BONO himself acknowledged that it took four decades for his band, U2 to finally perform in the Philippines. But judging from the cheers of the full-house crowd that trooped to the humongous Philippine Arena—most of whom endured a three-to-four hour road trip from traffic-plagued Metro Manila—the long wait was well worth it.

The advent of the internet and social media made the event somewhat anti-climactic in terms of what to expect months after the concert presented by Smart and produced by Live Nation and MMI Live was officially announced.

Spoilers came aplenty as the set lists of the legendary Irish band’s The Joshua Tree Tourwas posted online with each stop in addition to published concert reviews and numerous “unofficial” fan videos posted on YouTube. Just the same, the surreal experience of personally seeing Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. perform on Philippine soil was nothing short of exhilarating.

And it probably goes without saying—but I’ll say it anyway—that they did not disappoint. In an epic, three-part performance that most of the band’s fans will concede as, yes, a concert for the ages, U2 performed most of their greatest hits along with some of their most well-received album tracks.

As fans start to make their way inside the arena and marvel at the 200 x 45 feet Joshua Tree-themed “widescreen” stage, they were greeted with some non-U2 music, the most familiar of which is INXS’ “Never Tear Us Apart.” The Australian band’s ill-fated singer Michael Hutchence was a good friend of Bono and U2’s 2001 single, “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” (not performed in this concert) was in fact dedicated to the latter.

Then it was showtime. The first act kicked off with the U2-ish stylings of The Waterboys’ 1985 new wave standard, “The Whole of the Moon.” While this song is applying, a poem that would later be revealed in social media as “The Opposite by Nostalgia” by writer, poet and former Jingle music critic Eric Gamalinda started to roll.

This then set the stage for a five-song set from U2’s pre-Joshua Tree days. Right from the get-go, the modern day Fab Four performed as a still ready for primetime Bono anchored a cohesive unit powered by Mullen’s steady backbeats, the busy but methodical bass lines of Adam Clayton and the mostly intricate plucking of The Edge.

War, the band’s breakout third album from 1983 was represented by the iconic one-two punch of the thunderous “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and the haunting “New Year’s Day” that have become staples of their live shows over the years. “Gloria” from the band’s 1981 October album was a surprise replacement for the song considered as their first minor hit, “I Will Follow” from their debut album, Boy.

U2’s fourth album, The Unforgettable Fire was represented by “Pride (In The Name of Love),” their first US Top 40 hit and the well-loved “Bad,” one of the band’s two songs about heroin addiction that was never released as a single.

Since most, if not all of these tunes are familiar to Filipino fans, most of the energy level was at their euphoric level at this point. Some would even go as far as admitting on social media how the performance of most of these opening songs especially “Pride” and “Bad” affected them on an emotional level and in some cases, even brought them to tears.

And then came the concert’s Main Event as The Joshua Tree, the landmark album that proved to be a pivotal point in the band’s career, was performed in its entirety.

From the smaller stage designed in the shape of the Joshua Tree’s shadow, the band moved to centerstage as they performed their 1987 Grammy-winning recording according to its track listing.

Enhanced by a backdrop of picturesque images filmed from Death Valley and other locations by longtime collaborator Anton Corbjin and presented in what is touted as the largest LED screen ever used in a touring show, classics like “Where The Streets Have No Name,” “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” never sounded more compelling as the mesmerized crowd continued to transform the arena into one giant karaoke bar.

This was also a good time for Bono to rest his vocal cords because while his voice was still in topnotch form, he visibly struggled in reaching some of the high notes and resorted to pointing the mic to the audience who gleefully took over from him and filled in the blanks on certain verses and choruses.

Other highlights in The Joshua Tree segment included a spotlight-brandishing Bono punctuating the riveting “Bullet The Bullet Sky,” the luminous Joshua trees that lit up “In God’s Country,” and a particularly poignant rendition of the band’s other heroin addiction song, “Running To Stand Still.”

After ending the 11-song set on a somber note with images of candle-bearing women in a poignant reading of “Mothers of the Disappeared,” the band got the crowd on its feet again with a mostly rocking eight-song encore segment that began with Mullen pounding the drums for the familiar backbeat of “Desire” (from Rattle and Hum).

This was followed by more fan favorites like “Elevation” (from All That You Can’t Leave Behind), “Vertigo” (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb), “Even Better Than The Real Thing” (Achtung Baby) and “Beautiful Day” (All That You Can’t Leave Behind).

And then came “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)” (also from Achtung Baby). A lot has been said about this particular part of the concert that paid tribute to women (including several Filipinas) that Bono says have rewritten or are still rewriting “history as Her story.”

Filipino women featured in that segment included Melchora Aquino, the late president Corazon Aquino, Lea Salonga, Grrrl Gang Manila, Lidy Nacpil and Marinel Ubaldo. The controversial inclusion, however, of both Senator Pia Cayetano, a known supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte and journalist Maria Ressa, a staunch critic of the administration, would spark a still ongoing debate on social media.

But Bono has never been shy about articulating his stand on certain issues. In his spiels throughout the concert and even before that in an earlier press conference, he paid tribute to the tireless Red Cross volunteers in the audience even as he also hailed journalists, activists and “truth-tellers” and advocated for their protection while insisting that “human rights cannot be compromised.”

While most of his pronouncements are universal in nature and does not just apply to the Philippine setting alone, some did not sit well with netizens who—whether or not they saw the concert and depending on which side of the political fence they stand—took him to task on social media.

For the most part, however, U2’s politics did not necessarily detract from enjoying their performance and most fans, in fact, had absolutely no problem with Bono’s views whether they actually agree with him or not. It certainly helped that for all of Bono’s supposed personal thoughts about the country’s situation, the band still ended the concert on a unifying tone with the anthemic ballad, “One” that also saw the “virtual unfurling” of the Philippine flag for added emphasis.

In any case, U2 is certainly much bigger than the sum of their parts and last Wednesday, they proved that inside the biggest stage and the largest venue the country can host their spectacular, unforgettable show. 

Hopefully, it won’t take another four decades for us to see them again here. 

Source: Businessmirror.com.ph

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