What a real U2 Fanatic Does Online

Some will remember that I was in the AAMI grandstand in Adelaide for the 2006 U2 concert! That was a grant night with lots of interesting moments, the least of them being the car-park afterwards.

In an attempt to revitalise my U2-roots, today has been spent viewing U2-documentaries on YouTube. I always find it fascinating to hear about how a band begins – and the U2 journey is incredibly fascinating.

If you ever doubted the history or future of U2, you need to go back and see it all over again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD3OyhGNIP8

This video explains so much. For fanatics of their music, parts of this clip will probably make you laugh at their silliness, yet be inspired by their brutal honesty. Followed this up with Part 2 and Part 3 if your country will allow you to view them. I cannot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry42AY3efqw

3:33 to 3:44 says it all. Bono says “I’m into it, we’re into it. And I think the real U2 fans who have been around, they’ll be into it. We might loose some of the pop-kids, but we don’t need ’em.“

I have been a U2-fan for over 25 years, so I don’t expect Bono to do anything more than want he wants. As long as that is providing amazing music and a die-hard performance, that works for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKKtQ289PgI

This clip both angers and inspires me immensely. If a country can stop the fighting to let a band play for Sarajevo, why can’t they stop the shooting completely??!! In a war-torn country, U2 manage to bring in their entire stage, lemon and performance, across so many country borders where people normally fight to kill for no-good reason, and wins over the hearts of so many people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt8r81guKdM

Watching the beginnings of U2 is always good.

I’ve read about this a million times, yet to hear it from them helps enforce the words, the pictures and the love of their music. Despite having a shite sound in the beginning, it’s how they evolved that matters. Particularly how they acquired their nicknames. There are six parts to this series, and each is enlightening for the devoted U2 fan. Particularly me.

It’s from watching their earliest song-clips that you realise why they rarely perform songs from previous albums on stage: They want the band to progress, not regress. Bono hates staying stagnant nor over-indulging in his own history. Yet I am sure he relishes the knowledge that his fans care about where he started, where he has been, and where he is going.