lights on. Thankfully, someone flicks a switch and, as if by magic, the atmosphere arrives. Everyone by now is on their feet. ‘Beautiful Day’ is second out of the bag and the band’s, or specifically Bono’s, energy is palpable. He uses the outline of the heart as a running track, often sprinting at breakneck speed around it, usually ending up in the midst of the crowd again. It’s a simple idea, but it works.

They dedicate ‘Stuck In A Moment’ to Michael Hutchence, shortly afterwards playing ‘In A Little While’ for the late Joey Ramone, the sincerity-ometer slipping over into the red.

Huge screens drop down to the perimeter of the stage in the blink of an eye (I never saw them go up or down – Sally from LA beside me is passing a generous hash pipe around). Huge shadows of the band are thrown up onto individual drops, magically lending the show an epic feel.

The songs aired seem almost like a greatest hits collection. ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’, ‘The Fly’ and ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ are in there. The whole deal is a package, a $95 Happy Meal, doing exactly what it says on the ticket.

In the encore Bono and Edge crack out a seemingly unplanned version of The Ramones’ ‘I Remember You’ but before this spontanety gets out of hand, we’re back with the classics and they bid farewell with a restrained ‘One’.

Shiny, polished but engaging to the last. And I fell for it hook, line and singles.