U2 in Concert at NRG

Everything old is new again at powerful U2 concert, with an ending surprise

“How long must we sing this song?”

Bono and the members of U2 have been asking that question for a long time — since 1983 when “Sunday Bloody Sunday” debuted as the first song of the band’s third album, War.

In the wake of the terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester and a correspondingly beefed up security presence around NRG Stadium, the question seemed more relevant than ever. “We’re so sick of it,” Bono shouted over Larry Mullen, Jr’s propulsive drumming and The Edge’s soaring guitar.

But then, everything old is new again for the famous Irish foursome. Bono once said, “There’s no reverse gear on this tank,” but the band’s new tour celebrates the 30th anniversary of their iconic album The Joshua Tree. "New Year’s Day" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" quickly followed Sunday. Then the band began to play the album in sequence: every song from "Where the Streets Have No Name" to "Mothers of the Disappeared."

Highlights included The Edge’s thundering solos on “Bullet the Blue Sky” and “In God’s Country,” Bono’s self-described “shite harmonica play” on “I Trip Through Your Wires,” and Adam Clayton’s classic bass line on “With Or Without You.”

Just as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" feels more relevant than ever, so too do the songs written when conservative leaders in both America (Reagan then, Trump now) and the U.K. (Thatcher then, May now) have reignited debates about whether we should commit to “Carry each other / Carry each other” (yeah, I just album hopped).

While the days of the band dressing up like the Village People and emerging from a gigantic, lemon-shaped mirror ball are long behind — so are the songs from Boy, October, Rattle & Hum, Zooropa, Pop, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, No Line on the Horizon and their most recent work, Songs of Innocence — the stage setup still impresses with both its scale and its simplicity. No pyro, no fancy light shows: just a massive screen, 200 feet long and 45 feet tall, that displayed the band’s performance and a series of short films created by frequent U2 collaborator Anton Corbijn using new footage from places like Death Valley and Zabriskie Point.

The ultra-widescreen and 8k visuals provided a stunning backdrop for the band, at times displaying a dusty road for “Where the Streets Have No Name” or women holding candles during “Mothers of the Disappeared.” The screen also served as a backing band for “Red Hill Mining Town,” courtesy of a Salvation Army brass ensemble that played along with the song.

After U2 reached the end of The Joshua Tree, two songs from the '90s received fresh interpretations. “Miss Sarajevo” from the Passengers album has been renamed “Miss Syria (Sarajevo)” and featured footage filmed at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, where some 80,000 Syrian refugees currently live, according to information provided by the band. "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)", an Achtung Baby deep cut about the redemptive power of love, has been reinterpreted as a tribute to great feminists throughout history, including Texas icons Laura Bush and Ann Richards.

Speaking of the former first lady, Bono made sure to acknowledge both her and former President George W. Bush’s efforts to support the ONE campaign that made it possible for 18 million HIV/AIDS patients in Africa to receive life-saving medicine.

While it’s strange not to hear hits like “Mysterious Ways” and “Desire,” to say nothing of personal favorites like "Out of Control" and "Stay," the band played enough familiar tunes during the encore — "Bad," "Beautiful Day," "Elevation," and "One" — to ensure that no one left unsatisfied. As expected, the multi-generational crowd ranged from eight to 80 — Lynn Wyatt sat a few rows in front of me — and most people seemed to know all the words to all the songs.

But just in case anyone was feeling too nostalgic, Bono had a surprise. The band closed with a new song titled “The Little Things That Give You Away.”

Maybe they still have a few tricks up their sleeves after all.

Setlist:

Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year’s Day
Pride (In the Name of Love)

The Joshua Tree
Where the Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
With or Without You
Bullet the Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
In God’s Country
I Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers of the Disappeared

Encore 1:
Miss Syria (Sarajevo)
Bad

Encore 2:
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
One
The Little Things That Give You Away

The band played every song from The Joshua Tree album in sequence.

Photo by Jason Daring

The band played every song from The Joshua Tree album in sequence.

concerts

Movie Review

The Social Reckoning takes a swipe at Facebook in the modern era

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment

Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White in The Social Reckoning.

The 2010 film The Social Network — about the early years of Facebook after Mark Zuckerberg created the social media site — was a landmark movie in many ways. But given the time it was made — just four years after it went public beyond colleges — the impact Facebook had on society was minimal compared to what it is today (the film’s tagline references 500 million users on Facebook; there are now over 3 billion).

All of which is to say that there's plenty of fertile material for a follow-up film to explore, which writer/director Aaron Sorkin does quite well in The Social Reckoning. Zuckerberg (played this time by Jeremy Strong) is an important but supporting character in this story, which focuses on Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White). Horwitz is in pursuit of anyone willing to spill dirt on the inner workings of Facebook, which leads him to Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), who works on the Civic Integrity team at the now-giant company.

While at first reluctant to disclose much, Haugen gradually gives Horwitz access to internal files that show that Facebook engaged in behind-the-scenes work to boost engagement on the site with little regard for how it would affect the well-being of its users. Their story, which takes place over the course of two years between 2019 and 2021, is intercut with scenes in which Zuckerberg is being prepped for testimony before Congress by Raya (Wunmi Mosaku), Charlie (Bill Burr), and others.

The key to Sorkin’s success in Hollywood has always been his fast-paced, overlapping dialogue, and there’s much of it to enjoy in this film. Most of the film is just people talking in rooms, so the script needs to have Sorkin’s signature style to keep the story compelling. He achieves that goal through lines that indicate the righteous indignation, quirks, and sense of humor of the characters, feelings that easily translate over to the audience.

Sorkin is clearly on one side in his storytelling, and it’s not the side that doesn’t seem to care that its users are being harmed by its product. Sorkin gilds the lily multiple times throughout the film in big and small ways, and your enjoyment of the movie may lie in your ability to roll with his choices instead of nitpicking details (like the fact that Zuckerberg didn’t testify before Congress in the crucial year depicted in the film).

Still, there’s the unshakeable feeling that the movie is too little, too late. Even though it’s set just five to seven years ago, the advances in technology and the division of the country in the years since make it feel like a completely different world. The Social Network had the advantage of showing things that most viewers didn’t know well. The basics of this film played out in headlines around the world, and the issues the characters debate in it seem positively quaint compared to what’s happening now.

White has been hit-and-miss as a movie actor, but he’s in his sweet spot in this film, rattling off lines with ease and making Horwitz alternately cocky and empathetic. Madison does well in her first film since winning an Oscar for Anora, playing on Haugen’s passion and eccentricities effectively. Strong plays Zuckerberg as literally stiff — his neck and body movements are almost mechanical — a choice that works for the most part.

The Social Reckoning is not as good as The Social Network, but it manages to be gripping in its own way. Through Sorkin’s writing, better directing than he has delivered in other films, and committed performances by all of the actors, it becomes a story worth telling, even if its ideas have become antiquated.

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The Social Reckoning opens in theaters on October 9.

film mark zuckerberg movies the social network the social reckoning