i've read all the posts in this thread and felt the time was right to say something. If theres a red screen and blinding lights intro for Streets come the next tour then Bono can wear a priests robe and teach us the names to all the capital cities of poor African countries and I wouldn't care.
i've read all the posts in this thread and felt the time was right to say something. If theres a red screen and blinding lights intro for Streets come the next tour then Bono can wear a priests robe and teach us the names to all the capital cities of poor African countries and I wouldn't care.
i've read all the posts in this thread and felt the time was right to say something. If theres a red screen and blinding lights intro for Streets come the next tour then Bono can wear a priests robe and teach us the names to all the capital cities of poor African countries and I wouldn't care.
But if you think it's too much, why don't you just take a little trip to the third world yourself and find out what's going on there. If this doesn't turn you into a complete cynic and hedonist it'll probably change your mind. You might even start to preach, too.
guess what, I've been to the 3rd world Africa several times. The last time is not not even a month ago. I even have family down there.
Still Bono is getting on my nerves. And I still think he's going the wrong way with his "help".
If U2 gives 2 hour show I don't mind 5 minutes listening about Africa.
Let's see if you have the same opinion after you have visited your first concerts, paid tons of your hard earned cash on tickets and had the pleasure to hear the exact same speech 5 times in a row.
Let's see if you have the same opinion after you have visited your first concerts, paid tons of your hard earned cash on tickets and had the pleasure to hear the exact same speech 5 times in a row.
cannot fault you there. Spend 5 minutes downloading a bootleg and you'l get the same feeling, never mind the travel and expenses
Let's see if you have the same opinion after you have visited your first concerts, paid tons of your hard earned cash on tickets and had the pleasure to hear the exact same speech 5 times in a row.
When they came back to MSG on the third leg....they played 5 night in a row...I went to all 5 shows.....I was quoting the show from front to back on every single night...not only did they not change the set from the first leg....Bono didn't change anything...I could've told you exactly where he was going to be on stage at an exact time in the song...every word he was gonna scream..every word he was going to say...I mean..come on.....that is NOT "yer man"!!!!!
and yes...cost me hundreds...
how can you compare downloading a bootleg to being at a live show...not at all alike
very good discussion. No one is hurting anyones feelings here
My point is that I don't listen to U2 because of whats going on in third world countries. I think its horrible and I donate money toward One and Project Red. I do agree that everyone should do something about it. HOwever, I just don't want to be preached at by U2. If I'm at a show, I want to hear music!!!! Not Bono preaching to me about Africa. There is a time and place for it and a U2 show is def. not that time. If they played songs in the time that Bono spent talking about Africa on Veritgo, they could've fit 2 more songs in the set at least. Which means, maybe just maybe Please would've made a debut. If he wants to sing differnet lyrics about Africa thats ok as well. I just don't want to hear him without a song behind it.
And I think its great that he's doing all these other campaigns outside of U2, but it just seems like hes losing focus of whats important to him and U2's fans. Hes draining himself elsewhere, and not putting himself into the music like he always says he does. If your voice is gonna blow, let it blow because of the music. Not talking to idiots like Bush!
its all love!!!
Interesting topic, and quite a lot of good points made my several people. I read your post here, and one thing kept popping up in my mind:
By now, don't we all know that part of the U2 concert experience is getting "preached" at by Bono at some point during the show? They've been doing it forever! I mean, we all know it's coming, and it's come to be an expected part of the show. Sure, they could crank out 2 extra songs if he didn't speak about Africa, but I think the average concert-goer would rather have Bono say a few personal words in between songs and make more of a personal connection with the audience than to play 2 more songs. And let's be honest: Most of us are here on this website because we're absolutely U2 fanatics, but the average fan isn't following the band from city to city, seeing the show a couple of times on a tour leg, or even downloading bootlegs from websites like this one. For them, it's about one magical night where they saw the greatest rock band ever give an amazing performance and even had the band's frontman share his own beliefs about some injustices going on in the world.
[..]
how can you compare downloading a bootleg to being at a live show...not at all alike
I wasn't . I was simply noting that hearing Bono talk the same old stuff over and over again on a bootleg is just as annoying as being at a show. On a side note some bootlegs are fantastic representations of shows though, theres nothing like being there but some boots give you that impression feeling.
[..]
Sure, they could crank out 2 extra songs if he didn't speak about Africa, but I think the average concert-goer would rather have Bono say a few personal words in between songs and make more of a personal connection with the audience than to play 2 more songs.
my opinion differs slightly. It's Bono's speeches about Africa that run a show into a wall. The majority of casual U2 gig goers (and some fanatics like myself) wouldn't see a speech on Africa as a 'personal' connection. Tell us about the first time you played this city or whatever. Thats kinda personal..
I understand the preaching. Over the space of a year he can make 3 million people hear his call. I just hope i'm in the crowd of 80,000 on the night he says 'fuck it' and does his real job.
my opinion differs slightly. It's Bono's speeches about Africa that run a show into a wall. The majority of casual U2 gig goers (and some fanatics like myself) wouldn't see a speech on Africa as a 'personal' connection. Tell us about the first time you played this city or whatever. Thats kinda personal..
I understand the preaching. Over the space of a year he can make 3 million people hear his call. I just hope i'm in the crowd of 80,000 when he says 'fuck it' and does his real job.
I understand the preaching. Over the space of a year he can make 3 million people hear his call. I just hope i'm in the crowd of 80,000 on the night he says 'fuck it' and does his real job.
What do you think is his "real job"? Singing nice songs or doing what he believes to really matter?
I know what I consider his "real job". To me it's a lot more than music. I think he views at it the same way. I doubt he cares what anyone considers his "real job" to be.
As for the word-by-word repeating speech... I guess he's just become a little tired. Like singing the same song over and over again. And, by the way, I don't consider words like "I really love this beautiful city, thank you for welcoming us here" a personal speech. I think it's very personal statement that he shares with the audience what's really important to him.
U2 are what they decide to be. They don't owe their fans anything. We're not up to demand what U2 should do. What they do, they don't do out of a feeling of obligation to their fans wishes but out of commitment to all people on this planet, especially to the poor. And that's the reason I love them. If they never do anything for me but everything for the poor, that's fine. I don't own any rights towards them.
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"Larry says that he doesn't want to leave the stage just to come back two minutes later, he's a drummer and they are practical, he says it's more efficient to just stay onstage. Edge doesn't care what we do and Adam hasn't even noticed that we've left the stage and me, I'm the singer and I do whatever you want me to, I just want you to love me."
- Bono, Copenhagen, 2001
