BEGINNING THIS WEEK at the Smithsonian and elsewhere around the country, the biggest band in the world can now be seen in 3-D. At a screening last week, I took in the experience, known as U23D, at the National Museum of Natural History’s IMAX theater, with a screen height of more than 60 feet.
If you think the band has either (a) sold out ever since Brian Eno introduced synthesizers or (b) is overrated, you can stop here. If you’re the type who just bought the 20th anniversary commemorative Joshua Tree CD to get a hold of previously unreleased tracks like “Drunk Chicken/America” (and none of it really enjoyable), please read on.
Having been to five U2 concerts since 1992 (the summer of ’92’s “First Outside Broadcast” of Zoo TV at Giants Stadium being my favorite), I was curious as to how this particular show would differ. First off, the audience gets to wear 3-D glasses. But as a colleague of mine who also attended the screening said, “I don’t know if I want to get that close to Bono.” Second, the concert, a careful melding of several days’ performances, takes place in South America. To a certain extent, the band customizes its concerts depending on the location, so a performance in Buenos Aires has an exotic feel to it. Bono speaks Spanish to the crowd. He compares the troubled past of Argentina to the troubled past of Ireland. But it cannot be compared, for instance, to a U2 concert at Madison Square Garden a month after 9/11.
On the other hand, the women of Argentina and Brazil are gorgeous. And seeing them in 3-D might make your jaw drop. (By the way, you just know the women riding on shoulders are flashing the band. Why was this edited out? My friend said he noticed the bra-less back of one girl in the audience, though she was far away. Which sounds like he was ogling, except that on a 66-foot screen, this tiny person was about 5 feet tall. I briefly wondered what it would be like to see a porno in 3-D IMAX. And immediately I shuddered.)
The 3-D effect is undeniably amazing due to its being the first digital 3-D production. Coupled with the 5.1 Surround Sound, U23D was an experience unlike any other. Adam Clayton’s bass sticks out at you. The Edge’s guitar waves past your head. A microphone stand seems to be blocking your view. And yes, Bono does get extremely close. At one point, it really does seem as if the lead singer is reaching out of the screen to grab you and pull you onstage to sing “With or Without You,” which has been one of my greatest fantasies.
Strike that last part. The other aspect of the concert that must be tolerated in 3-D are Bono’s theatrics, which look comical up close. He expresses his desire for tolerance by tying a white cloth around his head with the word “coexist” on it, and the symbols of the crescent moon, star of David, and the cross serving as letters (during “Love and Peace or Else”). He angrily bangs a drum. (In his slashed leather jacket, he resembles Tommy Lee Jones in Under Siege.) And later he puts the headband over his eyes and lights up a flare on a satellite stage. Is this even safe?
At 85 minutes, the concert is also truncated though it does offer a generous set list including a spine-shattering “Vertigo,” “New Year’s Day,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Pride,” “One,” and even “The Fly,” though nothing obscure for die-hard fans to relish like “Party Girl.”
Ever since Rattle and Hum, I’ve always suspected the band has been in search of its own Last Waltz, but something always gets in the way. For instance, a DVD of U2 in Boston during the “Elevation” tour featured a terrific performance by the band but distractions, including upset fans who sat down in the middle of the heart-shaped stage during the opening songs. (A U2 girl–don’t want to say groupie–told me the concertgoers were angry about tickets that were given away. This girl also once received a drum stick from Larry Mullen Jr. and I sincerely do not want to know what became of it.) At the same concert, someone threw a metallic object at Bono, who dodged it and gave the guy the reverse-peace sign. And supposedly the unrecorded concert in New York a few days later was one of absolute perfection. This happens.
Nevertheless, U23D is a tremendous show and primarily about listening to great music and watching an impressive performance (particularly by the Edge, of whom Variety rightly complains we do not see enough). It isn’t raw like Under a Blood Red Sky. On the other hand, at least the band doesn’t emerge from a giant lemon.
Victorino Matus is assistant managing editor of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
