When U2 releases another album, they should not play every awards show known to man, they should not subject themselves to television interviewers, they should go straight to the public, their fans.

Somewhere along the line, Bono separated himself from his audience.  Sure, it was admirable that he was trying to save Africa, but suddenly he was a venture capitalist, he was investing in Palm, when did he have time to be a rock star?

More than ever, being a rock star is about your identity.  Anybody can have a hit.  Just call up Dr. Dre or Timbaland.  But can you mean something to your audience?  How do you get people to bond with you?

That’s the big story of "In Rainbows".  It wasn’t a new business model, it was a gift to the fans and a middle finger to the traditional music industry.  Radiohead played outside the system, and won, "In Rainbows" is seen as a total success.  U2 played inside the system and lost, "No Line On The Horizon" didn’t get a ton of airplay, it didn’t sell well, it appears a dud, and believe me, perception is everything.

But the tour’s been a rousing success.  Financially.  And today, especially in the entertainment industry, you can’t criticize anything that makes money.  Money trumps everything.  Huh?

Bono, et al, spent so much money on their stadium tour that they’re barely past the break even point.  And now, the tour is delayed as a result of Bono’s unfortunate injury.  All that money lost, all that marketing lost.

Marketing?

Yup, they’re about to release a DVD and an album of the Rose Bowl gig.

The CD teaser just arrived on my doorstep.  I’ll play this.

And the opening cut, "Magnificent", almost is.  I remember it being a success live.

Unlike most of the other new cuts.  The people didn’t come to hear them, they were unfamiliar with them, they sat on their hands.  Until…

Bono and the boys went into familiar territory, when they played "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For".  An eighties classic.  A Gen-X classic.  It’s the soundtrack to their college days.  That’s why they went to the gig.  They know every note.

Now they were up on their feet.  Edge’s intro is baked into their DNA.  And as the CD slid into the second cut, I heard those famous notes.  And Bono started to sing…

But what came next I was unprepared for…

Edge is playing the circular riff, Larry Mullen, Jr. is hitting the skins, Bono yells and sings…

I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields

And then he stops.

And the assembled multitude, the 100,000 in attendance take over.  Brought me right back, fired up those cells in my memory bank.  And gave me goosebumps.

The Beatles played and you couldn’t hear the music, girls were screaming so loud.

And we knew every word.

Go to a Taylor Swift show.  It’s not about the set changes, it’s about being a member of the club, singing along at the top of your lungs.

And it’s hard to get someone over forty to participate, people that age are too self-conscious.

Only to be with you
Only to be with you

Well, you’d expect everybody to know this.

But Bono doesn’t come back, the audience continues to take the lead…

I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

You’ve got to hear the crowd ERUPT after the first line of the chorus.  They made it!  They’re proud of themselves! They knew all the words.  Who knew?

Baby boomers think it’s about leading, about perching yourself above, living in a gated community and flying private.  But the real thrill is getting down in the pit, being a member of the crowd, being involved, being as one.

That’s where the joy is.

Not being alone, but being together.

That’s rock and roll.  When the music makes us forget our everyday lives, allows us to transcend the world, bond with the act and fly high above the Earth, laughing at our good fortune.

The pacing of the Rose Bowl show sucked.  From new to old and back again.  Momentum was lost.  But when the band allowed the audience in, when we all joined as one, it was positively beautiful, it was TRANSCENDENT!

You’ll tingle when you hear this take.  You’ll smile.  You’ll at first be flabbergasted, and then nod your head and sing along.

And the effect doesn’t only work the first time through.  With each successive play you still get the hit.

That’s the essence of our business, the hit.  It’s not about the clothes, the staging, the trappings, but the music, the sound.  When done right, it’s a hypodermic straight to our veins.