Anyone see U2 on Letterman?

It was on last night.

Live?

I don't know.

I was into U2 *back in the day* when we thought they we're a punk band with a cleaner sound and an angry message so it sure seems different now... still it was cool to see a full on rock star grab the mic off the stand and work the crowd. He had the audience on their feet... How many times has that happened in the Ed Sullivan theater? ;-)

As an aside, I did notice three drop outs in the audio... which made me wonder if it was the wireless mic or something along the transmission... my picture was stable and clear... so I'm curious what others heard.

best regards,
mike

U2ube on Letterman

ORIGINAL: tarsier

ORIGINAL: bapu

How many times has that happened in the Ed Sullivan theater? ;-)

Feb 9, 1964.

Yeah, Frank Gorshin and McCall and Brill were awesome!

Ok, let's get it straight:

Frank, McCall, Brill & Ed.
Frank, McCall, Brill & Ed.
Frank, McCall, Brill & Ed.
Frank, McCall, Brill & Ed.
Frank, McCall, Brill & Ed.

ORIGINAL: Marah
not ALL that sound is coming from just the 4 of them live... is it??

wouldn't put it past "the edge". their arrangements have always been top-notch. less is more...

that's what i thought, but the next time i heard it i was pretty sure it was the guitar.

This song around 1:20-1:30...piano.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mRS0fUbrJs&feature=related
There are other songs with strings and such, but it's mixed back.

ORIGINAL: RLD

not ALL that sound is coming from just the 4 of them live... is it??

I'm pretty sure I heard keyboard parts in one of the tunes...maybe Paul is playing along?

Hi, RLD,

I didn't see the Letterman gig but I can tell you for sure that U2 have a keyboard player. His name is Terry Lawless and he plays live gigs with U2 on keys and also programs the keys for them. He also appears on some of their albums. On their last tour, they even let him play onstage at some of the gigs. Otherwise, he plays off-stage or under the stage at the live gigs. He even made the cover of U2's last album.

I know this because Mr. Lawless plays in a band with a very good friend of mine when he's not on the road with U2. I even got him to play some demo stuff on some of my own tracks last year. He was going to sit in with the band I played with at last year's High Sierra Music Festival but U2 called and needed him in the studio in Dublin. Bummer. I'd hoped to get to play with him, live. My guess is that he played the Letterman gig from offstage.

Best regards,
Bill

It's a little known fact that none other than Black Sabbath had a full time keyboard player who would record on their albums and tour with them - always off-stage. (Geoff Downs, maybe, was his name? Maybe some other Sabbath fan can confirm.) "Silent fifth member", kind of like above.

It seems kind of dishonest actually. More so than when artists lipsync or use autotune in live performance. Especially for an act... oops... I mean, for a band like U2, where realness and authenticity is part of what the band is supposed to mean.

Artists that use... or are usually suspected of using... artificial enhancements in live performance and hardcore gimmickry on their recordings tend to be the "manufactured" ones with a higher image-to-substance ratio, where image is what it's all about. Like, say, Madge or Brit-Brit. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1606244/20090304/spears_britney.jhtml

But for U2 to hide a keyboard player off-stage, where the audience can't see, and where the band itself will have no live bandy interaction with a key source of their sound, can't really be about anything BUT image.

Jeeze, next thing you know we'll find out they're playing to a click track.

I'm like so disillusioned.

There's still a legendary story here in town of the night U2 played one of our local practice rooms that is hidden in an industrial section of town on their first trip to USA. This room was about 1200 square feet and while it did have a new fangled concrete floor... (unlike some of the bars in town which still had dirt floors) the heating system was a small fire in a 55 gallon drum. It was a real life roots flannel punk scene... there wasn't no keyboardist back then ;-)

They've come a long way... and done a lot of good deeds.

They're no longer my style but I sure am proud for them. :-)

best regards,
mike

ORIGINAL: Marah

It seems kind of dishonest actually. More so than when artists lipsync or use autotune in live performance. Especially for an act... oops... I mean, for a band like U2, where realness and authenticity is part of what the band is supposed to mean.

Artists that use... or are usually suspected of using... artificial enhancements in live performance and hardcore gimmickry on their recordings tend to be the "manufactured" ones with a higher image-to-substance ratio, where image is what it's all about. Like, say, Madge or Brit-Brit. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1606244/20090304/spears_britney.jhtml

But for U2 to hide a keyboard player off-stage, where the audience can't see, and where the band itself will have no live bandy interaction with a key source of their sound, can't really be about anything BUT image.

Jeeze, next thing you know we'll find out they're playing to a click track.

I'm like so disillusioned.

Hi, Marah,

I agree. I was totally blown away when I found out that U2 was touring with an offstage keyboard player. Not only does it seem cumbersome from a technical standpoint, it seems just plain dumb to not have a live player on the stage, even if they are way at the back behind a Marshall stack or something. But, from what I've heard, in the case of U2 it really is an "image" thing, as you said. And, to their credit, they did have Mr. Lawless play onstage on their last tour. Why he didn't make the cut on the Letterman show, I have no idea. Maybe he wasn't even really there and they were using canned tracks. But the whole idea of it is kind of strange, to me.

I remember seeing the Rolling Stones back in the day and they had the sense to have Billy Preston and Bobby Keyes playing onstage with them. Can't understand what is to important to other bands, image-wise, that makes them put their fellow musicians off-stage. I mean, if the players are good enough that they are picked by the band to play the parts on albums and live, why aren't they good enough to be on-stage? Who knows? The music biz is a very strange thing.....

Best regards,
Bill

(Geoff Downs, maybe, was his name? Maybe some other Sabbath fan can confirm.) "Silent fifth member", kind of like above.

Close...Geoff Nicholls was the guy, Geoff Downs played in Asia

Saw them last night (Friday). Not a fan really, but they were good. Lettermen was pitching their new release which looked the size of an old LP (vinyl). I assume a CD was inside. Is this the new format? Can be nice because I might be able to read the liner notes again.

I wouldn't' doubt if part of Shaffer's house band was even doing some vocal backups, as well as some playing (keyboards). Who knows. Maybe even some guitar. They are top-notch musicians that even U2 would probably respect working with.