Edited By Mike Breen

Photo By Craig Weiglein

U2âs Bono (left) and The Edge

· Since U2 was looking to offer cheap tickets to a no-seat arena floor, the band's Elevation tour passed up Cincinnati completely due to our festival-seating ordinance passed after the 1979 Who concert stampede. But, if nothing else, a tape of the show -- which made stops in Indianapolis, Lexington and Columbus -- should be shown to lawmakers and venue officials as a way to do festival seating right. At the Columbus show, the band's unique stage set-up proved to be a huge hit with the near-capacity crowd, especially those on the floor. While realizing this isn't a Limp Bizkit crowd, the security crew kept things amazingly orderly, given the passion that possesses so many fans of this band.

With a heart-shaped catwalk reaching out and literally wrapping around the first several rows like a bear hug, the band was able to stroll to near the middle of the arena, something that singer Bono milked to great success. On the tip of the heart, Bono and guitarist, The Edge, played a "tribute" to Joey Ramone. The song was their own "In a Little While," which Bono announced as the last song Ramone ever heard. Even if it were true, the move was fairly egotistical: a stomping version of "Rockaway Beach" would have been more fitting for a Punk icon requiem.

The group's set was perhaps a bit too heavy on the new album, All That You Can't Leave Behind (hey, they're sales people too, ya know?), but they also managed crowd favorites like "Pride," "Bullet the Blue Sky" and show highlight "Bad." The band sounded as good as they ever have, although Bono played an inaudible back-up guitar just a little too much, given his showy frontman prowess. And, instead of "New York" or some other mediocre song from All That You Can't Leave Behind, it would have been nice if the group had thrown in some of their non-hit gems from War or The Unforgettable Fire. It's doubtful fans would have been disappointed not to hear "Sunday Bloody Sunday."

Perhaps most impressive was the "show." A personality-fueled band with a tendency toward excess, U2's performance actually showed great restraint production-wise (well, especially after the giant lemons and sensory bombardment of their past several tours). The lighting was most dazzling, from the opening song (with the band performing with all of the house lights on) to the Rattle and Hum remnants (Bono flashing a handheld light around the arena) to the haunting translucent tapestries dropped during "With or Without You." The only sore point in the production was -- surprise -- prop-related, as Bono dry humped a series of large, bobbing monitors with silhouettes of dancing women on them during "Mysterious Ways." Seems the band has learned some lessons ... but not all. (Mike Breen)

· "What's the difference between moose and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones? Moose have their horns in front and their assholes in back." And the asshole leading the charge is Dicky Barrett, the Bosstones' lead singer who regularly infuses the group's live shows with self-deprecating humor. Hearing Barrett poke fun at himself -- a grown man named Dicky! -- is part of the joy in attending a Bosstones' concert. And Barrett was in rare form during their May 25 appearance at Bogart's, not content simply to ridicule himself. Of course, Cincinnati has had plenty of material ready to milk.

"We're going to try to get in as many songs as possible. We heard something about a curfew? ... Fuck the curfew!" he shouted. And that wasn't the worst of it. The Bosstones have had an interracial lineup since their inception, and Barrett couldn't help but take another swipe at the Queen City as he introduced one member of the horn section. "There aren't any cops here, are there? Please don't shoot our trombone player." To say the jokes went over well to a crowd primarily of high school and college age students would be an understatement. For concert-goers, these slams on our sad city were as popular as the Bosstones' best-known songs.

And that seemed to be the sole fault of the show. The concert was weighed down heavily with their "hits" like "Someday I Suppose," "Hell of a Hat" and "The Impression That I Get." Granted, great songs. But with their substantial catalogue of tunes, did the Bosstones really need to trot out "The Rascal King" one more time? Regardless of the playlist, which did feature the occasional old-school Ska number, the Bosstones, as always, put on a show that's one giant, hyperkinetic energy blast. It's just nonstop fast and furious. Even breaking for the occasional joke couldn't slow down the momentum of the night. It just added more fuel to the fire. (Brandon Brady)

· James Brown is perhaps the best showman in the history of popular music. And his appearance at this year's Taste of Cincinnati proved it. Brown, backed by an entourage of bodyguards, took the stage a half-hour late (ohhh, James), but once he was onstage all was forgiven. Having never seen Brown in concert before, I was a little taken aback by the lack of a full band. But once James started his repartee with the crowd, I understood that this is not only a man who has a fierce command of "The Funk," but he also has a sense of humor, telling the audience that he was doing it all for "the children." I couldn't stop laughing. Then the music started and the fans were in ecstasy. With the charisma train chugging at full steam, Brown showed that he didn't need no damn backing musicians, roaring through ... well, I didn't recognize the song, but it may have been "Living In America." While only playing one tune, Brown showed he doesn't even need to break a sweat to have the crowd screaming -- a large group of fans even crammed in behind the stage and shouted throughout his set. Besides, that corn-on-the-cob booth was calling my name. Yum. (Wilford Brimley)

E-mail Mike Breen

Spill It (June 7, 2001)
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