another extract from the same interview .. i think someone in U2 and U2 fandome (see the related topic) should read and reflect ... they were very very close to this
"Exactly. I like the fact that, while not knowing rationally that I'm doing something good eventually emerge. When I write I feel like a painter who distributes patches of paint on the canvas without reasoning about, instinctively, until he sees something emerge. Then take that thing, he emphasizes the character, the potential, makes it consistent. The way I see it, making music is a simple task, from childhood traits. That's why when you make music you can not lose. "
If making music is a recreational activity, it means that it has nothing to do with ambition? I speak of the ambition to speak to a wider audience, but also to make records that people will remember in thirty or forty years ... "That kind of thinking is not healthy. If it comes to mind, can inhibit the creation. "
"Making music is a simple task." Some would disagree with that statement. All I've got to say is, if it's such a "simple task" then write it all and release it ASAP!
N2....Chicago....this show had all the makings of a classic written all over it.This was not to be the case.The "big 3" as I call them,open the show.Solid versions,good tunes.Animal follows,but half the band start playing Marker in the Sand.The false start that makes Ed laugh.Animal restarts without incident this time.Crowd sing along well,and I can see the fans going wild in my head.But,as has been the case so far on this tour,the band decide to force Marker on the fans.They were so eager to play it.It does nothing for me now,and it did nothing for me in '06,when I saw the band.Piss break tune.
Do The Evolution > Whipping are solid rockers,and I like them back to back.Jeff hits a couple of wrong notes,band are obviously off this evening.Ed's voice is not in top form.
The band needed something big here.They decide to pull out 1/2 Full.An average song,at best.I would have been less than thrilled at this point.1/2 Empty also sounds off.
IAM Mine follows.I love this song,and have no reservations on hearing it.The problem here is simple.The band are off,and there is zero flow to this set.
Even Flow sounds good.Mike does his usual riffs.Gone,a song I like, is up next.Good version.IMO,this is where WWS would have fit in.Ed keeps talking about "change" when the tune is over.It's 2013 Ed,and nothing has changed under Obama.
Another average tune is up,Insignificance.Piss break,more beer's guys ? I didn't mind it in 2000,but in 2006 its forced.Out of the first 12 tunes,5 are off PJ,2 off Riot Act and 1 from Binaural.....one word....Ouch.
Better Man sounds very good,crowd sing along loud at the start.Another short version.The song ends,and after a brief pause,Ed starts playing the chorus guitar line, going into “Save It For Later”, and the band joins him after a moment.
The below average Down is busted out.I could never understand the band's infatuation with this number.
The classic Garden is next,but it's the short,edited version.Not good.
A nice version of Inside Job is played.I like it,and it has always been my favorite off PJ.This set needed something else here.This show is beyond flat.Black,Jeremy and Nothingman would have been a nice run.
Following “Inside Job”, Ed introduces “Lukin” as “another introspective number”. Very loud crowd sings “Why Go Home” break between verses of “Why Go”. Decent run,cant save this below average set.
Encore 1
Wasted Reprise> Man of the Hour.I like both songs,and Man of the Hour sounds very good here.But after a very weak main set,the band needed an amazing start to the encore.This is not it.
Footsteps is classic PJ.Ed mentions this is "about as old as they get for us." Really good version,I love this tune.Once and Alive complete the Momma - Son trilogy.For those of you who don't know this story.On Sept 14th,1990,EV received a cassette tape in the mail,from Stone and Jeff.Ed went surfing in a sleep deprived state,and came up with the beautiful lyrics to the three instrumental demos that he’d heard.
When the tape left Seattle, the songs were called Dollar Short, Agytian Crave, and Times Of Trouble. When it was returned,with the words “for Stone + Jeff” scribbled on it, the re-dubbed tape now had the tracks we know as Alive,Once,and Footsteps.This is the highlight of the show,and of course the best 3 song run.
Encore 2
Last Kiss starts,and it's ugly.The band are way off.Ed is singing from behind,and doesn't appear to know the words.Just skip it.
Last Exit and Glorified G are 2 classic PJ tunes.I dont know about them here,during encore 2.The main set could have used them.They would have been a welcome addition, in place of 1/2 Empty and Insignificant.
Ed mentions a bunch of suburbs,and there is a lot of booing,he responds "Is there anyplace you guys like?"..Small Town starts..great song,no question,but this one belonged in the sub par main set..not now....
The classic Crown of Thorns is dusted off.Love it.Highlight # 2 of this show.Good version,but its just too late.This show is already done IMO.
The dull,tired,please play something else (Indifference) RITFW follows,into the obvious show closer Yellow Ledbetter.
3 stars
This show was flat,and uninspired.The band were off for most of the night.They sounded tired,as if they were all hung over ? The set gave me the impression that this show was mailed in.
I was going to give this show a 2 1/2,but the presence of the Mamma-Son trilogy,and the rare classic Crown of Thorns making an appearance,was taken into consideration,therefore explaining the 3 stars.
Highlights : IAM Mine,Inside Job,Momma -Son and Crown of Thorns.
So here we are second stand at United Center and the gig starts with the by now usual 3 block Severed-Suicide- Wasted. We’re still early in the tour but i’m beginning to wish they separate them every now and then .. for a second night at least. Solid songs for a solid concert opening still they can be tried in a different way. Good ones not out standing this day.
Band completely not synchronized at the start of Marker in the Animal; i love when this kind of things happen .. if occasionaly of course. The initial misunderstanding leads to play both with Animal first. Quite weak both .. i’m finding Stone not at top form till now.
Do the Evolution next .. a hard rocket that usually gives a nose-up .. it does a bit but not as it’s used to.
I love it’s paired with Whipping, always a highlight for me, it suffers the lack of the boys as a band though.
They’re still warming up it seems to me.
Lets jump to the probably most controversial, not understood at times and loved (by me and half fandome part) PJ album .. nice one for ½ Full, Mike seems to be in for his solo part .. I Am Mine .. great mid tempo great blend of acoustic and electric guitar well performer by the band here in Chicago, Eddie not trying it in deep maybe. First moment, this two, that stands out from what have come so far.
Classic following with Even Flow .. tech problem of Stone guitar? Matt esitation? Bad timing? Whatever .. another stumble right at the start; song flows fluently afterward though .. pulled solo during one of the most famous moments of Mikey.
Gone and Insignificance are well played but i’d say these are not the songs that can move the equilibrium of a concert and it hasn’t obviously happened either this time.
Eddie rides a sure horse at this point for it would be a nothing-special Better Man .. if it were not for the tag; Save It For Later is actually more than this .. it’s like he’s realized the song is closed too hurry and throw it at the end. I liked this not-tag version though.
The concerts “goes” Down and, for my liking, it’s always great when an outtake or a b-sides, like this case, is in the set. Another Riot Act and paired with its lead song of the single (I Am Mine); i always thought Down could have easily been in the album in some other place .. i like this “immediate” song even though i don’t like how it ends here.
I have nothing else to say about this type of Garden, nice but far away of what it is, so i pass to one of the tops, if not the top of the Avocado .. always a pleasure to listen and in Chicago is not different a different Inside Job.
Lukin -> Why Go to close the main set with the first usually being a very appreciate by me in a PJ gig … not this one; moreover the transition to Why Go hasn’t worked well, it could have been much better potentially.
Wasted Reprise opens the encore and it’s a very good one in this position and as concert opener too. I prefer when it works introing a harder song than Man of the Hour. I love the huge sweetness of this one, still i was waiting for another type there .. not bad at all nevertheless.
The well known chord and harmonica make foresee and hope for a time trip to where it all started .. the tape that travelled Seattle-San Diego-Seattle .. and it happens ..Footsteps-Once-Alive .. reversed Momma-Son!!! .. always a very very special celebration time for the fans and always a Highlight and an estatic trip. Funny yesterday i was looking at the whole Ten collector edition of mine and of course that magic cassette copy lingered in my hands …
A shitty Last Kiss comes next, nothing else to say hehe .. maybe too much emotions for the previous threesome has surrounded the band hehe.
Double Last for the second encore Kiss makes way to Exit, definetely a much better song and performance but it didn’t take much.
Glorified G i think is out of place in a second encore, i like it and i think that the main set is its natural place.
Not a very brilliant Small Town, in line with the gig, preludes to the second special back-to-roots moment .. Crown of Thorns! .. guess it has been suggested by the story of the Mother Love Bone t-shirt man seen by Eddie the previous night. Aside of its romantic significante a great song indeed .. of course Stone and Jeff completely in it and a very nice choir by Matt.
The band leads better rockin in the free yellow world to end what i think it’s a “weird” concert. Definetely they were not at top form, limp Matt C distracted Stoney not dogged Jeff, but i can hardly find a particolar reason fori t .. not that they were “unwilling” or the set wouldn’t have been that long. Wrong evening for all the band, who more who less, like it can happen to everyone.
For sure those 2 rare gems save something of the night.
Highlights: reverse Momma-Son – Crown Of Thorns - I Am Mine – Save It For Later