by Trent Delameter

"Ya went and turned us into this giant rock-n-roll band," quipped Bono early in the set. "...This is our Church, this is where we pray- under the neon."

Well, my seat was along the back rim of the Coliseum, and that gigantic screen dwarfed anything I'd ever seen before. Nevertheless, as I told my girlfriend, "I wish I could see them play next door again (at the much-smaller LA Sports Arena)."

Pretty tight show, with a few glitches. Can it be critiqued without comparing it to "Zoo TV"? Hardly. "Zoo" had better variety in the set, it was a longer, more satisfying show, and ya just can't top Bono switching channels and calling the White House to talk to George. But howzabout that trip-hop segue from "Miami" to "Bullet the Blue Sky"? Pretty clever. And the apocalyptic link of "Until The End Of The World" and "Last Night On Earth" was innovative.

Still, I was disappointed that the band didn't use the "PopMart" theme to let some of us Stateside hear the Zooropa stuff played live: "Daddy's Gonna Pay...", "Stay", "Dirty Day." Hell, they came out of this huge cool lemon and didn't perform "Lemon"! I may risk jeers from fellow U2 fans by wanting more of the newer, alternative stuff and foregoing the "I Will Follow"s, but hey, we've heard it before.

The sound was still pretty real, even way in the back. A few problems with Bono's mic proved distracting, and you could see him tapping his earpiece during "Please" - he knew something wasn't kosher too. I thought we were gonna get an instrumental version of "Until..World", then Bono's vocals kicked in midway through the first verse. I'd be one pissed Irishman!

But it was still loads of fun. U2 will ALWAYS be in a class alone. I look forward to the guys' next pass through So. California - I'd see them any time they mosied down our way. Any chance for a smaller, indoor "PopMart"? Probably not this time around. But maybe they'll scale it back in the future. Can't wait. I'll be waiting for the Bang and the Clatter when the angel hits the ground...

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