by Michael Lee

Well, as a U2 fan from the days of the Live Aid Appearence, I have seen the Joshua Tree tour (once), the Zoo TV tour (five times), and now the Popmart tour (first of three).

First, the bad news: Out of the three tours, this was my least favorite.

Now the good news: Who cares. It's still U2, they're still awesome, and I would still rather see this show once than any other show I've seen since the last tour! $55.00 a fair price to pay.

I suppose the excitement really started as I walked up to the stadium. I knew to look for the giant arch and was getting butterflies as I could see it peaking above the perimeter of the stadium. Sadly, as I got into look at the size of the screen, it was smaller than I expected it to be due to all of the pictures and hype I've seen of it. That's not saying that it isn't impressive.

I ignored RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. Instead I took that time to walk the stadium and check out the different views and the different paraphernalia on sale. There are really no bad seats except for on the sides towards the front (due to the limited view of the slightly curved screen). The shirts are pretty basic ($25.00), keyrings ($10.00). I thought the best buy was the program (excellent, at $15.00). I went back to my seat as RAGE ended and awaited impatiently.

At about 9:30: Lights begin to go out and "Pop Music" fires up. Spotlights hit the middle of the crowd as the band shuffles through the beams to the middle stage (Bono bringing up the rear, dressed as a boxer throwing punches in the air). They get to the main stage and begin "Mofo." Bono walks over and across the stage appearing to be more of a rock star than ever before. I've always held his presence above that of Mick Jagger or anybody else for that matter, so this slightly disturbed me. Getting passed that, I began to lighten up myself and enjoy the show for what it was. "Mofo" live wasn't as good as what's on the CD, but then came "I Will Follow." Then things began to get better for me. It sounded great. I started to watch the images on the screen, and the band, helplessly shifting from one to the other as each was as interesting as the other.

To skip ahead a bit, my personal favorites on the POP CD - "Mofo", "Discotheque", and "Staring at the Sun" were my least favorite sounding live. While some of the other songs which I don't like as much "Gone", "Last Night on Earth", "If God Will Send His Angels" sounded great! I think that "Miami" is probably my all time least favorite song by U2, and ironically it not only made sense with the production that accompanied it at the show, but was actually very good. I liked that about the show, I really never knew how each song would sound on this tour. "Bullet the Blue Sky" was funked-up (Awesome), "Please" had the guitar lines of "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" added to it, and Bono was still able to throw in lyrics from other songs "Break On Through" - "Amazing Grace" in the middle of their own - which I have always loved about them.

The Lemon: Cheezy and Wonderful! A real show stopper. I almost wonder why they don't open with this. It's really stunning. Wait to see it yourself.

The Encore: U2 Greatest Hits - I wish it would have gone on all night. Although if you're excited to hear the beginning riffs of "Discotheque" you may be dissapointed that Bono sings the first verse a cappella. "One" wraps the show in a sweet, classic, spiritual U2 way that only they could do, which has always separated them from the rest of the Rock and Roll world, and will keep me seeing them long after all of this is over.

Wednesday morning: I'm tired, and sad, that it's over. I actually need to reassure myself that I will be seeing them in Seattle, in December. There will be no review next time, no expectations. I'm just going to enjoy my favorite group as they take me away one more time...

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