by Tracy Crutcher

For a band that has dominated rock music all over the world for over 17 years, U2 proved last monday that their musical career is far from finished! The 1997 PopMart tour, which was performed May 12 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas showed that U2's concert performance superiority has only increased since their Zoo TV tour. Yes, the papers will tell you that PopMart was the band's restless ego growing relentlessly and a desperate attempt to prove they are still popular. But he truth is, the band is giving their fans a fabulous concert, a gift that us die-hard U2 fans have been craving since 1993. And they did that, in all entirety!!

At the Cotton Bowl, under millions of dazzling lights, a 100-foot golden arch (which you may notice is the same arch featured on the back of the new POP cd), the world's largest video screen (Yes, it was awesome!!), the four man Irish band brought the energy and spirit of over 40,000 excited fans to an all time high. Opening with their new hit "Mofo", followed by their 1980 first hit "I Will Follow", the concert began with a powerful one-two punch that sent the adrenaline pumping.

Through the course of the 2 hour show, U2 played 8 of their 12 new songs from the POP album, including the #1 hits, "Discotheque" and "Staring at the Sun", as well as my personal favorite, If You Wear That Velvet Dress. Bono did his sexy strut that sent the crowd raging when he sang the mellow techno song "Miami" and even substituted a few lines especially for Dallas. But they didn't forget their older stuff (yes, the Joshua Tree) including "With or Without You" in the encore and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".

Let me just say, that was the best concert I have ever been to. It was topped by Edge's solo on "Daydream Believer" (yes, the Monkif";7s hit), Bono's dazzling ability to captivate his audiance, Larry's mastermind on the drums (especially during "Bullet the Blue Sky" ,"Pride", and their new version of "If God Will Send His Angels") and of course, the pumping bass of Adam (best heard in the concert closing "One" and "Last Night on Earth") as well as his fancy costumes which included a hard hat.

I guess the greatest part of the evening was waiting on the curb at the Cotton Bowl until 2 am, when Larry finally came out to sign autographs. You just don't know how awesome U2 is until you meet them! Half and hour later, Bono, the Edge and Adam came to greet our little crowd of 15 people. When I asked Bono if he was sad to leave Texas, he laughed and said in his Dublin accent "Yes, actually, I really like it here!". And you can be sure that the PopMart tour, however big and extravegent, found its place like home in Dallas, Texas where Bono says "Size really DOES matter!!"

For those of you that were too impatient to wait around, sorry but we DID get to meet U2. For me, it was the moment of a lifetime, meeting my favorite band after their best concert ever!! But, if you are attending future shows, you have SO much to look forward to! IT WAS AWESOME!! And wait around backstage, they will come!! See ya in St. Louis!

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