Phish Sphere Residency vs U2’s

I’m not a Phish fan, but saw this news clip on their Sphere shows and found it interesting.

They did 4 completely unique shows, all different from each other. Their show producer had to come up with 12 hours of imagery for the Sphere as they play long shows. They were offered more shows but declined as they don’t repeat themselves.

They’re pretty much the anti U2, then.

They’re pretty much the anti U2, then.

Yes seems like it. No one outside of the US has ever heard (or could even name) a single song by them. Even within the US I understand their audience base is quite specialised (Jewish stoners, apparently, lol)

Those Phish chaps do not fuck around.

The crowd look equally bored. I guess people just stare at the visual spectacle rather than experience a rock n roll show. Nothing wrong with that I guess but it’s not my idea of fun.

The crowd look equally bored. I guess people just stare at the visual spectacle rather than experience a rock n roll show. Nothing wrong with that I guess but it’s not my idea of fun.

I think they are the 90’s generation version of the Grateful Dead. A jam band, no hits, with a massive core audience. Not really the type of music to dance or rock out to.

I saw Phish at MSG last summer, and while I don't care for their music, their shows really are quite the spectacle. Looks like they're doing it better than U2, also.

so, a proper concert with variation and spontaneity, versus U2 - The Musical. 

so, a proper concert with variation and spontaneity, versus U2 - The Musical.

Can't wait for the band to scrap this rock album and give the fans what they really want: a full-length Sing 3 soundtrack 

Quote from: SlyDanner on April 22, 2024, 12:26:07 PM

so, a proper concert with variation and spontaneity, versus U2 - The Musical.

Can't wait for the band to scrap this rock album and give the fans what they really want: a full-length Sing 3 soundtrack 

The shows were so static and predictable I'm kinda surprised they didn't do a full Broadway-style thing and do matinees.  2 shows a day.  They could have doubled their revenue.  Kinda shocked - based on that alone - they didn't go that route.  I mean, those Malibu mansions don't pay for themselves...

Guys, the sphere isn’t about a rock n roll show. In fact, it’s the opposite of rock n roll. I wonder, if the irony was lost on u2, that the original purpose of ZOO TV was a commentary on the masses being sedated by television; the ‘drug of the nation’ indeed. Or, as bono said on the original tour, ‘you didn’t come here to watch TV, did ya?’.

Yet, there they were in their masses in Vegas. A bunch of hypnotised fools who paid hundreds of dollars to watch a TV screen - no human connection, just a lot of technology that will be yesterday’s news in a few years.

And yet… it could have been so different. The same U2 that came up with ZOOTV and POPMART would have subverted everything the sphere stands for. Instead it was all a bit… boring.

Or maybe u2 don’t care. And they never did; they were always obsessed with money. Maybe I was wrong in thinking they had a conscience. Maybe. Maybe not. Then again, maybe. Either way, U2 have let me down. And for that, I cannot, will not, forgive them.

The nineties were the period on which everything since pivoted.  U2 started out that period critiquing or satirising or riffing off of the whole media/technology/culture thing, and entered the new century as uncritical cheerleaders for it.  Cause progress, right?

The nineties were the period on which everything since pivoted.  U2 started out that period critiquing or satirising or riffing off of the whole media/technology/culture thing, and entered the new century as uncritical cheerleaders for it.  Cause progress, right?

Yeah indeed. Part of me still thinks Will Sergeant of Echo and the Bunnymen was taking the piss with this tweet, but probably he was being polite. Or, worse still, he's become a true believer.

https://twitter.com/Will_Fuzz/status/1731114777119015077

Edit: re-reading that tweet, it's pretty clear he was being sincere. But really, I have no inclination to see U2's, or Phish's, or anyone's multimedia Vegas extravaganza, no matter how many of my musical heroes praise it.

The other point that occurs to me around the background to Achtung/Zootv etc is that Bono and other U2 members said in many contemporaneous interviews, it wasn't just a satire on mass media and consumerism etc, it was also influenced by the band taking time out and relaxing after the late 80s multiple tours and finding themselves watching the first Gulf War on TV and how offputting they found the whole experience. Hey, now you can watch people being killed without seeing any actual blood and without taking any personal risks. And if you don't like it, you can change the channel.

I think I've mentioned before, it occured to me at the time the Pet Shop Boys were exploring very similar territory with "DJ Culture", also released in 1991 or so:

"Let's pretend we won a war
Like a football match, ten-nil the score
Anything's possible, we're on the same side
Or otherwise on trial for our lives
I've been around the world for a number of reasons
I've seen it all, the change of seasons
And I, my Lord, may I say nothing?
Dance with me
(DJ Culture) Let's pretend
Living in a satellite fantasy
Waiting for the night to end
(DJ Culture DJ D)"


Those lyrics could fit quite comfortably on Achtung.

edit: turns out I'm right, it's official:

According to the singer Neil Tennant, the song concerned the insincerity of how President George H. W. Bush's speeches at the time of the First Gulf War utilised Winston Churchill's wartime rhetoric, in a manner similar to how artists sample music from other artists.[3] The music video alternately features Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe as a pair of doctors, a pair of soldiers in desert combat dress, a judge presiding over Oscar Wilde (the line "And I my lord, may I say nothing?" is a close paraphrase of Wilde's comment after being sentenced to hard labour for homosexual practices) and a football referee and fan.