Being without Internet last week was an inconvenience for the obvious reasons, but when I found out this happened I was especially annoyed at my moving schedule because Twitter blew up when this all occured!
Due to Bono’s emergency back surgery, U2 was forced to cancel their anticipated performance at the UK’s Glastonbury Festival last Saturday. But, not one to disappoint the fans, Edge decided to make a cameo and surprise the 140,000-strong crowd by performing with Muse.
After Muse played their set, Edge came on stage to join them for the encore. The rockers and guitar aficionado then began to play U2’s legendary “Where the Streets Have No Name”. I wish I was there to feel the insanity that surely radiated from the audience at that moment.
However, the one thing that does pop up from a moment like this is, how can you play “Streets” without Bono? His glorious vocal range and passion burns through the song, so to hear it without him is very different. The song sounded the same as they played it, the chords, the lyrics, etc. But without Bono, and even Adam and Larry there to round it out, it lacked that spark that everyone feels when they see/hear U2 perform “Streets”. I do think they did a fine job, the audience certainly ate up all that goodness of seeing Edge, and again I think it was really fantastic of him to show up at the festival.
In an interview after the performance, Edge said that it felt “amazing” to perform with Muse. He added, “I thought about it for a good three minutes” before deciding to go to the festival when asked. He also dubbed Muse “the power trio of their generation.” While it was his first time ever at Glastonbury, it was also Edge’s first time doing “Streets” without U2.
As for how the band felt, Edge said they were cool with it him attending solo. In fact, the whole thing was discussed through SMS messages! Larry even said it was OK for him to go because Muse had “a proper drummer”. Edge also said of whether U2 will make an appearance at the festival in the future, “We have to. It’s just a case of when. It’s too important.” And how is Bono doing following his back surgery? “Concentrating on rehab and getting fit for the shows we are committing to doing,” Edge revealed.
View the entire interview here (thanks to my girl Amy for sending it to me). Check out the Glasto performance below. Video by thepwoperfish.
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