FIONA SHEPHERD Music journalist For me, U2 are the quintessential stadium rock band. They were one of the first bands I ever saw live as a teenager. I wasn’t a particularly big fan but something about their live reputation must have persuaded me. I’ve seen them numerous times over the years, most memorably at Murrayfield on the PopMart Tour. It was the first stadium concert I had ever been to and it set the bar unfeasibly high, not just because the band emerged from inside a giant lemon but because, aside from all the glitzy stagecraft and showmanship, it was a musical thrill ride which honoured all corners of their catalogue. Their stage presence was so massive that when I subsequently saw them in the SECC on the Elevation Tour, it felt like a club gig.
I love the fact that they don’t shirk their reputation as the biggest and the best, and I fully expect U2 in-the-round to be both sublime and ridiculous.
RODDY WOOMBLE Idlewild singer Idlewild opened for U2 for three shows on the 2005 Vertigo Tour. The sheer scale of a show like this was the main thing that
stuck me. The amount of money, effort and thought that went into this kind of performance was pretty unique. I don’t think there’s another band that put on concerts at that level. In Manchester I watched the whole gig and it
didn’t take long to be swept up in it. The only album I have is The Joshua Tree, which I got for my 11th birthday on tape, but to be honest even if you don’t own a U2 album you’d be familiar with most of the set – their songs have been everywhere for 20 years. Definitely a band worth seeing at least once, and it was quite an experience to be onstage before them.
JIM GELLATLY DJ I’ve never been a massive U2 fan, but there’s no denying that their live show is something else. I was at their Astoria gig in London
in February 2001 and was offered £800 for my ticket outside. No doubt the tout already had a buyer lined-up, so God knows what the sell-on price would have been. The gig itself was a pretty stripped back club
show, in that it didn’t have any of the fancy stage sets. It’s certainly the mark of a great band when they can still carry it off without the trimmings, and they were really on form that night. I’ve seen them at the SECC in Glasgow as well, and it was probably one of the best gigs I’ve been to there. I usually find the atmosphere a bit sterile at the SECC, but U2 seemed to own every inch of the big shed.
TOM MORTON Writer, broadcaster and musician I first saw U2 at Tiffany’s in Glasgow on December 1 1982. It was some kind of preview or rehearsal mini- tour before the War album was released. U2
U2
were extraordinary, and so was the crowd reaction. It was the first time anyone had heard songs like ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’. Bono had a mullet and was decidedly pudgy at the time. They played bits of ‘Loch Lomond’ and were quite loose and almost unrehearsed. It was nothing like the massive theatrical spectaculars of today. Very good humoured. Very friendly. I saw them again two nights running at
Barrowland on the sixth and seventh of November 1984. This was the Unforgettable Fire tour, a much more disciplined, harder, glossier business. The Waterboys supported, who were great. I had to deal with (U2’s manager) Paul McGuinness, I remember, over photo passes and he was incredibly pleasant when he had no need to be. The show was very... worshipful, in a demented sort of way. I preferred The Waterboys.
I loved the PopMart and Zoo TV tours on video. But frankly, I think they should stop now. I’m greatly in favour of the compulsory sabbatical for rock musicians.
DANIEL WYLIE Singer/songwriter and former Cosmic Rough Riders frontman Cosmic Rough Riders opened for U2 two nights in a row at Glasgow’s SECC In 2001. The show itself was, by U2 standards, scaled down – 10,000 people each night instead of the usual 50,000-plus stadium gigs they’re used to. I’d seen them years before in front of 800 people at Tiffany’s and what stood out for me was how they managed to keep the feeling of intimacy between them and their audience in front of 10,000 – just as they had at Tiffany’s all those years ago. The light show was great, the big screens were impressive and the heart-shaped stage that went out into the crowd was a nice touch. But what impressed me most was the band’s performance. Despite years of fame and success, they weren’t jaded, and from the first second of the show to the last, they delivered. Great songs, performed with vigour and enthusiasm.
PETE WISHART MP and former Runrig keyboardist Runrig’s tour itinerary for the weekend of July 30- August 1 1987 was just a little bit strange. On Friday
night we had the delights of a gig in Plockton Village Hall to be followed on the Saturday by opening for U2 at Murrayfield stadium. Opening at Murrayfield changed the fortunes of Runrig and the whole experience was simply awe- inspiring. With The Joshua Tree, U2 redefined the whole stadium gig experience and it was fantastic to be part of it. Some 22 years later Bono is still plying his trade in these massive amphitheatres, while I now inhabit the green benches of Westminster. U2, though, have always felt that they have a political contribution to make. Whether it’s environmental issues or, in particular, Africa, U2 have access all areas in political arenas that other lobbyists would kill for. U2’s political contributions are the stadium rock of cultural comment and it is now impossible to separate their political contributions from their general appeal.
13–20 Aug 2009 THE LIST 9