C. J. Walsh

U2

PHILADELPHIA 2018

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Wells Fargo Center

June 13, 2018

View: Stage left, halfway up

 

U2 is touring to support their eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE album (their capitalization, not mine), and that record got the lion’s share of attention. Bashed out live, the eight new songs escaped the studio chill and more readily fit in the U2 canon.

Bono revisited his Mephisto character before the group tore through Elevation and Vertigo. As always they’re in the vanguard with the visuals, using a two-sided projection screen that split the venue in half. Bono and The Edge went acoustic for Pop’s Staring At The Sun, the stage lit-up to resemble our closest star. We’re dealing with U2 so it’s never just the music but subjects they hold dear, like Bono’s roots in Cedarwood Road and his mom in Iris (Hold Me Close). Sunday Bloody Sunday, Desire, and I Will Follow were scattered throughout a show that pushed two-and-a half hours. One of the few groups that manage the difficult dance of both rocking the audience and moving them.  gREAT.

What caught my eye at the merchandise tent was a gatefold double LP of the new album in a limited, numbered edition in blue, (sorry, cyan) 180g vinyl, with four bonus tracks, download, CDs and fold-out poster. All for about 75 pounds.

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PUBLISHED in RECORD COLLECTOR MAGAZINE Aug. 2018

 

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