•
Rating: You all know what the Live Aid of 1985 was.. You all know what great names graced that stage on July 13, 1985. But not all of you know what it meant for U2.
That day represents a "historic" date in the career of the Irish quartet, a benchmark in their history. Before that day, U2 were still a "niche" group despite the excellent sales of the last three albums (War, Under a Blood Red Sky, and The Unforgettable Fire), but to the "majority" of the world, they were still semi-unknown. On that stage stood the greatest rock stars of the moment, including the "hosts": the Queen, who gave a massive performance in that stadium.
U2 had only recently overcome their various internal crises, the risk of splitting up after the release of the album "October," for reasons I won't explain now. Among the four Dublin boys, there was still the specter of the fear of "not making it," of everything ending, of not becoming one of the greatest rock bands in history. But on that hot afternoon of July 13, all their fears crumbled. The audience was mostly waiting for Freddy Mercury and company, but all the world's eyes focused on them, a stratospheric performance, perhaps the best by U2 themselves in their entire career.
They started with the now-famous "Sunday Bloody Sunday".. and the stadium unbelievably exploded. The anticipation, the heat, the fatigue of all those 80 thousand people vanished in an instant: U2 were there. Most of the people didn't even know who they were. Bono was dressed in an incredibly flashy way, with horrible hair, while the other three looked like normal guys, even a bit geeky, almost dressed for a "catechism" lesson, but with those three instruments in hand, they created magic. As soon as they stepped onto the stage, they seemed entirely out of place for the event. Yet, they made Wembley explode. Bono didn't stop for a moment; his voice expressed all the rage of that song until it got into your veins.
Once "Sunday Bloody Sunday" ended, "Bad" from their new album "Unforgettable Fire" started. They performed one of the longest versions they had ever done before.. A full 12 minutes of pure orgasm. Bono ran, screamed, and drew 80 thousand enthusiastic eyes onto himself. In the rest of the world, on every connected television, everyone remained glued, partly out of curiosity, partly out of admiration.. stay still there are U2.. "and who the hell are they?".. "I don't know but look at this crazy man and what he's doing!".
Every group had an average of 20 minutes at their disposal.. On U2's mini setlist, the single "pride" was supposed to be played.. But everything changed.. The execution of "Bad" was prolonged more than planned because Bono, full of Adrenaline, noticed that something was wrong in the front row.. A girl was feeling sick crushed by the crowd.. Bono didn't think twice and jumped off the stage into the crowd and pointed out the girl who was unwell. Then he took her and brought her on stage, hugging her, forcing the other three meanwhile to continue improvising the same notes in a "loop" that seemed to repeat endlessly..
Seeing that there was no time for a third song, Bono improvised various snippets and extended the song even more than necessary. The audience was almost stunned. I highly recommend, if you do not have it, to find that performance online. It is truly worth it. On that day, all fears shattered..
U2 delivered the best performance, after that of the Queen, of that event, outshining all the "competition" of people and names that would have made even God with a guitar in hand pale. U2 began their climb to the top of the world.
July 13, 1985: U2 took the stage.
Loading comments slowly
