Justin Timberlake foi o único remanescente do extinto N’Sync (é assim que se escreve?) que conseguiu manter o sucesso.  E melhor: ele fez mais sucesso ainda. Talvez uma das melhores músicas da carreira solo do cantor é a ótima balada Sexy Back. Uma música com batidas não muito escandalosas, porém viciantes. No Sunday Bloody Sunday de hoje, Sexy Back, de Justin Timberlake:

P.S: Infelizmente, o YouTube não permite a incorporação do clipe da música, devido aos direitos autorais da produtora.

Jay-Z e U2, cantando Sunday Bloody Sunday, acho insuperável.

ps: a qualidade é intermediária, porque a the best está impedida de ser incorporada =/

Mais uma seção surge hoje aqui no blog, em virtude do tédio provocado por um fim de semana ocioso. Todo domingo agora, para começar bem a semana, uma música boa para se ouvir, de todos os estilos. E para estrear com elegância, a incomparável voz de Johnny Cash em ‘Hurt’.

A música, lançada em 2002, foi a última a ser gravada pelo cantor, que faleceu um ano depois, em 2003. A tristeza é um sentimento presente em boa parte dela, pois para quem olhar sua tradução verá que ela se trata de um certo arrependimento do cantor por acontecimentos indesejados em sua vida – depressão e envolvimento com drogas. É triste, porém vale a pena conferir somente pela magnífica voz de Johnny Cash.

U2 and Jay-z perform Sunday Bloody Sunday across the lake, pond, ocean, whatever.

O evento aconteceu ontem em Berlin em comemoração do aniversário de 20 anos da queda do Muro de Berlin. E iniciou-se antes do previsto com  o show da banda U2. Em um palco especialmente montado em frente ao Portão de Brandesburgo, tocaram 6 músicas: “One”, “Magnificent”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, com a participação do Jay-Z, “Beautiful Day”, “Vertigo” e “Moment Of Surrender”.

Pelo 2º ano consecutivo a cantora Katy Perry deu um show de apresentação no EMA (European Music Awards) 2009.Veja o vídeo de abertura do evento:

Vários shows rolaram no evento, tais como: Green Day, Beyoncé, U2, Jay-Z, Tokio Hotel, Foo Fighters, Shakira, e Leona Lewis.

Jonas Brothers e Backstreet Boys foram alguns convidados especiais a entregarem os prêmios.

Houve ainda uma emocionante homenagem ao Rei do Pop, onde vários fãs cantaram trechos de suas músicas nas ruas.

Infelizmente Lady GaGa, Britney Spears e Madonna não compareceram ao evento. Sem falar do Eminem que ganhou do Mika (ainda não acredito).

Mas graças aos Deuses, Beyoncé estava presente e foi o grande destaque na noite, ela e Katy Perry não deixaram cair a “peteca” e salvaram o evento da monotonia.

Bey arrazou com sua performance de “Sweet Dreams” (mesmo com um problema técnico com uma máscara, rs) e levou para casa três prêmios. Veja abaixo a super sexy apresentação de “Sweet Dreams”:

Outra que também não fez feio, principalmente na finalização do show, foi Shakira com a performance de “Did It Again”.

Finalizando, em suma foi um ótimo espetáculo, Katy Perry sexy e engraçada, até interrompeu o Kanye West, Beyoncé e Shakira sexies, Joe Jonas lindíssimo com o cabelo novo e o U2.

Vamos aos premiados da noite:

Melhor Artista Alternativo: Placebo
Melhor Performance World Stage: Linkin Park
Melhor Grupo: Green Day
Melhor Artista Push: Pixie Lott
Melhor Canção: Beyoncé – “Halo”
Artista Revelação: Lady GaGa
Melhor Cantor: Eminem
Melhor Artista Urbano: Jay-Z
Melhor Apresentação Ao Vivo: U2
Melhor Artista Europeu: maNga
Melhor Grupo: Tokio Hotel
Melhor Cantora: Beyoncé
Melhor Clipe: Beyoncé – “Single Ladies”

Ah, e vejam abaixo um vídeo contendo mais shows:

Leonardo Portela

Black Eyed Peas started out with their new single “Meet Me Half Way”, and although it was hard to tell with the abysmal audio quality of their setup, I can say it was far from good. Being their last night touring, the entire band was full of energy, Fergie belted out her single “Big Girls don’t Cry”. After pumping up the crowd with “Pump It” and then mashing up “Tonights Gonna Be A Good Night “with the intro to U2’s “Where The Streets Have No Name”, they finally walked off the stage leaving a pleased crowed behind.

After what seemed like an eternity Larry Mullen Jr walked on stage and started drumming. Closely followed was the rest of the band coming to start off with “Get On Your Boots”. After Bono complained about the “confusing” skytrain system, “No Line On The Horizon” was sung and the first example of the awesome graphics on their 360 screen was shown off with images of space while the band performed “Breath“.

Bono thanked the crew for making the best out of the awful acoustics of BC place. I had expected much less. Bono proceeded to lift a young girl onto the stage and after allowing her to wear his signature sunglasses he serenaded her with “The City Of Blinding Lights.” After Edge rocked out hard with “Sunday Bloody Sunday“, Bono swiftly commented that “Edge would still be back at home in Dublin watching Discovery Channel if Larry hadn’t convinced him to join”.

The crowd was then thanked for allowing “the madness to occur” and after a short break Bono was back with a rendition of “Amazing Grace”, which faded very nicely into ” Where the Streets Have no Names”. Five minutes of cheering resulted in Bono walking back on stage in a suit covered in lasers. After failing to hit the high notes while singing “With Or Without You“ and relying on the crowd to help, the night was over. No complaints… except the 70k people trying to take the skytrain home.

-Review and photo by Garrett Beier (Nautical Sciences)

NOTE: This was written on October 10th, but WordPress had a major server malfunction which made it not get posted until now.  This is why the ATL posts appear out of order.

Tuesday (October 6, 2009) I saw U2 at the Georgia Dome.  Here are my thoughts.

Atlanta epic fails at life.  I bought a decent ticket an hour before the published show time (7pm).  It should have sold out weeks ago.  At 8pm (an hour after published show time, during Muse’s opening act) only a third of the stadium was full.

U2 is incredible.  They play supremely amazing, famous yet brilliant music all night, and that’s a really robust show because they have so many well-known songs.

U2 crosses generational boundaries.  There were as many people at the show in “my generation” (whatever you want to call us) as there were from Bono’s generation (Bono is 49).  And everyone was there to experience the same thing, to share that experience with the same people–to share it across generatiocultural boundaries.

U2 carries stage presence.  Bono and The Edge perform with more energy than most 20 and 30 year olds I have seen.  They’re pushing 50 and they’ve been doing this for over 30 years, but they have by far the best stage presence of anyone current and living.

U2’s entire production is brilliant.  The whole stage construct was a monstrosity of brilliance.  A cylindrical video board so that everyone in the stadium could see video board directly above the band.  Video effects of Grammy-award quality are run LIVE, no lie, no exaggeration.

Combining the previous two points, the stage incorporated part of the crowd.  Some lucky fans were INSIDE the stage.  There was a center stage (circular) and an outer ring, with bridges (over the “moat” of crowd) to the outer ring.  Wireless instrument hookups and microphones allowed the band to run around the stage freely.

U2 brings so much to the table that the band itself sometimes gets overtaken by the moment.  During “Walk On”, volunteers from Amnesty International and the ONE campaign filled the outer ring.  My friend got a picture of the crowd with their backs turned to a mid-performance U2, checking out the Amnesty International folks.  Some of the biggest moments of the show were particularly scripted to bring attention to social issues.  Sunday, Bloody Sunday: Iranian non-violent protesters;  Martin Luther King Jr has his own song; Walk On: Aung San Suu Kyi; One: AIDS and malaria in Africa, introduced by Archbishop Desmond Tutu

There is a decidedly Christian spiritual element to the show.  Along with moments in individual songs, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”, etc, the entire set is derived with the spiritual element playing into it.

The “first encore” went something like this: One, 1 of the top 3 or 5 all time U2 songs, then Bono bridged from “One” to “Where the Streets Have No Name” with the first verse of “Amazing Grace”.  The band played “Where the Streets Have No Name” and the lights went off  and they left the stage.  You can’t read those three songs and tell me this is not absolutely intentional and wonderfully symmetric.  And if reading it brings out all this, imagine experiencing it during the show.  It is as if Christ is moving and being glorified in the moment.  Like I said earlier, U2 have a special talent for somehow getting the attention off of themselves and lending it to higher purposes.  I believe God uses their music.  I felt like U2 was intentional about this.

Twofer

After an over extended wait, I present to you my surprise blog post!  Yey!  What could it be??? Here’s a clue…

“This is not a rebel song…

This is…

…Sunday Bloody Sunday!” Waaaaaaaaaah!!!

Yes, Lala! I can knock this off my personal Bucket List.  Several weeks ago I trekked to the Giants Stadium to watch the U2 360 Tour.  U2 in the flesh!!  AWESOME is all I can say.  My seat was pretty far up but the stage was set up in a way that folks like me in the nose bleed section need not strain our necks to get a glimpse of Bono and the rest.  Check out their stage.

The stage is supposed to replicate a spaceship.  Those tentacle looking appendages are actually light weight made of tarpaulin.

Everything else you see on top is either a part of their super sonic, hi-tech sound system or part of an expandable video screen.

The front act featured this up and coming band called MUSE. They have a distinct punk rock sound which reminds me of the band Keane.

After the front act, the crowd (me included) just went wild anticipating the entrance of this generation’s Fab Four.

Check out the packed stadium.

And then it was show time!

I love you, Larry!

The Edge

Mr. Clayton on Bass

They sang some of their new songs and a lot of their old ones.  I was particularly moved by songs dedicated to global causes that they are passionate about.

SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY was dedicated to the protesters in Iran, especially those who were hurt and killed in the process.  Check out the lighting.  The video screen showed images of the Iranian protesters. Very moving.

ONE was performed  to celebrate the progress in the fight against poverty, hunger and sickness in Africa.  A video featuring Desmond Tutu talking about Africa as part of this ONE world we all live in.

Sorry for the unflattering shots, Mr. Tutu

WALK ON was dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi who remains under house arrest in Burma.

The hair raising moment for me happened when volunteers from Amnesty International marched onto the stage wearing Suu Kyi masks.  What a statement!

I’ve embedded this You Tube video to give you an idea of how powerful this moment was in the concert.

I had to take videos if only to capture the amazing energy from this concert.  This is one of my favorite U2 songs. Check out that lucky little boy who gets to run around the stage holding Bono’s hand and wearing his sunglasses.  Also, notice the video screen expanded.

So outside the city of blinding lights, I was fortunate enough to watch this awesome band perform.  It lasted less than 3 hours, but the passion they drew out of their fans will last a lifetime…like an Unforgettable Fire!  Get it? Get it?

Take a bow, boys!

U2 should be my favorite band. But unlike Springsteen, Wilco, Dylan or even Radiohead, I’ve never been able to fully embrace them. When I took in their recent live show outside Washington, DC (in a circle of Hell known as FedEx field-More on that in a later post) I wondered if that finally might change.

I used to tell myself that I first noticed U2 when they performed at the first Live Aid. But I know now it had to have been sooner. In the year previous, the band had its first US hit with “Pride (In the Name of Love).” and Bono had appeared on the Band Aid song to benefit Ethiopian famine,  “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”.

From the start U2 has made little secret of their ambition. Early on, the band was known as The Hype. Their two lead members, quite pretentiously, are known by their single, self-appointed names. The collection of four very earnest Dubliners really seemed to think that rock and roll could change the world and thought they were just the group to do it. And in pursuit of this goal they would, undoubtedly,  become the world’s biggest rock band. What’s never really been clear is whether they preferred to save the world or rock it into perfect harmony. Thirty years after the band’s formation that’s still an open question.

In their infancy, U2 concerned itself with more parochial matters such as their Irish upbringing. Undoubtedly, this was one of the things that drew me to the band as I’m half-Irish, which really means that I care about all things Eire but not enough that I can call it the home country. I’ve only been there for a total of two days, one of which was spent in an old pub in Dublin whose name I’ve long since forgotten. I drank pint after pint and asked the locals about ancient traditions and James Joyce. I don’t remember what they said. 

These days most Americans have a fairly Romantic view of Ireland, fostered in no small part by notable authors and travel agents. But, when U2 took the stage that July day in 1985, before 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium (and millions more on TV-back when MTV was in the music business) for many  people, Ireland was looked at as a country perpetually torn apart by war, poverty and religious strife. U2 seemed like messengers from a Third World country. Bono’s songs chronicled personal and political tumult, and his booming voice was backed by soaring, percussive guitar chords and pounding drumbeats that suggested an imminent escape and a verdant optimism that something better was just around the corner.

In other words there was nothing small about U2. They were never too interested in telling stories, writing rueful love songs  or chirping about the good old days. Instead, they wrote universal songs that were both beautiful and inspiring with alarming ease. Their songs were inherently political while—and this is U2’s true gift—still being anthemic and stadium-ready.  In retrospect, their performance from Live Aid has an air of inevitability. They were ideally suited for the venue, the occasion and the cause. I suspect a lot of other people besides me also became U2 fans that day.

They had been together for eight years by the time of Live Aid, but having been properly introduced to the world they set their sights on the United States, which is a requisite for any band considering world domination. From early in their career America was a source of wonder. They wrote songs about Elvis and not one but two songs about Martin Luther King that were inspirational if not necessarily factual.  Their best album of the 80s, was named after a rather unremarkable tree native to the desert Southwest. It was hard to tell whether the obsession with all things American was genuine. They toured extensively in support of “The Joshua Tree” and released a live album and a documentary, both called “Rattle and Hum“, that was meant to pay tribute to musical ancestors like B.B. King and Billie Holiday. Rising out of the British post-punk movement, their connection to such artists, American artists, was tenuous at best. The fact that they were roundly criticized as being disingenuous or opportunistic by critics did nothing to deter their popularity.

They returned with “Achtung Baby!” an album filled with songs of existential sadness and loss. At the end of the subsequent tour in 1993 it could be fairly argued that U2 was, in fact, the best rock and roll band on the planet. At a minimum, they were a major force in popular music.

But, the band faltered in the rest of the 90s, struggling to find a message while singing about the trappings of fame, the media landscape and coping with pre-millennial madness. Their experiments with electronica, glam rock and club music were failures. They rarely include songs from this era in their live shows, which is a pretty solid indicator of the band’s own feelings about the “Pop” and “Zooropa” albums. But they still sold millions of records and performed sold-out shows. Perhaps, they felt, with peace in Ireland and prosperity in much of the industrialized world they had nothing worthy of their angst. Then again, other bands rocked better, or had a cooler message, or both. 

Chastened, (well, chastened as much as a band whose lead singer regularly wears tinted sunglasses can be) U2 released “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” in 2000. The fact that the band had endured critical, if not commercial, failure had humbled them and Bono admitted as much in interviews.  The record combined the rollicking anthems of their earlier work with solemn, reflective ballads.  I would argue that it is the band’s most complete album from start to finish. Its best songs might not hold up to earlier classics but it is a cohesive, cogent piece of work.  Whatever confidence that the band lost had been regained in spades. When U2 released “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” to wide praise in 2004 Bono and the boys were further emboldened. Indeed, Bono became even more voluble for causes near to his and the band’s heart. His platform was no longer limited to stadiums or concert venues. He wrote editorials in newspapers, met with high-ranking officials, spoke at the UN. All unchartered ground for a rock star.

Their newest album, “No Line on the Horizon” has garnered mostly positive reviews and yielded a pair of catchy singles, but it has neither the sustained quality of the last two albums nor the urgency of their finer songs. Receiving far more attention than their music was their massive tour. 

———————————————————————————————————–

The last time I saw U2 in concert was on the remarkable Elevation Tour which followed “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.” It’s one of the five best concerts I’ve ever attended.  Upon hearing a song with deep personal resonance I wept unashamedly.  It was only about six weeks after the terrorist attacks and emotions were particularly high and, to their credit, the band understood this. I was comforted by my companion but also by complete strangers who were undoubtedly still grieving about more recent loss. We sang and bounced along, drank Guinness, waved the Irish flag, and tried to smile a little. Somehow, Bono connected with over 20,000 people on a personal level. Just watch.

I could tell the moment I walked into FedEx Field that that feeling would not be replicated. I saw very few Irish flags. Although there were 90,000 or so on hand, it felt more like 20,000 groups of four or five. There was no sense of community. I thought everything, including the band, would be overshadowed by the Orwellian claw that was the stage and video screens. There would be no personal connection with the audience.

And it is precisely this type of overkill that has kept me from fully committing to U2. As a person deeply concerned with preserving and conserving the natural environment attending the concert of a band that will lug 200 trucks worth of equipment around for the next two years presents more than a little bit of a conflict. Then there’s the fact that while Bono is talking about eradicating poverty and debt forgiveness he’s leading a tour that is more than a little ostentatious.  Furthermore, tickets were not cheap; some were as high as $250. Adding to the hypocrisy dilemma, is that this is standard operating procedure for the band. This level of extravagance is only marginally bigger than the last tour. What’s next, a performance in a rocket above the earth’s atmosphere that’s beamed to neighboring galaxies?

As enamored as U2 appears to be with the excesses of fame and fortune there are no tales of philandering, drunken rages, destroyed hotel rooms or drug abuse. Quite the opposite actually. Bono has been married for over 25 years. Larry Mullen, Jr. is similarly committed. The Edge is deeply religious and once thought of forming a Christian band.

So, U2 came out and for about two hours played several songs from the new album and many of their most popular hits. They should not be criticized for this because this is what established bands do; to play all of their favorites would require a concert of marathon proportions.

As always, politics was on the tip of Bono’s tongue. He made sure to acknowledge the presence (in a luxury box, no doubt) of the Speaker of the House, a Senator, a Bishop and a former Chief of Staff.  In contrast, on the Elevation Tour he made a point of calling out Dee Dee Ramone, whose bandmate Joey had recently passed away. On the video screens that created a huge silver beehive of multi-media, the crowd was implored by the Bishop Desmond Tutu and urged to support the emerging democratic movement in Iran. In the least subtle (and most obviously staged) sequence of the evening, Bono pulled a Sikh, who just happened to be sitting in the front row, and just happened to be waving a US flag, onto the stage to join him in song. Even if it was spontaneous and the man was the biggest U2 fan in the building, it seemed a bit much. It’s these sorts of demonstrations that make me and other people cringe.

The knee-jerk reaction is to tell Bono and his mates to just shut up and play. Indeed, there are times when watching U2 feels like you’re attending one of those 1/2 credit continuing education courses mandated by your employer. But, it’s not as though U2 are staking out particularly controversial positions. Who is against democracy? Or against Desmond Tutu? Really, who is against the poor? Ok, besides crazy right-wingers who are opposed to universal health care. Nobody. And Bono did, in fact, bring attention to a rather obscure issue like debt forgiveness for African nations. This is not a front page issue. Perhaps I should be grateful that Bono is so engaged with the world when so many other musicians are not. Try to imagine say, John Mayer, talking about say, the importance of providing healthy school lunches. Yeah. That ain’t happening.

Maybe Bono would be better served if he actually went to Tehran and marched in the streets. Or maybe if he had stood with the protestors in Bali to demand action on climate change. But he hasn’t. Maybe we should be thankful. He could turn into Ted Nugent.

It’s entirely possible that the Starbucks-drinking, Barnes and Noble book-clubbing, overwhelmingly white, upper middle class people that were in attendance in Washington cared only about seeing a good show. They, even in a recession, would gladly right out a check or two for their favorite progressive causes anyway, so why not allow Bono to give them a nudge? That’s all the vast majority of people can do because, really, there’s only so much time in a day. They have jobs and families.  And, yes, I too have fallen prey to this thinking on several occasions. It is a lot easier to just write the check than doing the day by day dirty work that is necessary to affect some sort of change. But I still feel guilty about it.

And yet, you know what? U2 delivered an energetic, often magical show. Just as they always do. The huge stage and giant video screens were awesome and trying to ignore them was a pointless exercise. They actually enhanced the experience rather than obscuring it as I initially feared. The songs were soul-stirring;  you don’t need to be Irish to get a chill hearing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” live. It strikes at something very basic to the human existence. And yet. And yet the experience left me feeling remote.

When they first arrived on the scene, nobody sounded like U2, now a lot of bands do. Because of their powerful music U2 is able to pull off stuff that no other band would even attempt. They know how to use the media and shape their image for a 24-hour news cycle. The quintessential 21st Century band, U2 gives us exactly what we want and deserve. Even their name is perfect for our shorthand, text-messaging culture. 

There’s something preposterous about thousands of people showing up at a particular place at a particular time to listen to a band play music and maybe, sing along. Most bands deal with this absurdity by being loud, ironic or eccentric. U2 approaches it with complete honesty. They want to be the greatest band in the world so they can spread their message of peace and love. Or is it the other way around? That’s the thing with U2, it’s never just about the music.

Katy and I saw U2 on Saturday night at Chicago’s soldier field.  It was the perfect North American setting for this concert.  Soldier Field is surrounded by Lake Michigan, Chicago’s finest museums and the awesome Chicago skyline.  It is also located only few short miles away from where President Obama lives and launched his community organizing and political careers.   The stadium itself is a futuristic mashup of the old and space-age; a perfect place for U2’s stage/multi-media spaceship w

Bono and friends tried to deliver a transcendent artisitic/political/spiritual experience and the show got some fantastic reviews.  Here is Rolling Stone’s take and the Chicago Tribune blog had some very nice things to say.

Along with a nice mix of old and new songs, we saw images from this summer’s protests in Iran, were encouraged to be in solidarity with Burmeese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi and had a video message from Desmond Tutu.  I normally like this kind of stuff.  Bullet the Blue Sky, Sunday Bloody Sunday, and Pride (In the Name of Love) are my all time favorite songs.  On this night though,  it just felt a bit forced.

From where I was sitting, concert goers were 95% white and old.  It doesn’t look like u2 has much of a following in the under 30 crowd.  There seemed to be more African Americans working at the stadium than attending the concert.  It just gave me a bit of a creepy feeling when a bunch of white folks (myself included) are preaching justice, civil rights, and honoring the anti-apartheid movement when the class and race divisions in the stadium seemed so apparent.

That’s not U2’s fault.  Heck, I wish more musicians, artists, corporations, individuals, took matters into their own hands the way U2 does when it comes to justice and the future of the planet and the human race..

On this beautiful night in Chicago, a day after 9-11, I was just reminded about how far we still have to go.

Hej,

Jag kom just på vad jag vill arbeta med: oroligheterna på Irland! Vad slutresultatet ska bli vet jag inte än, det kräver lite mer funderingar, men det här ämnet känns osm om det klickar! Yes!

Anledningen till den här glödlampan är låten “Sunday bloody Sunday” av rockgruppen U2, som enligt Wikipedia handlar om ett skottdrama 1972 i Derry, Nordirland, men också är en protest mot allt våld som härjat Nordirland i hundratals år. Jag ska prata med Carro imorgon.

Tänkte bara att jag skulle uppdatera på en gång, god natt

Camilla