shoulders

Lenny Kravitz: Proceed to Floor

Celebrities are so lucky. Not only do they have fame and fortune, they have luck too. Well, most of them have luck.

For U2’s second sold-out show at the Garden this November, a large number of celebrities scanned in Lucky Vertigo and packed the ellipse. Our non-celebrity staff (she’s a star to us!), who was also lucky and landed a spot in the ellipse, identified Lars Ullrich, Michael Stipe, Helena Christensen, Jimmy Fallon, Guggi, and Charlie Rose enjoying the show from inside the ellipse. (For the record, Rose doesn’t rock out. He studies the performance. With a beer in hand.) Bono’s wife Ali and brother Norman were also spotted rubbing shoulders with the celebrities and peon fans at the show.

Meanwhile, back at the mix desk were Lenny Kravitz, Josh Brolin, and “a lot of models” whose tickets apparently did not scan Lucky Vertigo. Awww!

The show was similar to the previous evening’s performance with one difference — the dedications. Bono dedicated “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” to his brother, whom he referred to as “Normal” and credited as being the co-writer of the song; “MLK” was dedicated to JFK; and “Stuck in a Moment” was performed in recognition of the anniversary of Michael Hutchence’s death.

As with the previous night, show opener Patti Smith joined U2 to perform a long version of “Instant Karma.” At one point, Bono and Smith left the stage as The Edge began a spotlight guitar performance. It seemed the audience were expected to finish up the song with The Edge, but when that didn’t happen, Edge left the stage (still playing) and returned with the singers to close the song.

Although “Yahweh” and “40” were listed on the setlist, they were not performed.

NYC 4: “We’ll shine like stars…”

Welcome to moodswing central. Fans attending multiple shows in New York got to see plenty of different sides to U2’s lead singer.

From run-of-the-mill Bono on the 7th, to pissed off Bono on the 8th, to distracted and going-through-the-motions Bono on the 10th and absolutely determined to kick ass Bono on the 11th. We can’t possibly predict which of the ‘nice bunch of guys’ exactly will be fronting U2 on the 14th. You let us know.

Maybe it wasn’t The Edge’s smoothest show of the tour, but this time Bono didn’t snark. (His ‘I really enjoyed that, The Edge.’ earlier in the week came out a little cutting.) The man was too busy enjoying himself on stage. All smiles, all fun and happy banter.

During Sunday Bloody Sunday, he picked a little girl off the shoulders of her father in front row, and made her sing ‘no more’. Later, he gave her his COEXIST bandana as a memento. At another point during the show, a German fan was the lucky recipient of Bono’s pricey specs.

But the moment we were sure this was a special one came when Bono finally pulled out the fan-favourite ‘shine like stars in the summer night’-verse of With or without you, for the first time since God knows when. Trainspotters world wide wet themselves for sheer ecstasy.

The chorus of ’40’ echoed through the ‘Gardens’ (as Bono kept calling the MSG) for the longest time. Then the lights came on and for your U2log.com editor-in-chief at least, it was the end of Vertigo 2005. Thank you, Madison Square Garden, thank you, New York.