U2 3D and Worship

Friday night Janet, myself and Caley (our 15 year old daughter) got a chance to check out U2 3D at the Rave. Wow! I’ve been to three live shows. The best being their Elevation Tour at United Airlines Arena in Miami. As a fan of more 20+ years, I’m amazed by their commitment to create relevant and moving “art.”

As you’ve probably already read, this is the first live action movie to be shot, produced and screened exclusively with 3-D technology. As a “work of art” it is amazing! Here are just a few of my thoughts.

• These guys are still passionate about what they do.

They’ve been together for a little more than 30 years. Most bands don’t make it past a few years and then egos get in the way or the road just wears them out… U2, on the other hand, formed in 1976 and they still seem as passionate today as they’ve ever been.

• Great song writing matters.

Sometimes you forget just how many GREAT SONGS these guys have written. Their catalog is incredible! The film covers some of their greats: Beautiful Day, Pride (In The Name of Love), Where The Streets Have No Name, With Or Without You, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, One, Bullet the Blue Sky and a few more…

• The audio mix in this film is unbelievable.

If you’re going to see U2 3D go to a great theatre. The mix is incredible. I’m already hoping that they release a CD version of the soundtrack to this film.

• The cinematography is amazing.

Leave it to U2 to take concert video to a whole new level. After the first song, I felt like I was such a part of the concert that I almost forgot and started to clap. It’s that good.

• Great music transcends culture and demographics.

I looked around the theatre Friday night and the age and ethnic diversity was amazing. You had your 40-something year old guys and gals like me, your twenty and thirty somethings and even some in their teens.

My 15-year old daughter went because her Dad really wanted to go… She left the film blown away, ready to go back.

• Why Can’t Worship Be Like This?

I left the film wondering, “Why can’t worship be like this?” I’m not talking about the extraordinary musicianship of The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton… Okay, we all talk about The Edge, but Mullen and Clayton form one of the tightest rhythm sections ever… These guys are stinkin’ awesome.

I’m not even talking about the killer vocals by Bono. By the way, his voice is still one of the best voices in music. I’m talking about the passion these guys bring to the stage… The commitment to excellence… The commitment to creating art that honors God and inspires people… The response of the crowd… The electricity in the stadium… The way their music actually MOVES you and CREATES A MOMENT!

Garrison Keillor once wrote:

“If you can't go to church and at least for a moment be given transcendence, if you can't pass briefly from this life into the next, then I can't see why anyone should go. Just a brief moment of transcendence causes you to come out of church a changed person.”

He’s right. Friday night I sat watching a concert film and was “moved.” I experienced transcendence.

Check out the film while it’s still in the theatres. You’ll be glad you did. Then, think about how you can take the hour to hour and a half you have with your people every weekend and create moments of transcendence. God really is worthy. People really do need it.

PS: Don’t leave the film early… At the end of the credits U2 sings “Yahweh.” Kind of makes you wonder, “Maybe this really was worship, after all?”