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U2 VERTIGO 2005
Live From Chicago
Review by Mark Wiechman
Stars:
Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen. Jr.
Director: Hamish Hamilton
Audio: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital
5.1, DTS 5.1
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: Interscope Records
Features: None
Length: 132 Minutes
Release Date: November 29, 2005
“Is
it getting better, or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you, now you got someone to blame?
You say one love, one life, when it's one need in the night
It's one love, we get to share it
It leaves you baby, If you don't care for it…”
Film
****
U2
has continued to avoid the usual early death of so many rock legends, and they
actually got into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of fame before they became a relic.
They continue to write and perform at the highest level with their
original four members. While the
“Pop” and “Zooropa” albums made many fans wonder if, like R.E.M. they
were no longer relevant, those CD’s suffered from overproduction and are
excusable and partially successful experiments which every great band has to
try.
“Early
morning, April four…A shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life…The could not take your pride!”
In
my early days of playing bass in garage bands, I really did not like U2 very
much. Their music seemed so
simplistic to me, even for pop. Often
the basslines were just eight note ostinatos with maybe three or four chords in
all. But in time I realized that
their biggest inspirations were from punk rock and folk music, both of which
feature a lot of power and meaning in small packages.
They also make the most of minimal chord changes.
And I owe Adam Clayton a huge apology.
Had I been playing bass on The Joshua Tree I would have been
foolish to play any differently than he did.
Simplicity is beautiful.
“Wipe
your tears away…
It
seems every day that there is another celebrity mouthing off about their pay,
they way they are treated, etc. Then Bono gets up and dedicates Running to Stand Still
to anyone who has a brother or sister serving overseas. Somehow he manages to make every song about each of us, in a
soulful way, rooted in country music and folk, but he writes about modern
challenges. His three band mates
seem to know just how much to give him to raise the music up to new plateaus,
and like all great bands, the whole is much more than the parts.
This concert, which was filmed in a stadium in Chicago, still sounds as
though it could have been right in front of me in a coffeehouse or school
auditorium.
”In the name of love…What more in the name of love?
In the name of love…What more in the name of love?”
The
tone of the entire concert is very intense and serious but not in an overbearing
way. The song list stretches back
to Electric Co. from the Boy album, New Year’s Day,
through their most recent recordings.
Sunday
Bloody Sunday
has a new twist, rather than preaching as he sometimes does, Bono pleads for
peace in the Middle East, saying that David, Jesus, and Muhammad are all sons of
Abraham. I have to admire Bono nor preaching less and encouraging
more, and staying out of the politics of modern life, more like a missionary
than a politician.
Probably
the most minimal song they ever did was Bullet the Blue Sky, and the trio
does a quick blues lick the middle to give it yet another variation.
With Bono singing a snippet of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” and Hands
that Built America, their improvisatory skills are mysteriously fascinating.
I
am not sure if this performance (or any) can top the “U2 Go Home” concert in
enthusiasm, but this one is worth getting simply because it has different
material and performances than the prior DVD releases.
We get to enjoy the underrated “Zoo Station” and “The Fly”
instead of the overplayed (on radio at least) “With or Without You” and “I
Still Haven’t Found…”
DVD
TRACK LISTING: 1. City of Blinding
Lights; 2. Vertigo; 3. Elevation; 4. Cry/Electric Co.; 5. An Cat Dubh/Into The
Heart; 6. Beautiful Day; 7. New Year’s Day; 8. Miracle Drug; 9. Sometimes You
Can’t Make It On Your Own; 10. Love and Peace or Else; 11. Sunday Bloody
Sunday; 12. Bullet The Blue Sky; 13. Running To Stand Still; 14. Pride In
The Name Of Love; 15. Where The Streets Have No Name; 16. One; 17. Zoo Station;
18. The Fly; 19. Mysterious Ways; 20. All Because Of You; 21. Original Of The
Species; 22. Yahweh; 23. 40
Video
****
Just
perfect, well-directed and shot, and no artifacts I can see, which is especially
remarkable considering how many different angles are shown throughout the
concert, with video footage and constant lighting changes making this a very
difficult concert to record, let alone with such quality.
Audio
****
An
excellent DTS mix. Everyone who
knows me knows that I am a real nit-picker when it comes to sound, and this DVD
is the kind of disc that made me want to get a surround system to begin with.
The DTS mix is as good as any I have ever heard, with the bass
frequencies making the room shake even at average volume.
The other mixes are OK but with less bass.
While U2’s music is harmonically very simple, their overall sound has
so many hues and leaves so much space that good sound quality is worth the
expense. Somehow, they still put
out great CD’s and concerts year after year.
Features:
Zero stars (none)
But
so what? They are not really
needed. One special
“feature” of this disc though is that the concert starts right when you load
the disc (albeit only in stereo) and shows minimal credits, then the usual FBI
warning is the very last thing on the disc after the concert. Since the price of the disc is pretty low, and the sound
quality is so good, I don’t know why any fan would copy it anyway.
There
is a special edition of this package which includes behind the scenes footage
and other performance “elements.”
Summary