U2 rocks!!

Anybody catch U2's performance last night on Saturday Night Live? They were simply amazing. I've enjoyed their music for a long time, even saw them in concert back in high school (remember Joshua Tree?), but I wouldn't call myself a fan as such. However, their live performance on TV last night was nothing short of scintillating.

The band totally rocked the house. How four guys can produce so much sound is beyond me. They seem to create a bubble of sound that expands and soars like a cathedral. Bono is still screaming it out after all these years, and even though he had a few croakers, it didn't matter because it was a live performance, as he even reminded the audience at the end of the broadcast ("This is Saturday Night Live, live, live."), obviously referencing the recent scandal over Ashlee Simpson's embarrassing lip-synching snafu on SNL a few weeks ago. They proved that real superstars have the goods live on stage as well as in the studio.

I think the host of the show was Luke Wilson, who is one my favorites, but nobody was paying much attention to the comedy skits. It was U2's show last night and boy did they deliver. They performed their new hit single "Vertigo" and a slower ballad, "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own", for the second number. But later they returned for a show-closing rendition of "I Will Follow", their classic debut single from 1980 (can you believe it was that long ago?!).

In the last number, Bono and Edge both jumped off the stage and headed towards the crowd. Bono rubbed up against some of the young ladies in the front row (such a rocker) before playing havoc with the TV cameras. I would've hated to be the poor director during all that chaos, but it didn't matter because the band were hot and so was the crowd.

The show's credits rolled during the last chorus of "I Will Follow" and the crowd erupted as Bono screamed "Do you want more?!" and headed back to the stage to meet the Edge and start an extra song. That performance was for the studio audience only, however, since the broadcast ended before the band continued.

I would have loved to have been in that crowd, but I was completely satisfied by the television presentation. It was quite a moment that will definitely go down in television history as a highlight both for the band and for SNL.