Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman - Dave's Yin and Bono's Earnest Yang Mix Well
By Jim Slotek
Rating: B-plus
An unusual blend of a travel show and those MTV staple Unplugged specials, Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman on Disney+ isn’t exactly a deep dive as far as travelogue goes. But it does offer a glimpse into U2’s soul.
The travel part largely consists of David Letterman wandering the streets of Dublin with deliberate cluelessness, buying wheels of cheese and watching the Irish version of Polar Bear club members dipping into the ice-cold Irish Sea.
The Edge, Bono and Letterman talk about the past.
At one point, Bono dumbs down Irish history for his American buddy, drawing a crude map of the island on which both Irelands sit, with a mainland and the words, “U.K.”
Letterman’s inclusion has annoyed some reviewers, particularly U.K. ones. But the band’s most famous fan, who booked them frequently on his show, does serve to lighten the mood opposite Bono’s tendency towards earnestness. Call him the yin to Bono’s serious yang.
The core of the film is an acoustic show for lucky locals (Letterman, the show’s host, is seen handing out tickets on the street), with the singer and his guitarist/songwriter, backed by a handful of musicians at Dublin’s Ambassador Theatre. The performance was a prelude to the release Songs of Surrender, an album of reworked, rearranged and stripped-down songs.
The project is referred to by the dual frontmen as “going rogue” – with apologies to non-participants bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr.
The real history goes back as far as the late ‘70s, when Bono became inspired by a Clash concert in Dublin. It includes some very early footage of the nascent band finding its sound in clubs in the I Will Follow years. Almost forgotten is the image U2 had of being a “Christian” rock band, which turns out to have been a result of the band’s association with an activist Christian organization that Bono considered “punk.”
But, as we learn, that church turned churchy on them, suggesting that being in a rock band was frivolous with “The Troubles” all around them. The Edge, in particular, agonized over this, finally deciding that, rather than break up the band, the right thing was to write non-frivolous songs. His catharsis was Sunday, Bloody Sunday, a song that can’t contain its rage, even played slowly and beautifully on acoustic guitar.
Where the Streets Have No Name, Vertigo, One, all are squeezed through this minimalist reinvention process.
There is also expert commentary, from super-producer Jimmy Iovine whose association with U2 goes back to the early ‘80s, and Irish singer and friend-of-the-band Glen Hansard, of the rock band The Frames. Hansard dissects the band’s creativity, and – in a highlight – has Bono and The Edge join him in a pub for folk music and poetry.
Yes, Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman is unabashedly meant as creative marketing for an album. But if it is effectively a commercial, it’s an interesting and enjoyable ride.
Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman. Directed by Morgan Neville. Starring Bono, The Edge, David Letterman. Debuts on Disney+ on Friday, March 17.