u2 live in Sydney - a political farce?

Last Saturday, my friend and I went to Telstra stadium to see U2 live. And I have to say that the show itself was amazing. The stage looked amazing highlighting the typical red and black colouring that the band are known for.



The music was a mixed arrangement of their best tracks and included:

Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, I Will Follow, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Angel of Harlem, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet The Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where The Streets Have No Name, One

Encore(s): Until the End of the World, Mysterious Ways, With or Without You, The Saints Are Coming, Party Girl, Kite

However, my only critisism of the show was the blatant political commentary that Bono was making throughout the entire gig. I don't mind that he uses his celebrity status to highlight global issues because personally, I think that is putting his fame to good use. However, I couldn't help but feel like he was exploiting his stature ever so slightly and almost trying to "brainwash" the crowd into his own beliefs. At one point during the transition between two songs, Bono called for the audience to take out their phones and hold them up. It actually was the most amazing site to see because as he described it, the stadium

"lit up like a Christmas tree"

. It was so beautiful and mesmerising and such a unique idea. Yet at the same time, he was saying calling on Australian citizens to stand up and voice their struggles saying,

"You can make the difference. Governments have to listen to the people"

. Later in the transition before the song, "One", he again called for the crowd to fight for their rights. It just seemed to me that he isn't using his music and band as a microphone for voicing his opinion but he's exploiting it a little.

Bono has also appeared at several other events in Sydney over the past few days including the premiere of Tim Robbin's new movie "Catch a Fire" and singing a duet at Kylie's show, which was also on at the Sydney Entertainment Centre last weekend.



Is he exploiting his image and status? On Network 10's late news with Sandra Sully the other night, Bono was dubbed a "gate crasher". What do you guys think?! Let me know...