U2’s Live Grammys Performance Won’t Actually Be Live

Early in their career, U2 made their reputation as an amazing live band, a reputation that they’ve maintained to this day, 40 years into their tenure. Their tours are a huge event and their performances are generally a big deal, but it looks like there’s going to be an asterisk appended to their appearance at the Grammys on Sunday. TMZ reports that the band won’t actually be performing live during the ceremonies, but rather, their performance is being pre-recorded tonight, on a barge in the Hudson River.

While U2’s live performance not actually being live might seem like a bummer, it appears that it’s actually a necessary concession to make, or at least an artistically interesting one: A nighttime performance on a river is bound to look pretty cool, and there’s no way they’d be able to pull that off live while also performing with Kendrick Lamar during the show.

So, it’s not like the band won’t be performing live at all, but rather that they’ve chosen to make parts of their performance innovative over actually happening at that very second. U2’s performance tactics sound similar to what Lady Gaga did during last year’s Super Bowl halftime show: Her jump from the top of the stadium was pre-recorded, but the rest of her performance was live, and that whole thing turned out pretty well.

Source: http://uproxx.com/music/u2-grammys-performance-live/