U2 360 in Cape Town

Now I know that the Irish, and their frontman in particular, fetch a lot of criticism from the grumpy and the generally cynical. But it really would take a very unique type of anal-retentiveness to not be amazed at this concert experience.

The excitement in the outer hallways of the stadium is as electric as the vibe inside. And all of a sudden, there they are…

No-one enters a room like U2. It’ll be a while before anyone comes close. It’s not like there’s hectic stunts or trapeze trickery – in fact, given their respective ages, I think that’d be a bad idea. They’d probably put their backs out, tear muscles and snap ligaments.

No. Rather, in front of over 70 000 fans, filmed and projected on to a 360-degree high-quality video screen, they just casually stroll on. And everyone and their auntie goes buck wild: 30% of the audience are trying not to pee in their pants, tears are rolling down cheeks and as Zapiro so articulately put it, Edge leans over to Adam Clayton and says “Steve who?”

The emotion is the story, you see. It’s the fact that they’re still in a band, still playing the same anthems together. Four young Irish punks who started a band in the 70s are here in front of you: well-travelled and wrinkled. Even Bono has a lump in his throat.

On this night in Cape Town, the show is streamed via web and radio broadcast around the world… and on this night, everyone around the world who is listening, is an African. It feels good to have the Irishmen and their stage on our continent.

And if I ever thought it couldn’t get louder and the atmosphere more electric, I was quickly proved wrong and my rib cage belted into submission. So begins Beautiful Day.

Edge then begins the vintage riff from I Will Follow, and the rock ‘n roll quickly compels us into sing-along of “Let me in the sound” from Get On Your Boots.

Magnificent lulled the vibe momentarily before the intro for Mysterious Ways began, followed by Elevation.

The Cape Town vibe must have eased Bono into the African way of life, who chats a lot more than he did in Joburg.

“I know you have the Big Five, but we see ourselves as the small-to-medium-sized four,” he tells the audience.

“On the bass: he began his journey as the Great White, and has evolved over millions of years to reveal something similar to the jackass penguin. And then he adapts to more parched ground, and grows wiser and wiser. In fact, so wise, Adam Clayton is the lama of U2.”

Everyone cheers loudly.

“Now,” continues Bono, “the man behind me, is not known for popping his head up all that much… but there have been some rare sightings among various waterholes here in Cape Town. Now ladies and gentlemen, heed my warning when I say approach with extreme caution – because this cat is dangerous to mice and small rodents. The meerkat of U2 – Larry Mullen Jnr!”

Even louder cheers.

“Now on my right…” says Bono, looking at The Edge, which prompts rapturous applause. “What manner of exotic creature do we have here? Not native, no… specially imported for this evening, ladies and gentlemen: he has spent most of his life hanging upside down doing very difficult mathematical equations. He is somewhere between the ring-tailed lemur and the spider monkey. The Edge!”

Wild applause. And then, gesturing to himself, Bono says: “It’s obvious… I move so light on my feet, 50 miles an hour… Impala? What do you think Edge? Impala?”

“I think,” says Edge, “with all due respect, it has to be the wildebeest.”

And with everyone laughing and cheering, the band launch 70000 people into the stratosphere with I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.

Halfway into the first verse the band pulls back, Bono takes out his ear monitors and soaks up the anthemic chorus of Cape Town voices… who knows where his thoughts go, but at the end of the acapella first verse he says “Thank you,” and continues on. South African Diva Yvonne Chaka Chaka comes out to join the band in the last verse, before Bono and her launch into impromptu, slightly out-of-time but ultimately monumental version of Stand By Me, under the full moon.

Magical.

Then follows a new offering, performed by Bono and Edge alone, called North Star, before the band launch into Pride (In The Name Of Love), for “Madiba, who is in our thoughts tonight”.

In A Little While and Miss Sarajevo bring the tempo down, before an epic rendition of City Of Blinding Lights showcases just how spectacular The Claw really is: the extended video screen drops down into segments, while the video content maintains its aspect ratio with the realignment of the extended smaller screens. Very impressive.

Straight into Vertigo, which – when witnessed live – is like rock ‘n roll on serious steroids, such is the raw power of Edge’s riffs and tonal quality. Crazy Tonight sees Larry walking around the outer ring of the stage with a djembe (native African drum) before the band get the crowd singing along for Sunday Bloody Sunday as Bono reminds everyone of the struggle in Libya.

Scarlet and Walk On are encored with One (featuring The Arch) and then Amazing Grace leads into the majestical Where The Streets Have No Name.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me is followed by With Or Without You, and things are brought back down to earth with Moment of Surrender as U2 bring an impressive evening to an end.

It’s difficult to know if we’ll ever experience something this special again in our lifetime. U2 has the longest and most determined commitment to their live show and their music out of any of their contemporaries or predecessors. We can only hope they return.

[rps]