Gig Watch: U2 - Vertigo Tour, Telstra Dome
By Sean Lynch
As
I step off the train at Spencer Street station (excuse my French, but I
refuse to refer to it by it's new fan dangled alter-ego Southern Cross
On Spencer Street...why bother, I have neither the time nor the
interest in perusing such childish games with Connex) the energy is
electric. It is exactly a year to the day that arguably the
biggest rock band in the world, U2, announced that they would tour
Australia for the first time since 1997. Through those harrowing
months, I along with 140,000 other Melbourne punters, have been through
the ups and downs of hearing of tour postponements - the insecurity of
losing my ticket - not knowing what day corresponds with which new show
date. But all is forgotten as a sea of U2 fanatics make their way
towards the epic Telstra Dome. It's barely 7pm and already the
hawkers are trying to get rid of their $10 rip off t shirts, the
"Turkeyslap" guy from Big Brother 2006 is doing some promotion for a
local radio station, and I of course, get lost and must make that
embarrassing phone call "Where are you guys? The red pole? Yep, just
wait there". As we walk through the doors, we can see glimpses of
the stage between the stands, but not enough to quite know what we are
in for. We make the long trek around and up the ramps (regrettably, the
fools that bought the tickets decided they didn't have the energy for
GA and opted for seating on the third level), one last toilet break and
then we make that defining walk up the stairs as the magnitude of the
the stadium engulfs you. The stage is amazing. Kanye West is
doing his best to incite anyone who will listen to him. And while he is
genuinely entertaining, you know your in an uphill battle when
mentioning the main act gets a bigger cheer than any of your own hit
songs. The time passes, a tray of beers is passed down the line
to quickly down, as the lights and music gets louder and louder. It
begins... The stunning U2 stage explodes with colour as City of Blinding Lights begins it's opening riffs. However, it's not until the next track, Vertigo,
that the show really gets going (why even bother starting with a
ballad?). The crowd goes ballistic, and the momentum keeps on coming as
Telstra Dome sings as one "EL-E-VA-TION". It's moments like this you
rue the day you let someone else buy seating tickets instead of lining
up yourself for GA. There's nowhere to jump, nowhere to release those 7
years of pent up U2 energy, waiting to see if someone else will stand
up just so you have an excuse to semi-sway your hips. Let's face
it, there are very few people in the Universe that can command 75,000
humans - to speak to them individually in a crowded stadium. Bono just
happens to be one of them. The hits keep on coming. I Will Follow, Beautiful Day (back of neck hair-raising moment #1), a slight nod to Sgt. Pepper, Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of (back of neck hair-raising moment #2), Sunday Bloody Sunday, Where The Streets Have No Name (back of neck hair-raising moment #3), the hum worthy new anthem The Saints Are Coming, I mean honestly - after almost 20 years in the biz there literally is no chance of a dud song. I
must admit, had the band toured in the early part of 2001, I would have
been ultra excited. But I didn't give two hoots about the new album and
had kind of fallen out of love with the band (was it the preachy nature
of Live 8?). But, every song brought back a memory - and for 2
hours of my life - I was completely and utterly under the spell
of Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullins Jnr, and the base player who looks
like he is minutes away from putting on a neat pair of brown slacks and
playing Mahjong. Closing with Kite
was a stroke of brilliance (with Bono lighting a string to release an
actual kite into the Melbourne night sky...I'm assuming littering laws
still apply) despite many other concert goers a tad disappointed with
the choice. The concert ends. 75,000 people breath out at once
and embark on the treacherous trip out of the stadium. For many, the
adrenalin was flowing leading to a long night out on the booze, while
many other wearily fell asleep on the train as they embarked to a nice
warm bed with the sounds of One still echoing in the back of their minds.
Overall: 80%
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