The Wife® and I saw U2 last night, fulfilling a very long held desire of mine. I give the performance mixed reviews. There were parts that were outstanding, and parts that were lackluster. Overall, I’m glad I went, but I probably wouldn’t go again.
Some random observations and trivia, in no particular order:
- Bono is much more spiritual/religious that I ever knew. He must have invoked God at least 10 times during the show. We also think he may have done a “shout out” to the Pope, but it was kind of hard to hear. He was a confirmed fan of Pope John Paul II, and once gave him a pair of his trademark glasses.
- The nickname Bono is from his childhood. His friends gave each other nicknames. His were “Steinvic von Huyseman”, then just “Huyseman”, followed by “Houseman”, “Bon Murray”, “Bono Vox of O’Connell Street”, and finally just “Bono”.
- Bono has been with the same woman since 1975, and married since 1982. He has 3 kids (ages 20, 18, and 10).
- During the early stages of the band, 3 of the 4 members quit to join a Christian band. They reconciled.
- U2 has had the same lineup since a few months after their inception. The Edge’s older brother was originally in the band, but he quit. The rest of the lineup has been the same ever since. The band formed in 1976, when the members were in Secondary School (roughly Junior High).
- From what I can tell, the guys from U2 somehow avoided the normal pitfalls of the Rock and Roll life. The bass player was arrested with some marijuana in 1989, and was once too hung over to make a show. He gave up the booze after that. So, pretty minor, all things considered.
- Muhammad Ali has the same taste in music as The Wife® and I do. He was at the show last night, and he was also at the last concert we went to.
Overall, I have to say Bono seems like a good guy. He pulled three women up on stage and danced with them. He pulled a little girl up on stage and gave her his glasses. But it was in a cool way, not an “I’m awesome” way.
So again, glad I went, but probably wouldn’t drop the $250 again. $20 parking? Ouch.
Oh, and here’s a picture of Bono and the Pope, because it’s just too good not to post.
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Many Christians are incredibly grateful that Bono has done the work he has, especially when he becomes critical of church institutions. There have been more than a few good results from that. It’s said by many that he’s just one epiphany away from a very grand understanding of the universe and finally reconnecting to God. We’re given in the new testament several clues used to tell whether or not a person has a genuine connection to God, though we are pretty much forbidden from judging a person’s soul and fate in that regard.
In my opinion, Bono is like this:
A free-spirited young man who lives at home. His brothers crave approval as their number one priority in life and it makes young Bono sick. He eventually finds that they are horrible hypocrites and they toss him under the proverbial bus time and again to gain their father’s approval. Bono, disgusted by the whole situation, runs away from home and ends up in the city. There’s many hypocrites here too, but because he didn’t come from here, he can see them for what they are, people in need. So he joins a company that makes a tidy profit, but also helps those in need. He grows to love it more and more as he sees it’s effect. He’s promoted a few times and becomes entirely devoted to his job, always keeping motivated by not wanting to become like one of the family members he left behind. At no point has he discovered that his father owns the company or that his brothers are being pushed away for their hypocrisy.
His image has varying degrees of summer’s-eveness, but you can’t deny how awesome it is to get the entire church institution to admit it’s ineffacacy and create a historical impact against disease and need that way the One campaign has.
I give credit to God for that good work, because I know that’s where it came from, but I do thank Bono for his obedience to work, and willingness to take the front seat as an example and leader.
“We just lost our drummer to a pentecostal ska band.”