U2 The Video Archives 2015-2018 VOLUME XXIX

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1. The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon 09/07/17: Opening, the band talked about many things including their forthcoming album “Songs of Experience” and the inspiration behind it; the new single from that album “You’re the Best Thing About Me” (which they also performed) and why it’s okay to issue a love song when the world is on fire; and not least their Music Rising foundation, established in 2005 to raise money to buy new instruments from musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina and revived for Houston residents in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Most strikingly, they discussed President Trump’s controversial decision to “wind down” DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) which protects approximately 800,000 “dreamers” — people who were brought into the country illegally as children.The group then delivered a fiery version of the “Joshua Tree” show-stopper “Bullet the Blue Sky,” a song about America, with Bono altering the lyrics to address Trump and the present day. (He also wove in references to both Edwin Starr’s 1970 anti-war anthem “War” and “America,” the immigrant anthem from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s “West Side Story.”) “Suit and tie comes up to me, face orange as the rose on a thorn bush/ Skin as thin as an Orange Crush/ He’s peeling off those dollar bills …“Ground shakes, but the children can’t weep/ Vaporized in a single tweet/ The emperor rises from his golden throne/ Never knowing, never being known/ The lights are on the president’s home/ Oh my god, I’ve never felt so alone/ Outside it’s America, outside it’s America.”and close the show a live performance of the new single. The Best Thing About Me Is You”
2. Saturday Night Live 12/02/17: Opening They played “American Soul,” with a pre-recorded spoken word intro from Kendrick Lamar, and “Get Out of Your Own Way.” Predictably, that Kendrick segment was the peak of the set. On “American Soul,” Bono ambled around the stage, switching between a mic and a stars-and-stripes megaphone. The piped-in sounds of an excitable rabble cut out halfway through the first verse—but at least Bono’s words bordered on protest: “It’s a call to action, not to fantasy / The end of a dream, the start of what’s real / Let it be unity, let it be community / For refugees like you and me.” But “Get Out of Your Own Way” felt like the radio-friendly, resistance platitude that it is on record. It might be comforting to fans of a certain age: The Edge’s guitar had that familiar, chiming delay, and the chorus breezed past like the most moments on 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Includes closing segment with the band and host saying goodbye.
3. The 60th Annual Grammy Award 01/28/18: Opening Kendrick Lamar, U2, Dave Chappelle Open Grammys With Politically Charged Performance. Later in the show U2 deliver a politically charged version of “Get Out of Your Own Way”, braving the cold to perform outside with the Statue of Liberty looming majestically behind them. The band pre-recorded their performance Friday night on a barge in the Hudson River. The proximity of the Statue of Liberty helped drive home the call-to-arms nature of “Get Out of Your Own Way,” which includes dire warnings about the state of democracy. “The face of liberty’s starting to crack,” Bono sang. “She had a plan up until she got smacked in the mouth.” Adam Clayton’s chugging bass line was the engine pushing the song forward, while the Edge played his usual uplifting riffs on guitar and Larry Mullen Jr. added emphatic punctuation on his cymbals. At the end of the performance, Bono picked up a megaphone to announce, “blessed are the bullies, for one day they will have to stand up to themselves.” The performance ended with the singer raising his megaphone in the air, striking a pose that mimicked the Statue behind him. Later in the program U2 present the award for “Album of the Year”
4. The Ellen DeGeneres 05/15/18: Opening, Ellen comments how she’s always want d U on the program. Bono and Edge come out to start the show with an acoustic version of “Vertigo”. Half of U2 took a break from the North American leg of their eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour to make their first appearance on Ellen, where Bono told the host that “U2 saved my life.”During the interview, the pair recalled meeting in school and now The Edge’s late mother was U2’s first roadie. Ellen reminded Bono and The Edge that her very first concert was U2 on a riverboat on the Mississippi in New Orleans. “There was about 200 people there and it was when you were touring with Boy and it was the greatest concert to be at,” she said. “The energy was just incredible and it meant so much to me that you were my first concert.”  Asked what drove them crazy about each other, The Edge said: “Early on, your lunch was not safe. Bono never had a lunch so he would borrow from other people’s.” “I was a bit of a stray dog, my mother died when I was a kid, I was just a scavenger,” Bono said. “It’s no joke to say it, nothing drives me crazy about them in any real sense because genuinely they kind of saved my life,” “I really felt as a teenager, I had no reason to exist until I found them. And they also supplied food and refreshments. I don’t know if this is interesting but my missus, Ali, I started dating her the same week I joined U2 and that was a great week.” Funny segment where Bono and Edge are “Day Assistants” to Ellen and her staff. This segment is Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 to air the following day on the program). Very funny segment, with the whole segment for this scene. Live acoustic versions include the following “Vertigo”, “Love Is Bigger Than Anything”.
5. The Ellen DeGeneres 05/16/18: Opening, Funny segment where Bono and Edge are “Day Assistants” to Ellen and her staff continues with Part 2 from the day before Part 1 of this funny segment. This segment is Part 2 of 2 is also very funny as Bono and Edge get coffee for the staff.
6. Today Show 11/30/18: A day ahead of World AIDS day Bono is interviewed about his collaboration with former President Bush on providing medicine for Africa for AIDS and saving to date 18 million lives.
7. Rock Legends 07/28/15: This documentary short of U2 tells the story of one of the world’s biggest bands, featuring exclusive insights from music critics and journalists Michael Bonner (Uncut Magazine), Hamish MacBain (Shortlist), John Aizlewood (Evening Standard), and showcasing various classic music videos through out the years.