Manic Street Preachers - an introduction.

(I began to review the recent Manic Street Preachers Toronto gig and found myself taking more time and words than anticipated explaining exactly who they were. As a result, I decided to post a separate blog entry with a short history of the band focusing on their almost too-strange-to-be-true earlier years, along with a few musical samples. Consider it my own little condensed Wikipedia write up.)

Manic Street who? Some 13 years after being introduced to this brilliant Welsh band by a friend it pains me, pains, I say, that virtually no one in North America knows who they are. It's not exactly wide-scale success I'm wishing for them - I'll cop to being greedy and possessive enough to not want to share them with the whole world. But still, a little name recognition would be nice, perhaps a song of theirs most contemporary music fans could identify. I've tried to pass on their musical goodness to others, only to be met by indifference. Part of me understands why - their lyrics are, to put it mildly, challenging. After 13 years of consuming their music on a regular basis (I'd anoint them status in a list of my top five favourite music artists), I remain fairly clueless as to what lead vocalist/guitarist James Dean Bradfield is singing about most of the time. And part of that is what fascinates me about the band, along with a host of other reasons.

The words in their songs deal with weighty and unconventional (for rock and roll) subject matter: classic literature is a recurring well from which the band often draws, historic events such as the Spanish Civil War, political themes, religion and art. More traditional "alt rock" (whatever that means nowadays) lyrical explorations of alienation, culture, and occasionally just the odd straightforward love song make their way into the mix as well. Critics have accused them of being overly intellectual or pretentious, a slam that I'd have to back at times. But I've always been a "music first, lyrics second" type of guy and the band's music has captivated me since I first heard it. There's a complexity and depth to it that is truly unique.

Manic Street Preachers, consisting of Bradfield, bassist Nicky Wire, drummer Sean Moore and guitarist Richey Edwards, released their debut album, Generation Terrorists, in 1992. Their sound was a broad mix of punk, Appetite For Destruction-era Guns N' Roses and alt rock, with a proclivity for highly melodic moments, such as from the song "Little Baby Nothing". This song was notable both for its future status as a Manics live staple and the vocal appearance of infamous ex-porn star Traci Lords. Gold Against The Soul served as the follow-up album in 1993 and The Holy Bible was released just a year later. Controversy was never in short supply with the Manics, as they frequently adopted the punk ethos of bluntly speaking their minds about social and political issues, with a further specialty in discussing the lacking merits of numerous other British bands.

No discussion of the band's history would be complete without mentioning the enigmatic Richey Edwards. Edwards split most of the lyrical duties with Wire on the band's first two releases and assumed the bulk of the lyrical work for The Holy Bible. To say his guitar abilities were limited (particularly early on in the band's career) would be a huge understatement. No, Edwards functioned more as the band's wordsmith, shaped their visual look and contributed heavily to their musical direction.

Edwards suffered from severe depression, anorexia, alcohol abuse, and was prone to cutting himself. He famously carved the words "4 Real" into his forearm in 1991 after having the band's authenticity questioned by a journalist (click here for a picture of the result, though be forewarned it's not pleasant). Despite his troubles, Edwards was a highly intellectual person, as is evident from his lyrics or interviews. He also suffered from bad insomnia, which contributed to him reading up to six books a week, with some of the digested words or themes ending up in a Manics song or as a quote in an album's liner notes. In 1994 he spent time in psychiatric hospitals, until disappearing in early 1995 on the day he was supposed to accompany Bradfield on an American promotional tour. His car was found abandoned near a bridge known as a popular suicide spot, but a body was never recovered. Some who knew him speculate that even with his demons he was incapable of taking his own life. Elvis-like sightings have been reported worldwide over the years, though nothing ever proved conclusive. The cult of Richey, which had gained traction even before his disappearance, soared to new levels. His case remained open with him classified as a "missing person", until he was officially declared "presumed dead" in November 2008.

The band later continued on as a three piece with the blessing of Edwards' family, even continuing to put aside his royalties, should he one day resurface. Everything Must Go came out in 1996, containing five songs with Edwards' lyrical input. The album received rave reviews as the band expanded its sound, incorporating orchestral elements and more accessible songs than the previous bleakness of The Holy Bible. Manics fans commonly cite one of these two albums as their high water mark (I personally favour Everything Must Go by a wide margin). The album peaked at number two on the UK charts, matching the performance of first single "A Design For Life".

I hate to now condense over a decade of great music to a single short paragraph, but here it is: five more studio albums have followed since 1996, all of them strong except for the spotty Know Your Enemy. Additionally, they've released a couple of compilation albums and in 2001 became the first western rock band to play Cuba (with Fidel Castro in attendance). The latest album is this year's Journal For Plague Lovers, with all of the lyrics coming from a notebook Edwards gave to the band shortly before his disappearance.

Despite his absence, the ghost of Edwards has hung over (or perhaps "among" might be a better choice of word) the band for years. His work has shown up here and there on Manics songs over that time, but Journal For Plague Lovers shows the band giving him a prominent voice once again, thus bringing another chapter of closure to the tragic, weird history of the Manic Street Preachers and Richey Edwards.

"Little Baby Nothing" (1992, audio only)

"The Everlasting" (1998)

"A Design For Life" (1996)

(YouTube disabled the embedding feature for the video so click here for link)

"Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" (featuring Nina Persson from The Cardigans, 2007)

(YouTube disabled the embedding feature for the video so click here for link)

KISS - Sonic Boom [music review]

* Released October 6th

I was a massive KISS fan for most of my life up until about five years ago. We're talking a run of about thirty years where they were the most important musical act to someone who lived, breathed, and slept music. Now, a statement like that won't win me credibility points with most music fans as KISS has never, shall we say, been a group that garnered a whole lot of respect, a fact they actually claim to enjoy. But I eventually hit the wall as far as the levels of my fandom for the band. The reasons are numerous and ample fodder for a future Mediaboy Musings posting. Suffice it to say, I approached the release of KISS' first studio album in eleven years with varying levels of skepticism, curiosity, nostalgia, and an almost ingrained conditioning of obligation. 

Sonic Boom arrived exclusively in Wal-Mart stores on Tuesday, the newest extension of the store's successful strategy of pairing classic rock acts with exclusive rights to their new releases. So far, the arrangement has paid impressive dividends: The Eagles and AC/DC enjoyed huge sales numbers, and Journey scored its best sales numbers for a new album in ages. Foreigner is taking the same gamble, releasing a new album last week that marked their highest chart debut since 1987 and spurring further sales for their catalog. KISS clearly wants in on the action. Like most of the aforementioned groups, the new album comes packaged with a live DVD and a disc of re-recorded classics, all for the low, low Wal-Mart price of only $12! It is good value for the money, but is the new material worth the wait? Here's a track-by-track review:

"Modern Day Delilah": Most impressive. The opening track with Paul Stanley on lead vocals is tight, has some tasteful drum fills from drummer Eric Singer, the lyrics aren't embarrassing and it delivers a great chorus. Although there's an eleven year gap to consider between 1998's Psycho Circus and Sonic Boom that yielded one, one new song ("Nothing Can Keep Me From You" from the soundtrack to the atrocious Detroit Rock City movie), this is probably the strongest song I've heard from KISS since "Unholy", off 1992's Revenge.

"Russian Roulette": Gene Simmons takes over the singing for this average, tempo-changing song anchored by a fat, greasy bass line. The pre-verse "ah ah ah ah" lines sound like they were just lazily tossed in, though. The pre-release hype from KISS itself was that this album recaptured the vibe of the band circa 1976's Rock And Roll Over, that "every song sounds like that". So far, I'm not hearing it. 80's and 90's era KISS sounds a little more accurate.

"Never Enough": Okay, now we're getting into this just sounding like other 80's hard rock hair bands (and I say that as a huge fan of the genre). The verses steal the guitar riff from Poison's "Nothin' But A Good Time", which in turn stole the opening guitar riff from KISS' "Deuce". Is it theft if you're stealing something back from someone who stole from you? The plagiarism continues as KISS borrows heavily from Whitesnake's "Slide It In" during the choruses. That the band failed to see the remarkable similarity to the Poison guitar parts is amazing, especially when you consider Paul Stanley was originally slated to produce the album it came from (1988's Open Up And Say...Ahh!).

"Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)": Now this sounds like 70's KISS...albeit quite average 70's KISS. Gene's words drip with that lascivious, creepy quality he's perfected over decades, at several points just cutting to the chase and vocally leering "baby, it's time to take off your clothes". Guitarist Tommy Thayer lays down a great solo, although it's a completely transparent mimic of original guitarist Ace Frehley's style, with even further elements of another former KISS guitarist, Bruce Kulick, thrown in.

"Stand": It wouldn't be a KISS album without at least one self-empowerment song...this would be that song. Gene and Paul trade off vocals, but there is simply nothing distinguishing about this track. Under the word "filler" in the dictionary, you'll find this song listed.

"Hot And Cold": Another obvious attempt to recreate some 70's magic, with mixed results. There's some funky bass and nice use of cowbell (more cowbell!), which momentarily distracts from the horrible lyrics. A sample: "Well if it's too hot you're too cold/If it's too loud you're too old/Baby, let go of what you can't hold/Baby, you're too hot and cold".

"All For The Glory": Singer gets a shot at lead vocals for the first time on a KISS album. He's a phenomenal drummer, the most technically gifted of the three players KISS have had over their history. Vocally, he's decent, probably a notch above original drummer Peter Criss (although Criss' voice had a little more character). The material Singer has to work with here is minimal, especially the cliched lyrics which are pretty much foreshadowed by the song's title.

"Danger Us": I literally held my head in my hands for a few moments when I listened to this song. The title had we worried, I'll admit. My God, how could it not?! Musically, it's actually quite good, though...the guitar work is simple yet catchy and Stanley sounds at the top of his game. Then I heard the lyrics during the chorus and my head collapsed into my hands. I'll show them here and then no more shall ever be spoken of this song: "Two parts trouble/Double down tough/Danger you/Danger me/Danger us".

"I'm An Animal": Definitely the darkest sounding track on the album, yet another in an accumulating pile of skippable songs. Another nice Thayerfrehley solo.

"When Lightning Strikes": Thayer assumes the lead singer role as the band tries to recreate one of the original concepts of KISS, that all members would share lead vocal duties (although Stanley and Simmons obviously would get the bulk of the work). His voice is completely bland, which meshes well with the lackluster songwriting. Thayer cowrote the song with Stanley and the same recurring thought popped up while listening to Sonic Boom that I had while listening to Stanley's disappointing 2006 solo album, Live To Win: how does a guy that's been writing songs for close to forty years come up with such shite lyrics? One could never accuse KISS of high-minded word craft, lest we forget their gem from 1984's Animalize album titled "Burn Bitch Burn", with the classic line, "Oh babe, I wanna put my log in your fireplace". Admittedly, Gene wrote that one, but you get the idea. This time we're saddled with "When lightning strikes/A howl in the rain and thunder/A fire ignites/A flash of light electrifies my heart and my soul/And lightning's gonna strike tonight". Really, guys? Seriously, you had over a decade to write this stuff.

"Say Yeah": *sigh* No thanks.

Sonic Boom, as the band has reminded us repeatedly during their media blitz to promote the album, contains no outside songwriters, musicians, keyboards or ballads. It also contains no heart or indication it is anything more than the latest slab of merchandise in the grand KISS marketing scheme, along with crap like KISS M & M's, KISS Mr . Potato Head dolls or KISS bingo games.

Rating: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Bitch Slap [movie review]

* North American theatrical release in January 2010

* Screened September 14th at Ryerson Theatre

The world premiere of Bitch Slap was appropriately screened during the Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness series. The ode to 60's and 70's sexploitation flicks was met by a rowdy audience, eager for a little mindless T & A-drenched entertainment. Bitch Slap definitely doesn't slouch in the T & A department. Unfortunately, the "mindless" quotient was damn near off the chart.

The plot is a nonsensical mishmash of ridiculous storylines essentially revolving around a diamond heist, many told in a series of flashbacks while the present day action unfolds in a remote desert area. The three main actresses are given suitably Tarantino-esque names like Hel (the brains behind the opeartion, played by Erin Cummings), Camero (the lesbian muscle with huge trust issues and a steady supply of tight pants, played by America Olivo) and Trixie (the naive, but sweet stripper, played by Julia Voth). The dialogue these three are saddled with is so bad that one can't help but feel their pain. Of course, when you sign on for a film with a director (Rick Jacobson, who also co-wrote the screenplay) whose filmography consists of dozens of episodes of bad television like Baywatch, Baywatch Nights, Hercules, Xena and Cleopatra 2525, not to mention d-grade movies such as the eighth installment of the prestigious Bloodfist film series, well, you get what you ask for. There were so many groan-worthy double entendres that I lost count.

Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless (Hercules and Xena, respectively) make cameos, but other than that the entire cast is virtual unknowns. Some might recognize a quick appearance from Zoe Bell, who also acted as the film's stunt coordinator, from her appearances in Quentin Tarantino's Deathproof and as Uma Thurman's stunt double in the two Kill Bill movies.

Everything in Bitch Slap is so over-the-top that it felt like I was being kept at an arm's length from really becoming engaged with the movie. It didn't even function well as stupid escapism. The endless parade of slow motion cleavage shots and worse, a water fight between the three female leads that kept going and going and going...if the movie is laying on the sexual cheese (now there's a visual!) so thick that it alienates its core horny male viewer then it's in a world of trouble, because Bitch Slap has little else going for it.

Rating: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Keith Urban - Escape Together World Tour [concert review]

* October 3rd, Air Canada Centre, Toronto

Saturday's show at the Air Canada Centre concluded Keith Urban's brief Canadian tour, and it was an upbeat, raucous evening that surely couldn't have disappointed any of the attendees. Energy and good vibes practically emanated from the main attraction, an impressive feat considering seven of the twenty songs in his setlist were slow numbers (and not just lovey-dovey ballads, either..."You'll Think Of Me" and "Til Summer Comes Around" fall squarely in the "downer" category).

Urban's latest album (Defying Gravity, click link for my review) was well-represented, with five songs being performed, including the show opener "Hit The Ground Runnin'". "Days Go By" followed, keeping the energy level elevated before reining things in with the slow building "Stupid Boy", with some impressive extended soloing from Urban at the song's climax. When I first got into Keith Urban's music several months ago it was his guitar skills that most surprised me. To non-fans, I think he comes across as a bit of a lightweight pretty boy, which is a mindset I was guilty of, too. After throwing myself headfirst into his catalog and discovering the depths of his musical ability and songwriting skills, I now know better. And really, why hold the guy's admittedly good looks against him? As a Bon Jovi fan, I know it's bugged me for years every time I heard a similar dig at Jon Bon Jovi. He makes great music (in my opinion...plenty would disagree), which is all that matters. Anyway, I digress...

By song number five ("You're My Better Half") Urban had worked his way to the back of the arena to the smaller satellite stage. An acoustic version of his monster hit "Once In A Lifetime" had bits of Stevie Nicks' "Edge Of Seventeen" thrown in, a nice touch. The balladry of "Making Memories Of Us" (dedicated to wife Nicole Kidman) and then "Only You Can Love Me This Way" followed. Urban returned to the main stage, once again much to the delight of the crowd he walked the length of the arena floor to get through, and into "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me".

The middle part of the show featured highlights like "Til Summer Comes Around", where Urban again demonstrated his considerable fretboard skills at the end of the moody ballad, as well as great renditions of Defying Gravity's strongest tracks, "Kiss A Girl" and "Sweet Thing". After "Raining On Sunday", Urban's sense of humour was on full display as he donned a headband and sweat bands and, with help from opening act Lady Antebellum vocalist Hillary Scott, signed several tennis balls and then smacked them out to the audience. Even the requisite band intros which followed weren't too dull, with three band members taking the main microphone for snippets of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (by guitarist Chris Rodriguez), "Ain't No Sunshine" (by bassist Jerry Flowers) and, most popularly, a little Canadian content with multi-instrumentalist Brian Nutter doing a chorus and verse from "Run To You" by Bryan Adams. The rest of the band, all of whom certainly deserve recognition for their excellent performances, is rounded out by mandolin and guitar player Brad Rice and drummer Chris McHugh. After the band introductions, members of Lady Antebellum joined Urban onstage for an acoustic version of The Eagles' "Seven Bridges Road". Not being familiar with the song, an Eagles fan, or a Lady Antebellum fan, it was the only weak moment of the entire show for me.

"You Look Good In My Shirt" and "Somebody Like You" provided a powerhouse one-two punch before the encores, with the former a real surprise, as I've never cared for the song. Urban strapped on a Telecaster that lit up, borrowing a showmanship trick from KISS' Ace Frehley, who started using a lit up Les Paul back in the 70's. He ventured back out into the crowd, this time setting up a brief residence (along with his microphone and its stand) a few steps up in the stairs of the lower bowl section. The crowd ate it up. For the encore, it was "Tonight I Wanna Cry" (with a brief intro using Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown") and then the sunny optimism of "Better Life" to close the show. Urban introduced the final number with the words "Be good to yourself, believe in yourself. Everything that you need is right inside you”. That might smack of corniness when you're reading it, but in the context of the show and the fact Urban comes across as an extremely genuine person, you know he means it.

After the concert I came home and checked out some reviews from Urban's other Canadian shows and was somewhat disappointed to find his setlist barely changes from night to night. The Toronto show, for example, was the exact same running order as his Winnipeg show. Even much of the stage dialogue appears to be recycled from show to show (like yelling at the crowd when playing on the satellite stage, "Who's got the good seats now?!"). I've been going to live music events for enough years now that I know this is a common practice with most artists. Still, something about it with Keith Urban still killed my buzz a little. Then I gave it some further thought and actually gained even more respect for the show I had just seen. Despite the fact a lot of what he was telling us was probably repeated verbatim from his other concerts, it all still completely felt like it was from the heart, that he truly meant it (such as when he thanked so many people for coming out and paying money for a concert during such touch economic times).

Unfortunately, the seats my friend Marcia and I had weren't the best for taking in the visual enhancements created for the show. We were close to the stage (twenty rows off the floor), but too far to the side of it to appreciate the use of the five video screens, which changed positions from the main stage backdrop, to a 45 degree angle, to hanging horizontally over the band like a roof.

This was my first Keith Urban show and it definitely won't be my last. Urban is a performer who gives his all on stage and the fun and satisfaction he gets from doing it is clearly on display and has an infectious quality the audience seems to feed off of. I've seen well over a hundred shows in my life and I've never seen an artist hang around for as long as he did at its conclusion, shaking hands and signing items for the fans. If he could have played a couple more hours, I'm sure he happily would have.

* Lady Antebellum were adequate openers, but I'm certainly not rushing out to buy their album after seeing them. One thing that surprised me about their set was that they did two and a half cover songs: "Hurts So Good", "Boys Of Summer" and a little of "You Shook Me All Night Along" slipped into one of their own songs. Normally, you won't see an opening act given a short amount of playing time choose to do so many, but I guess they felt the familiarity of the songs would help their cause with the audience. Based on the fairly favourable reaction they received, it looks to have been a pretty good call.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

Kings Ransom [movie review]

* Premiering October 6th on ESPN

* Screened September 13th at the AMC 7 theatre

Kings Ransom is the first in an ambitious 30 part series for ESPN, under the banner of 30 For 30. Launched in celebration of the sports network's 30th anniversary, respected filmmakers were asked to pick any sports-related topic they desired and create a documentary film about it. Kings Ransom was helmed by Peter Berg, a noted actor, director, producer and writer (Berg has acted on the TV series Chicago Hope, directed films such as The Kingdom and Hancock and is creator, writer and executive producer of the Emmy-winning TV show Friday Night Lights). The 53 minute documentary made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and examines the historic 1988 trade of Wayne Gretzky from the NHL's Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, and its significant impact on the sport.

The film conducts new interviews with the central figures (Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, Oilers coach and GM Glen Sather, Kings owner Bruce McNall and Gretzky's wife, Janet), with little new insight into the whole affair being brought to light by anyone. It's amusing, 20 years later, to see the levels at which outraged Oiler fans displayed their contempt for Pocklington - notably, burning him in effigy, as though the dictator of a foreign country who was found guilty of human rights abuses. Not so funny is the reminder that he also received death threats. Also finding her way into the disgruntled fans' crosshairs is Janet Jones Gretzky, who many fans attached the "Yoko" label to, erroneously.

The movie opens with a dramatic shot of Gretzky driving an SUV into his former home rink (L.A.'s Great Western Forum), but that and subsequent shots of him walking in slow motion through the empty, iceless arena while gazing pensively upwards don't quite carry the dramatic heft Berg intends. The Great One is interviewed about the trade on a golf course, an unusual choice of setting, but one that works visually. Perhaps Berg's goal was to create a more relaxed atmosphere more conducive to disarming the normally reserved and guarded legend. He doesn't quite succeed. Berg asks the relevant questions and Gretzky complies with mostly stock, well-trodden answers. Of note from the exchanges: he seems to hold lingering thoughts on how many more championships the Oilers could have won had he stayed (he estimates four or five); he felt he should be the highest paid player in the game; not unlike his on-ice "one step ahead of everybody else" instincts, he saw the bigger picture of what a move to a large U.S. market could do for both the game and his own career.

He wasn't wrong about the latter. After the trade, ticket sales for Kings home games skyrocketed and celebrity attendees, commonplace at NBA Lakers games in the same building, began to also flock to the rink. The league, mostly through U.S. expansion into southern markets, expanded from 21 to 30 teams. Sports Illustrated heralded the NHL as likely to become even bigger than the NBA. Two decades later, the positive effects prove to have been relatively short-term, with the ultimate irony being the mess involving the Phoenix Coyotes, the team Gretzky bought a part of and was heavily involved with in a management capacity, including a role as head coach until his recent resignation.

Kings Ransom isn't really geared towards hardcore hockey fans (especially Canadians) who are already well-versed in the story. Berg does a good job in capturing the Canadian side of it, thoroughly laying out the significance it had on the city of Edmonton and, in fact, the entire country. The movie succeeds at competently revisiting this compelling story, but ultimately fails to compel with its dearth of new insight. Fans seeking another viewpoint on the trade and its effects might want to pick up a new book titled Gretzky's Tears: Hockey, Canada, And The Day Everything Changed by Stephen Brunt, longtime Globe And Mail writer and co-host of Prime Time Sports With Bob McCown.

* Anticipation of a Gretzky appearance at the screening ran high, but he was a no-show. Not surprising, considering the fact his then-team was embroiled in an ugly legal battle. Berg was in attendance in the row behind me for the only screening of the film at the festival, introducing it and taking questions from the audience afterwards. His funniest moment involved recounting a story about playing in Gretzky's charity baseball game in Gretzky's home town of Brantford, Ontario in the early 90's. Early in the game, while playing in the infield, he threw out a baserunner and couldn't understand why the crowd reacted with heavy booing. Turns out the baserunner was Gordie Howe.

Rating: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

U2 - 360° Tour / part 2 [concert review]

* September 16th, Rogers Centre, Toronto

Awesome. That's the best word I can come up with to describe the show that U2 puts on. They continue to raise the bar for stadium concert spectacles, while maintaining an emphasis on not living merely off their rich past. The band opened their show at the Rogers Centre with four tracks from their latest album, No Line On the Horizon - that takes balls. In all, seven tracks from the newest release were played, with nearly all of them connecting solidly with the sold-out crowd of 58,000. Interestingly, the one that seemed to have the least impact was "Breathe", which opened the show. No worries, though...it was virtually all uphill from there.

No Line On The Horizon's title track was next and the response of the crowd definitely picked up, energized by the quicker tempo driving one of the best songs from the album. "Get On Your Boots" followed and then came "Magnificent", with lead singer Bono engaging the crowd in a singalong. "Beautiful Day" marked the first older song in the setlist and Bono ended it with a snippet of Elvis Costello's "Alison" (he mentioned that Costello was in the audience). Somewhere during all of this (I believe it was during "Get On Your Boots"), Bono ventured out from the main stage to the outer stage ramp and eventually made his way to directly in front of the spot my brother Jay and I had in the first row in front of that outer stage. Here's a photo, taken during Snow Patrol's set:

Click to enlarge

Jay and I are right where the yellow arrow is and the two arched things on either side of the main stage (in the picture they're black because they're covered with a tarp) are the bridges the band used to come out and visit us. Watching this whole production in action was most impressive. The bridges were attached to a track on the inner part of the outer stage and could swing right around to the very middle front of the outside stage. The cameras shooting the show for the video screen were on similar tracks on the outside part of the outer stage, allowing the camera men easy access to move around. The above picture doesn't do the whole thing justice. When the full stage was in action it was breathtaking, especially accompanied by the light show coming from the CN Tower. The video screen above the stage was jaw dropping. It was cylindrical shaped, pieced together in hexagonal segments. Later in the show the segments break apart and the whole thing expands (while still showing images), dropping down to just a shade above the band's head as well as skyward to the intersecting top of "the claw", as the stage design has been nicknamed..."spaceship" is another word being used to describe it. The design was inspired by the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport.

Before the show, a roadie had taped some lyrics onto the stage right in front of us and I was able to read something about "Yonge Street" and "TTC". At the end of "Beautiful Day" Bono stood over the lyric sheet and inserted some of the lines from it into the song's ending. Before this concert I'd seen U2 seven times, the last three from the front row (close enough that I've shaken 3/4 of the band's hands on different occasions). Being mere feet from the people entertaining you never gets old, especially when it's the biggest band in the world. What's that, you say? The Rolling Stones are the biggest band in the world? I beg to differ. Sure, they sell out stadiums worldwide and hell, they're the Stones, with such a great history, but creatively they peaked almost 20 years ago. They haven't made a truly great album in decades now and any new release from them sells modestly in comparison to U2. U2 have made three brilliant albums in a row now over the last nine years and continue to put on the best live show on the planet. To me, it's no argument, but I digress...

Next was one of the high points of the show, with "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", which Bono let the audience sing alone for the first couple of verses. A segue into "Stand By Me" worked beautifully, resulting in one of three moments during the show which gave me goosebumps (and not from the cool temperature). The momentum slowed considerably with the snail-like pace of "Your Blue Room", a semi-obscure track from the band's 1995 side project titled Passengers that they'd only played live once before, a couple of days earlier in Chicago. Paired with some pre-taped video footage of an astronaut from the International Space Station, the song (and its overly artsy pretense) appeared to get lost within the circus-like surroundings. Not so for a great acoustic version of "Stay", with guitarist The Edge adding spot-on accompanying vocals.

Further highlights included a faithful version of the moody "The Unforgettable Fire", pulled out of mothballs for this tour. "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight", the song from those ubiquitous "Blackberry Loves U2" ads, got a dramatic makeover as the band have opted to perform the dance remix version live. It sounds like a bad idea in theory, but it worked spectacularly, proving to be probably the most fun moment during the show. The entire band made their way around the whole stage, with even drummer Larry Mullen Jr. strapping on a conga to play along with the electronic backbeat. The tail end of the show found Bono assuming his role as music's socially conscious champion for human rights, specifically asking the audience to consider the plight of Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi before dedicating a powerful version of "Walk On" to her. The song ended with a stream of fans walking out on the outer stage and holding up masks with her face in front of theirs as a gesture of solidarity. The second last song before the encore was "One", introduced by a video message from Bishop Desmond Tutu. Cue goose bump moment number two.

"Where The Streets Have No Name" ended the main set and "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" from Achtung Baby kicked off the encore. This song's performance floored me, and not just musically. Visually, other than the crazy expanding video screen, it was the highlight of the show. Bono walks out wearing a jacket with lights that looked like mini laser beams running along the sleeves and front, singing the song using a microphone centred in a lit-up ring that hung from a cable in the ceiling. The jacket lights shot out in a bizarre crisscross of beams that, along with atmospheric purple lighting and the dry ice smoke, made for a stunning visual presentation (and goose bump moment #3). At times, Bono would actually swing out over the audience while hanging onto the mic, continuing to sing. Here's a picture of him before he got airborne:

Click to enlarge

"With Or Without You" played it's faithful role as another audience favourite near the end of the show, here being the penultimate song of the night. "Moment Of Surrender" closed the performance, another new track, and while it lacks the familiarity and comfort of its predecessor it made for a fitting closer, with more full-on audience participation.

Opening act Snow Patrol did, shall we say, a serviceable job. I'm not much of a fan of the group (also from Ireland) and their set, while peppered with more than a few songs that had me thinking "Oh yeah...I forgot this song was done by them", was a decent placeholder until the big boys took the stage. There's always been something way too safe and bland about the band for my taste and their set didn't help to change my opinion.

The 360˚ Tour is obviously another massive road endeavour for U2 and the financial and creative risks appear to have been worth it. The band's previous two tours were scaled down affairs, limited to arenas in North America, although still giving full value for the money in terms of the stage show. Both were a resounding success, a welcome change from the uneven Popmart stadium tour from 1997-98. Looking back, I can't believe both my brother and I enjoyed the Toronto Popmart show at the then-Skydome so little that we both thought of leaving it early. I do recall having had a very hard time connecting with the album they were supporting, though (Pop), which didn't help matters. No complaints this time around, however...Bono was in fine voice, the band sounded tight and even the sound was excellent, a rarity at the dome. The roof was open for only the second time in the stadium's 20 year history (the other was a Bruce Springsteen show in 2003 I also attended) and the acoustics certainly benefitted.

Rating: 10/10

Below is a YouTube video of footage shot from a condo overlooking the Rogers Centre on September 17th, U2's second Toronto show. The sound is incredibly good, considering how far away the person shooting it is, not to mention the impressive view. Apparently Bono asked the eavesdroppers in the condos to turn their lights on and off at one point during the show.

U2 - 360° Tour / part 1 [concert review]

* September 16th, Rogers Centre, Toronto

Here's a breakdown of my day waiting in the general admission line...because the only thing more fun than waiting in a line for 12 hours is, of course, reading about someone waiting in a line for 12 hours. Part 2 (the show review) coming shortly...

I arrive at the Rogers Centre at 6:30 in the morning on show day, dreading the thought of spending the next 12 hours queuing in a lineup, but pumped for what was sure to be a great concert. The fan-operated numbering system, which usually seems to operate at shows where there's general admission tickets, was up and running smoothly. My alter ego for the next half day had a name: "#154". Yes, there were 153 before me who faced the dark and chilly Toronto morning to line up for their favourite band. Word is that the people in a handful of tents at the front of the line got there at 6 p.m. the day before. Now that is friggin' nuts, although perhaps not as nuts as the numerous people I met from all over the globe who were in town following the tour. Fans from Mexico, Germany, Italy, Chicago, Vermont, Brazil, plus numerous Canadians from places like Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal and Newfoundland. As massive a fan I am of music, I'm always humbled meeting people who go to such lengths to follow their favourite music artists. The furthest I've traveled to a show is twice making a five hour trip to Ottawa to see Bruce Springsteen and I think that's about my limit as far as what lengths I can handle in my pursuit of a great live music experience.

After checking out the lineup situation I returned to my car to grab my anti-gravity lounge chair and "supplies" for the day (iPod, food, reading material). When I initially arrived at the lot I paid a flat fee of $11 at the lot's pay machine, which only lasted me until 6 p.m. Now I noticed the lot attendant had begun work and I was informed it'd cost me another $20 for parking up until midnight (damn "Event Parking" rates!). Normally I'd be peeved at such a raw deal but, (n)ever the optimist, I didn't sweat it that morning. I rationalized that the concert ticket only cost me $70 (including TicketBastard charges) for what would likely be a spot right up at the stage.

Back to the lineup underneath a Rogers Centre overhang - perfect if there had been rain in the forecast (there wasn't), but not great considering a brisk breeze was whipping through the lineup area and the lack of sunshine made for (literally) knee knocking temperatures at times over the next few hours. Chatted a little with some of my neighbors and then settled in with an audio book on my iPod (The Yankee Years by Joe Torre). Couldn't help but notice that some guys came dressed with just shorts and heavy hoodies, which confounded me. If you're wearing something heavy and warm on the top part of your body then why not do the same for your lower part? This is the kind of inane thing one mulls over when they have plenty of time to kill in a 3' x 4' space for hours on end.

My brother Jay joined me at around noon, after a brief period of stress over whether those in the lineup behind me would mind if he joined the line where I was and not have to go to the end of the line (which by that point was in the 300's). That got sorted out and Jay was #155 (I had added his name on the sign-up sheet when I first got there). Having him there was a nice change. This was my fourth time doing the all-day general admission (aka "GA") lineup routine for U2 (and three times for Springsteen), and aside from my first couple of GA experiences for U2 in 2001 I've done the rest solo. Although the fans are always friendly and there's obvious common ground as far as conversation, it was a refreshing change spending the time with someone I actually knew.

A few washroom breaks and coffee runs provided a welcome relief from the coolness of the shady overhang out into the warm sun. I even walked backed to my car once to heat up my bones - it's the first time in the five years I've owned my car that I gave praise for the black leather interior. The line was informed that by 2:00 we needed to get all lawn chairs, tents and sleeping bags put away and that by 4:30 we'd be let into the stadium. Having a tenuous schedule helped set up the rest of the waiting time - most importantly, no more consumption of beverages that you can't get out of your system before being let into the building. It's possible that one can claim their spot in front of the stage and then try and have it held while they use the washroom, but it's also just as likely that you'll come back from emptying your bladder and find some knob inhabiting your slice of temporary real estate and refusing to give it up. There's a method to this thing, people!

So Jay and I kill a few more hours, during which the lineup is condensed with the removal of the aforementioned "luxury" items. Shortly after mentioning to Jay (about 2 or 3 p.m.) that I still felt surprisingly good and not too drained I proceeded to hit the wall. My legs, ass and back started aching and the boredom became more oppressive. It might sound odd to say that sitting around doing nothing for hours on end is grueling, but folks, it is tough to do. I've described my previous GA experiences to Jay, but it's the kind of thing you have to actually do to appreciate, and I believe that 'round about hour three or four he was getting a sense of what I'd described to him. After about three separate announcements between 4 and 5:30 that insinuated the doors would be open imminently, we finally got in shortly before 6:00. I swear that the sadistic security personnel were purposely screwing with the impatient lineup, yanking the proverbial dollar bill on a string just a little out of our reach while we were at their mercy.

Finally, we're let in and most of the crowd (including Jay and I) partake in some weird running/speed walking hybrid...basically, moving as quickly as possible to the stadium floor without catching the ire of the stadium officials yelling at people to slow down and not run. Down to the field we go and the impressive stage comes into view, momentarily evaporating the aches and grind of the day's wait. We claim a spot on the barricade gate by the stage's outer catwalk/ramp, a little to the left facing the stage. Most people head for the inner pit closer to the main stage but I'm confident that we're close enough to the action while far enough back to take in the whole production, specifically the massive cylinder shaped video screen hanging over the stage. The anticipation levels out a little as the aches return during the hour long wait for openers Snow Patrol to start the evening. Once they hit the stage a feeling of satisfaction hits and the body aches disappear once again, as the reason for enduring this whole long and crazy day lies just around the corner.

Me, pre-show. This is what an excited Drew Kerr (aka #154) looks like.