The one band The Edge called the opposite of U2: “Aggressive in a sort of passive way”
The heart of U2 has always been about making music that felt bigger than a catchy tune.
No one gets to the top of the charts without some fire in their belly, and there was never any doubt that Bono meant every single word that he sang whenever he began working on their masterpieces. That may have been their sure ticket to success in a lot of ways, but that also meant going against the grain of what every other rock and roll band was doing at the time.
Because as much as The Edge liked the idea of borrowing from the greatest artists of all time, it’s not like everyone else felt the same way, either. The name of the game at the time was forgetting everything that you knew about rock and roll to pave the way for something different, and there was no point in trying to do that by making teenybopper music. It was about punk and keeping things as real as possible, and the rest of the band were along for the ride.
But their definition of punk was a lot different from what everyone else’s was. They were avid followers of bands like The Clash, but there were also signs that they were moving towards something much bigger than the rudimentary sounds of punk, and while Sex Pistols may have been a great starting point for a lot of people, Bono was focused on what they could do with that kind of energy if they dared to take themselves even further than before.
So when Boy first arrived, it had the same punk heart but a more restless rock and roll spirit. There are subtle wisps of everything from post-punk to even singer-songwriters like Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison in the way that Bono delivers everything. All the world was at their feet, but they didn’t exactly pick the best spots to make that first musical step into greatness.
It’s inevitable for a lot of bands to make a few awkward moments at the start of their career, but the main problem U2 had came from the bands they played with. They were more than happy to be on whatever bill would have them at the time, but when they had The Virgin Prunes opening up for them, it was like night and day. The Irish legends were all about hope, but The Virgin Prunes managed to take all of that and make it much more aggressive.
That might sound good in theory, but all The Edge could see was a band going against their values, saying, “I think they’re aggressive in a sort of passive way. It’s a confrontational approach, whereas U2 wanted to charm the audience through the sheer energy of the band. They would come out and abuse our audience for 45 minutes, and Bono would spend our show trying to get them back. It’s just flipsides of what was going on at the time. It was the more destructive side they were tuning into.”
There’s definitely merit to having that kind of destructive energy during a show, but U2 aren’t really a band that relies on that. Seeing a band like Nirvana a few years later may have been more in line with the way The Virgin Prunes were doing things, but even Kurt Cobain never managed to outright despise his audience while he was playing or try to make the people feel bad for having shown up in the first place.
It was basic concert etiquette for U2, but most people have to learn quite quickly that rock and roll isn’t about setting rules for how any band should behave. It’s open season out there whenever someone starts singing, and it’s up to those in the audience to see whether they’re going to stand the test of time or not.
