U2 - Can You Say Gargantuan?!

U2 kicked off their "massive tour" in Vancouver. Grantland was there. Massive doesn't really capture the scope of what U2 is unleashing on the world. Gargantuan. Big. Really, really big. It is not just a rock show, it's like a mobile, big-budget, Broadway production. On steroids. No, it's even bigger than that, more ambitious, more overblown. It will be a stunning, beautiful thing. For sure.

Every U2 tour seems to be bigger than the last. You wonder if there is a "law of diminishing returns?" I was so happy to see U2 "busking" in the subway in New York, it was just a "stunt," but there was something really cool about seeing those 4 guys just playing music.

4 people in a room, playing music. That is a wonderful thing. That is what I love. That special communication between 4 musicians. All the flash, and show-biz razzmatazz seems sort of pointless. I mean, I know people will flock to the shows, they will marvel at the big screens, and dazzling lights, but really isn't it just about 4 people playing in a room?

That is what is extraordinary. The rest seems sort of superficial. I know that's silly. U2 is too big-time,  there is too much pride and money on the line to just do a stripped down tour. They don't just want to win over the audience, they have to steamroller over them. If they actually just got up on a stage, plugged in and played, wouldn't everyone be so disappointed?

Not I. That really would be the must-see show. Why do I like U2? It really is the music, the spirit that animates, that is coiled around their best songs. Blow up the production, add more lights and theatrical drama? That's just a show-bizzy sideshow. And not the point. Really. But then again, I'm sure it will be a dazzling production. For sure.