Get Shouty

Some things just have to be experienced.

You can’t photograph them. You can’t film them. Dancing about architecture…

 I can’t tell you what it was like to be in a crowd of 70,000 people at the U2 concert but perhaps I can give you a glimpse of a moment.

Australia has one of the highest penetrations of mobile phones on the planet, so when Bono asked the crowd to raise their mobile phones in the air it made the stars in the sky look dull.

 I know that this is a MO for a U2 concert:

“Time to do a magic trick. “These little devices — these cell phones — they can do all sorts of things.”

Then the band launches into the next song and Bono encourages the audience to use their phones to send  an SMS to (in Australia it is www.makepovertyhistory.com), a sort of digital petition voicing support for poverty relief. Later, during the encore, the names of all who did so are scrolled on the same screen.

But just because it’s been rehearsed doesn’t mean it wasn’t magical.

The story: we have the power in our hands to make a difference.

Beautiful.