The Joshua Tree back in The Two Americas... Thirty Years On

Day 3 (continued):  The Joshua Tree returns to the States

I turned off my light up barrettes when the band retreated to the main stage, and watched the screen as best as I could, while maintaining my station just off the rail at the tree stage.  My experience then became mostly an exercise in listening, because at 5'4" I couldn't see much over the other fans and Larry's drum kit that stood between me and the main stage.  It didn't trouble me, though.  I was able to appreciate more of the big screen than I had in Vancouver two nights ago.  In addition to that, the album opens inner landscapes, every single time, and I was easily lost in internal musical vistas.

Until Side 2 started, and then two women who were very close, right up next to me, started a loud drunken conversation that lasted clear through until the overpowering madness of "Exit".  I gave them a couple of those annoyed over the shoulder looks, which were ignored, and then I finally plugged my right ear with my thumb so I didn't have to listen to them, and that helped a bit.

The madness of "Exit" once again stopped all thought... as Bono was back amongst us in the pulsating lights of the tree stage, playing his Shadow Man, staying safe onstage in his role play.  In an interview recently, Bono said that he had been reluctant to get back into "Exit" because it was a place where he used to hurt himself in the 80s.  It is the song of a psychopath.  So he's created the alter ego of The Shadow Man for this tour, and he stays safe.  The visceral experience of being in the space of "Exit", being in that sound, is jarring, dissociating, psychotic, and irresistably compelling.

I was still shaking and catching my breath from the tree stage visit of the Shadow Man when "Mothers of the Disappeared" began.  The broken hearted lullaby gently soothed the rough edges leftover from its predecessor.  Then, back on the main stage, I heard Bono introduce, "The spirit... where is Eddie Vedder?... the spirit of Seattle!..." and the crowd roared with pleasure as the legendary lead vocalist walked onstage.  His voice belonged in the second verse of Mothers.  It was meant to be there.  The ending chorus of "El Pueblo Vencera" rang through the stadium, and then the first performance of the Joshua Tree in the United States was complete; completely unforgettable.

https://youtu.be/USBys4l4VVg