It's early: Saturday, 11th November, Telstra Stadium. General Admission Gate J/K.
I'm with Kent, another old mate who has been my longstanding U2 buddy. Tonight's concert is a "grudge match' for us.
Back in 1993 we queued up for most of the day outside the Sydney Football Stadium to see U2's ZOO TV extravaganza.
We had a good position in the queue but as we entered the stadium a young girl who had seen the concert the night before (when Adam was missing!) said, "go to the sides, not the middle".
Not fully understanding the gravity of her precious wisdom we headed for somewhere between the middle and very end of the crash barrier for the general admission (standing room on the pitch).
We would regret this for the next 13 years. Had we comprehended her words, we would have ended up inside the "inner sanctum', right under the band's noses. Instead we had the full weight of some 20,000 fans surging against our backs as we held firmly to the crash barrier for the duration of the concert. Neither of us want a repeat of that and are eager to correct past mistakes.
Kent is anxious. He's got the knot in "his' stomach today. But the queue is short, we'll be fine. It's a very long, hot " no " unbearably hot day. But in the end it's all worthwhile. Kent and I are on the crash barrier again. Only this time we'll be face to face with Bono.
Finding what you’re looking for
The show? I'm virtually speechless. I doubt I will go to a better one. Bono was impressed with the crowd too, raving, "what was THAT?!?! I want some more of that whatever it was!"
Drawing on their clear delight with the crowd and their performance on Friday night, U2 performed a gob-smacking, thunderous set. The night had many surprises too. For example, Yahweh was dropped (much to the disappointment of Christian fans I met afterward who hadn't heard it yet) in favour of an old gospel tune: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For with an impromptu "addenda' called, In a Little While.
Still Haven't Found has some beautiful gospel lyrics. Speaking of Christ's work of salvation, Bono sings:
"You took the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross
And all my shame, all my shame,
You know I believe it'
But the chorus line that follows confused not a few believers:
"But I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'
What kind of message is that? Isn't the cross of Christ enough? Has this believer totally lost his faith in Jesus?
When the song first came out in 1987, I was puzzled by it too. Then I went through several years of seriously questioning and doubting what I believe. It wasn't until then that I got it and found solace in this song.
You see, it's a song that is more about doubt than faith.
It is that song and several others in U2's catalogue that are "valves' for me. I have a suspicion that we don't often sing songs of lament, let alone songs that deal with doubt. Do we avoid these subjects? Do we attenuate these voices? The Psalms don't.
During Still Haven't Found Bono invites the crowd to "take it to church'. Well, I'm grateful to be in Bono's church every once in a while.
A journey through the valley
Each U2 concert has a beginning, middle and an end. Within those parameters, U2 re-arrange their songs, introduce different ones and explore possibilities with their set. This "flexibility' makes each show so special. The middle of the concert is a dark centre, a "valley of the shadow' that U2 make us enter.
This is my take on that valley: U2 have just finished the soothing tones of Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own. The gigantic video screen that dwarfs the band turns colour from a brilliant blue to a muddy crimson.
Then there's that sound. It's a terrifying "rattle and hum' of both human and "other worldly' proportions. Bono's indicating our descent into the abyss. He's saying, “Now look what you've done!” U2 go on to play three pounding songs that will rent the sky, Love and Peace, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Bullet the Blue Sky.
Larry's down at the B-stage playing a floor tom that Bono will later unleash his rage upon for Love and Peace. (I have no idea how Larry manages to keep time out there). The song calls for an end to some epic conflicts:
"Lay down
Lay down your guns
All your daughters of Zion
All your Abraham sons'
During Sunday Bloody Sunday Bono exhorts the crowd to "coexist', but the song's final coda is brutally interrupted by the hellish howling of Edge's guitar on Bullet the Blue Sky. This is a song that was originally written in criticism of US foreign policy back in the 1980's. Consequently, Bono's earlier exhortations for Christian, Jew and Muslim to "coexist' are now poignantly juxtaposed with the root causes of terrorism.
Bono's "coexist' headband is now a blindfold. He's walking blind along the catwalk, perilously close to falling right off the stage. The stage is lit like the moon, but he's in darkness. He's got no idea where he's going, except for the roadie who guides him through his earpiece right up to the B-stage. Bono's crawling now, he's feeling around the stage. His hands find something on the stage. Bang! Whatever it is, it ignites, biting him on the hand like a viper. It's a brilliant red orange flare, pluming around him like a flower of fire in full bloom.
This drama cleverly alludes to Bullet's lyric:
"Plant a demon seed, raise a flower of fire'
We must learn to "coexist' but instead of pointing the finger at the other party (as I did in my last blog), U2 are holding the mirror up to our faces, making us gaze into our own "heart of darkness'.
Evil encountered
September 11, 2001 was an evil day. Sure, it may be appropriate to seek justice in some measured form for these atrocities. But is anyone asking the bigger questions of "why would anyone be so angry that they drive a plane full of fuel and people into a high rise building?' To my mind, that kind of anger is fuelled, at least in part, by a deep seated sense of frustration. It's the poor man's bomb. It's vandalism on a colossal scale.
Swathed in the smoke and brilliance of the flare, Bono's doing an out-take for Bullet. He's staring at his hands, guiltily singing,
"These are the hands that built America'
borrowing a line from a song that was used in Martin Scorcese's film The Gangs of New York.
And what of the "hands that built Australia'?
The Bali bombings indicate that we are seen as one with the US by Muslim extremists. What questions should we be asking ourselves and our politicians?
But to make things even more complicated, Bono pulls our heart back home in another direction. He dedicates Bullet to the military personnel of our nation serving in Iraq. It's complicated. Lines cross, but that's life isn't it?
Then as if to heal that gaping wound in the heavens, U2 play the very beautiful, Miss Sarajevo. It's a song from their Passengers soundtrack album and Bono sings the operatic part normally reserved for Luciano Pavarotti. Miss Sarajevo is an interesting "reverse take' on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
Whereas the Scripture says, "there is a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to reap', Bono alters the lyric to pose the question: "Is there a time for high street shopping? A time to find the right clothes to wear? Is there a time for keeping your distance? A time to turn your eyes away? The song finishes with the replacement lyric: "Is this the time to wear a blind? Is this the time for human rights? To underscore his point, the giant video screen is converted to a scrolling blackboard. As it scrolls the audience is reminded and educated in the Declaration of Human Rights.
So there you have it. Bono identifies Human rights as the fundamental premise we must all work from if we are to remedy this imbalance between rich and poor. Injustice, inequality and poverty are the seedbeds for such violent expression of human frustration. That Declaration is violated by the preferential treatment of one group of people over another. It is violated when Western nations manipulate the playing fields of the world's economy in self-interest and in the name of "national security'.
U2 take great risks. Isn't it taboo to talk about religion and politics? So why are U2 so popular? What itch do they scratch? How do they manage to sell out such enormous shows and yet present such confronting and controversial material?
What about us Christians? What about human rights? Is that something we stand for?
Stay tuned"
Stephen Shearsby, children's minister at St Paul's, Menai, is attending each of the seven U2 concerts that the band will be performing in Australia. He will share his experiences of the concerts and the people he meets in a series of blogs in the coming weeks.
Read the news story, Stephen’s previous blog and his next blog.
