U2's secret London gig: Could it happen in Boston?

U2: Get On Yr Boots, Live from the roof of the BBC

Having given a few cursory listens to the new U2 record, No Line On the Horizon, we feel confident in concluding that it is not a masterpiece. We'll hold off on calling it a dud until we've given the record the chance to do that odd thing which records tend to do even in the age of instant interweb leaks: grow on you.

Regardless of how we feel about it, though, a dud just might be the best thing that's happened to U2 fans in years. 

Why? The buzzword in their press releases during the rollout is "intimacy," and it would seem that the self-proclaimed "biggest rock band in the world" has decided that less -- or at least the mirage of less, which is never quite the same thing, is it? -- is more. So instead of rolling out the album with the typical slate of awards show appearances and gigantic tours, they're instead rolling it out with a spate of awards show appearances, gigantic tours (this summer) and . . . secret shows, evidently. The first of these secret gigs transpired last night, from the roof of the BBC building in London, from which the above video was taken. There is another "secret" but already well-reported gig scheduled for March 6 at Fordham University, just up the way, which will be aired on Good Morning America -- a gig itself made possible by U2's unorthodox five-night stand on the Letterman show.

And now we hear whispers -- a tingling in the ether, call it -- that there may be yet another secret show in the works: this one a little closer to home. We hear the band could be planning to stay in the States for another week or so after the Letterman engagement. And it's no secret that Boston holds a special place in the band's heart