U2

"We’re reapplying for the job of the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band" –Bono

Touring behind the superb All That You Can’t Leave Behind, a stripped-down, well rehearsed, sleek, no-nonsense U2 came to the San Jose Arena and blasted through over two hours of their strongest songs, single-mindedly determined to earn back that title.

"There is no reverse gear on our tank" –Bono

Like any great rock band, U2 has continually evolved, and if a band survives long enough, these changes tend to become cyclical. Although the Elevation 2001 tour shows a band that has gone back to basics by de-emphasizing spectacle and focusing on the straightforward presentation of strong songs, it is also evident that U2 has retained elements of each phase of their evolution. Earnest joy, passion, and justified outrage ("Sunday Bloody Sunday"; "Pride") were in evidence like they haven’t been since Rattle and Hum, but neither were technology and irony entirely absent ("Even Better Than The Real Thing"), nor were seduction and sexuality ("Mysterious Ways"). The clothes, lighting, and video images were, however, subdued compared to those on the Zoo TV and Popmart tours. No giant lemons came down and MacPhisto did not appear.

"I’m just trying to find a decent melody / something I can sing in my own company" –Bono

The show offered many pleasures enjoyable on a purely sensory level, in which a melody, an instrument, or a voice just sounds good. Bono’s tender and vulnerable falsetto and electric piano on "The Sweetest Thing" and the cracking of his voice on the soulful "In A Little While" (dedicated to Joey Ramone, who died this week) were some such pleasures.

"One of the problems we’ve had is that when you put the band in the room with no shenanigans or trickery, they tend to sound like U2" –Bono

A huge heart-shaped catwalk, the center of which was filled with several hundred lucky fans, encircled the stage. During "Where The Streets Have No Name" Bono raced exuberantly around the heart with a huge smile betraying his joy and impassioned state, creating the special bond between audience and band that has been the hallmark of the overwhelming experience of U2 in concert. This tour’s set list is a judicious, yet unsurprising mix of the most popular songs from the band’s canon. Amid the flashy, synthetic sensory overload of the past few tours, "Bad" and "New Year’s Day" sounded out of place. Now they reside comfortably next to "New York" and "Beautiful Day," as if the band has come to terms with its past by integrating the different aspects of its personality into a complex and vivacious multi-faceted whole whose elements can now co-exist in peace.

While this tour doesn’t represent the radical shift that past tours have, it nevertheless is a milestone in the career of U2 in its brilliant reaffirmation of the power and passion of the greatest rock band of our time.

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