28
Nov
2009
U2 Gets Their Own Tribute Band
For those who didn’t already know that Elvis Presely was a great singer, the fact that so many Elvis impersonators have performed over the years should be evidence of this greatness.
Elvis, move over: Now the rock band U2 has a tribute as evidence of their own brand of musical greatness. The band calls itself 2U, and they played to a great reception in early October in Raleigh, NC.
True, their performance wasn’t at a huge sold-out arena. Rather, they offered their musical tribute, which according to reports sounds very close to the real thing, at Napper Tandy’s Irish Pub in downtown Raleigh over a three-day weekend. These same reports say that the best member on the band was the one singing Bono’s part. He supposedly had the real Bono’s voice down so close that without looking, you could not tell the difference between the two. Even his mannerisms were similar.
While I’ve never seen 2U yet (but hope too), and have seen U2, I have a feeling that seeing and hearing this tribute band in person must be similar to what it was like in the early days of Bono & Company, when the band played at some of the smaller venues doting the Ireland landscape.
The songs which 2U plays span the entire career of the original U2, from their earliest great hits to several of their more recent releases. And they do justice to them all, accordng to those who have seen both bands.
Incidentally, if you’re a U2 fan, don’t look at 2U as an attempt to steal the original band’s thunder. It’s not. They make it clear that they recognize that their own success stems only from U2′s greatness. In fact, at one of the Raleigh concerts, the real Bono had only good things to say about 2U.
There’s one other thing, that we agree with: 2U bills themselves as “The World’s 2nd Best U2 Show.” That’s appropriate, because, as fun and sensational as 2U might be,
nothing beats seeing the real thing among 70,000 or 80,000 or 100,000 other enthusiastic fans. Because after all, without the original, the imitators are pretty worthless.
If you’d like to see the original U2 in concert, remember that the best tickets at the best prices are always available here: http://u2tickets.com
