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U2 is on tour again. They're doing a 30th anniversary Joshua Tree show. Playing all the songs from the album. That should be cool. I've kinda cooled on U2 in recent years. I was always a big fan, but their later albums were not too exciting. Quality stuff, but nothing really reaches out and grabs you. So this nostalgia tour will be awesome.
But Edge says: "we then were looking at the anniversary of The Joshua Tree, and another thing started to dawn on us, which is that weirdly enough, things have kind of come full circle, if you want. That record was written in the mid-Eighties, during the Reagan-Thatcher era of British and U.S. politics. It was a period when there was a lot of unrest. Thatcher was in the throes of trying to put down the miners' strike; there was all kinds of shenanigans going on in Central America. It feels like we're right back there in a way. I don't think any of our work has ever come full circle to that extent. It just felt like, "Wow, these songs have a new meaning and a new resonance today that they didn't have three years ago, four years ago."
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-edge-breaks-down-u2s-upcoming-joshua-tree-tour-w459473
So I've got tickets. Good ones too! The front row of the upper deck at Soldier Field in Chicago. I was worried that the stadium would be huge, and the upper deck would be high, but then I started looking at where my seats are. First of all - front row! Second, only three sections back from the front edge of the stage - a perfect balance of not-too-distant and being in front of the stage rather than directly alongside. And the height isn't too bad - the upper deck actually hangs down fairly low. It looks like we're below the rigging. The only downside is that there's no roof. But I've been to outdoor shows in the rain before. It'll be awesome!
But Edge says: "we then were looking at the anniversary of The Joshua Tree, and another thing started to dawn on us, which is that weirdly enough, things have kind of come full circle, if you want. That record was written in the mid-Eighties, during the Reagan-Thatcher era of British and U.S. politics. It was a period when there was a lot of unrest. Thatcher was in the throes of trying to put down the miners' strike; there was all kinds of shenanigans going on in Central America. It feels like we're right back there in a way. I don't think any of our work has ever come full circle to that extent. It just felt like, "Wow, these songs have a new meaning and a new resonance today that they didn't have three years ago, four years ago."
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-edge-breaks-down-u2s-upcoming-joshua-tree-tour-w459473
So I've got tickets. Good ones too! The front row of the upper deck at Soldier Field in Chicago. I was worried that the stadium would be huge, and the upper deck would be high, but then I started looking at where my seats are. First of all - front row! Second, only three sections back from the front edge of the stage - a perfect balance of not-too-distant and being in front of the stage rather than directly alongside. And the height isn't too bad - the upper deck actually hangs down fairly low. It looks like we're below the rigging. The only downside is that there's no roof. But I've been to outdoor shows in the rain before. It'll be awesome!
