The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 37

r- iw-irwl(ww ov-s4v TUESDAY APRIL 29 1997 SLrS pop up during opening Huge video screen dazzles but mechanical and musical problems glaring despite blinding light show By Tim I The Dmias Morning News U2 opened the doors of PopMart over the weekend but the store was still in a state of disarray "Well it is our first night guitarist the Edge told 38000 fens at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas on Friday after the band botched up "Staring at the and had to start it over The Irish rock quartet advertises i Most Spectacular PopMart aa The Concert Tbur of the Year" and thafs not just U2 dazzled the sellout crowd with ita gargantuan LED video screen the largest at 170-feet long by 56-feet high and pushed the stadium-concert experience to new levels But the grand opening grandiose enough to hide rough spots that U2 wiU need to smooth out during ita 14-month world tour which reaches the Kingdoms on Dec 12 The most glaring snafu came during a Spinal Thp-like encore of "Discotheque" when the band climbed inside a motorized 35-fbot-high mirrored lemon and then had trouble getting out There were musical malfunctions as well Bono sounded winded and hoarse and by the time U2 ended the two-hour show with "One" his vocal power was zilch The band struggled through several of its classics such as "Bullet the Blue Sky" and Still Found What Tm Looking For" And the Edge'll shaky sob rendition of the hit Believer" was supposed tube Matthew Thwea Keoia Boamer Is onaflfth of the Pineapple Express Hawaiian slack key guitarists in concert The Pineapple Express five Hawaiian guitar artists waft into Western Washington this week to practice the art of Ki the uniquely Hawaiian form of tuning and playing the acoustic guitar called slack key guitar The quintet includes are George Kahumoku Jr James "Bla" Pahinui the team of Bob Brozman and Ledward iand the popular i Beamer All have new i on Dancing Cat AH will perform at 7:30 tonight at Washington Center for the Performing Arts 512 Washington Olympia Tickets are $20 and (15 Call 1-360-753-8586 The slack key guitarists will perform in shows at 8 and 10 pm Wednesday at The Backstage 2208 NW Market in Seattle Tickets are $1350 Call 1-206-789-1184 but came off as embarrassing Yet ifyou could look past the opening-night jitters and kinks PopMart has the makings of a great show Performing 11 of the 12 tunes from its bold new "Pop" album U2 reinvented its sound yet again with small but patent doses of techno and noise-rock Gone are earnest guitar-rock anthems such as "Sunday Bloody and "New Yfearb Day-replaced ty frenzied cries ibrhp such as "Gone" and "Please" And PopMart is even more eye-lg than UffB 1992 Zoo TV star i tour Bono (hanged from one campy costume into the next -prize-fighter to bodybuilder to' carnival barker but the real star was the stage which was a sprawling work of pop art itself A 100-foot-high golden arch ruse dramatically from center stage (eat your heart out and changed colors to fit the mood of each song A huge cocktail dive loomed from atop a 10-story orange tooth pick Midway through the show 14 intense light beams shot up toward the Big Dipper giving fans the feel of sitting in a galactic cathedral (the lights also spawned reports of UFO sightings (hiring rehearsals) The massive video-screen wall flashed surreal shots of the band The handlebar mustache is as big as a tennis court!" -and turned the stadium into a rave party with psychedelic images: Bright red Rorschach tests spun and mutated while Andy portrait of Marilyn Monroe seemed to melt onto the stage It seemed onfy fitting that a whiz-bang spectacle such as PopMart would open for business in high-wattage Las Vegas As Bono told the i Vegas As Bono told the crowd This is the only town on the planet when theyYe not going to notice a 40-foot mirrorball It would have been a trip into Am Morrisanb brain exploring the Doorf imagery and the myth It possibly would have included the unreleased Doors film of Friends" not dead say it's in limbo not happening right now" Sidoli said "We had wonderful stuff Ith an active entertainment and CDs are totally passive So the asaump- Convenient Greet for Active LAeafyie Tiunmiine Then Dial 3V37(E-Y-E-S) Several procedures Call obligation about techniques improve Dw ShaooLong Beach (Cauf) Bono strikes a famMar pose during Friday's tour opener In Lae Vegas but hesounded winded and hoarse and was without power at the end ITTB-K I rsy a STTftT STB S' 5 Top publisher pujls the plug on Tm Omme Cwmiy I rock CD-ROMs ne people out and buy the Dylan because so many of his records add ia Still he noted bought 100000 Dylan (CD-ROM) discs" If you want one hurry Graphix Zone renamed Ignite will not keep the current CD-ROMs in print Once the discs already in stores are sold gone Graphix Zone is out of the music CD-ROM business and rock fane will feel the impact It spent years digging out history -un-released musk from Bob Dylan unphotos by legendary pho-Henry Diltx and a now-massive dig into the Doors archive It had released fine CD-ROM computer discs an Dylan Willie Nelson Prince Bob Marley and others unearthing and preserving rock history in the process Now gone The music staff is laid off The media were writing obits for rock CD-ROMs last year then the discs had a resurgence But with Graphix Zone bailing out the fiiture iauncertain going to make a lot of people question it say Tf not making money nobody said Jon Sidoli a member of the laid-off artistic team from Graphix Zone Perhaps the most immediate loss ia to Doors fans The band released a box set or much from its vaults but Graphix Zone was in the middle of a mqpir Doors project ir ivA( i I i i Tired of Wearing Contacts and Glasses? new surgical and laser may be able to correct your nearsightedness today to schedule your FREE no consultation Get all the facts the latest refractive surgery and how they may dramatically you vision 1-800-962-7034 St MARK'S EYE INSTITUTE 502 South Street Tkcoma WA 98405 (1 I d' L' 1 I vwiene i.