by jboy

Undoubtedly the best concert I have ever seen (or probably will ever see). The combination of the immense spectacle of the Zoo TV Outside Broadcast show and the powerful, intensely personal Achtung Baby songs (most of the album was played) was almost overwhelming. Only U2 could pull that off.

Overstimulation (which was partially the point): too much to look at and take in at once, mixing the political, the technological, and the emotional in one two hour rock and roll assault. You didn't know whether to 1) concentrate on the incredible sounding, heart-rending music, 2) watch the antics of Bono/Fly and the Edge (which was show enough), 3) focus on the amazing video visuals, 4) contemplate the underlying concepts being presented (the pain of love, US/British politics, AIDS, the collapse of communism and the unyielded promise of the New World Order, the paradoxically unifying & isolating effects of satellite/cable and the new interactive technologies, etc., etc.) or 5) just read the mind-bending lyrics/aphoristic snippets constantly running across the video banners. It was far unlike anything you'd seen before -- like church in the year 2100. My head was literally spinning afterward. If there ever was a cultural kickoff to the 1990's, it was the Zoo TV tour. You really felt like you were in a new age.

Oh, and the weather was really good that night too. "Yankee Stadium, I've heard it's really famous, or something, I don't know." -- Bono as The Fly

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