U2 from the Cheap Seats - Concert Review - Los Angeles, May 31, 2015

                                                                    

photo by Amory Blaine - May 31, 2015 GW Forum

"If I was a good pop star, I wouldn't be telling you about the way I grew up, because I'd want to keep those things from the public" -Bono (from October 8, 1987 interview in Rolling Stone 510)

"We want to take you back to an image of Dublin, in the neighborhood where we grew up" -Bono (from May 31, 2015 L.A. concert - prior to performing song Cedar Wood Road)

We recently caught one of the U2 Innocence-Experience shows in L.A. We're thankful to say, we're of the notion they've finally discovered a working stride for their live act. For whatever reason, they've seemingly been on a pendulum swing over several tours in a kind of tug-o-war between being personal vs. experimental. It's almost as if they've finally now acknowledging the live experience can be both. Like in the old days (having seen them since the early 80s), this L.A. Forum show featured plenty of passion and engagement with the crowd - along with addressing the audience in ways that seemed... friendly. But like the ZOO TV era and beyond, they pushed the edge (no pun intended) with a certain unpredictability. As in bye-gone days, songs are again taking on new life when performed in person. Quite frankly, it's the reviewers opinions on this site U2's live show is better when Bono DOESN'T play guitar, since he can tend to almost hide behind the instrument much of the time. Be certain, this gig was ENGROSSING. It didn't even matter that we were in the cheap seats, behind the stage, where we swore we'd never sit again after the Vertigo tour 10 years ago (has it really been that long?). Bono's voice and energy have never been better, and surprisingly, he was actually, um... gracious. Earthy numbers like Love Comes to Town and All I Want is You  were weaved dramatically into more noise-groove laden performances of Even Better Than the Real Thing and Invisible. Overall, they slayed what they were trying to pull off in the arena setting, and we'd see them again in a heartbeat on this current tour should the opportunity arise.

Now, as far as the album goes: After a solid amount of listening, we kept thinking - "it just seems like they're over-committed these days to a basic song-structure formula: verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus (ad-infinitum)." Sure enough, in an interview the boys note they had recorded an entire album (by 2013), then scratched the whole thing - bringing in song-writing help. At least one producer (Rick Rubin) early on kept chiding them "to write traditionally structured tunes" (from Rolling Stone 1221 Nov. 6, 2014). There are elements we like about the Innocence album (especially some of the post-release versions), but overall, we're pulling for the 2013 unreleased album to be unearthed - but, at least from the vantage point of where we're sitting, it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

-P.S.