The music of U2 spans decades. Since its formation in the late 1970s, the band has released 11 studio albums, produced several chart-topping hits and won countless awards on its way to earning a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. People don’t refer to U2 as the biggest rock band in the world for nothing.
And now, Bono (vocals, guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboard, backup vocals), Adam Clayton (bass) and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums), have taken their game to the next level: a theater near you. National Geographic and 3ality Digital painstakingly captured one night in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and present it to you like no other rock concert has been presented before — in digital 3-D. Members of the band “pop” off the screen — album-referencing pun intended — during close to an hour and a half of hard-rocking musical bliss.
3-D is all about perspective, and this is something of which “U2 3D” takes full advantage. Raised hands of adoring fans constantly wave in front of the performance. One band member will be framed in foreground while another does his thing in the background. Then there are the fades and dissolves between one portion of the set and the other and sometimes even a blending of different elements, whether they be band members, the giant screens behind them or the crowd all around them. Trying to wrap your head around the amount of effort and number of cameras involved in documenting this experience is mind-boggling.
Some of the most impressive moments in this show don’t involve the band, but instead the audience. The unison jumping during the intro to “Where the Streets Have No Name” is breathtaking. The film also does a great job of giving you the entire experience of a live show, focusing constantly on the giant graphical screens backing the band and the lighting used throughout. The sound quality and visual presentation of “U2 3D” are really quite phenomenal. It’s loud and intimate — the ultimate front row seat.
There are a few points in the show that don’t feel quite right. The onscreen verbiage featured in the first song of the encore, “The Fly,” is more distracting than insightful. At other points during the presentation, the screen will go to black between songs, leaving you feeling a bit lost. There are also a couple 3-D gag-like moments that seem a bit staged.
But even with these few faults, “U2 3D” is incredible. From “Vertigo” to “With or Without You,” this is a show no self-respecting U2 fan — or fan of rock and roll — should miss. Bono says it best at the conclusion of the show: “Wow.”
Most of U2’s hits are crammed into the set, but there are some omissions due to time constraints. Eighty-five minutes won’t seem long enough when the credits start to roll. Unfortunately, this is one concert at which you won’t be able to scream your head off in support of a second encore. Instead, you’ll have to leave the theater feeling satisfied, but secretly wanting a little bit more.
- By Brett Troxler, 2theadvocate.com
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