U2 Comes to Fordham!

Keating looking beautiful in the early AM
U2 takes the stage

I considered not going. I teach Thursday nights, and I'm usually exhausted Friday mornings so getting up at 5:30 am was not sounding so pleasant. Now, though, I can't believe I ever thought I might not go. What a wonderful event for Fordham. The short (6-song) show, though outside, felt really intimate, and I have to say U2 sounded amazing even in a more stripped-down show than I've ever seen them in before. I'm used to their shows being a huge spectacle, but they can truly entertain without all the special effects and hype. Bono's voice was a little hoarse, but other than that, the band sounded as tight as ever. I love the voice of Edge's guitar. The new album is growing on me; I like the more "new" 2nd half of the album better than the first half that sounds more like what they've done before. I had "Magnificent" in my head all weekend.

The whole morning also ended up being a fantastic bonding adventure for some other junior Mgmt profs and me. Days after, I am still beaming with pride at all the great publicity the school got. That was the best Friday morning I've had in a long while.

GMA U2 interview at Fordham:

U23D

Life has gotten insanely busy lately, but I'm glad I made time to go see U23D this weekend on an IMAX screen.

The movie is really cool -- and not just from the perspective of being like you're at the show live, with the best seats ever (though that would have been enough). This film was carefully thought out to be more than that - to say something about the role of rock & roll in our lives, the relationship between rock stars and their fans, ... maybe even something about globalization and the meaning of the ONE message.

The camera angles let you flirt with the perspective of what it would be like to be Bono or the Edge or Larry Mullen Jr. or Adam Clayton themselves -- and, even from the audience perspective, on this screen w/ 3D, they look both larger-than-life AND incredibly HUMAN. Bono is short and wears shoes that give him extra height on stage! And he looks out to an ocean of crazed fans, literally freaking out over him.

And they're not even Irish or Americans! It's a South American audience -- English isn't even their first language! He's just a man. They're just a band. The power artists have over people is incredible. Kudos to Bono and U2 for having from day one always been trying to do something meaningful with that power. I've also never been more aware of how much artists depend on people falling hard for them. I kept looking out at the crowds, thinking, in all those people, there are probably so many "rock stars" in their own right, in their own lives -- if only they could see how silly they look totally losing it over this band and this show, bowing down and dying to get a bead of Bono's sweat dropped on them or better yet, a msec-long touch of the man himself.

But, then again, I know I totally fall for music and what I dream up about the people who make the music I love too. What does that say about me? Should I be embarrassed or proud that I totally get sucked into believing in the possibilities I imagine when I listen to certain artists/songs, stand in crowds at certain shows? Why is Bono more inspirational than he is corny? Is it just because he's/U2's so good, musically? (footnote to conversation after the film with JL, SO, & RMW) Is it because his confidence makes you respect him? Is it because he can be as serious and realistic as he is optimistic?