HIGH-TECH AND NOSTALGIA IN U2 SHOW New York Times August 15, 1992 by Jon Pareles EAST RUTHERFORD, N. J., Aug. 13 - "Never trust a rock-n-roll star", Bono, U2's lead singer, told a sold-out crowd at Giants Stadium tonight. "They'll tell you anything you want to hear". Of course he was greeted by rapturous applause. U2's two nights at Giants Stadium begin a tour of American stadiums, an enlarged version of U2's "Zoo TV" show, which has already been once around the arena circuit; it will play Yankee Stadium on Aug. 29 and 30. The production flaunts technology, with giant video screens, dozens of video monitors and, for the stadiums, blinking towers and red-lettered computer signboards that offer local and national news bulletins before U2 appears.
				As before, the two-hour set is in three parts. First, U2 plays songs from its most recent album, "AchtungBaby", that update the band's chiming, marching style with funk and distortion. The new songs arrive amid a video barrage; Bono, in sunglasses and black leather, plays a self-mocking star. Eventually, the band moves to a small stage at the center of the stadium, playing a few songs on acoustic guitars. then it returns to the main stage to play older songs with less gimmickry and more sincerity.
				Although, the tour is co-sponsored by MTV, the show insists on U2's ambivalence about show business, and television in particular, by flaunting its own contrivances. In "Even Better Than The Real Thing", Bono aimed a video camera at himself as he sang, a video Narcissus projecting himself onto screens two stories high. Later, he pulled a fan out of the audience, danced with her and handed her a video camera, a gesture of empowerment of the 1990's. But the audience didn't seem receptive to the band's message of skepticism; fans sang along with the newer songs and shouted along with the older ones. Somehow, the rain seemed to loosen up both band and listeners; "The Fly", "Until The End Of The World", "Pride", and acoustic version of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", and a booming "Bullet The Blue Sky" all had a video-defying spontaneity,
	and the quiet finale, "Love Is Blindness", brought an eerie intimacy to the stadium. Bono reappeared for the encores in a silver lame suit
	and cowboy hat, the essence of phoniness, but the audience wasn't a bit alienated. No matter what Bono tells his fans, they seem likely to trust him anyway. © New York Times 1992
	U2 GIVES TV A GOOD NAME Sun Sentinel (FL) - MONDAY October 5, 1992 By: DEBORAH WILKER, Music Writer Video has long played a key role in the outdoor rock show, its chief benefit going to the less fortunately seated. But on U2's Zoo-TV: The Outside Broadcast, the Irish rock band elevates the workhorse video screen to co-starring status, creating a mixed-media display of unprecedented innovation.The show, which played Saturday at Joe Robbie Stadium before 45,200, is an expanded version of the production that toured smaller indoor venues earlier this year.
				There are effects galore throughout Zoo-TV, all of which seem carefully selected to underscore song lyrics and a wider political agenda. A Times Square-style message board touts the news of the day and stock prices. Smoke bombs and burning crosses set the mood for the Irish war songs. And in the case of those flying Trabant autos (formerly a show car of East German officials), the imaginative set pieces also double as spotlights.
				But it is the array of radio antennas, the satellite dish, the flashing text, the 36 working TV sets, and much larger "video walls" that carry the most symbolism -- signifying a society void of personal intimacy. That many of us would rather interact electronically than with each other, is played for all its worth.
				The band's frontman, Bono, is of course, the orchestrator of all this. With remote control in hand he happily clicks his way through the TV spectrum, stopping on whatever suits him -- Home Shopping Club, Nickelodeon, the news. This creates an unforetold collision between the band's music and the world, a media marriage that is inevitably different during every stop on the tour.
	Despite an often dizzying melange of pictures, words, sound and light, U2's anthemic songs still come bounding through. This is a group with a long history and a strong catalogue, from which even the most outrageous stunts do not detract.That the band is still doing stadium business a full five years after its commercial zenith with the Joshua Tree, and just six months after playing the Miami Arena, speaks not only to lasting value of the songs, but to the devout fan loyalty, which was displayed in abundance Saturday.
			Though the crowd cheered most every nuance from Bono, his faithful sideman-guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, the most zealous applause was saved for Joshua Tree anthems and new material from Achtung Baby. From the sensual ache of One to the wartime imagery of Bullet The Blue Sky, U2 laid bare its soul in a fan-pleasing rollout of hits. That feeling was reinforced when Bono welcomed audience members on stage as he always does, to share champagne, play his guitar and whirl around the dance floor. In addition to roaming the length of the 248-foot-wide stage that ran nearly the length of the football field, U2 also strutted way out into the audience via a Miss America-style runway that had its own ministage at the end.
	This brought band members nearly midfield, creating an in-the-round effect with admirers embracing them from all sides. It was here that they set up for an acoustic-style set, of which the highlight was Angel of Harlem from the '89 live set Rattle and Hum. That Bono was occasionally not quite up to the vocal task is nothing new. Songs such as Even Better Than The real Thing, Mysterious Ways and Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World suit his range better than some others, during which his voice cracked as he strained for the upper registers. Of course, none of that mattered as he took on the biggest hits from The Joshua Tree, particularly Where The Streets Have No Name and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, which slid into a lovely cover of Stand By Me. There was also Pride (In The Name of Love) from 1984's The Unforgettable Fire, which featured video of Martin Luther King -- a visual moment that drew wide support. Later there was a call to the White House during which Bono flirted with a switchboard operator who has been intercepting his calls to George Bush throughout the tour. "What? The President is not available for the people of Miami?" Bono asked with just a hint of ridicule. "I've got a crush on you," he told the operator. "I'd like to sing this one for you." With that the band unleashed all the romance and heartache of With Or Without You, which brimmed with the called-for emotion. Then the monitors went dark, the lights dimmed, and Bono closed with a low-key take on Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love With You. © 1992 News and Sun-Sentinel Company
	U2 ZOOTV 1992 Show director: Willie Williams Stage design: Mark Fisher, Jonathan Park Lighting design: Willie Williams Production Manager: Jake Kennedy