THE BUZZ: U2 closed out its 360 Degree Tour Wednesday night at B.C. Place. Excitement on Vancouver streets hit a fever pitch earlier in the day when hundreds of people lined up to get first crack at prime spots on the arena floor.
THE MOMENT: "Where The Streets Have No Name." When the lights went up during the first few verses of the U2 anthem, close to 60,000 bodies could be seen jumping in unison to the driving drum beat pounded out by Larry Mullen Jr. As frontman Bono rhymed off the lyrics, Edge ran a lap of the promenade giving fans a necessary boost during the first encore.
THE SPECTACLE: Only U2 could deliver a 150-foot tall spaceship for a stage that inspired more awe than the actual performance. The lighting hung from a rig resembling a four-pronged claw reaching down into bowels of B.C Place. Suspended above the band at centre stage hung a 54 tonne state-of-the-art video screen shaped like a cone. The honeycomb panels which made up a solid screen stretched, separated, and spread down from the ceiling to just metres above the stage, revealing a rocket-shaped cylinder strung with lights. At ground level, two bridges connected the main stage to an outer promenade which put Bono and the boys at arm's length from screaming fans.
FRONTMAN: Bono let his performance speak for itself rather than engaging the audience with long-winded speeches. However, he did save his best quip for lead guitarist The Edge when introducing the band. "Without The Edge, we wouldn't be anywhere but without us Edge would be back in St. Bonaventure watching the Discovery Channel." Smiles were exchanged between the pair and the band went back to business. Bono found his second wind late in the show with a rousing rendition of "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
SOUND: The cavernous confines of B.C. Place is known for terrible audio on the best of nights. For the biggest rock band in the world, no amount of concrete could mute their sound. In fact, the concrete bleachers vibrated on more than one occasion when the ear-ringing audio harmonized with a sea of people singing and dancing to their favourite songs. Bono could be heard from blocks away as the masses filed out of the stadium.
ENCORE, ENCORE: The crowd wasn't satisfied with letting U2 leave without an encore performance. A five-minute round of applause was silenced when Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu appeared on the big screen to give a bottled message on the universality of man and the power of one. U2 appeared on stage and the crowd grew hypnotized by the melodies of the band's ballad, "One." In comparison, little effort went into bringing the rockers back for a second romp on stage.
CURTAIN JERKERS: Black Eyed Peas got the night started by leading with "Let's Get It Started." No joke. Whatever points the hip-pop group lost for predictability, they quickly recouped when Fergie took centre stage with a throaty rendition of "Meet Me Halfway." Minutes later, the rappers all but vanished from the stage leaving Fergie in the spotlight. Will.i.am followed up by leading the band through boppy "Pump it." The crowd popped when Will.i.am confessed his wish that, "America was a lot more like Canada." Bonus points to BEP for raiding Michael Jackson's closet and snatching snazzy combos of furry and leather threads circa Scream. A fitting look considering the group was riding U2's mothership of a stage. The group ended their set with "I Gotta Feeling" leaving the crowd energized for the headline act. Still, I sure do miss the days when Black Eyed Peas was two guying rapping about the weekend.
CROWD: Apparently, the kids who grew up listening to U2 have kids of their own these days. Mind you, these moms and dads opt for hot red when choosing chunky frames for their glasses. The majority of kids in attendance could be spotted bopping to Black Eyed Peas around the arena with a parent near by. Perhaps the line-up of BEP and U2 made this one of the best mother-daughter bonding nights in recent memory.
GRADE: 9 out of 10. U2 consistently lost the crowd with its newer material but that could very well be an indication of the band's direction rather than the show. Only time will tell if tracks from No Line On The Horizon will permeate popular culture like The Joshua Tree. In terms of a big band playing a big venue I doubt Vancouver will see a show like this until the Irish rockers return.
