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Gosh, the "U2uesday" jokes. It was like the Irish quartet only became richer than most of the world so they'd have the power to physically alter the naming conventions of our work week. A rundown of reactions to Bono, et al's rattle and hum through the local media landscape yesterday, which included a exclusive schmooze event at Metro last night:
- While the Sun-Times' Jim DeRogatis has some faint praise for No Line on the Horizon, U2's latest, he also skewers the promotional hooey of their (non-performing) Metro appearance, as well as their sidestep of questions about a new tour revenue agreement with the ever-loathsome Live Nation.
- Over at the Tribune, Greg Kot gives props to Shirley Manson, ex-Garbage vocalist and host of U2's Metro appearance, but takes the band to task for joking about not performing while not actually performing. Kot also lists each member's "DJ picks" for the evening.
- Speaking of U2's DJ skills, "Brown Eyed Girl" is about the stalest Van Morrison pick of all time, despite the Edge's touching introductory story about thinking the Belfast Bomber was Dutch because of his first name. And maybe next time WXRT simulcasts an event such as this, it can fix the audio. When Larry Mullen, Jr. spun the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated," it sounded like he was rocking it in his bathroom while we were left to hold a half-empty glass of water to the door.
BY: Johnny Loftus
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Good wrap-up, but it seems like DeRogatis would have faint praise for the band, not faint phrase.
Stupid Word spellcheck! I'm gonna kill that copy editor ... oh wait...
I love how up in arms the Red Eye seems to be over them not playing. Everyone knew in advance that they would not be performing. It was fact. People knew what to expect. Why be disappointed when you know what you're getting into?
I personally like the "concept" of U2 but not U2...
DeRogatis holds venomous hatred for U2. When Sound Opinions was broadcasted on XRT years ago, they had a comedy section of the show called "Jim's Weekly Bono Rant". DeRogatis would even blast Bono's humanitarian efforts. Henry Rollins has a similarly intense dislike for these guys as well.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate them just for being them. I think Bono is pretty sincere in his humanitarian efforts. I mean, he could be out adopting Malaysian babies like some other folks we know, but at least he sees the big picture and tries to do what he can. I'm just not a fan of them as a band, at least not now. I casually appreciated them long ago when they first started, like a few of their songs. But now...eh. I don't get appeal. I don't see musically what they're doing to garner such worship. Granted, they're not the cover band that is currently masquerading as the Rolling Stones or Madonna trying desperatly to stay relevant, but they're just... I dunno, making records. But I like having a band like this around for some reason. Not sure why. And of course, this makes absolutely no sense.
DeRo and Rollins, two guys who are deeply in love with the sounds of their own voices.
U2's all right. Saw them on the Pop-mart tour. Bono came out at one point and said "We're losing a lot of money on this one, but we hope you like it." I think the first one to mock Bono is Bono.
I listened, it was lame. The sound was all sorts of fouled up so while U2's selected music was being played the audience's questions and band's answers were being heard over the radiowaves as as well.