Unos, Dos, Tres, Catorce!

Hello, hello!

What a great concert!! WOW!!!!

The opening band was of little interest to most of us sitting together, but at 9pm, the lights went down and all of a sudden the whole place exploded. U2 had taken the stage.

They started out with some newer favorites from Vertigo, then some great oldies-even from their first album-then moved into themes of War, Human Rights and Dignity, then Pride (In The Name Of Love) and my all time favorite Where The Streets Have No Name. They did 3 encores that included Yahweh and finally ended with 40 (Psalm 40).

U2 is an enigma. A lot of people have wanted to pidgeonhole them into firmly into the "Christian" genre, while others think Bono is showman's charleton, complete with his own celeb cause. I think they walk a fine line between being artists and being preachers-of Scripture (of which many of their songs are right from or reflect) or of Christian behavior-treating others with respect and dignity.

You can say that their "One" campaign is yet another celebrity with feel-good intentions, but how many of the celebs actually starts organizations like Data (www.data.org) and who knows what the heck he's talking about? You could say that Bono is the tie that hold the band together with his charisma, but who else sounds like The Edge (guitar player)?

For me, I think they are simply fellow journeymen. They don't claim to know all the answers, only that it's worth struggling to find out, as well as reaching out to those around us. Like us they are full of hopes and dreams and arrogant about thier abilbity to take their place in this world, then totally humbled before God when they see that they can't do it alone, or that they even know how to "fix" the problems of the world.

At any rate, it was such a great show by such a great band. If you are unfamiliar with their music, I'd encourage you to go to their website at at least look at the lyrics of their songs. I know I'm a huge fan, but mostly because I love their lyrics. Maybe I'll blog about a few of my fav songs and why I relate so strongly to them both as a Catholic Christian and a minister to and with God's people.