Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 19

4 Te? Show EDITOR: Bob Remington, 429-5346 TVC2 U2C5 BooksC6-7 WeatherC8 I (some restrictions apply 1 I Oil 11 4 Bono and the boys ignite rock torch 15 i I rv 1 IE-' Tpk (HII i if ave Edmonton a I I serious taste of fcJ industrial-strength light and magic Saturday night, while proving that sound is still at the band's heart. That is, the sound of a rock'n'roll band at the height of its creative and emotional power. The sound of a band unafraid to stir up its old fans and go after new ones with challenging, forward-looking music. The sound of the best band in the world today. Who comes close, really? No band today has the audacity to bring the PopMart world tour's awesome list of gadgets on the road, the hi-tech hardware that costs as much the yearly defence budgets of some fairly formidable global military powers.

No band can mount an illuminated-olive atop a 30-metre-high swizzle stick and still manage to craft a stadium concert that's, at times, as intimate as a club show. And no band has Bono. I bet he's waking up this morning at the Hotel Macdonald rejoicing in the fact that, Saturday night, he performed one of the shows of his life. A rabid, incredibly responsive Commonwealth Stadium crowd, had much to do with that. Maybe the fact that we're almost exactly the same latitude as the lad's hometown of Dublin helped, too.

Whatever the case, Bono connected with the fans from the show's outset, when he, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. appeared on a side stage as the sound system boomed M's Pop Muzik. In a purple PopMart robe, he bounced to the main stage like a juiced-up welterweight and ripped into the lyrics from Mofo, a techno-heavy track from U2's newest record, Pop. SSunlight still shone on the upper deck of Commonwealth's western half, but the dense, grinding beats quickly shooed it away. By the second song, I Witt Follow, PopMart's screen was filling with the first of the retina-burning images it would flood the crowd with for two hours.

Ten-storey reproductions of The Edge, his cowboy hat as big as the monster lemon at stage left. Liquid animation and pop-art images from the likes of Keith Haring and Andy Warhol. Blinding columns of colour that bathed the entire stadium in their glow. One might think that all the screen's pre-show hype (guilty as charged) would render it a bit predictable. Uh, no.

It's as a big a star as Bono's commanding charisma, or il 1 1 i i if- U2 into rockin' battle at Commonwealth As advertised, Bono and the boys walked out of their pride and joy the glittering mirrorball lemon to start their first encore with Discotheque. Yes, it's cheesy, but at least it's intentionally so. Bono has championed the need to haul around the huge fruit in the name of revitalizing white rock'n'roll. And he's right. It is staid, it is square, it is I I i il nt- Bono pounces into a hit as he leads told the crowd after it finally stopped singing.

"How come we haven't been here before? They didn't tell us about you, that's why." Out of a set list crammed with highlights, other songs that stood out were a stirring, sing-along rendition of I Still Havent Found What I'm Looking For, and a stinging Bullet The Blue Sky, during which spotlights ringing the floor shot into the sky. Fans seemed unfazed at paying $35 for a T-shirt or $28 for a ball cap. "I don't mind for U2," said Shannon Wood clutching her grab-bag of goodies which included a program, pins and T-shirt. Vendors offered a plethora of souvenirs from a cheesy three-foot inflatable lemon priced at $20, and $5 POP Condom Pack to the traditional black concert T-shirt and collectors pins with the PopMart logo. Some souvenirs like the Pop Snowglobe, with lemons raining down on the miniature band members heads, and Pop Mouse Pad were not available at the band's Canadian shows.

While Edmonton fans seemed to be swiftly scooping up merchandise, Eisenberg said PopMart merchandise sales aren't going as well as on the band's last tour. "It's not as big as ZooTV, but we haven't sold the same number of tickets. The $30 million generated from ZooTV merchandise sales kept the 1992 tour from going in the red. Eisenberg wouldn't give details, but said PopMart souvenir sales account for a lot of revenue. "Merchandise is big income for tiW: i Here is US'a set list from the concert Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium: POPMuzik Intro Mofo I Witt Follow Even Better Than The Real Thing Gone Pride I Still Haven Found What I'm Looking For Last Night On Earth Until The End Of The Worid If God Will Send His Angels Staring At The Sun Daydream Believer Miami Bullet The Blue Sky 1 1 Want To Live In America Please Where The Streets Have No Name ENCORE Lemon (Perfecto Mix) Discotheque If You Wear That Velvet Dress With Or Without You Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me Mysterious Ways One the fantastic range of material the band played.

From I Will Follow, U2 broke into stripped-down versions of Even Better Than The Real Thing and Gone, before pounding through the concert's first showstopper, Pride (In The Name Of Love). It came off as strident and powerful as it did when it was released 13 years ago. "Well, that's a welcome," Bono his favourite band. "It's way too much but I got a really good deal on my ticket and it's U2," he said. Others, like Mark Hettinga were more carefree about dropping $75 for two lemon-shaped beach balls and a T-shirt.

"Who It's only once in a lifetime chance," said the 19-year-old who drove in from Saskatoon to see the show. It was in a Manhattan mart Store last February where U2 admitted to liking junk. "We believe in trash. We believe in kitsch," said guitarist The Edge at the announcement of the band's PopMart tour. But unlike mart discount prices, there are no bargains at PopMart.

Cfes f'" raoDs nfliTDfiazed by piroces From collector pins to condoms, hawkers move it out Shaughn Butts, The Journal Stadium on Saturday conservative. Someone needed to have the resolution to kick it in its Dockers-clad rear. U2 grabbed the torch, and God bless 'em. Not to overstate it. PopMart is but a single tour.

It will not prove to be rock'n'roll's citrus-flavoured elixir. But it is one hell of a powerful booster shot. And we get to see it all over again tonight. John Lucas, The Journal Daryl Ulmer with the stuff he bought 'i John Lucas, The Journal hair) and Matt Gibautt show off T-shirts TTfrcr- i Another satisfied PopMart shopper Saskatoon teens Mark Hettinga (U2 in the band." For those people who want U2 souvenirs but don't have tickets to tonight's concert, three souvenir tents are set up outside Commonwealth Stadium and will remain open until midnight PIYA CHATTOPADHYAY Journal Entertainment Writer Edmonton ls nPins I I Jr Edmonton mLi concert fans will gobble up kitschy souvenirs as quickly as they snapped up tickets to this weekend's shows. Following dismal souvenir sales at Thursday's Winnipeg concert, merchandisers are hoping for better sales in Edmonton.

"With the flooding, they've been pretty hard BP ffl Edmonton is one of the three best places on the tour because so many tickets were sold," said Scott Eisenberg, merchandise manager. Eleven souvenir stands popped up in and around Commonwealth Stadium Saturday afternoon. And as soon as they did, buyers three and four deep flocked to the stands. Most of those who stopped by in the afternoon did so to avoid the expected long lineups during the concert. "I don't want to deal with the crowds tonight.

The music's tonight," said Daryl Ulmer who had eighth-row tickets for Saturday's performance. Forking over $112 for a poster, ball cap, program, pin set and condoms was steep but Ulmer said he didn't mind since it was for.