Monday, December 20, 2010
KK reviews U2 360 concert - Perth 19 Dec 2010
As many of you Dear Readers know, I have entertained quite a Bono fantasy for some years now, so it was a shimmery mix of excitement and anxiety that I had running through me, for the days leading up to the concert.
Excitement that I would finally lay eyes on this man in the flesh, and anxiety due to fear of disappointment.
I was staying the near the city at my niece's place, waiting for my oldest friend to arrive so we could go together, the day had a spring-like quality but was overcast, and I nearly changed out of my sheer white cotton dress, but decided to take my chances, so I sat on the balcony with my niece and had a beer instead.
Over the next few hours, I don't quite know how, the romantic fantasy that has been intruding so deliciously into my reality, gave way to a kind of spiritual freedom, still infused with love, but not holding my heart captive. My dear friend JB and I had talked a few days before about the spiritual aspect of the concert, she is of Irish heritage - wild red hair and green eyes, touched by the fairies and a truth seeking pagan ( in the best tradition, of course! and not anti-Christ) and we both had an intuition that the concert would be an initiator of a new wave of joy and growth in our lives, we were expecting a mega-profound experience, though tempered with our combined 100 years of pinches of salt.
When JB and I finally left to go, we had a few more celebratory drinks under our belts, and were given a lift there by a visiting friend of my niece's. The anxiety was gone, and I just had a smile inside and out.
We managed to get quite close to the stage, and so the waiting began.
...
...
Jay Z saved me, he interjected a revolutionary zeal into the stadium, a flame to fan the love and peace into life, and although the next period of waiting was interminable,
aarrgghhh!
the flame didn't flicker out :)
The music was good, too and the man a compelling performer.
I loved that rap preceeded U2, the music is so different, but so united in spirit!
I had to crane my neck achingly, and find a gap between the backs of some tall boys in front of me, but
a big smile broke out on my face when I saw Bono on stage.
And the Edge. And Adam. And Larry. Hell yeah, they were real after all!
And they weren't lieing when they said they were bringing a spaceship, for the next few hours I was transported, my body could not stop dancing and my arm just had to wave in the air with a peace sign,
nothing else mattered and the music was every bit as awesome live, as I had imagined.
And....(clever boys) I even had missing time!
The crowd were a bit lack-lustre imho, seemingly closed-off with no smiles, not what I thought a U2 audience was like...later JB and I speculated that probably the real fans had gone the night before,
but there was still a palpable atmosphere of appreciation and enjoyment, and lots of singing.
I didn't imagine he was singing the songs to me, I didn't take my clothes off in an effort to draw attention, I didn't try to jump on stage, I didn't even feel sad that my fantasy was exposed as a fantasy, I simply responded, and let the truth set me free
:)
And it has.
'Magnificent' was the best I've heard it performed. Bono gave it an intimate passion that was mesmerizing and elevating at the same time. I don't know how it comes across to non-believers, but the song speaks to me as a soul singing for the glorious unfathomability of God, with a generous lashings of joy, too - it was a privilege to hear it live :)
And, of course, my heart responded to the "All I Want is You' medley.
I was struck afresh how U2 unite romantic love with love for God, for me they are
inseperable, even the sex, despite our infancy as beings of love.
Just as Jesus came to fulfill and in one sense, overthrow what came before, so will His return overthrow this love-infancy, in which we are bound to suppress our natural capacity for physical love (I do believe).
So, 'slide over here' my Beloved, my Lord
:)
That night I fell asleep, to soft rain outside, and as I cuddled my pillow, instead of Bono, I felt a wave of peace and gentle joy wash through me... in this night of sleep, somewhere in the city of my youth, was Bono, poverty's lethal antidote, in the same place at the same time, the thought was strangely comforting, similar to the enormous surge of relief that a man like him existed, when I read 'Bono on Bono' those years ago, and began the first and last rock-star obsession of my life.
Obsessed no more (though of course I still think he is the hottest man on the planet ;)
in my imagination he can live a happy life with his wife again, lol - and I can look forward to opening my heart to a real lover.
After a delicious bottle of local red wine with JB last night, we shared our impressions, the spiritual ones as usual taking centre-stage. For neither of us, was the experience the mind-blowing mega one we had expected, though we both laughed, because in our 100 years we know so well that rarely does anything conform to expectations.
However, we discovered that we both felt the concert marked the beginning of Christmas, a renewal in the spirit of Christmas and all it promises for humanity, not just for this 2010, but somehow, in the best tradition of Irish/Finnish/Australian magic, far into the future.
In a personal way, instead of an awe-struck after-time, we felt deeply moved along the river of our individual journeys, and JB has filled her home with glitter to celebrate.
So, blessings to all who chance to read this, and a very happy Christmas!!!
update: U2 politics:
http://lunaticoutpost.com/Topic-U2-and-alleged-tax-evasion?page=1
KK reviews U2 360 concert - Perth 19 Dec 2010
As many of you Dear Readers know, I have entertained quite a Bono fantasy for some years now, so it was a shimmery mix of excitement and anxiety that I had running through me, for the days leading up to the concert.
Excitement that I would finally lay eyes on this man in the flesh, and anxiety due to fear of disappointment.
I was staying the near the city at my niece's place, waiting for my oldest friend to arrive so we could go together, the day had a spring-like quality but was overcast, and I nearly changed out of my sheer white cotton dress, but decided to take my chances, so I sat on the balcony with my niece and had a beer instead.
Over the next few hours, I don't quite know how, the romantic fantasy that has been intruding so deliciously into my reality, gave way to a kind of spiritual freedom, still infused with love, but not holding my heart captive. My dear friend JB and I had talked a few days before about the spiritual aspect of the concert, she is of Irish heritage - wild red hair and green eyes, touched by the fairies and a truth seeking pagan ( in the best tradition, of course! and not anti-Christ) and we both had an intuition that the concert would be an initiator of a new wave of joy and growth in our lives, we were expecting a mega-profound experience, though tempered with our combined 100 years of pinches of salt.
When JB and I finally left to go, we had a few more celebratory drinks under our belts, and were given a lift there by a visiting friend of my niece's. The anxiety was gone, and I just had a smile inside and out.
We managed to get quite close to the stage, and so the waiting began.
...
...
Jay Z saved me, he interjected a revolutionary zeal into the stadium, a flame to fan the love and peace into life, and although the next period of waiting was interminable,
aarrgghhh!
the flame didn't flicker out :)
The music was good, too and the man a compelling performer.
I loved that rap preceeded U2, the music is so different, but so united in spirit!
I had to crane my neck achingly, and find a gap between the backs of some tall boys in front of me, but
a big smile broke out on my face when I saw Bono on stage.
And the Edge. And Adam. And Larry. Hell yeah, they were real after all!
And they weren't lieing when they said they were bringing a spaceship, for the next few hours I was transported, my body could not stop dancing and my arm just had to wave in the air with a peace sign,
nothing else mattered and the music was every bit as awesome live, as I had imagined.
And....(clever boys) I even had missing time!
The crowd were a bit lack-lustre imho, seemingly closed-off with no smiles, not what I thought a U2 audience was like...later JB and I speculated that probably the real fans had gone the night before,
but there was still a palpable atmosphere of appreciation and enjoyment, and lots of singing.
I didn't imagine he was singing the songs to me, I didn't take my clothes off in an effort to draw attention, I didn't try to jump on stage, I didn't even feel sad that my fantasy was exposed as a fantasy, I simply responded, and let the truth set me free
:)
And it has.
'Magnificent' was the best I've heard it performed. Bono gave it an intimate passion that was mesmerizing and elevating at the same time. I don't know how it comes across to non-believers, but the song speaks to me as a soul singing for the glorious unfathomability of God, with a generous lashings of joy, too - it was a privilege to hear it live :)
And, of course, my heart responded to the "All I Want is You' medley.
I was struck afresh how U2 unite romantic love with love for God, for me they are
inseperable, even the sex, despite our infancy as beings of love.
Just as Jesus came to fulfill and in one sense, overthrow what came before, so will His return overthrow this love-infancy, in which we are bound to suppress our natural capacity for physical love (I do believe).
So, 'slide over here' my Beloved, my Lord
:)
That night I fell asleep, to soft rain outside, and as I cuddled my pillow, instead of Bono, I felt a wave of peace and gentle joy wash through me... in this night of sleep, somewhere in the city of my youth, was Bono, poverty's lethal antidote, in the same place at the same time, the thought was strangely comforting, similar to the enormous surge of relief that a man like him existed, when I read 'Bono on Bono' those years ago, and began the first and last rock-star obsession of my life.
Obsessed no more (though of course I still think he is the hottest man on the planet ;)
in my imagination he can live a happy life with his wife again, lol - and I can look forward to opening my heart to a real lover.
After a delicious bottle of local red wine with JB last night, we shared our impressions, the spiritual ones as usual taking centre-stage. For neither of us, was the experience the mind-blowing mega one we had expected, though we both laughed, because in our 100 years we know so well that rarely does anything conform to expectations.
However, we discovered that we both felt the concert marked the beginning of Christmas, a renewal in the spirit of Christmas and all it promises for humanity, not just for this 2010, but somehow, in the best tradition of Irish/Finnish/Australian magic, far into the future.
In a personal way, instead of an awe-struck after-time, we felt deeply moved along the river of our individual journeys, and JB has filled her home with glitter to celebrate.
So, blessings to all who chance to read this, and a very happy Christmas!!!
update: U2 politics:
http://lunaticoutpost.com/Topic-U2-and-alleged-tax-evasion?page=1
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