Grant About Town

January 25, 2008

U2 3D

I was riding the train to work one morning a couple of Fridays back, perusing the RedEye newspaper with my bleary eyes. Flipping through the arts section in the back my eyes lit up when I saw a full page ad for the new U2 3D concert film simply titled "U2 3D". The film, which was to begin its run the following week at the Navy Pier IMAX theater, is billed by producer National Geographic as "The first live action 3D concert movie." My first thought was "I am seeing this movie." My next thought was "I wonder if Reggie (my college buddy and fellow connoisseur of all things U2)" wants to see this with me." Naturally, Reggie called me that afternoon to make plans for the movie. "I wouldn't see it with anybody else (in Chicago)," I told him. The date was set - January 25th - and the tickets were purchased.

Having seen the band perform live many times in many places, I have to admit that I wondered how the 3D experience would improve upon seeing them as I already had, up close and personal in the general admission floor section or really good lower level seats. Before Reggie and I made our way into the theater we each tried to recall the last 3D movie we had actually seen. Reggie recalled seeing something on local television growing up, a monster movie type thing. I honestly could not remember the last 3D movie I had seen, period. I'll say this, the glasses we got were a far cry from the flimsy white cardboard ones with the colored lenses we all remember as kids, used to see forgettable films like "Jaws 3-D" and "Friday the 13th: Part 3" in 3D. The glasses were plastic and big "Kanye West style" looking things as I noted to Reggie, clad in his Elevation Tour t-shirt. I was wearing mine from the Vertigo Tour.

With footage shot at nine concerts during the 4th and 5th legs of the Vertigo Tour in South America/Australia in early 2006, the film utilizes cutting edge "3ality" technology featuring high definition, multi-camera rigs, real time filming with zoom lenses, robotic control and integrated digital processing. The result was nothing short of breathtaking and from the moment the title of the film dropped down in front of me, so close I felt as if I could reach out and touch it, I was totally hooked. The first few minutes of the film the cameras sweep around frequently, from the top of the jam-packed stadium all the way down to the stage, hovering over Larry Mullen's drum kit, behind Bono's microphone stand and peeking over the heads of the fans as beer sprayed and arms waved. And I felt like I was right in the middle of it.

At various points during the show the cameras would come in tight on one of the band members, such as guitarist The Edge, standing six stories tall, and when he walked towards the camera you literally felt like he was going to burst out of the screen. It was like having him do a solo for you in your living room, except if your living room was the size of a small building and he was the size of King Kong. Having played the drums I also enjoyed watching Larry Mullen's technique in high definition, such as the way he used the timpani (kettle drum) at the begining of "Where the Streets Have No Name." I noted to Reggie that the picture detail was so good that I could actually read the name (Gretsch) off of the neck of Bono's guitar at one point. And with the audio in 5.1 Surround Sound there were literally times when I could have sworn that audience members in the back were cheering when it was actually crowd noise from the film.

Highlights of the show itself included a rousing version of "Miss Sarajevo" with Bono in full operatic tenor out on one of the curving walkways that came out from the main stage. It was also pretty cool when the cameras swept over to and then hovered over The Edge as he played keyboards during "New Year's Day." You could not have had a better view if you were sitting next to him while he played. Awesome. The way that the filmmakers integrated the video screens with the actual performers was neat, too, like when Bono would be singing with his video screen likeness right next to him.

When the show ended, Reggie and I talked about how neat it would have been to see past U2 concert films such as "Rattle and Hum" or "Under a Blood Red Sky/Live at Red Rocks" in 3D. We also agreed that the bar has been raised for all concert films that come out after this one, a truly amazing visual and audio experience that any U2 fan must seek out at once. Seriously, drop what you're doing right now and go to the nearest IMAX theater. You'll be glad you did.

U2 Set List - U2 3D

Vertigo
Beautiful Day
New Year's Day
Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own
Love and Peace or Else
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet the Blue Sky
Miss Sarajevo / Reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Where the Streets Have No Name
One

First encore
The Fly
With or Without You

Second encore/End credits
Yahweh

What Person Is In Deep S%#t This Week?

I am amending my "famous person in trouble" idea to recognize Dave Seanor, former vice president and editor of Golfweek magazine, who was fired Friday for illustrating a noose on the magazine's cover in the wake of broadcaster Kelly Tilghman's lynching comment in reference to Tiger Woods. For those not familiar with the story, while talking about challengers to Woods during a Golf Channel broadcast of the Mercedes-Benz Championship on January 4th Tilghman, in the booth with former PGA pro Nick Faldo, said that young players should "Lynch him in a back alley," implying that this is the only way to beat the dominant Woods. According to a statement by the Golf Channel four days later Tilghman, who has known Woods for 12 years and has a very good relationship with him, apologized to him and the matter was for all intents and purposes resolved.

Not quite. The Rev. Al Sharpton got wind of media coverage of the story and demanded that Tilghman be fired immediately, leading to the channel's decision to suspend Tilghman for two weeks. To this point my reaction to the story was that Tilghman made a very irresponsible and inflammatory choice of words, should have known better, and probably deserved to be suspended just based on her stupidity alone. Then Seanor comes along and makes the job-killing decision to illustrate a noose - that's right, a noose - on the cover of the January 19th edition of Golfweek magazine. Are you serious? PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem called the Golfweek cover "outrageous and irresponsible" and accused the magazine of tabloid journalism. "It was a naked attempt to inflame and keep alive an incident that was heading to an appropriate conclusion," Finchem said.

That Seanor would put a noose on the cover of the magazine under any circumstances is galling, but to do it on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday when sensitivity to it would be even higher showed a whole new level of ignorance. I'll be the first one to say that this country is too politically correct in general and needs to lighten up a bit. However, in this case Seanor screwed up and got what he deserved.

Clemens Guilty Until Proven Innocent

For weeks now, since he was named in the now infamous Mitchell Commission Report on steroid use in baseball, I have followed the Roger Clemens/Brian McNamee saga with great interest. Once a hero to me as a member of the Boston Red Sox in the mid 80's-early 90's, Clemens became a pariah to Sox fans when he let himself go physically his last several years with the team, left as a free agent without so much as a "Thank you" to the fans and signed with the division rival Toronto Blue Jays (where he won back-to-back Cy Youngs in 1997 and 1998). The only thing worse than that would have been his signing with the Yankees; Clemens took care of that in 1999 and officially became dead to me as a Sox fan.

Much like nobody really questioned the assaults on the record books by artificially bulked up hitters such as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in the 90's, nobody really questioned how Clemens went from a player who won 30 games total his last 3 years in Boston and looked close to finished to one who won 41 with more than 550 strikeouts in 2 years with the Jays and continued this revival with the Yankees. Until now, that is. With his naming in the Mitchell report and revelations from former Clemens trainer Brian McNamee that he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with steroids and human growth hormone 16-21 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001, Clemens now finds himself square in the crosshairs of federal investigators and Congress who seek clarification of his role in the fraud that was baseball's steroid era.

Now, of course, there is always the presumption of innocence until proven guilty when it comes to the American legal system. As much personal animosity as I have towards Clemens, I do understand in principle that even he deserves the opportunity to tell his side of the story and defend himself. And while a lot of the Clemens/McNamee situation boils down to he said/he said - Clemens claims McNamee injected him with only the painkiller lidocaine and the vitamin B-12 - the reality is that if you look at Clemens' actions since the release of the report, he is hardly behaving in a manner consistent with someone who is innocent. For starters, he did not immediately come out swinging as most would have when the Mitchell bombshell dropped in mid-December. And when Clemens eventually did address the matter, he did so via a statement through his attorney, Rusty Hardin, and a video on his website.

Clemens "60 Minutes" Interview - Part I

Clemens "60 Minutes" Interview - Part II

Clemens continued the media parade by doing an interview with Mike Wallace (Yankees fan, by the way) on "60 Minutes." In the interview, which aired January 6th, he continued to vehemently deny McNamees's allegations and also denied having advance knowledge that he would be named in the Mitchell report. This despite the fact that Mitchell sent two letters to the Major League Baseball Players' Association seeking comment from Clemens in advance of the report's release. Once again, this was carefully choreographed theater with Clemens playing the "Woe is me" card and being outright dishonest about the fact that he was blindsided by the allegations.

In a bizarre development just prior to the airing of the "60 Minutes" interview, Clemens and McNamee spoke by phone with Clemens' lawyer in the room taping the conversation. The tape is revealing in that at no point does McNamee indicate a willingness to say that Clemens did not use steroids, and McNamee also implies that he is telling the truth and would of course face jail time if he lied to the feds. Unlike Barry Bonds' trainer Greg Anderson, McNamee would not go to jail to protect his former client. The "60 Minutes" interview was followed up the next day by Clemens first actual press conference since the release of the report - a full 3 weeks after the report's release. In the press conference, an outright hostile Clemens lambasted the press for its treatment of him and lobbed a grenade at Hall of Fame voters when he said "You think that I played my career because I'm worrying about the damn Hall of Fame? If you have a vote and it's (turned) because of this, you keep your vote."

The way things are going for Roger right now, whether or not he makes it to the Hall of Fame should be the least of his concerns. His legacy has been tarnished and the trainer who Clemens claims is lying has already been proven correct once when his testimony that Andy Pettitte, a longtime friend and teammate of Clemens, used human growth hormone was confirmed by Pettitte. I wonder just what exactly a trainer with no medical degree was doing with the prescription drug lidocaine, as opposed to a team doctor. First of all how did he get it, and why would he inject it in Clemens' rear end, as Clemens claimed, when it is normally injected in one's arm? And just exactly why would McNamee tell the truth about Pettitte but lie about Clemens? Furthermore, why would he lie about Clemens to federal investigators knowing full well that if he did so he would go to prison?

Who knows just how much of the truth will come out when Clemens, McNamee and Pettitte, among others, testify before Congress on February 13th. Maybe Clemens will take the 5th like Mark McGwire did in 2005, mysteriously drop a bunch of weight and disappear from public view. Actually, that wouldn't be so bad, never having to see or hear from Roger Clemens again.