U2's Achtung Baby / Zoo TV Tour

Cafe Society
1

What seems to be the final analysis of what U2 was doing in this era? I’ve read a fair bit about them, and I know they were lashing out at their over-earnest image. They remade their sound and look, and created what I think is their most poetic, moving, timeless album. It still sounds like nothing else from anyone else. They already sounded like very few bands, and on that album, they carved out a niche so much their own that to play in it yourself would seem embarassingly derivitive.

I know they were inspired partly by hearing the “Morning Zoo” radio shows in America. I see from a couple web pages that Berlin’s Zoo Station was on the U2 line and connected to East Germany, which made a good jumping off point for the band in writing about the reunification of Germany and the new world without Communism (mostly). But what’s up with the way they reacted? What was the point of all the giant screens, random words, contradictory phrases?

2

I saw them perform during their Zoo TV tour in RFK stadium.

One thing that struck me was how they managed on the one hand to generate this monster spectacle (complete with chrome-plated Ladas dangling overhead from cranes and hovering around above the stage), and on the other hand make the show sometimes feel like an oversize club gig. The stage had a long extension into the middle of the crowd to a much smaller satellite stage, which the band strolled out to and did a set of more subdued or classic U2 tunes around the middle of the show. At one point Bono was singing while resting his head in the lap of a very emotional woman he pulled up onto the long catwalk. A little later some random guy jumped/was pulled from the crowd on the walk, picked Bono up like a child (Bono really is pretty small) and danced around with Bono in his arms while he sang. It was all completely spontaneous and really remarkably fun. Then, not long afterward, the band was back in front of these massive projection screens, and Bono is again singing the newer stuff to these towering images of Indian dancers and all kinds of other wild, siezure-inducing stuff, with the Ladas floating around like weird commie UFOs.

I’m not a great U2 fan, but I have to say it was a hugely (in every sense of the word) entertaining show. Bono’s obviously concocted schtick was both grandiose and self-effacing. At one point he made a prank call to an operator (the phone audio was piped through the PA), demanding to talk to then-president George Bush. When told that wouldn’t be possible, he responded dryly “The President won’t talk to me?” There was some definite cheeze in places, where the rock-star ego and pretention showed through a bit too much. Bono made some statement during some blasting crescendo, something like “I have a vision! I have a vision! Television!” My then-girlfriend and I were like “Yeah? So?” He seemed a little behind the sociological and technological curve harping on the excesses of the glowing blue box, like watching the Berlin Wall come down on TV was supposed to have made the boob tube suddenly potent and significant. No, Bono, browsing this new thing, the Internet, using this cool program called “Mosaic” is where it’s at, not getting The Simpsons on Sky or whatever.

Overall, I gave it an A for awe-inspiring humongousness, and an honest-to-goodness fun night of entertainment. Maybe he’s pompous, maybe he’s full of shite, but Bono’s got (or had, at least) undeniable Rock Star charisma. The band was as tight as anything I’ve seen, the sound was clear and massive, the light and picture show was truly impressive, and the Lada as a disco ball was certainly unique. I’m not sure if it all held together to produce a coherent message, except that technology and televised media are somehow Big and Important (which got a big “uhhh, okay” from me and my date). Whatever the hell was going on up there, it was fun to watch, and I’m glad I went. That was the last really big show I ever saw, and not a bad way to say goodbye to stadium rock.

3

I usually hate it when people just post Amazon links to answer questions like this - just cause you’re wondering about something doesn’t mean you want to shell out to buy an entire book on the subject, right?

But U2: At The End Of The World is an incredibly detailed biography of U2 circa Achtung Baby, and without too much exaggeration, it would be hard to find much info on the subject that isn’t in there. Try to find it at your library or something if you don’t want to buy it; the book can be a bit tedious with its attention to detail, and it is very long, but there’s some really fascinating stuff in there.

4

You got to hand it to U2 - they’ve been at the top of the game for over 20 years now and they’re showing no sign of slowing down. Whether or not you like their music or personas, they’re an incredibly tight, professional, disciplined group. I’ve never heard of any cancelled, delayed or poorly-done performances, personal rivalries, drug problems or sex scandals asociated with them, which is pretty remarkable for the business. They just keep on pumping out hit songs and successful tours.

5

And not even one lineup change. It’s a pretty amazing track record when you think about it.

6

Adam Clayton, the bassist, missed a show in Sydney in 1993 because he was either hammered or hung over. They gave him the choice of getting sober or kicking him out the band so he quit drinking. He was arrested at one point for marijuana possession, and there was a night with some hookers in London, I think. He’s straightened out and is getting married next year to his girlfriend of 10 years.

Other than that, they’re pretty clean–Bono’s been married for 24 years and Larry’s still with his high school girlfriend–I don’t think they’re actually married. The Edge is married to his second wife and they’ve now been together for many, many years–she was the bellydancer on the Zoo TV tour, which brings us back to the OP. :slight_smile:

Actually, the last 10 shows of the current tour are on hold–they were supposed to finish up with New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Hawaii back in March and April but now those shows will likely be in November and December. The delay is due to illness of a family member.

7

Now that I think of it, I was probably only telnetting, rudimentarily FTPing, and sending email in 1992, as Mosaic wasn’t widely used for another year. I do remember I had joined an online community called The WELL shortly after I moved to DC, and would chat with my g.f. using a terminal program live all the time. Those activities overlapped with web surfing for the first couple years, probably. Anyway, it was clear even then that TV was a quaint thing to fetishize, and I and my g.f. weren’t all that impressed with the “grander” theme they attempted to get across.

8

I think one of the points about tv at the time was that CNN had just gotten its worldwide attention for the first Gulf war coverage. That and all the communist countries kicking out and/or shooting their communist leaders made the world seem like quite a different and smaller place.

9

I saw both the stadium show and arena show in Oakland, California. For the stadium show, they had the Sugar Cubes and Public Enemy opening. It was one of the best concert experiences of my life. The opening sequence for “Where the Streets Have No Name” is the best live music moment I’ve ever had.

10

JpnDude–one of my friends was at that show and we were talking about it just a few weeks ago. He said Public Enemy was amazing–30,000 white kids staring slack-jawed at the stage. :slight_smile:

Cardinal–I think you’re right–the nighttime bombing of Baghdad in real time was a huge turning point in communications history. I really wish I’d seen one of those shows–the over-the-top spectacle of the whole thing must have been amazing.