Ambition (n.)
- 1. An earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honour, fame or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment. Too much ambition caused him to be disliked by his colleagues.
- 2. A common trait executed with vigour by two of the biggest performing artists of our time. Jay-Z and U2 combine to bring a show full of talent, showmanship and ambition to the shores of Western Australia.
Jay-Z
Businessman, entrepreneur and musician, Jay-Z exhibits all these traits as well as a multiple array of achievements that few could boast. It's unfortunate that Jay-Z was welcomed by a relatively sparse crowd upon his entrance to Subiaco Oval (Patterson Stadium) on the last balmy Sunday before Christmas. However, those that had made the effort to come early obviously knew the reputation of the hip-hop mogul and provided a buzz of anticipation with the countdown of the clock on the 360° screen. There's maybe only two working bands in the world at the moment (the other being the Rolling Stones) that would be able to get such an artist to support their show. Although it may be an interesting “support slot” choice for the 'biggest rock band in the world', Jay-Z would undoubtedly go close to stealing the show from U2 if he was let loose in their multi-million dollar playground.
I'm going to be up front and say that I'm not familiar with the majority of his works, I know a few of his more well known tracks and the stuff I've heard, including his collaborations, have suggested that I really should go out of my way to give this guy a listen. But it didn't matter that I only knew “99 Problems” or “H to the Izzo” or that “Empire State of Mind” and “Numb Encore” had a major influence by featuring artists that were not present, Jay-Z and his band got me (and everyone around) “bounce- bounce- bouncing”. With his trademark black sunglasses and big leather jacket, black t-shirt, long shorts with sneakers and military style cap, Jay-Z oozed street cred and embodied, at least in my view, New York hip-hop. It's a big ask to warm up a crowd of guitar hungry fans, but Jay-Z's brand of lyrically strong anthems and his solid stage presence were well received by at least the front mosh of the stage. As it was U2's circular stage, it may not have been Jay-Z's choice to only utilise a fraction of the floor space, but it would have been hard for the fans behind the main arena to enjoy the quality on display. Jay-Z seems to be the sort of character that has never entertained the thought of achieving anything less than he imagined, I just can't wait to see what he imagines next.
U2
The four pronged attack of The Claw surely must have symbolic reference to the magnitude of the impact of the four individuals that combine to make U2. Or maybe its just because it looks really cool. U2 burst onto the stage playing their instrumental track “Return of the Stingray Guitar” with the Edge raging a powerful riff, Adam Clayton pumping out a bass line reminiscent of the best of Muse, Larry Mullens Jnr. pounding the drums and Paul Hewson strutting around on stage like he was Bono. Hold on. That aging rock star, complete with leather pants Jon Bon Jovi would be jealous of, IS Bono. Segueing into “Beautiful Day”, the voice of U2 didn't waver as Bono soared into the chorus accompanied by over 50000 back up singers. I'm not really sure why, but Bono has a trend of extended verses unnecessarily (mostly adding lyrics from popular songs) which for some tracks work, but U2's more established songs suffer under this technique and unfortunately this was case for the their Grammy Award winning single.
It was always going to be interesting to see how the much publicised 360° stage and screen was going to be put to use by the ambitious quartet. To be honest, it was a valiant effort but one that did not quite come up to par. This became apparent early in the set not long after “New Years Day”, a solidly performed rendition of a track from their wonder years but it seemed they lost the crowd just a tiny bit when they got into their more contemporary works. The crowd were definitely attentive, and even entertained, but the energy on the vast stage did not seem to transcend downwards and fans did not really seem to know what to do when Bono was conducting the audience away from them.
U2 have an expansive back catalogue but it was their defining era of the 80s with tracks from October, War, The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum that provided many of the night's highlights. The usual suspects were on display (“I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For”, “Desire”, “All I Want is You”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “One”, “Where The Streets Have No Name” and “With or Without You”) and every one of them were performed effortlessly and with great love for their work.
U2's anti-establishment roots are well documented, but these opinions (although valid) cause the show to drag especially when voiced by their front man. “Miss Sarajevo”, for example, is brilliant (Bono's delivery of the operatic solo still gives me goose bumps) but his two cents worth after combined with a video montage is a bit much. Perhaps this method works though. Thinking back to the gig, I remember more about his ideology than about specifics of his performance. Peace. Love. Tolerance. Political activism. It's all good. But in the moment, it takes away from four great musicians still at the top of their game.
U2 and Jay-Z are the royalty of their respective genres. They both have their critics, but its mostly due to their extracurricular ventures outside the stage rather than the incredible catalogue of musical credentials to their name. Ambition – it's something to strive for.
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