To my U2-obsessed brothers and sisters,
We've already debated U2's best tour, lighting, opening, and encore, but I'm about to take a risk and say that the Lovetown Tour is the real magic behind U2start. There's nothing special about the stage or lighting, and the setlists are short. However, Lovetown is the biggest, most unexpected pleasant surprise that I have received from U2start.
Lovetown actually holds 3 spots out of the 10 most highly rated U2start concerts, which makes it the most represented, even more so than the world-changing ZooTV Tour.
I sense something transcendent, even by U2's standards, about the final 9 shows of that tour. On the fantastic "U2 Legends" documentary, Larry says that the Joshua Tree Tour was "hard work" as they churned out hits they thought the audience wanted to hear, a feeling that contrasted sharply with the "joy" that he saw in each and every Bruce Springsteen concert. With Lovetown, the band was letting go of something they'd held onto for their entire career up to that point. It was a leap of faith, I suppose.
Can you imagine the uncertainty this band must have felt after they unleashed The Joshua Tree onto an unsuspecting world? You hit the top and you're the biggest superstars on earth... now what? They must have felt at some level that they couldn't go any further with the same formula, that "this [was] the end of something for U2," as Bono stated in memorable fashion on 1989-12-30.
The weight of that sheer uncertainty and the fear that this was really the end uncaged a beastly spirit within U2, a spirit that was fighting for its life and gasping for air but not yet ready to just give up and die. The crowds sensed this as they cheered along for the survival of the band that made them feel like no other could. That Point Depot audience was mighty small (a mere 8.500), but every time I hear them them cry "Dirty Old Town" in unison (1989-12-30, "Running To Stand Still": 5:15), I get chills because they make me believe that, for those few seconds, the whole world was singing at the top of its lungs.
The crowds weren't the only ones singing: listen to Bono's voice... and to the soul that propels it from within. The two moments that stand out for me are his declaration of "trampled in dust!" during "Where The Streets Have No Name" (1989-12-26, 3:29) and his rapturous wail during "Love Rescue Me's" climactic jam (1989-12-26, 4:45; for full effect, listen to 4:30 - 5:00). With each shout of "RESCUE ME!" Bono is not merely reciting a lyric; he is pleading in desperation for deliverance that has not yet been granted. I'm not sure whether he is requesting this of God, the U2 audience, his band mates, or all of the above, but I am convinced that he means it with every fiber of his being.
The precious moments that underlie greatness often slip silently by most of the world. U2 will continue to be known to the public as the band that created The Joshua Tree (or, of course, that band who starred in the iPod commercial). But we bootlegging enthusiasts (and those lucky 8.500 who were at the Point Depot each night) will silently chuckle to ourselves because we get to protect and pass on the secrets that truly reveal what makes U2 so transcendent and so great. I firmly believe that Lovetown is one of those well-guarded secrets.
And just what is a "secret," anyway? Well, they say a "secret" is something you tell one other person. So I'm telling you... child.
