A gift to New York.
That’s the best way to describe U2’s terrific free show in DUMBO’s Fulton Ferry State Park yesterday afternoon.
On a stage nestled between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, the band rocked for nearly an hour for 10,000 fans in the park and twice that many outside.
U2 turned a cold, damp, dreary Monday into a beautiful day for the city.
First, for the shocked New Yorkers lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the band riding a flatbed truck down Seventh Avenue, while filming their video “All Because of You.”
Then, for the fans who flocked to the park after finding out, via word of mouth and the Internet, about the show to promote U2’s new album out today, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”
“Winter never felt so warm,” Bono, the group’s charismatic lead singer and lyricist, said to the thunderous crowd.
Never has a rock band provided so much fanfare for the common man.
Groups like the Rolling Stones have tried to make spectacles out of tour announcements, but a free concert? Unheard of for an act of U2’s caliber.
And what a place to do it: The magnificent backdrop of the Manhattan skyline even took Bono’s breath away. During the concert, he couldn’t help but turn slowly and stare at the cityscape from time to time.
They started and ended the 10-song set with their hit tune “Vertigo.” While the new album was at the core of the show, U2 didn’t forget classics like “I Will Follow” and “Beautiful Day.”
“City of Blinding Lights,” the band’s ode to New York, was among the very best of the show. Musically, it contained every one of the band’s best elements, from The Edge’s telegraph guitar work to Larry Mullin and Adam Clayton’s driving rhythms.
Yesterday was all the more amazing because U2 didn’t have to do it.
With career sales surpassing 120 million albums, U2 could sell a zillion copies of “Atomic Bomb” just by sitting home drinking beer.
But they’re making no missteps in the race to be the most popular rock band on Earth.
You’ve already seen them on the covers of Blender and Spin, at the center of Apple’s iTunes ad campaign, on “Saturday Night Live” and even at the inauguration of the Clinton Library.
New U2 songs will be featured in upcoming episodes of Fox’s hit series “The O.C.” and CBS’s “C.S.I.”
“Atomic Bomb” is expected to debut easily at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, bumping Eminem’s “Encore” out of the slot.
In a year where other veteran acts such as R.E.M., John Fogerty, L.L. Cool J and the Beastie Boys all turned in bids for contemporary relevance, U2 stands the best chance to rule the charts with this collection and re-establish their credibility as a rock ‘n’ roll band – rather than the soapbox from which Bono preaches.
It’s just like Bono said at the Grammy Awards three years ago: “We’re reapplying for the job of best band in the world.”
Yesterday, they got it.