This week on the pod jD and Matt discuss some U2 trivia before ceding the floor to Thomas and returning guest, Ryan McNeil.

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[0:28] Ryan McNeil. And now, curator of the Hall, J.D.

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[0:39] Thank you so much, Doug Dines. It is great to be back here in the SNL Hall of Fame at the SNL Hall of Fame podcast. My name is J.D., and I would love to welcome you in, but my goodness, this fall season has made your shoes all mucky-muck. Give them a wipe, won't ya? The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair where each episode we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest, or writer, and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the hall. And that's how we play the game. It's just that simple.

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[1:36] You listen. You vote. You listen again. You complain. We've got a spot for that now. That's the SNL Hall of Fame water cooler, which is going to appear in your feed every Thursday. Day and it's going to be discussing that week's episode in a little more critical focus and view inside the context of the hall so we hope you'll enjoy that send us an email snl8 the snl hof.

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[2:14] At gmail.com, So there's that. This week we have a great show. My friend Ryan McNeil is joining us. He is a multi-time guest on the show. Tends to focus on music and he is doing that once again talking about U2, nominating U2. So that should be interesting to hear. If you enjoy what you hear, please follow him at thematinee.ca. That's his blog, his movie-loving blog, and there is the podcast of the same name. Let's find our friend Matt Ardill and see what he has to say, that son of a gun. Matt!

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[2:59] Diddy. You too. What do you got?

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[3:04] Yeah, I mean, they're from Ireland. I think that was obvious by like two seconds of listening to them. They formed in 1976. They were formed by Larry Mullen Jr. Posted a note on his school notice board for musicians starting as a seven piece called Feedback. Uh then they started whittling away and became hype and then eventually got down to uh the lineup we know larry mullen jr bono the edge and adam clayton becoming you too now bono's real name is paul david hewson the edge's real name is david howell evans um and they're they how they got got their nicknames or kind of internet edge got his nickname from the shape of his face uh so um it's it's he's edgy um larry and adam also have nicknames which you don't often see uh larry's being yeah jam jar uh that's what they like to call him um and adam was mrs burns um i mean it's It's clear that these are names that that are given in jest because Bono's actual full nickname came from an abbreviation like Bono came from an abbreviation of his full nickname, which is Bono Vox of O'Connell Street.

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[4:30] Really? Yeah, I, you know, the Irish, we're a mystery. Um now he's inspired by everything from uh Brian Eno or they are inspired by from everything from Brian Eno to Thin Lizzy to Joy Division and the Beatles um to say their their their inspirations are diverse.

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[4:52] Understatement um now they kind of broke big by winning a saint patrick's day talent show in limerick in 1978 they won 500 pounds and studio time which resulted in the demo they gave to cbs records in ireland um their first release was an ep entitled three which was released only in ireland um they are very charitably minded um including amnesty international make poverty history the one campaign live aid live eight data uh music rising and goodness knows how many more charities um they are the fourth band on the cover of time magazine the others being the beatles the band and the who um so they're the only one without company yeah pretty good company and the only one without the in their name so uh that makes them unique but yeah i mean like what what other band like those are three of the best bands of all time so can't complain they're actually one of the few bands though that turned down doing a uh by john peel um get out of here Yeah, John Peele's like, no, no, I don't like them.

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[6:12] Oh, they were turned down by Peele. Yeah, Peele's just like, no, I don't want to do it. The UK Tastemaker was one of the few big hits he refused.

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[6:22] The others being The Police and Dire Straits. Peele shrugged it off in the not a fan category.

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[6:32] Basically, just didn't like them. So they are a bit polarizing. I have an ex-wife who hated U2. So, yeah. They're the only Irish band to win a Grammy for Album of the Year. They hold the record for the most Grammys won by one band at 22. They went on to do a 40-night residency at the Las Vegas Globe, filling the 160-square-foot venue. I have to correct you. Sorry. The Sphere. Sphere? The Sphere. Okay. Yes. The Sphere. The Sphere. Okay, let's go back. No, no. they didn't just leave it let's just leave that yeah okay um they they sold 281 000 tickets uh making 109.8 million dollars get out of here yeah uh they they don't need any money they're doing fine um now apple they aren't without controversy aside from my ex-wife um apple Apple pushed their album, Songs of Innocence, with no way to remove it, which pissed people off so much. Apple had to develop a special program to remove the album after it was pushed to devices without permission.

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[7:59] But in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and have also received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2022. 22 she was very well decorated yeah so they are a band with uh the credits to to get in pretty much anywhere they want so will they get one more accolade this season in the much maligned musical guest category matt uh i don't know i don't know they are certainly friends of the show and uh they they pack a ton of credibility as far as having a worldwide band in 8h you know pretty neat kind of thing um what do you say we head downstairs, can't wait let's give it all right thomas take it away.

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[9:25] Yes, JD and Matt, thank you so, so much. Today's an exciting day here on the SNL Hall of Fame. I'm going to be talking about a band that I absolutely love. Arguably, at their peak, the biggest band in the world. I'm not even sure how arguable that is. I think they were the biggest band in the world. And joining me to talk all things U2 and SNL, back for what I like to call another edition of Ryan's Music Corner here on the SNL Hall of Fame. That's kind of what I've pigeonholed him as, but like awesome musical guests. So without further ado, I want to welcome Ryan McNeil to the podcast. Ryan, what's up, my man? You know what? I just keep on trying to get one of these bands into the hall. I also just selfishly love coming by to just talk about my favorite bands. Come on back next time, kids, while I talk about Jack White.

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[10:23] We're just going through the list. You know, I'm basically getting to talk about all of my favorite acts. And I'm sure there are legions of people who have met me over the course of my life who cannot believe that you gents have given me a soapbox to talk about you two. There are whole swaths of people that are saying, in the long list of bad ideas, this is a very bad idea. Oh boy, here we go. oh, yeah, that's how I can get with a lot of my favorite bands as well. You just pull the cord and then watch us go.

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[10:55] It's shutting me up. That's the hard part. Yeah. Our Dave Grohl episode was a little like that, which was one of my favorite episodes that I've done. This is now the fifth season that I've been doing these conversations. And our Dave Grohl episode was still one of my favorite episodes. So I think we can handle this one. Nice. Can't wait. Yeah, me too. Before we get to that, though, you have a podcast that I love, a movie podcast, The Matinee Cast. So, man, what's been happening over on your pod? We just wrapped up a season. My seasons end in August because September for film is a little weird. So I usually just take the month to kind of reset. And I send a postcard from TIFF, which happens in Toronto the week after Labor Day. So there would have been a TIFF postcard that went out about what we saw, what the week was like, what the festival was like. And then we get ready in October for a whole new season. and I've lost count of how many seasons. I guess this would be, oh shit, this would be our 15th season actually. No kidding. Yeah. That's impressive. I'm a senior citizen when it comes to podcasting.

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[12:02] I was telling Darren Patterson was on with me recently for Garrett Morrison. He does the SNL Nerds podcast and he was saying they're on their 300th episode. I'm like, you realize that most podcasts go to like four or five episodes and then quit? Yeah. So this is like, that's really impressive, man. If you hit double digits, you're doing muscle. So I, the, one of the things that keeps me going is I only do them every other week. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's true. That's only spread. Yeah. Spreading that out. Uh, so will you be covering the Saturday night movie in October?

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[12:32] Good question. Uh, in the past, yes, yes, I would have been, but Tiff for me, uh, around 2016, I changed my approach actually to the, to the Toronto international film festival. And that was the first year where I was really limited to what I could see. I had a very shortened window that year, so I needed to pare things down. And I started that year only going to see the films at TIFF that were directed by women, which cut a big chunk out of the festival and really made it easier to choose how many films I was going to see. And I had such a great time that year. It really kind of gave me a new lane in the festival that I just stayed in that lane. So ordinarily, I would be. Uh, I've seen several Jason Reitman films at the film festival. He kind of loves going there. Um, and I, I love a lot of how Saturday night looks, uh, but I, you know, rules are rules. So, uh, no, so not at the festival, but I will be seeing it. Uh, and then on the podcast, I'm sure we'll be covering it. Yeah. I might, I might, I might have to bring in JD to talk about that one. So yeah, Saturday night movies coming out in October, October 11th, I believe. So I'm, I'm pumped about that. So I can't wait to hear if you have an episode about that. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

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[13:48] I'm looking forward to it, for sure. Yeah, for sure. So a few months ago, you and I were talking about what other bands we could cover here on the SNL Hall of Fame. No offense, if my other guests are listening to this, Ryan, with the musical guest, does get special treatment, I suppose, and kind of picking his brain about, so what other bands would you want to talk about? And you brought up U2 pretty immediately and excitedly. So what does U2 as a music fan, Ryan, mean to you?

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[14:19] U2 is my band. And it's a strange thing to say that because I realize how many people in the world really don't like U2. There's a lot of people who love them. You know, they're still packing thousands to their concerts all over the world, including, you know, sometimes when they're just doing a Las Vegas show for a few months. Uh but there's a lot of people who hate them a lot of people who think they're overexposed their music is boring that they're still mad at them for putting music on their ipod um but i when i was.

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[14:55] 13 14 years old started listening to their songs and they spoke to me and i have never really let go of them it's it's an interesting feeling now because it kind of they're not what interests me from day to day i i latch more onto bands like the national and uh kendrick lamar and saint vincent and bands like that um but you two always feels like going home um so even watching a lot of these performances were songs that i haven't actually played in some time but i know every word to so they they are my favorite band ever uh they always will be uh they're they're are confounding at times but i i love the holy heck out of them yeah yeah i love them too and i'm that way my favorite band is radiohead and i'm that way with radiohead because i don't go and listen to radiohead every single day i can go a long time without listening to radiohead but when i decide to put okay computer on it's like i'm coming back home man like the warm and fuzzies and everything so i can see that uh for sure about you too um i i've loved them um probably Probably more so in the last 15 years or so. But even when I was a kid growing up, like the Joshua Tree, I was so familiar with that album, Octoon Baby.

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[16:12] So they've been a part of my life. Like they've just been ever present since I've known what music was. Would you agree? I mean, there was a time when they were the biggest, like the biggest band in the world, right? Oh, absolutely. They kind of, it was interesting because, yes, is the short answer. Yes, and to, you know, to honor SNL. Yes, and they kept trying to get the belt back.

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[16:37] And we'll talk about that when we start talking about their performances. But what's interesting is right now, if you ask me for cash and prizes, who is the biggest band in the world? I legit do not know. The biggest band in the world is probably a solo act of some sort that I cannot think of a group of individuals that I would say is the biggest band in the world. I know who the biggest artist is, but like band, you're right. I couldn't name the biggest band. Yeah. And, you know, there was this lineage for a while of bands like U2 and Guns N' Roses and Oasis and, you know, and so on and so forth. Coldplay for a while, Radiohead for sure, that were, you know, capital letters, the biggest band in the world. I don't know who it is now, but yeah, U2, they've had this up and down career. It's strange to say that when you consider how omnipresent they are, but they have had these wild fluctuations in their career where people either really love what they're doing and identify with it or cannot stand it and completely reject it. And it's no in between. Yeah, I know someone who rejects U2 almost because she says that Bono, well-intended with his community service and world – essentially world service pursuits, comes off as a bit – Preachy. Preachy, yeah. Self-importance. Exactly.

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[18:01] So she says that in a wrong way, but – Yeah. I say this as a fan, the band would probably be more successful if Bono wasn't working on his humanitarian stuff as much as he is. Yeah, so I know that's a critique. Before we get into their SNL stuff too, you saw them at the Sphere in Vegas. I did. And I think our listeners need just a quick review of the show that you saw, man. I went with my best friend of 35 years, who is also a big U2 fan. It was his idea. And we really didn't know what we were getting into. We were able to get tickets on the floor, which was in classic U2 style, were the cheapest seats in the house. It's like, if you want to stand on the floor, we are more than happy to have you and you can get in for less. And what is trippy about that room i say this to everybody who's listening if your band plays that venue go like pull the money out of savings and go because that room is has to be seen to be believed it's the size of a basketball arena but built for art so the problem with a basketball with any kind of venue that you see a band in is you're watching a place that's designed for sports and television, not music. Sound is not even secondary. Sound is probably third, fourth, or fifth down the list.

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[19:31] The sight lines were gorgeous the screen is incredible it's 26 stories tall and the set like they just put on an incredible show it was um it was the best i've ever seen them but they were helped in a big way by the venue uh and and just again it felt like going home like all those songs just hit me anew yeah i was simultaneously jealous but super happy for you at the same time because i know how much you love you too so and in classic u2 style they turned their sphere residency into this running gag you know where people by the time they got to the end of the residency people were comparing them to the phantom of the opera that's just stuck in the sphere and cannot leave oh that's great yeah that's awesome so yeah so if you ever if one of your favorite bands plays the sphere take it from run don't walk yes yeah run don't walk go check it out um so we're gonna as far as you two on snl we're gonna do a little something different to start the show because I've brought you two up with some really big SNL geeks and they've told me the same thing like you two's awesome but SNL didn't get them like at their peak necessarily.

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[20:39] So I'm like yeah like I had to concede that like they they didn't so I want to do an exercise with Ryan I'm going to take part in this too we're going to do a little fantasy booking before we get into their actual performances and for SNL hall of fame voting purposes this does not count toward the rest of the Hall of Fame. This is just mine and Ryan's kind of nerdy exercise here, brief fantasy booking here. So I told Ryan between about 1980 and 1991, if they appeared twice in that time period, how would you book those appearances and when? So I want to start, do you want to kick it off, Ryan, or how do you want to do this? How many do I get? Two appearances. Two appearances. And standard SNL, so that should guide you as to how many songs they perform. Okay, okay. So in that case, here's what I want to do. I want to go... I actually want to start earlier in their career. I don't want to go all the way back to Boy in 1980. I want to bring them in when they're touring War. war. So the war came out in 1983. Yep. 83, 82. 83.

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[21:57] I should have this stuff committed to memory. And I think that would have been interesting if that was one of the episodes where Drew Barrymore hosted. And I would love to see them play Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day. Oh yeah yeah okay they're like that era of the band it's almost it's almost foreign to see now because they're so lo-fi they're much they're much more in tune with where they came from like you know them coming from ireland in the late 70s and being inspired by the ramones and the clash and you know those kinds of bands and television like you wouldn't expect that now when you watch them play and you see them being so larger than life and so anthemic, you wouldn't think that they were guys who were inspired by white men at Hammersmith Palais, but they were. So to go back to that era and to watch them be so young, so full of energy, like their songs were so fast, that I would love to see on the SNL stage. I think that would fit in really well with a lot of that early SNL aesthetic too, when it was much more DIY.

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[23:11] Yep ebersole that's the ebersole era yeah still that they would have that they would have come into uh yeah as well yeah yeah i like that uh it's kind of funny we had parallel thinking right there um because for mine i i waited for them to have like three albums under their belt kind of get more and more of their name out there so i had them for war as well after the war album and i wanted to see them play sunday bloody sunday and like a song i think like a song is this energetic love it kind of big sounding i think they would they would have totally ripped like a song they would have in 8h and uh so i have them doing yeah sunday bloody sunday like a song i don't think they were the band in 83 to get the preferential third song no but so that's why only having them do two songs but i think that's a nice like sunday bloody sunday we both have because that's just like the chill inducing that's the one that you play first that's what what people know. But then like, yeah, you and I kind of differed on the second song. But interesting that we both had them around the war period of 83. Yeah. I mean, I do love when SNL brings a band in early in their career. You know, it's wild to say in this case, early in their career being three years and three albums in, arguably at the point where they cemented the fact that they were going to stick around. Because after the second record, people weren't really sure. And nowadays they wouldn't have made it to a third record.

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[24:38] But yeah, that that was the point where it's like, OK, no, these these these lads have something to say. So for appearance number two in our fantasy booking, Ryan, where do you go?

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[24:48] I could go several different ways, to be entirely honest. I'm going to go against my instinct. And I'm going to say I want to bring them back in 1991 when they were on the heels of the Actung Baby album, when they really reinvented themselves. I think Jason Priestley would host that show. And I would love to see them play The Fly and Mysterious Ways. Okay. Yeah, I'm curious about The Fly. The.

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[25:18] Fly is so fun visually like The Fly was when they went and did this album that was so different than everything else they'd already done it wasn't as rootsy it wasn't that DIY record it was this really you know produced by Brian Eno very Berlin inspired music that actually cost them a lot of fans like there were a lot of fans that were like out at that point but The Fly was really where the band and Bono leaned into this music and it's got this like fuzz boxy kind of guitar and he's dressed up in this like patent leather with these stupid goggles and he's acting all very larger than life and very um you know acrobatic uh it it visually it's great it would be great tv yeah yeah no i can see that that's a that's a good call so you so you said you had um and mysterious ways and mysterious ways just because i think that's a song uh that they would probably like they were the the visual for that one was a a belly dancer so i could foresee a belly dancer kind of doing their thing on the stage with them yeah good call so parallel thinking for us again man so oh you went there as well i went there as well so actoon baby i went in 1991 i'm gonna give them keifer sutherland okay as the host skid row was the actual musical guest for keifer sutherland we're kicking skid row out and we're bringing you two in love it so uh so i went with mysterious ways their most popular song i think off of Vac Tune Baby.

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[26:46] I think it would play well in 8H. This is my personal favorite U2 song.

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[26:53] It's acrobat okay so you know you know what's interesting is that neither one of us went for one yeah i looked at one and i'm like no i want to get off of that i was like thomas gonna choose that um but um i didn't go populist this time no acro and acrobat again it would sound and look.

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[27:12] Incredible um i believe i've heard them play that i don't hold me to that but it's it's it's very deep in the record. I think if it's not the second last track, it's the third from the end. It's kind of where people usually tune out, but yeah, it's a really soaring guitars.

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[27:29] Oh, swirling music. Love that song so much. Very underrated song. A hundred percent. And the soaring guitars is what gets me. And that's, that's why it's my favorite you to song. Cause I hear it and I'm like, this is just like chill inducing. It's amazing. I think it would rock. I think it would just sound so good. I could imagine the lighting Bono getting so into it. Um, Ryan, I have them playing a third song because by 1991, they're so huge. I think they're going to close out the good nights and I have them playing. I still haven't found what I'm looking for at the end, a little crowd pleaser during the good nights. I can totally just totally see that happen. So I'm giving them a third song. It's going to go back to the Joshua tree. I still haven't found what I'm looking for to close it out. Okay. I like it. I like it a lot. That would set a precedent for, for you to doing a third song because we saw that a couple Double time. So. So that was fantasy booking with me and Ryan geeking out a little bit because we missed, I think a lot of SNL fans missed you two kind of at their peak. It's kind of a Prince thing. I think Ryan, like amazing artists, but we didn't see like the peak necessarily on the show. This is true. Prince, at least he showed up and then he disappeared and he came back. It was kind of like Bowie too. He showed up, he disappeared, and then he came back.

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[28:51] U2, they never had that. And they went, again, we've got 20 years of their career before they show up. They're teetering on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by the time they finally arrive.

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[29:06] And it's not like they weren't performing on television. It's not like they weren't doing well or doing that kind of appearance. Their music videos at the time were very known for kind of taking over public spaces. So it's, I have no idea, maybe just the stars could never align to get them in or what, but it's a really wild thing to see this band not just show up fully formed, because we've talked about that on this show before, but just show up several rounds, it's like several peaks and valleys into their career.

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[29:39] And that they had interaction on stage with a couple of, or with at least one or two SNL characters. Didn't Wayne and Garth kind of do some sort of cross thing with them on MTV? They did. Yeah. There was a, there was the MTV awards one year, Dana Carvey hosted it. And at one point he came out as Garth and he got to drum with them. They were, the funny thing is they were like from, by satellite from whatever live concert they were doing. Right. But he was drumming like really live because at the time it was the Zoo TV tour where he He was like flipping channels and like the TV part of it was very big. And at one point he flipped to Garth and Garth was drumming with them. Yeah, that's so cool. So there's a little bit of an SNL connection. Yeah, they're in early 90s. But when they first made their debut and I said the SNL fans missed out, they didn't miss out on great performances. Certainly. They just kind of missed out on like when U2 was like the biggest band in the world kind of band. Yeah, they missed out on eras is what they missed out on. To steal the label of the current biggest artist in the world. Yeah, exactly. So their first appearance, season 26, episode 7, that was December of 2000. Val Kilmer, your host. This was after they released All That You Can't Leave Behind. I think the songs that they performed completely made sense. The first one was Beautiful Day.

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[31:05] Someone you could lend a hand To turn the world around To you there's my hand, I'll face the sky for the fear I'll face the future for the day.

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[31:25] Down the road On record, I think it's an okay song to me. But live like I was super impressed by this one what do you think Ryan so the wild thing about this moment is this is them coming back, So the late 90s was not kind to U2. They were disappearing for long stretches. Their tours were only so-so.

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[31:54] And people were already tired of them. People were like, ah, they've lost it. So then they go and they make this song that is structurally very strange, should not work. And even me as a fan, I was like, well, it's OK. And then all of my non-U2 friends were playing it and playing it and playing it. And it became this huge song in 2000 that was their big comeback hit. And you're right, live it gets additional legs. And this one I've definitely heard live several times. And, you know, even just when Val Kilmer is introducing them, you can hear the crowd is already like ramped up and ready to adore it. I noticed that too. there's like an anticipation like pent up yeah for like years yeah yeah they make it all look so easy uh what i love about this song is it shows how loud these four boys can get like they're they're you know it's just four instruments there's no extra there's no strings behind them there's no keys or nothing like that that's filling things in it's just them they make a lot of noise and they get a very very big sound and it's it's wild because they make 8h seem like an arena when they're playing this song yeah absolutely i do want to shout out the boys by name we've mentioned bono and of.

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[33:09] Course on yes on the guitar edge david evans to his mother but edge to everybody else um adam clayton on the bass larry mullen jr on the drums those two are uh unsung heroes in that band they are they are incredibly talented and could do anything they They wanted to, if, if they were ever got bored of doing this job and, and they, and they shine later on, we'll talk about them again in a second. Yeah. But yeah, these two songs, beautiful day in elevation.

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[33:37] They really showed off. Um what the band was ready to do like they were ready to take back their place at the top of the charts um elevation was actually kind of interested as well both of them bono has a real trick of knowing when and where he is um at all times and this episode was on december 9th 2000 which was almost 20 years to the day that john lennon was killed in new york so in both songs there are snippets of john lennon music he does um i think it's all you need is love in the first song and instant karma in the second song so it's it's he's got a real trick of knowing where and when he is at all times and kind of alluding to that so um lennon's another person who really inspired bono especially but the band for sure so seeing those two things caught on on camera was really wild and knowing where he is like to to quote like the cowbell sketch from around that time bono was exploring the studio space yes in 8h man like i loved when like there was already great energy to begin with and then bono goes into the crowd walks around messes with the camera a little bit he loves doing that he loves messing with cameras like at the so you see him alive will he kind of like find a camera that's shooting like the big screen he'll kind of mess with it too Mm-hmm. Always. That's been his favorite trick since 91.

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[35:05] Oh, okay. Yeah. He messed with the Studio 8H camera. The crowd was on fire at the end of this. They really did. And it really was this wild moment in 2000 where this band that everybody had more or less moved on from, all of a sudden just came back unexpectedly.

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[35:58] Their first snl appearance an event it sounded like an event you would reference their music sounds big we would use the term soaring which i think both of these songs qualify it so that both of them sounded so big on that little stage and and and it worked it just it just so like completely worked so i thought it was like an event the first time like yeah 20 years in the making and it delivered absolutely so their second appearance season 30 episode 6 mr luke wilson uh hosting a couple of days this is november 20th of 04 so it was a couple days still before they were going to release how to dismantle an atomic bomb i think vertigo was already kind of out there in the ether and being played and that was the first song that they chose again um made sense typical big U2 sound I mean sound like a broken record I enjoy this performance very much.

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[37:22] We'll be right back. The, vertigo had latched into a lot of people's consciousness because it was the ipod commercial it was it was kind of this controversial moment of had you two just sold out um back you know back when that was a taboo thing nowadays that's part of that that's part of your income but um you know, for this band that was very much about altruism and about selflessness. And, you know, yeah, listen, they make money, but they weren't about selling their souls to sell Cadillacs. It was like, what do you mean they licensed their music to Apple? And the story then turned into, oh, no, no, they let Apple use it, but they didn't take the money. Vertigo. This is where Larry and Edge are playing their asses off. The bass line and the drum line of that song is deceptively good that just kind of gets lost behind that guitar riff that's so easy and bono doing his yeah yeah yeahs throughout the whole thing It's a fun song to sing along to. They play it up again, really loud, really big.

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[38:30] It's it's it's yeah, it's just take no prisoners holding the belt. You know, they're the biggest band in the world again. And it's like we're not letting go. It took us seven years or six or seven years to get back to the mountaintop. We're not getting off the mountaintop just yet. Yeah, I felt that, too, for sure. And it's kind of funny because maybe it's like, I don't know, like because Bono's wearing wearing sunglasses indoors or something. He always does. Yeah. Like it occurred to me while watching this, how much of a giant rock star that he is. And that might, yeah, that might sound like such an obvious statement, but like watching him command the stage just makes me think like, oh yeah, this is what a rock star is. And you can't really learn how to do this. It's almost seems like it's something that's in you. And so watching Bono, it's like, he knows, he knows how to command the stage you referenced he he he lives for the moment so that's like with watching vertigo again yeah adam play and edge stood out but bon i looked it was like bonos of damn rock star yes yeah the.

Track 2:

[39:33] Amazing thing about going back to this episode after vertigo and its braggadociousness um is they come back and they play this song that was a huge single off this record but i've actually almost forgotten about it called sometimes you can't make it on your own long.

Track 2:

[40:16] This song is one that Bono wrote in the wake of losing his father.

Track 2:

[40:25] And I knew that at the time. I knew that. I follow every darn thing that the band does. But for some reason, I didn't really hear it properly at the time. And now coming back to it after my own father has passed away, this song is just dripping with grief and it's got this beautiful build um some incredibly frank lyrics that when you learn more about um bono's relationship with his father and what that all entailed which would be enough to fill a whole show um and not in a way that's the typical like angsty father-son relationship but actually a very very close one um the song gets a whole other layer so watching it in in preparation for this conversation it hit me a lot harder than it has in the past um and it's something that i i do recommend people go back to if they've never heard the song or if they've forgotten the song listen to it because it's just it's one of their more underrated songs and the way they perform it and it becomes this slow beautiful build into to just this beautiful embrace is really something special to see yeah it was great sometimes you can't make it on your own uh is the song two things that stood out to me really was like.

Track 2:

[41:50] Edge really shines during this performance for me i love that soaring guitar yeah that's part of the build-up that you mentioned and then it turns into this soaring guitar that edge does so well and i don't know if it's it's the guitar tone and the youtube does a lot especially live with like reverb and making it sound big and stuff like that but that's what like he's a mad professor yeah right yeah edge's guitar just totally like sung and soared to me and.

Track 2:

[42:18] It almost it did make me think too that even their slower songs sound huge oh yes that's an accomplishment but their slow songs have this build up and they just sound enormous like this is a band ryan that was i think you listen to boy and i think when i listened to boy which was their first album that they're already made for the arena instantly i think i will follow is the first song off of.

Track 2:

[42:42] Boy and i listened to that and i'm like they're made for the arena they did like they were they were aiming big they they they aimed big and they hit it yeah absolutely so you can see that in their slow songs yes as well so this is like a perfect example and i just did a segue and i didn't even mean to do that i looked up and i was like oh yeah um this song this next song would have been if we were doing fantasy booking early on i would have chosen i will follow um so i love that they did this during the good nights they got a third song what a special moment like how cool was this.

Track 2:

[43:54] Watch them play a song that's 24 years old at that point just you know rip the roof off the the studio the crowd is in it the cast is losing their minds one of my favorite parts one o'clock in the morning and everybody is just wrapped you know everybody is loving their them saying good night with this classic yeah i mean bono's doing his bono thing he's walking throughout eight age messing with the camera he gives a lady in the audience a lap dance and she kind of grabs him though like oh yeah she was she was like she's like fanning herself after yeah yeah she's enjoying it it was such a cool shot like you mentioned all the cast members on home base dancing he hugs amy poehler well she looks like she's about ready to like her heart's gonna burst completely she was so into you can see parnell and dratch and maya and will forte and finesse mitchell like they're They're all getting into it. What a, just the best good nights of all time, maybe. Like, yeah, definitely. Right. Very unexpected. And it plays so well. Yeah. And do you know about this? Like, um, they seemingly played more after the show ended and, and, and they moved on. I read about that. Yeah. I read about that. Like, I mean, it's the, you usually do have to kind of drag them off stage. They will keep going as long as they want to. Yeah. Uh, but they're kind of like Bruce Springsteen in that way. Uh, but, uh, yeah, they, apparently they played, they kept on playing, but I, and I, and you, And as I said, if you watch that crowd, you would not know that it's 1 o'clock in the morning at that point because nobody's going anywhere.

Track 2:

[45:24] No, they weren't. And I think Bono even announced, like, we're not going to go. Like, can we stay or whatever? So the camera, the show ended. And as U2 was starting another song. I don't know what song. No idea. I can probably look it up. Check the show notes, folks. Yeah, I'm sure the U2 fan community.

Track 2:

[45:42] It's listed somewhere. I'm sure it is. But to be in that crowd. No, I'm kidding.

Track 2:

[45:48] Can you imagine? Oh, that was awesome. So I will follow one of my personal favorite U2 songs, a special moment to close their second appearance on Saturday Night Live, like some legendary moments already, making up for lost time, as we mentioned. Most definitely. Yeah, absolutely. They come back not too long after, like the five-year gap, September of 2009. Five years is a long time. Let's not cut this short here. Five years in between appearances five years in between records is a very long time in this century it was a long time in the 80s like that that's one of the things that's held this band back is they have always worked very slow and for a long time that was okay when bands were taking that much time in between albums the world has sped up they have not but yeah no five years from 2004 to 2009 that is a very long time yeah i guess i because i was like oh we've been waiting 20 years since their first appearance so yeah well i mean yeah comparatively in in the music world and like to be an snl uh musical guest yeah i think five years um so people were aching for him to come back and so they had released no line on the horizon uh earlier in the year so they made an appearance in september of 2009 megan fox hosting first song breathe and i i think this is a song that i've always loved the melody i love that there's a little bit of heaviness but then it It kind of pulls back.

Track 2:

[47:13] There's not too much, like it doesn't like, it's not too crunchy. So there's a lot I've always really enjoyed about this song. So this appearance they're fighting like i said you know the the second appearance they're still on the mountaintop and they're they don't want to let go this one they're fighting to stay there and they're fighting hard and they're not really gonna stay there because this record is not gonna do what the last two did um the songs are for me not as good uh no i think this is the weakest of I am looking squarely at you, Bono, because musically, there is something that I would love to have. And I'm sure one way or another, I could probably get it in the age of AI. I want this record without vocals because musically it is stunning. The lyrics are terrible.

Track 2:

[48:38] But it's a season premiere. So, you know, if you want to talk about like what the show thinks of the band at this stage, they're giving them opening night. Night um they this is another time where they get three songs and two of the three are very long breathe and moment of surrender are both really long numbers moment of surrender like six and a half minutes yeah something like that yeah yeah yeah um the band musically though is doing some amazing things like you talked about watching edge's guitar in um in sometimes you can't make watching him play in moment of surrender is just sublime yeah yeah i agree um even larry mullen jr in breathe really stood out oh yeah yeah his drums are just drumming or gore is gorgeous it's great and that's like uh it's funny because that's what i noticed too is it's it's more so like edge and adam clayton and larry mullen jr standing out that it is bono yes here three out of four Four people did their job. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. But I think the moment of surrender, so I'll say this, that's probably my least favorite of their SNL performances, which says more about how great U2 has been on the show. Yeah. Because it's still good.

Track 2:

[49:57] Yeah. But it's just like you're watching it. You're comparing it to I Will Follow. Yeah. To Elevation. You're comparing it to all of these great performances. It's a beautiful day. Compare it to their debut and it's like, hmm.

Track 2:

[50:09] Yeah. Yeah. So so but even that even moment of surrender it's long. It's my least favorite, but I'm like I'm like watching it going it's.

Track 2:

[50:17] So yeah so that's just don't listen to the words yeah watch three out of four and don't listen to the words and you'll love it yeah luckily i'm not like i say that as a fan what's that yeah i'm not total a total like lyrics guy too like that's the lyrics are the last thing that i'll notice in the song so that's probably to my place to my their benefit with right right um but you mentioned they did a third song again um and this is where like yeah ultraviolet like during the good nights like interesting visuals to me this is where things get cool because while.

Track 2:

[50:50] Most of what they do in their snl career is very small and club-like theater like this is a band that still plays stadiums uh to this day still play stadiums and not a lot of bands can put on a full stadium show uh you know beyonce can taylor can of course but i mean and i say this is a person who appreciates his music but and and you know listeners please write in and tell me what is an ed sheeran concert like in a stadium you know what i mean like i i can't i can't fathom that uh but this is a band that can still do a large spectacle and you get a glimmer of it with ultraviolet.

Track 2:

[52:00] This tour had this really cool like claw, this very big circular stage. Oh, that was the claw. Yeah. 2009.

Track 2:

[52:09] They really started leaning back towards their Acton Baby album because its visuals kind of mirrored what they were doing. And they did this trippy encore with this suit where he had like basically laser pens pointing out of every which direction. Pretty much. It seemed like little mirrors that refracted light to make it look like lasers or something. Something like that. Were they actual lasers? No, they were actually lasers. As he moved, they kept on. Like a laser suit, basically. Yeah. And this microphone that's like an old-fashioned boxing announcer microphone that descends from the ceiling. And it's like a steering wheel that also has red LEDs in it. And he swings on it and he sings into it. And this is giving you a glimpse into this is what this band does in a bigger room. So the fact that they could bring that, they could bring the stadium show to SNL is pretty damn impressive. Yeah, it was really cool. And it seemed like the production compared to their first two SNL appearances, it seems like it was a bit more. There were screens behind them, a little bit more lighting, I think. This is where SNL is starting to lean into that too, where they're getting people away from the train station and they're starting to let them play a little bit more. Yeah, yeah. And it's very evident right here. And the only thing I'll say about Ultraviolet on the negative side is I wish we got the entire thing. Yeah, no kidding.

Track 2:

[53:28] Right? Yeah. I mean, of course, Time, they're doing a television show, but they had to cut them off. Like, the credits were rolling and they're still doing the song. So I wish we got the whole thing. But still a cool moment. You got to see some of the visuals from that tour in 2009. in nine.

Track 2:

[53:44] Definitely a long time, Ryan, before they come back. It's a little over eight years before they come back. The Irish took over that day. Saoirse Ronan hosted their fellow country person. I can only assume Notre Dame won that day as well. It was a full Irish takeover. And the Celtics. And the Celtics. Yeah, exactly.

Track 2:

[54:05] So they had released Songs of Experience the day prior.

Track 2:

[54:10] Was that the album that ended up on everyone's iPhone? phone no that would be songs of innocence oh okay which basically torpedoed songs of experience by the time by the time they came back and this time they came back actually pretty quick they came back just a few years later uh one year later actually with songs of experience people were like no i'm out forget it you put your music onto my device i'm done it's so funny like yeah i don't know like you could have i think these people felt violated electronically but you could have just not listened to it or you could have just well there's that i mean the really the really wild thing is apple was the.

Track 2:

[54:43] One who did it but you two never wanted to get out there and say we did not do this apple did this if you want to yell at anybody yell at them and by the time they finally brought that up the ship had long since left the dock like they didn't bring that up until years later and that kind of tells you something where they're like you know if people want to be mad at us we'd rather them be mad at us we're not gonna you know get into a pissing match with a corporation yeah um the timing of this episode is interesting because this is this is around the time that uh the president of the united states is banning people from whole countries from coming to the america um they start with this song called american soul that has this really powerful intro um you know like blessed are the liars blessed are the peacemakers blessed art you know and that's Kendrick Lamar that is Kendrick Lamar and um.

Track 2:

[55:43] Again, you two knowing where they are, when they are, they know well enough that one of the biggest voices in the world right now is not them, is Kendrick Lamar. So they put him front and center on this track to the point where they actually let him take the track. He has a song on his damn record that takes a snippet of American Soul and drops it into the middle completely without context. Context yeah they then use it as a full song a year later um so it was kind of wild to see that and and beautiful that the first voice we hear when they're back here is kendrick lamar not bono yeah cool visuals too yeah beautiful visuals in the background um it's it's um you know it's again it's really four on the floor kind of music really driving just really energetic kind of again Again, back to what they were doing in that 2000 performance. At this point, they're just straight out of cares. They're just happy to be there. They don't care about staying on the mountaintop. They're there to champion the people that folks like the president of the United States at the time would say is worthless. And they're saying, no, you are not worthless. You are what makes this country great. You are what makes the rest of the world great.

Track 2:

[57:04] And, you know, we see you. I love the message. and the performance was good nothing too like chill inducing but i love the message love enjoy the performance.

Track 2:

[57:50] I like the second song to me. Get out of your own way. Yeah, no, it feels like a throwback in a good way to me, like a like a recent U2 song that kind of feels like somewhat of a throwback. I kind of like the melody. So I kind of dig this song. I definitely dig the song. And I do get a laugh at a band like U2 singing a song called Get Out of Your Own Way, because it's it's like, are you listening to your own words? Well, he's you know, I mean, he wrote it. You know who he wrote it for? before that one he did yeah yeah um but no you're right i mean the irony's not lost yes there for sure um the songs are flipped this is the interesting thing is get out of your on the record get out of your own way lead straight into american soul with that blessed are the bullies blessed are the liars um segue that that kendrick does so it's kind of wild that they flip them um i watching them in prep for this show i was actually thinking it would have been cool if If somehow or another they had to convince Destinel to let them play them back to back. Yeah. I don't think that's ever been done.

Track 2:

[58:51] But that would have been a cool experience. They're not Taylor Swift. No. Doing a 10 minute. No. But I mean, they're doing Moment of Surrender for seven minutes. Sure. Right. You know, I think they're going to be able to talk Lauren into doing it. Yeah. I found that interesting too. Like rechecking the track listing and stuff. I'm like, that was my first thought. I'm like, oh, if they could have somehow. how yeah you hear kendrick's voice at the end of get out of your own way into american soul so you're absolutely right but get out of your own ways one of those like it soars it's kind of light it's just yeah it's a it's a pretty song that's like it's it's a lot of what i love about about you too it's probably my favorite one of my favorite songs like that they've put out like the past 10 years.

Track 2:

[1:00:06] Those songs are underrated. There's a lot of really beautiful stuff on there. It's just at this point, a lot of people have kind of moved on. Yeah. So so the you know, the thesis at the beginning, the what we pointed out was took them 20 years from boy to their first appearance. But I think they nailed it. I think I nailed it as SNL. I mean, regardless of we didn't get any Joshua Tree songs ever on SNL. We didn't get stuff like Desire that might have been fun, but we got some damn good performances, Ryan. Which is, I mean, it's interesting because a lot of times when they bring in legacy bands, especially when they bring in legacy bands late in their career, that second song at 1245 will be an older one that people recognize, right? Like it's, let's play the new song and then let's play the encore number. They never really did that. that they kept they kept some of those songs till 1am uh when they were let but they're like no our new material holds up it's good music on its own in and of itself let's just play the new stuff and and for my money it worked even though like even as i say that the the no line episode is weird.

Track 2:

[1:01:16] Lyrically it's still great music and then they end it by going back to their older stuff that fits with the new music. So, you know, points for the ballsiness of saying, we are just gonna stick to the new stuff because we believe the new stuff is good. And for the most part it is. Yeah, I'm glad like a lot of fans were maybe exposed to their new stuff. Like they might've just, And like, oh, U2, I haven't really listened to U2 since like the mid 90s. And then they get this new stuff and hopefully it motivated some people to go check it out. Yeah, yeah. So do you think how much like should it factor in that they weren't on the show at arguably their peak? When it comes to like how people remember them and their SNL musical guest legacy, like should that factor in? Like, where do you stand on that? I would say that it doesn't matter as much as it might for other bands, because when they came when they did finally show up in 2000 and 2004.

Track 2:

[1:02:14] They were still at a peak. Peak those two records in the early part of this century they were huge and when you look back and like i say this now as a fan i say that their music is not as relevant as it used to be but when i say that it used to be i'm talking like 20 years ago so when they did show up they showed up at a peak they this is a band that's had a few peaks over the course of its career and they showed up for one of them so if we've got four spots and two of their spots they are the biggest band in the world i think that negates the fact that they took a 20-year wander before they got around to it yeah it's a good point and as far as because we've we've talked about this i mean we both champion dave grohl i i've taken it as a personal mission this season to try to get dave grohl into the snl hall of fame i'm still stumping for prince man still stumping for prince i mean Yeah, no, Dave, we did David Bowie. It's hard for musical guests to get into the hall, for sure. But why should voters really strongly consider you two for the hall? Maybe as part of the show's musical legacy, knowing all that. I'm glad you asked. There are only a small handful of bands that have had a three-song night on SNL.

Track 2:

[1:03:35] No other band has had it more than once. And this band got it two times. So that to me, it's like, it's like throwing a 20 strikeout game and there's one pitcher who's done it twice. So that's the kind of thing it's, it's, it's a special number in the legacy of the show. And not only have they hit the special number, but they did it two times.

Track 3:

[1:04:16] So there's that you know i hadn't really considered ryan's final argument there that like a 20 strikeout game they in this case you too did it twice they performed three songs twice and one of the instances that they performed we're going to listen to right now it's from the 2004 episode hosted by luke wilson the band got invited to perform a third song after the good nights and they chose I will follow. So let's give that a listen right now.

Track 3:

[1:08:58] Electric. That performance was definitely whole worthy when you factor in the context. And that's important. The context is very important. The musical guest takes up about 10 minutes of a 90 minute show. So I understand that they are not quite as, you know, important per se in your head as cast members and potentially writers and even hosts, but musical guests are people too.

Track 3:

[1:09:32] So there's that. Keep that in mind. We've got Dave Grohl still on the ballot. He should be in. I, I'm curious if the news that just broke this week will factor into his vote this year or, or not. There is not a, um, a clause in the SNL hall of fame bylaws that indicate, uh, somebody needs to, um, behave in order to go into the hall. but I digress. Listen, next week we have a great show, but before we head into that, I really want to thank Ryan McNeil for joining us again. Visit thematinee.ca for more of his work. Thomas, once again, just a bang up job. Matt Ardill in the trivia corner, just phenomenal. And then of course, this Thursday you have Joe and Shari that are going to, I don't know, No, probably continue my musical guest rant.

Track 3:

[1:10:38] So there's that. That's what I've got for you this week. Join us next week where we nominate Charles Barkley. We're joined by SNN super stat guy, Mike Murray. So that should be a real good one. Give us a listen. Send us an email at the SNL HOF at gmail.com. We would love to hear from you. one last favor before you leave on your way out as you pass the weekend update exhibit turn out the lights because the snl hall of fame is now closed.

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