Talk about jealousy – our friend Nathan was among those fortunate enough to score tickets to U2’s much-anticipated gig in NYC last night, and he sent us the following report. [To read Aaron Zimmerman’s excellent 4-part series on the spiritual history of the band, click here, here, here and here.]
“We’ve got a spaceship,” Bono said in reference to the massive staging above his head in the center of the stadium, “but we’re not going anywhere without you.”
He didn’t just invite the audience on his otherworldly journey, he also invited Someone Else: at the end of the first song, “Breathe”, he closed his eyes and knelt slightly. With one hand holding the microphone and the other palm-toward-heaven, he pleaded, “Spirit breathe.”
And like the cool September breeze that gently graced the stadium throughout the show, the Spirit did indeed descend, to transport us to another place.
Several songs into the set, the band performed “Magnificent”:
I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noiseOnly love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar
Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent‚ Magnificent
My friend Phil was standing next to me. While Bono worshiped using the above lyrics, Phil turned to me and said, “How can people not know what he’s singing about?!” I agreed completely.
The next song was Elevation. It’s a song that fits the “spaceship” theme: “You make me feel like I could fly, so high, El – eh – vay – shun!” And to make the point even more obvious, Bono looked at the crowd and said, “It’s my prayer for you.” And at this point in the church service–I mean, concert–I started to think about a question that the band sings in a lyric on the new album:
Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot
How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?
Perhaps I’m wrong, and there was no single person in the crowd of 84,000 who didn’t “see it” like I was seeing it. Perhaps everyone in the place understood that the spaceship was a cathedral, that the lead singer was a priest, and that the setlist was a liturgy, designed specifically to facilitate an encounter with the God of the Universe.
It couldn’t have been more clear than at the end of “One”, when Bono sang:
Can You hear us coming Lord?
Can You hear us call?
Feel us knocking
We’re knocking at Your door!
When this portion ended, he led us in an a cappella–84,000 strong–version of the hymn “Amazing Grace”, which blended into “Where the Streets Have No Name”. “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see… I want to run, I want to hide. I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside. I want to reach out and touch the flame, where the streets have no name.”
At this point in the evening, Bono was no longer explaining his intention to have us meet God, or to take us away in his spaceship. No, at this point, we were already gone.
We held our arms aloft, reaching out to the touch that flame. And for a second I still wondered if someone could be in that place, standing next to the Truth but not seeing it. But when the next song started I decided to let Bono’s question be asked of me, instead of those around me. Was I the idiot going out with Beauty? Was I the one standing next to the Truth but not seeing it?
My answer came in the next song, “Ultraviolet”, one of my all-time favorites. I interpret the song to be in reference to Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” God as an ultraviolet light: we can’t see it but it illuminates nonetheless. For this song, Bono dressed in a suit of lights. A rope hung from heaven (where the spaceship was now flying) above him, and it too was lit up like John chapter 1. As he hung from the microphone/rope like a drowning man clinging to a lifeline, he sang,
Sometimes I feel like I don’t know
Sometimes I feel like checking out.
I wanna get it wrong
Can’t always be strong
But Love, it won’t be long.
I used to think the chorus “baby, baby, baby‚ light my way” was a plea to some carnal lover. But now I realize that the “baby” is the Christ child, and his enduring love is my only lifeline. “I’m in the black, can’t see or be seen. Baby baby baby, light my way.” How many times in my life have I gone on thinking I am strong enough? I am capable enough? How many times have I not reached out for that rope of illumination and clung to it, as if my life depended on it? So many times, the Truth is right there, and I don’t see it.
The concert ended in surrender. (Where else could it end?) The liturgy was sung:
I’ve been in every black hole
At the altar of the dark star
My body’s now a begging bowl
That’s begging to get back, begging to get back
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control
And this is when I stopped noticing the people around me (judging their ability to “see it” or not) and simply focused on my own encounter with Jesus, my own surrendering to him.
At the moment of surrender
Of vision over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me
COMMENTS
18 responses to “How Can You Stand Next To The Truth And Not See It? – U2 at Giants Stadium”
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Wow, Nathan. Thanks for this peek into the concert last night. Wish I could have been there to experience it with you. Thanks for putting it online for other people to discover.
Wow. Thanks for this. You put into words the way I felt at the second Boston show. Thank you.
Megan
Simply. Wow! So stoked to see them in the ATL!
Awesome Nathan! I was slightly jealous before but now I am completely jealous:)
Last U2 concert (besides the best-of-all-time-I-teared-up post-9/11 Super Bowl halftime show) I went to was Zoo TV.
It's been way too long.
sigh…
Nathan, I was one of the 84,000 there who GOT IT!… his impromptu amazing grace verse was beyond words!
They sand "One" and then Bono said this incredible line: "for those of you who aren't there yet"… and then he sand "Amazing Grace."
I appreciate your post on U2 I've been a long time fan of them, for years, I used to point out the Christian undertones and overtones in their music before they became more excepted in parts of our "Chrisian Culture" but my fundy freinds thought and many still think their "demonic." I dont know how I came onto your site I know it was through some twitter link.
Mike
Great Nathan, thanks. It is like I was there with you…I was fortunate enough to catch the Joshua Tree tour as well as Zoo TV (not as good as JT, obviously), but I don't remember Bono being as bold as you described him in either of those tours…JT was when he was really starting to get into Amnesty International, and Zoo TV was just…errrr.
(Thanks for the comments, everyone).
Sean – you'd be even more jealous if you knew where we were: in the "inner circle", right in front of the mic! Best seat in the house.
Todd – I missed that comment, but it's so apropos to what I observed overall! Thanks!
staff2rock – to convince your "fundie friends", play a song called Falling At Your Feet from the Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack. Or any U2 song, actually…
dpotter – ZooTV was incredible! And in its own way deeply spiritual.
Thanks, Nathan – I saw the first Chicago show and it sounds like Bono was a little more in the spiritual zone for yours – I think ours was the only North American date NOT to get Amazing Grace – but it was still an amazing show.
Thanks for your insights.
Sorry to have to leave this in a comment, but I can't find a way to email Nathan directly. Just wanted to say that it would be kind and appropriate for you to list atu2.com as the source of the first photo in this piece. The photo page on Flickr specifically asks people to contact us with usage requests. We nearly always say yes, and would've said yes to this request. But we just like to know who's finding and using our photos.
Enjoyed the post overall, too. Couldn't quite make out exactly what Bono said for "Amazing Grace", so this was nice to read. I think he also said more immediately before starting to sing Streets, did he not?
Hi Matt. My apologies! (I just emailed you).
Lately, I've been thinking about Psalm 40:2-3. You'll find it at the intersection of U2 and The Prodigal Son.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
Hallelujah! Saw them in Dublin in July; will be in Raleigh on Saturday.
@T4S: Isn't that their song "40"?
Nice, really enjoyed reading your comments and take on the songs. I assure you, you're not the only one who sees the truth, and I think the numbers are growing! I've been a huge fan since 1983, but never really saw the inferences (as blatant as some of them are) until I became a Christian. Truth is, I don't think I wanted to see them until then. I'l be seeing U2 in Charlottesville and Raleigh this week…can't wait! God bless,
Darrell
I was there too. Thanks for this post- It took me back to that awesome night! I recall closing my eyes and worshiping without even realizing I was doing it and feeling a little taken aback when I realized where I was worshiping. You put the concert into great words!
well said!!! it was THE most amazing concert of my life.