Daily Record

16th June 2005

 

THE RAZZ: I LIKE IT WITH THE LIGHT OUT;

  BONO'S DAZZLED BY DAYLIGHT AT GIG

 

by Beverley Lyons And Cath Bennett

 

U2's Bono has revealed that he wishes next week's gig at Hampden could be played in the dark as he hates performing in daylight. The Irish superband played in broad daylight to a sell-out audience at the City of Manchester Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday night for the opening leg of their UK Vertigo tour.

 

And the boys, who come to Glasgow's Hampden Park on June21 - ironically the longest day of the year - admitted they found the whole experience a bit odd.

 

Would-be vampire Bono said: 'It wasa strange and overwhelming feeling to be back in Manchester and so exposed, because we went out with the sun still up.

 

'Rock stars like proper darkness, let's be honest. Rock stars like to stand in front, behind, on top of, or underneath large video screens.

 

'So to stand there in such a stripped-down way, play songs from our first album and it feel so right and feel so now, and all the magic going off - that was good.'

 

Although protected by his famous black shades, Bono seemed to find the brightness all a bit too enlightening. Bono's bizarre predicament has now prompted speculation that he will find his Scottish gig too light to deal with.

 

The Razz is slightly concerned that he may find the sun too bright during the Hampden Park gig which takes place in the early evening of Midsummer's Day.

 

The Live8 gig on July 2 will also see Bono perform in the vast brightness of Hyde Park.

 

During the Manchester concert Bono also admitted he gets a bit concerned as to whether his political messages receive the right reaction. Talking of his plea to Tony Blair to take the steps towards cancelling Third World debt,he said: 'The Africa stuff really connected,because you just don't know.Are you gonna get bottled at that

point, are they gonna boo?

 

'Are they gonna say hurry f***ing up? But actually they were rabid. But you get the feeling in the country that there's a bit of history to be made and people want to be part of it.'

 

Beginning and ending with recent No. 1 Vertigo, the band played hits from current album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, debut album Boy and climaxed with an encore that concentrated on 1991 album Achtung Baby.

 

In addition to their hits,including One, Elevation and Sunday Bloody Sunday, the group played Vertigo and Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, which was dedicated to Bono's late father.

 

During the show, Bono also paid tribute to Manchester's Scientific legacy (the first computer was built in the city)as well as servicemen and their families.

 

At the end of With or Without You he sang excerpts from Joy Division's Transmission and Love Will Tear Us Apart.

 

The set was a fitting start to an exciting tour which will see U2's Scots fans being dazzled by their performance - if not the light

 

(c) 2005 Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd