How to use this Page

After finally downloading some of my pictures, here’s a belated post about summer fun. If you’ve never been to the Glastonbury Festival you might be labouring under the misapprehension that it’s a music event. In fact, you could have a great time in the fields of Worthy Farm if you don’t do to see a band at all. A city of two hundred thousand people, three miles across, descends on the Somerset countryside and it is a city of wonders. I think the first time I went was 1992. I remember catching sight of the place and thinking I had stumbled upon Tina Turner’s Bartertown, from the Mad Max movies. There was just so much going on and here are a few pictures away from the music side:

Much of this year’s art was on a gigantic scale, set in some sort of post apocalyptic dystopian future. Here in an area of the site known simply as Block9 is “The London Underground”, a 50ft tower block complete with a crashed Tube train near the top.

Opposite “The London Underground” is another extract from an urban cityscape, the magnificent “NYC Downlow”. Dare you cross the road to enter what for the Glastonbury campers might still appear to be luxury accommodation. Yes the bathroom’s exposed to the elements but, hey, at least there’s a bath.

Shangri-La was a nearby area of the site that had “been contaminated”. It was a Blade Runner-style world with a mixture of hope and desperation. You entered underneath a neon banner proclaiming “We are all sky” which is something that’s always had a special resonance for me in my more poetic writing.

There was a rumour (that I started) that Bono’s plane had been shot down on leaving the festival, ending up as another club in one of the outlying fields. Or maybe this is an allusion to Lord of the Flies, that if the mud becomes too deep we’ll all revert to savages. Whichever, I think the styling’s extraordinary.

Here’s your chance to begin again in the off-world colonies. Now we’ve seen the final space shuttle flight it might be the only way to go there.

Tweet

By Robin S. Rosenberg

I recently saw a preview for the musical Spider-Man: Turn Out the Dark. It’s not really a musical; it’s a spectacle. It succeeds as a spectacle, fails as a musical, and hangs itself as a Spider-Man origin story. It’s easier to find good things to say about the spectacle aspect, so I’ll start by reviewing that aspect of the play.

Spider-Man: The Spectacle

Director/writer Julie Taymor and co-writer Glen Berger wanted to create a spectacle-something that was more than a musical. They succeeded. The sets were a wonder to behold (especially in the first half of the show). Aerialists, dressed as Spider-Man, the Green Goblin, and Arachne, flew about the stage and balcony, allowing viewers to feel a part of the production. In fact, because of the numerous injuries suffered by actors during rehearsals and previews, when the aerialists flew overhead it made me wonder-what if their cables broke and they fell on the audience? (And wouldn’t that be analogous to what New York’s pedestrians would wonder if an actual Spidey and actual Green Goblin were duking it out in the skies above Manhattan, without the cables?)

Even as a spectacle, though, the pacing of it didn’t work for me. Most of the spectacular elements were in the first half of the show, so when the effects and wow elements were fewer (and repeating) in the second half, it was a let down. During the last hour of the play, I kept looking at my watch. If you see the play and leave at intermission, you’ll see the best parts. Grade for spectacle (especially the first half): A.

Spider-Man: The Musical

In a good musical, the songs move the story forward. Unfortunately, the music in this play didn’t do this very effectively. The actors often spoke a “recap” of the gist of the song in order to transition to the next scene or to move the story along. (If you see this play, bring along some tissues or napkins to stuff into your ears: some songs were so loud that I had to cover my ears with my hands; I didn’t enjoy those.)

As you may know, the songs were written by Bono and The Edge, and it showed. The songs didn’t have the structure or feel of a “Broadway musical,” which is okay in theory, but not in this execution. Sad to say, none of the songs were memorable – they didn’t have a great “hook” as do many Broadway songs or even U2 songs. Plus the feel of the music didn’t match up with Spider-Man’s character or story. Grade for music: B- (I’m being generous here, taking effort into consideration in my grade)

Spider-Man: The Origin Story

I’ve read (or seen) almost every Spider-Man origin story there is because I’m writing a book on origin stories that includes a chapter on Spider-Man’s origins. I was looking forward to this musical to see how it compared with previous origin stories of the Webbed Wonder. I was disappointed. There isn’t a whole lot of character development here, and there isn’t much more of a plot; what plot there is focuses too much on Mary Jane and not enough on Peter. Even though Peter/Spider-Man is a comic book character, his story is rich in the human drama of shouldering the burden of

Michelle Rafferty, Publicity Assistant

Which is more important: saving the environment or fixing global poverty? Economist Paul Collier argues that we can find a middle ground and do both in his new book The Plundered Planet: Why We Must—and How We Can—Manage Nature for Global Prosperity. A former director of Development Research at the World Bank and author of the widely acclaimed and award winning The Bottom Billion, Collier’s The Plundered Planet continues his life mission of advocating for the world’s poorest billion people.

Collier made a quick stop in NYC recently and I was able to ask him a few questions about his new book. In Segment 5 Collier discusses his “rock star alliance” (his book The Plundered Planet was photographed in the hands of U2 frontman Bono).  You can check out the rest of the series here.

Michelle Rafferty: What’s it’s like to have this pop cultural force behind your work, and further do you think that celebrities can really make a difference when it comes to global problems like poverty and the environment?

Paul Collier: I know Bono, I know Bob Geldof. They are smart people who have actually taken the trouble to read, so they understand a lot I think. They are the victims of their own medium—which is it’s hard to sing a book. But what they are doing, they’re using their money to fund organization data which actually goes way beyond the songs that’s trying to help with the analysis and to advocate a much more sophisticated agenda. It’s very important to have people like Bono and Bob Geldof who draw people in. To get a critical mass of informed opinion, you’ve got to have a lot of people, and they do that. So I’m very proud of my alliance with the rock stars, and welcome it.

U2 in the house!

Last month, I went to see U2 LIVE! They brought the house down; Raymond James Stadium in Tampa will never be the same. The stage ensemble, known as the spaceship or the claw, was massive, the effects spectacular, and the concert only established what I already knew--U2 is the world's greatest rock band. Please notice: my ticket actually reads I M Fan.

Wait till you see the pictures--wait! Don't go yet! You will not believe how close our seats were! I could see Bono's eyebrows even without my binoculars! I could see so well that I saw Larry come to the stage and I yelled at my husband to get Larry on video.

"No one's even out yet," my husband said.

"Turn it on!" I didn't have time to tell him how right I was.

Then the spotlight grew brighter and the stage smokier and the beat of Larry's drums filled the air. Yeah! Larry! I remembered how Larry has carpal tunnel syndrome and gets specially made drumsticks because banging the drums is painful for him, he's been dealing with it for years--but no time to dwell on that, sorry Larry! because Edge appeared in a spotlight, then Adam, then BONO, then all HE!! broke loose and the screaming began! My husband doesn't scream, and there were no other women by me, so I had to do all the screaming for my section. Let me just say for the record, we were well-represented.

Here, for your pleasure, are just a few of the hundred or so photos I took of the concert. I hope you enjoy them!

These first two are from videos:


This bridge spanned the gap from the stage to the catwalk. A sea of hands stretched upwards, trying to reach Bono as he sang "Beautiful Day."
This photo is my favorite.

5 Comments on U2 Concert!, last added: 12/5/2009