The U2 PopMart concert dazzled the audience Tuesday night at Foxboro Stadium with a combination of excellent songs, sparkling pyrotechnic displays and one giant lemon.
The concert -- the first of two in Massachusetts -- was certainly a spectacle-fest for the audience of over 52,000 enthusiastic fans. The two-hour 22-song performance took place on an elaborate stage set that included: a huge golden arch towering over the band, a huge swizzle stick and olive, an immense backing video and a large balloon-looking lemon at the side of the stage.
The lemon opened later in the show to become a space-pod as U2 emerged from it to play, well, "Lemon."
The sheer immensity of the backing video not only flashed close-ups of each member of the group but also played animation and trippy psychedelic color patterns during certain selections.
The light show was choreographed to synchronize with the music, was remarkable. The huge arch above the stage flashed various hues and colors during the performance and lights would frequently bath the audience in red, blue, purple and yellow afterglow.
Strategically placed throughout the floor of the stadium were multiple searchlights which, when fired into the sky, created a comet-like afterglow and proved, once and for all, that the Bat-signal could work in real life.
But the ambitious lightshow and coordination of video and live performance did not overshadow an impressive musical selection.
The concert was a good mix of both the old U2 and the newer U2. The concert started slow, at first, because the audience was not as excited to hear new and somewhat unfamiliar selections from U2's "Pop" collection. In total the band played more than half that album. As the concert progressed and the band started playing older selections, especially those from the hit "Joshua Tree" CD, the audience warmed up and by the end, the entire stadium was moving and grooving to a worthwhile event.
Not all of the video show and vocal performance was worthwhile. Bono wearing a bowler hat and brandishing an umbrella on the catwalk as "Bullet the Blue Sky" played was just strange. Some of the pictures flashed on the screen seemed out of place.
U2 has been known for songs with deep emotion and depth but with the video and light show, it was sometimes difficult to keep a focus on the music. At some points, the visual bombardment was so great it was a chore to keep track of everything on stage.
All-in-all, U2 gave a great visual performance and a solid show. Old favorites like "News Year's Day," "Pride," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "With or Without You" and "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" rounded out the selections from "Pop."
