Chi-town gets Vertigo

Lets all be honest, U2 are one of the best bands to see live, ever. Nobody can rock a stadium and touch the soul of the furthest nosebleed patron as well as U2. Remember ZOO TV. Remember POP Mart. Those shows were unbelievable in their scope and magnitude. They were U2 being the biggest band in the world, having fun and playing their guts out. The huge stadium extrazaganzas are gone from the states for now and U2 have diverted to the more "intimate" 20,000 seat sport halls. they still are utterly unbelievable to see and hear live and the VErtigo tour is without a doubt the tour of the year and the hottest ticket around. But the quetion is, how does it translate to the small screen.

Simply brillant. U2 have discovered a director, Hamish Hamilton, forgive the spelling please who knows how to make rock music fill the room in amazing pictures. He is a fantastic director. He also was at the helm for Elevation from Boston and the U2 Go Home shows at Slane Castle, both of which are equally great.

Whenever U2 play a live show everybody knows that it is going to be well played, after all they have been doing this sort of thing a long time and are hall of famers to boot. They know how to play their instruments for sure. But is the passion that they display on stage that makes each show seem like the first show you have ever seen. No other band I have see can do this. Somewhere along the line bands get bored and simply go throughthe motions in their live shows. Not these guys. They seem to be playing for their lives every time.

This show seems fresh. We have all heard and seen many of the olders hits before. Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Years Day, Bullet the Blue Sky. They are all here and great as always but the real joy of this DVD is the new songs that they play, as well as older lesser know songs that fit together almost seemlessly. Electric Co, from their first album sounds absolutly thrilling live, as well as An CAt Dubh. Both these very old songs sound as if they could have been written yesterday, and they play them like they are showing off their new favorite toys. For a long-time fan these are the best moments on the disc.

But the show is called Vertigo and it is about the new songs. the new songs ROCK and they are fantastic. City of blinding lights is a great tune and is great on the studio album but playing it live injects more energy into it and gives it new life. Vertigo is not the best song in the set but it does show how great a guitar player the Edge is. Love and Peace is absolutly the centerpiece of this show. It is so powerful live, the bass thumps heavily and the guitar is dirty, but it is really all about the drums. Front and center in the middle of the arena. Larry Mullen beats on his tom-tom while vetually standing amongst the crowd and he share vocals with Bono. Larry eventually vacates his stand alone drum and heads back to his kit while Bono takes over the drumming duties. A great, great moment of the show.

The show ends as most U2 fans want, with the chanting of 40. I think that every fan who ever heard or saw 40 performed on "under a blood red sky" have wanted to have this song performed live again nd it does not disapoint. Truly a remakable DVD and concert.

Track listing
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Elevation
Cry/Electric Co
An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart
Beautiful Day
New Years Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You cant make it on your own
Love and Peace
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet the Blue Sky
running to stand still
Pride
Where the streets have no name
One
Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious ways
All because of you
Original of the species
Yahweh
40