U2 360 was a strange child that shouldn’t have lived past infancy. A tour named after a stage concept? A press release that spun yarns about intimacy – it didn’t hurt that this set up allowed for more seats to be sold – and impressed with production statistics? (500,000 pixels! 120 trucks! A 150 feet pylon! From Belgium!) Its centre piece a creepy 4-legged hulk dubbed ‘The Claw’ with orange pimples and pastel green trousers? You are having me on, right? But when the lights went down and the sound swelled, it worked.

You see, live concerts are as much about pyrotechnics as sex is about hydraulics. That is to say, not much. What really matters is the connection we make between our individual experience, and a lyric and a melody. That’s where the intimacy occurs. In short: it’s about songs. The songs are bigger than the performer – that’s why tribute bands pull crowds. And U2 had a beautiful, relevant, new album full of gorgeous tunes to work with. So if I turned up at the spectacle with little love for its construction work, I came away impressed with the quality of the music and the joy emanating from the stage. Here were four guys who looked like they meant it. That’s what fans talked about after the shows: “Larry smiled! When did Adam become so… groovy? The Edge was, um… on fire. Shut up, Bono!”

A live tape enthusiast since the early days, I have always preferred listening to full concerts – raw, unedited audience recordings – rather than the polished official product. Forced to select 22 tracks from different shows, trying to create a coherent document of the tour I find sequencing a bitch. Do I roughly follow the flow of U2’s own setlist or do I create my very own ‘perfect’ show? It’s a bit of both. My U22 collection suffers from the fact that I have a yin for rarities and the fact that there are songs on the longlist, mainstays in U2’s shows, that I’ve either never cared for or never want to hear again in my life. (I’m looking at you, Pride.) This leaves me with an abundance of mellow tunes and little leeway to shape light and dark in the set. I had to drop in one or two tracks that weren’t my first choice. Compromise, that’s nothing new to you…

So here’s my personal U2 360 live brought back to 22 songs, hand picked to create, hopefully, a credible souvenir of the tour. Claw not included.

1. Stingray
2. Breathe
3. No Line on the Horizon
4. The Fly
5. I Will Follow
6. I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight (Remix)
7. New Year’s Day
8. Electrical Storm
9. Your Blue Room
10. Stay
11. Spanish Eyes
12. Miss Sarajevo
13. Unknown Caller
14. Zooropa
15. The Unforgettable Fire
16. City of Blinding Lights
17. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
18. Scarlet
19. Mothers of the Disappeared
20. Bad
21. 40
22. Moment of Surrender

George Michael pays tribute to Amy Winehouse, live in Prague last night.

U2 plays ‘Bad’ in Pittsburgh. Filmed from the point of view of the man they dedicate it to on the night, and wrote it for all those years ago. I’d somehow rather wish they’d kept the mystery alive, but it’s sweet watching him enjoy the song so much.

Know from experience, U2 play some of their best shows in dire circumstances. There’s nothing like seeing the steam rising from the audience.

Brian Eno – glitch (taken from Drums Between The Bells) by Warp Records

‘Just say the words, and say them slowly…’

Going to see this guy at the Paradiso next Wednesday.

Damn good show too. Not a single original note perhaps, but comforting in its familiarity.

Highlight of the film for me was Daft Punk’s score. Don’t often get that ‘must have’ feel with score.

Also, first 3d film I’ve seen where the 3d made sense.

And he STRIKES….

Christ, that voice. Bond. Jones. Perfect.

Relevant to this bit of news: Shy bittern flies back to Irish shores after 150-year break. See wikipedia for an explanation of the poem below.

A bhonnán bhuí
by Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna

A bhonnán bhuí, is é mo léan do luí,
Is do chnámha sínte tar éis do ghrinn,
Is chan easba bidh ach díobháil dí
a d’fhág i do luí thú ar chúl do chinn.
Is measa liom féin ná scrios na Traoi
Tú bheith i do luí ar leaca lom’,
Is nach ndearna tú díth ná dolaidh sa tír,
Is nárbh fhearra leat fíon ná uisce poll.

A bhonnáin álainn, is é mo mhíle crá thú,
Do chúl ar lár amuigh romham sa tslí,
Is gurbh iomaí lá a chluininn do ghrág
Ar an láib is tú ag ól na dí.
Is é an ní a deir cách le do dheartháir Cáthal,
Go bhfaighidh sé bás mar siúd, más fíor,
Ach ní hamhlaidh atá, siúd an préachán breá
Chuaigh in éag ar ball le díth na dí.

A bhonnáin óig, is é mo mhíle brón
Thú bheith sínte fuar i measc na dtom,
Is na luchaí móra ag triall chun do thórraimh,
Ag déanamh spóirt agus pléisiúir ann;
Is dá gcuirfeá scéala in am faoi mo dhéinse
Go raibh tú i ngéibhinn, nó i mbroid fá dheoch,
Do bhrisfinn béim duit ar an loch úd Bhéasaigh
A fhliuchfadh do bhéal is do chorp isteach.

Ní hiad bhur n-éanlaith atá mé ag éagnach,
An lon, an smaolach, nó an chorr ghlas,
Ach mo bhonnán buí, bhí lán de chroí,
Is gur chosúil liom féin é ina ghné is ina dhath.
Bhíodh sé go síoraí ag ól na dí,
Is deir na daoine go mbímse mar sin seal;
Níl aon deor dá bhfaighinn nach ligfinn síos,
Ar eagla go bhfaighinnse bás den tart.

Is é a d’iarr mo stór orm ligint den ól,
Nó nach mbeinnse beo ach seal beag gearr;
Ach dúirt mé léithi go dtug sí an bhréag,
Is gurbh fhaide mo shaolsa an deoch úd a fháil.
Nach bhfaiceann sibh éan an phíobáin réidh
A chuaigh in éag den tart ar ball;
Is a chomharsain chléibh, fliuchaíg bhur mbéal
Óir chan fhaigheann sibh braon i ndiaidh bhur mbáis.