The Memorable Moments Of Vertigo 2005 // U2 Live From Chicago—By Kelly
The Memorable Moments of Vertigo 2005 // U2 Live From Chicago
Kelly Eddington
Note: The bulk of the following DVD review was written in mid-November 2005. I was depressed and maybe a wee bit disillusioned with U2. (But don’t take it personally, U2. I was a wee bit disillusioned with everything). I think some of that comes across in the writing, but this was a temporary thing.
About one month after my review was published on AtU2.com, I saw U2 in Portland from inside the ellipse. Reader, that was when I finally understood what all the fuss was about, and my U2 fandom continued on the trajectory that eventually led to the creation of...yeah...[gestures wildly around this site]. I’ve added an unreasonable number of gifs (42!!) and extra commentary to the original review.
Last year when U2.com presented this video as part of their Virtual Road series, PJ and I watched it together and swooned like the fangirls we are, were, and always will be, and for the billionth time, we wished we had a time machine.—Kelly
You know how some fans say attending a live U2 concert is like being in a fantastic rock 'n' roll church? To those people I say (take it away, Emily Dickinson):
Some keep the Sabbath going to church
I keep it staying at home
Last spring, after loving this band for 22 years (and drawing them nearly 22,000 times), I attended my first U2 concert, which I described here. That particular Chicago concert was the worst-reviewed show on the entire Vertigo tour, and I saw it from the worst possible seats.
Bono tries to find me—you’re gonna need to go up a whole lot higher, B!
It seemed like the band were using the show as a sort of dress rehearsal for what would eventually become their new DVD. I enjoyed the experience for the most part, but I was also somewhat disappointed. U2 was a church I had finally attended after decades of believing, but I walked away feeling nothing. Or, to put it more accurately, U2 was a church whose Sistine ceiling I had just painted, but I still walked away feeling nothing.
(Had I been able to see this, my mind would have changed in a hurry, of course.)
Even though U2 in person did not do it for me that night, it didn't mean New U2 Product would fail. Like many of you, I bought the Vertigo 2005 // U2 Live From Chicago DVD the day it was released, and I had difficulty finding it. A certain mega-retailer I'm ashamed to show my face in asked me, "Now, who is this 'The U-2’s' of which you speak?"
I eventually found the DVD, but I had to drive all the way across town in textbook tornado-watch weather to do so. My irritation melted, of course, when I saw the DVDs (the fancy one and the plain one) sitting in their rack. Because I have "Sucker for Fancy U2" tattooed across my forehead, I bought the fancy one. I drove home anticipating the upcoming visual feast in all its screencap-worthy glory. I smiled at the ultra-convenience of it all. Once again I'd be able to see my band any time I liked in my living room, with my seat where it should have been all along: looking up Bono's nose, hovering over Adam and Larry, and sitting on Edge's shoulder.
It's not like I couldn't do this with the handful of official live U2 releases I already had in my DVD collection. But it's always nice to have a new one, isn't it? A new live U2 DVD is like a new Taco Bell item, I mused as I tore into the plastic. Sure, it's different from the other things on the menu, but you still have a pretty good idea of what you're going to get: a reordering of the same four basic ingredients, all of which you like.
And I think everybody knows who the cheese is.
Who among us wouldn’t gorge on this supersized digital burrito? If you've read this far, I think it's safe to say that you want it, you probably already have it, and if you are a regular visitor to this site, you've memorized the playlist. This is standard Vertigo fare with no surprises: they play some new songs, some treasured fossils, and some songs that U2 are required by law to include on every official live release (release, release).
While Vertigo 2005 // U2 Live From Chicago (gratuitous slashes theirs) is not the most explosive concert video I've ever seen, I will say this: it is absolutely the prettiest.
After viewing it you will come away with a new appreciation for the beauty of colorful lights reflected on shiny metallic surfaces, Edge's unapologetically geeky setup…
…and the simple charm of Bono's stubby fingers and the various shapes he can make with them.
Director Hamish Hamilton whips the camera around in a way I’m mostly okay with, although I know plenty of people who wish he'd hold a shot for more than three seconds. Making gifs from this concert is not easy! Hamish also has his hands full with that amazing LED curtain.
I could watch footage of the curtain for hours...is there a problem with a performance if the viewer longs to look at the curtain? Yeah, maybe, but as I think we all know, this is some kinda curtain.
But let's cut to the chase: did they tear the roof off the sucka, as George Clinton would say? I'm not sure. Every once in a while it seemed like they went up there and walked around on the roof, checking for leaks, loose tiles, and overall structural integrity, but for whatever reason I think they ultimately decided to keep the roof on the sucka.
But what do I know? I don't understand what people mean when they talk about "lift-off" at a live U2 show; I've never experienced it, so who am I to judge? A friend of mine who knows all about the U2 lift-off phenomenon says it didn't happen on this DVD. She's really smart and you can trust her, but you'll probably have to decide for yourself.
As for me, I got teary-eyed only once when I saw U2 in person. I cried four times as I watched the DVD (during "Miracle Drug," "One," "Beautiful Day," and "Yahweh"), so that ought to count for something.
While the tour's warhorses ("Sunday Bloody Sunday," "Bullet the Blue Sky," "Pride") are a necessary component of this tour's musical journey (sorry) and their messages resonate in new ways today...
...they slow down the show for me, and I might skip those songs upon repeated viewings.
How about our heroes? Larry Mullen Jr. continues to look bafflingly flawless...
...as he monitors the proceedings with supreme competence from his catbird seat.
Adam Clayton patrols the ellipse with his easy, giraffe-ish gait.
When he grins, you'll experience the same little thrill you used to feel when the cool guy at school smiled at you for no apparent reason.
No wonder Bono kisses him during "Where The Streets Have No Name."
Edge is the always-elegant brains of the operation, surrounded by his fortress of solitude, a doomsday device of sound fit for an evil genius.
Except Edge is good, and he emerges as the concert's MVP. His solo on "The Electric Co." is transcendent, and it serves to remind all earthlings that He Is Not One Of Us.
He is a triple threat: singing really difficult-sounding harmonies, playing keyboards, and doing that guitar thing he does, sometimes all at the same time.
Edge: you should dance, too! Why not become a quadruple threat?
The crowd is more-or-less faceless this time around, and their noise is alternately really loud or buried in the mix. This can be distracting. There are no stand-out faces like those from Boston or Slane, and I kind of miss that.
Instead the crowd, particularly those in and around the ellipse, becomes a mass of jubilant arms that resemble a field of black sunflowers, all reaching for the blinding light that is Bono.
The prime minister of The Ministry of Silly Walks looks and sounds great, and he will also prove to you that he earned a certificate of participation from some kind of cat mime workshop.
He continues to wear mostly black…
...except for that one coat which, when paired with a certain headband, brings one dreaded word to mind: Loverboy.
Putting that aside, watching him perform is always fascinating, and when his singing is at its most heartfelt, a rapturous expression overtakes his face, revealing the clear-eyed young Bono still living inside that body.
Watching him curl up on his side to suck his thumb is well worth the price of admission. But maybe that's just me.
The first encore’s Achtung Baby tribute is a colorful stunner, and I don’t know what it is about that hat, but there’s just something about that hat, right?
Obligatory nose appreciation gif:
I loved how they chose to focus on Edge during Bono’s extremely long One Campaign speech.
Here is proof that you can still share a microphone even though you have your own face mic, just saying.
Bono’s performance of “Original Of The Species” was so instantly iconic that iTunes turned him into an actual icon.
No matter how extravagant or stripped down the setting is, just seeing the four of them lined up and playing music together in the same room will always be special. (Larry even switches to a little keyboard!)
But in the end, we know it’s all about the drooms.
As for the extra content on the second DVD, I'm afraid it's for completists only (I know you are, but what am I?). Have you been searching for a montage of U2 fans singing "Vertigo"? Well, neither have I, but here it is. You'll see lots of behind-the-scenes people talking about their jobs while navigating the bowels of the United Center. I love Chicago, but this place does not look rock 'n' roll enough. It's too sterile. At one point the Kings of Leon walk by the camera without emitting so much as a "woo!" The indescribable Gavin Friday is the documentary's token colorful character, and he mugs for the camera in a way that makes the other staff members seem like your dad's golf buddies in comparison.
Numerous fans provide their reactions before and after the show, but something is missing. Could it be the band itself? Don't buy the special edition hoping to hear U2 discuss the show in any great detail—although you'd have every right to expect this. Each member is seen briefly, sometimes via inexplicably grainy black and white footage. They shake hands with fans, sign autographs, hang around backstage, etc. When deciding whether to buy the special edition, you need to ask yourself this: How badly do I want to see a 45 year-old Bono eating birthday cake and commenting on its deliciousness? This is the kind of question whose answer can only be found within the depths of each U2 fan's heart.
Yeah, I know. How could you not want to see that? Whether you've attended dozens of Vertigo shows and watched the roof get torn off the sucka, or if you went to only one and it was just okay, you're all going to want this. Sometimes it's nice to be a shut-in and have church come to you for a change.
PS Thanks to the miracle of YouTube, you can see Bono eating birthday cake free of charge right freaking now. Many happy returns, king.