U2: Go Home
Filed Under: Music, Reviews | Article Tags : DVD review , music on dvd
By: Erik Swift
January 2004
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To the casual observer, U2’s latest DVD release would be an unnecessary acquisition to a DVD library. Twelve of the 19 songs appeared on 2001’s Live In Boston, and this concert was performed less than three months later on the European leg of the same tour. Yet, U2 are that rarest of groups in that they can make a stadium performance seem like one emanating from the most intimate of clubs. Additionally, they are an act that is so identified with their homeland that their Irish shows are among their best and are favorites of bootleggers. 2001’s Elevation tour was an intimate affair that saw them slink away from the stadiums like children’s charity reps from the Neverland ranch. After the eclectic Zoo TV and underrated Pop tours of the 1990s, the band made every effort to keep this outing simple and effective by confining it to arenas and a few clubs….except for Slane Castle.
It surprised few that eighty thousand tickets evaporated in minutes for U2’s August 25 performance at Slane. The added date on September 1 was the first-ever extension of Ireland’s annual summer music spectacular. This latter show is featured on U2 Go Home, an electrifying gig on the grounds where they not only recorded much of their epochal fourth album “The Unforgettable Fire” but opened for Thin Lizzy twenty years earlier.
The sentiment is evident early, as Bono namechecks Lizzy’s Phil Lynott during “Out Of Control,” the band’s first single. The quartet is in rare form during an explosive 19-song set that covers most of their catalogue. From the driving “Until The End Of The World” and the Bo Diddley stomp of a stripped-down “Desire” to the full-throttle hammering of “Bullet The Blue Sky,” it is obvious this band does not know how to suck live. The beats lain down by Larry Mullen Jr. on “Where The Streets Have No Name” justify his position as one of the planet’s most solid drummers while The Edge’s soaring slide on “Kite” adds to the emotional rendition. Adam Clayton’s plodding bass oozes all over Edge’s nasty solo on “Bullet The Blue Sky” while the drums rise and fall as Bono wails over the proceedings.
Somehow, it still comes down to “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” While the flag-waving “Under A Blood Red Sky” and the furious “Rattle And Hum” versions may be more famous, it is here that the song takes on new resonance. Before their fellow Irishmen, the band uncorks a towering performance of their most political song on the anniversary of the deaths of innocent dozens in an IRA bombing. His voice breaking as he shouts out each name of the dead long after the song ends, “Too many” are Bono’s final words before the stunned, silent mass of people. It’s an amazing moment.
The show looks and sounds incredible. The sparse heart-shaped stage brings the band right into the audience, and it literally looks as if they are walking on top of the crowd at times. In the bonus feature department, The Unforgettable Fire documentary that initially appeared on the 1985 video collection of the same name is here, as well as a performance of “Mysterious Ways” from August 25. I was disappointed “A Sort Of Homecoming” from that same night wasn’t included, since they hadn’t performed that in more than a decade.
This night marked the end of an era for U2 and the world. 10 days after this concert, the USA was attacked by terrorists and was forever changed. Later that fall as the band toured the states, the final Elevation shows were uplifting affairs that climaxed with a now-legendary appearance in New Orleans at the Super Bowl. On a tour when every show was better than its predecessor, “U2 Go Home” is an essential DVD for any casa.
Reviewer’s Opinion: BUY IT!!
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