by Jeff Wahl

Could anyone have imagined 15 years ago the entire band emerging from a giant discoball, shaped as a lemon for the encore? U2 has certainly grown out from their cradle of music which brought them to the world public spotlight back in the early 1980's. They have more recently experimented with music, sound, and imagery while having fallen away from Bono's soul writing lyrics. You are still able to hear Edge's gut-wrenching guitar, with Larry's Mullen Jr's. beat smashing through his drum set, and reverberating bass of Adam Clayton echoing through the newer songs.

It was great to see the band walk out into the crowd to begin the night before they made their way to the stage. You got the feeling they were attempting to reach out on a more personal level to an audience they have not seen since March of 1992. They kept us captivated by mixing new and old songs to start, then moving to their "hit list" of songs including the unplugged versions of Sunday, Bloody Sunday and Desire. The encore with the "U2 seeds" emerging from the lemon was more hype in the production then the songs on the mini stage led it to be. Discotheque is a song where only people who have been across the pond in a European Nightclub atmosphere would understand the true meaning of the song. Whoever the lucky gal from the audience who was cuddled with Bono for With or Without You, may have a different opinion on the encore show, but I felt it was too displaced from the rest of the concert.

All in all, the bottom line still remains - U2 can still play to an audience and appeal to the masses! I am already looking forward to the next tour, but I hope it is sooner then the 5 year increments it seems to be on pace for again.

Return to previous page | Post a Review of this show!