(“I did exactly what i said I would do...i tore down the walls
that held me inside”)
Last nights show was U2’s first in New Orleans since September
2006 when they reopened the Dome after Hurricane Katrina.
Hince the 50,000+ rousing reception and feverish reactions from
the beginning of the two-hour-plus show until its finish.
They celebrateted the 30th Anniversary of `The Joshua Tree`,
U2’s most successful album, released in March 1987. They
performed the album in its entirety, in the order it was recorded,
but not before treating us to some older material. U2 took the
stage to the sounds of “The Whole of the Moon,” by another Irish
band, the Waterboys. Then they lit into “Sunday Bloody Sunday,”
from their “War” album. The first set was performed on a satellite
stage in a dark and austere setting, reviving the band’s early days
when it was just a fierce no-frills foursome playing clubs, theaters
and auditoriums. They followed that with “New Year’s Day,” in
which guitarist the Edge delivered the song’s signature keyboard
riff and then his own signature guitar sounds — peals of reverb
and fuzz. They made most of “The Joshua Tree” material sound
invigorated, if not fresh. The opening riff to “Where the Streets
Have No Name,” the album’s opening track, aroused a raucous
ovation and brought everyone in the Big Easy to their feet and
incited widespread singing-along. The momentum did not wane
after that. One by one, they marched through each song with
Bono preaching about
the kinds of themes the band has long been associated with:
justice, liberty, community. Bono thanked America for being a
sanctuary for the Irish and then declared “The Irish were the
original dreamers. …
This country was built by dreamers.” The huge video screen
behind the band broadcast an array of images, some live
images of the band, many in stark black-and-white; others
complemented the songs they accompanied, including
stunning landscapes and mountainscapes from the American
Southwest. Thus, the show never slipped or veered into a lull,
musically or visually. During the encore: “Ultraviolet (Light My Own Way),” which they turned
into a manifesto on women and feminism, honoring leaders and legends and artists and
activists.
The band closed with “One,” a hymn about unity and compassion and charity and love. Bono
delivered a short sermon before the song, celebrating the American spirit, despite recent
events that have “summoned dark spirits,” like the Charlottesville march, and recalling the
humanitarian response to hurricanes in Texas and Florida.
“There’s nothing we can’t do when we’re united,” he said, preaching to a congregation that was in fact
ONE and single-minded all night.
{I must say the first time listening to U2 was with my sister Anne. Along with my other sister Connie`s
forever rocking aura, i carried their spirit with me all night}
Written By Perry Blanchard
Photographer Steve Hatley
Mercedes Benz Superdome, NOLA
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