Word: rocks
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Their concerts are as revivifying as anything in rock, with a strong undertow of something not often found this side of Bruce Springsteen: moral passion. U2's songs speak equally to the Selma of two decades ago and the Nicaragua of tomorrow. They are about spiritual search, and conscience and commitment, and it follows that some of the band's most memorable performances -- and, not incidentally, the ones that have helped U2 break through to an even wider audience -- have been in the service of a good cause, at Live Aid or during last summer's tour for Amnesty International...
...distinct phenomenological proportions. Even in Arizona, in the earliest stages, with Bono's voice raggedy from overrehearsing and with the band searching for a solid connection with both the audience and one another, there was a final fusion of performer and spectator that is one mark of great rock 'n' roll. Some of the songs, especially earlier efforts, can get tongue-tied by the unwieldy ambition of their lyrics and the discursiveness of the melody line. The audience shares a devotional intensity, however, that anchors the concert as a whole experience even when the tunes range free. Bono stalks...
...around," remarks an appreciative T Bone Burnett, a guitar player and record producer (Elvis Costello, the BoDeans) of no mean skill. "U2 is what church should be." Lest such praise become a little burdensome, Larry Mullen keeps this reflection handy: "At the end of the day, it's just rock 'n' roll...
...dead serious about their liberal activist politics although careful not to be sanctimonious. Clayton talks worriedly about some fans turning to the band "needing to be healed," and Bono says," I would hate to think everybody was into U2 for 'deep' and 'meaningful' reasons. We're a noisy rock-'n'-roll band. If we all got onstage, and instead of going 'Yeow!' the audience all went 'Ummmm' or started saying the rosary, it would be awful." The band shares a kind of ecumenical, nonspecific spirituality. Bono, the Edge and Mullen are Christians, although of a particularly loose-limbed variety...
...tribute to King -- with a joyful vengeance. But it is not just that U2 is on the side of the angels. It has given a new charter and a fresh voice to conscience. "A sense of humor is something I value," Bono says, "but we don't play rock 'n' roll with a wink." Without sermonizing, they have become a rallying point for a new and youthful idealism. After Live Aid and Farm Aid and after the Amnesty tour, after heated and heartfelt music from Jackson Browne and Little Steven, it is no longer corny or uncool to be concerned...