I love U2, really. And I've followed them since the '80s and seen them live in all their various incarnations. From the bare bones Unforgettable Fire tour to the Giants Stadium Amnesty show (anyone remember that cover of the Beatles' "Help"?) to the Zooropa madness and back again to the last few tours which were still BIG but more focused on the music, there is one thing U2 has always been: spiritual. Any real fan knows that that's why you go to see them live: it is an uplifting experience of the soul. Sometimes, Bono takes that power too far, perhaps and its a little 'scary' isn't it? Sometimes a little stupid too when the sermon's get too... you know, into the whole "am I buggin' ya?" thing... But that's all OK with me, its part of the experience and either you buy in, or not. For a long time now U2 have been bringing members of the audience up on the stage during the show: for a hug or a dance with Bono, or even to play guitar with the band, etc. (something Green Day has copied on their last tour, to great effect! Oh yea, and lots of others have done it before and since, but it's kind of a signature U2 thing. Anyone remember the staged Courtney Cox moment in the Springsteen "Dancin' in the Dark" video...). Its a magical moment, where its AS IF "U" ARE ON THE STAGE when they pull up that lucky guy or gal. That's what everyone in the stadium is thinking at that moment, and if you look around, you will see people actually crying (really!) when this happens. I usually get misty-eyed myself - it works every time. It's part of the spiritual release that inevitably occurs at every U2 show I've ever seen. HOWEVER:
There is a different kind of magic that occurs at a Guided by Voices show (OK, for the uninitiated, you probably have no clue who they are. Try the band's dormant website which includes tons of free downloads, and singer Robert Pollard's current website for even more. For the uninitiated: there's a good chance I'll be writing lots about GBV here, so stay tuned for lots more...For the initiated, I know, I know there is no GBV anymore but as you all know the magic is still the same at the current Pollard solo or Boston Spaceship or whatever incarnation is next's shows....hereinafter all referred to as a "GBV show").
At a GBV show, you're not in a sold out arena. You're in a club that holds about 2000 people, and its packed. You didn't pay $200 for seats half way up the stadium so you can watch the jumbotron. You paid 30 bucks or so and you're standing pressed up against the stage and getting sweated on by the band. You're not waiting on line for 20 minutes for an 8 dollar beer, you're being handed a beer by Uncle Bob who has a cooler full of them up on the stage. OK, I could go on, but here's the point:
At a GBV show, those guys on the stage really are just like "U". I mean look at them. The clothes are old and tattered, but not because they paid $500 for that pair of perfectly ripped pants: they're just crappy. Bobby and the gang have somehow become semi world-famous but still live in their humble hometown of Dayton, OH etc. and make a living, but there are no castles and mansions to be found among them. In fact, how the heck do they make a living?!? (the key now must be Bob's ridiculously prolific output to the tune of something like a new album every 2-3 months depending on the season, but that's a whole other story for another day). So its not so much that its "as if" U are up on that stage. It really is you on the stage: just a normal bunch of guys who totally have their act together and just rock out (oh yea, and then there's Pollard's genius songwriting, but let's not get caught up on that, I'm trying to make a point). Or maybe it's not "as if" you're up on the stage, but it's that you could be. Or it might as well be you. OK, you get the point. U2 are truly larger than life - in their sweeping echoing musical style, in their stage shows, in their persona: it's what generates that spiritual moment and makes them so great and not repeatable. GBV (again, in all its incarnations) and Pollard is quite the opposite: they are just real life itself - right now, right in front of you, grey hair, a few off-key notes (come on you know it's true, but it just makes it human!), slightly slurred beer-fueled singing and all.
The GBV experience is spiritual, in a more earthy everyman sort of way. While it often feels like U2 is aiming for the heavens, Pollard is aiming right at you, man, down there in the front row with the Corona... what are you, some kind of Sebadoh fan? Get a Miller Lite!
******
Potential future monsterbeetle blog topics (but no promises here):
GBV, (the) Who?
Farewell old (drum) head my friend
iPollardPod
Last GBV NYC pier show + Tonic: a belated review
There is a different kind of magic that occurs at a Guided by Voices show (OK, for the uninitiated, you probably have no clue who they are. Try the band's dormant website which includes tons of free downloads, and singer Robert Pollard's current website for even more. For the uninitiated: there's a good chance I'll be writing lots about GBV here, so stay tuned for lots more...For the initiated, I know, I know there is no GBV anymore but as you all know the magic is still the same at the current Pollard solo or Boston Spaceship or whatever incarnation is next's shows....hereinafter all referred to as a "GBV show").
At a GBV show, you're not in a sold out arena. You're in a club that holds about 2000 people, and its packed. You didn't pay $200 for seats half way up the stadium so you can watch the jumbotron. You paid 30 bucks or so and you're standing pressed up against the stage and getting sweated on by the band. You're not waiting on line for 20 minutes for an 8 dollar beer, you're being handed a beer by Uncle Bob who has a cooler full of them up on the stage. OK, I could go on, but here's the point:
At a GBV show, those guys on the stage really are just like "U". I mean look at them. The clothes are old and tattered, but not because they paid $500 for that pair of perfectly ripped pants: they're just crappy. Bobby and the gang have somehow become semi world-famous but still live in their humble hometown of Dayton, OH etc. and make a living, but there are no castles and mansions to be found among them. In fact, how the heck do they make a living?!? (the key now must be Bob's ridiculously prolific output to the tune of something like a new album every 2-3 months depending on the season, but that's a whole other story for another day). So its not so much that its "as if" U are up on that stage. It really is you on the stage: just a normal bunch of guys who totally have their act together and just rock out (oh yea, and then there's Pollard's genius songwriting, but let's not get caught up on that, I'm trying to make a point). Or maybe it's not "as if" you're up on the stage, but it's that you could be. Or it might as well be you. OK, you get the point. U2 are truly larger than life - in their sweeping echoing musical style, in their stage shows, in their persona: it's what generates that spiritual moment and makes them so great and not repeatable. GBV (again, in all its incarnations) and Pollard is quite the opposite: they are just real life itself - right now, right in front of you, grey hair, a few off-key notes (come on you know it's true, but it just makes it human!), slightly slurred beer-fueled singing and all.
The GBV experience is spiritual, in a more earthy everyman sort of way. While it often feels like U2 is aiming for the heavens, Pollard is aiming right at you, man, down there in the front row with the Corona... what are you, some kind of Sebadoh fan? Get a Miller Lite!
******
Potential future monsterbeetle blog topics (but no promises here):
GBV, (the) Who?
Farewell old (drum) head my friend
iPollardPod
Last GBV NYC pier show + Tonic: a belated review
