Shut Up and Listen

Tonight U2 hits the stage for the first of two sold-out events at the Wacko Center in Philly. Somewhere in the middle of their twenty-something song set, U2 will pause to let their leader and spiritual center, Bono, address the crowd. What he will say is sure to go beyond the normal "Glad to be in Philadelphia etc." banter that most rock groups can only muster. Instead, Bono will be sure to talk about one or more of his following causes: Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the Chernobyl Children's Project, the Free Burma campaign, DATA's working to ease the debt of third-world nations, or the ONE program to fight AIDS in Africa.

It's become popular thes days among both so-called rock purists and right wing convervatives (what a strange pair!) to write articles calling for Bono to "shut up." Why should he? Bono and U2 have taken rock and roll to a higher ground, rescuing it from the modern flood of the lip-synched, the prefabbed, the angst-ridden, the rap-angry, and the sexually explicit. Surprise. U2's music is powerful, lyrical, melodic, explosive, emotional, uplifting, intelligent, political, spiritual, yet accessibly simple and universal enough for everyone. U2's POSITIVE music always presents life as a half-full glass. It offers the entire world a hearty draught, and miraculously enough, the glass hasn't emptied in over 20 some years. Here's to you, lads.