From: gary@rocker.b11.ingr.com (Gary Braswell)
Subject:   Minutes to U2 concert in Atlanta
Keywords:  Basically the same, with a few twists
Reply-To: gary@rocker.b11.ingr.com
Organization:  Intergraph Corporation
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 22:08:06 GMT


This has been templated from Scott ???, who posted an article on the Madison,
WI show.  I am not trying to plagiarize, but some of what was in the
original posting was probably left intact.

Sorry, Scott, if you take offense to this.

Gary B.

-------------
 SUBJECT:  U2 Concert in Atlanta
 Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
 When:  Friday, September 25th
 Attendance: 50,000+
 Opening Acts: BAD II and then Public Enemy

 I got to the Dome about 1/2 way through the BAD II opening act.  The sound
 mix on both of the opening acts was pretty poor.  I have BAD II's "The Globe",
 and the only cut off of that CD that I ever heard was 'RUSH', which was the
 closing song of their act.  I feel pretty sure that they played other cuts
 off of that CD, but I must of missed it.  Another thing that I was disappointed
 by is that I was hoping that they might cover some old Clash tunes, but I
 never heard any.

 Public Enemy was even more incomprehensible than BAD II.  They opened up with
 the guy in the KKK outfit like they did in Madison, but I did not ever hear
 him say anything about gang members killing each other.  I am not sure if
 it was the music or the mix or both, but I honestly couldn't understand a
 thing they said except for one time when they thanked U2 for letting
 them be play with them there in M-----F---ing Atlanta.  I was unimpressed.

 The other thing that remained consistent was their body guards, who simply
 stood on stage with their arms crossed and followed them wherever they went.
 I guess Public Enemy thought that they were in real danger down in the Deep
 South, but I got the impression that most of the fans there were pretty much
 indifferent to their music.

 Once Public Enemy left the stage, there was about a 15 minute break, where 
 they started taking the drapes off the remaining TV screens and the rest 
 of the stage.

 The stage was as huge as would be expected.  The sound crew was located at
 the rear of the dome on the right as you face the stage.  That area was 
 surrounded with three 60' towers topped with flashing red lights.  There 
 were at least three other towers surrounding the main stage itself.

 There were 3 Trabis [cars] suspended over the stage that were used as lights, 
 and 4 more colorful cars put on mobile cranes which moved around
 and served as spotlights.  There was also a large Z(T)(V) neon sign at the
 top of the speaker stack on the lefthand side, along with a vertical and
 horizontal teletype message board, which were about 50 feet long.

 There were the usual small TV monitors, and the usual 4x4 larger screens 
 behind the band, PLUS 3 HUGE screens above the band, at LEAST 40 feet tall.
 Two of the screens were on top of each other and another one was located to
 the right.  The teletypes reported recent "news events" until the show started.

 The news was bogus, but pretty funny.  There were news blurbs such as Linda 
 McCartney signing a contract with Kellogg to market a line meatless cereals, 
 and some other stuff that was really out in left field.

 In the Georgia Dome, there were speakers hanging in a circle from the 
 scaffolding no more than 25 meters apart all the way around the dome.  This 
 was in addition to the two 50 foot tall towers of speakers that were on the 
 stage.  The speakers hanging from the ceiling did not kick in until 
 George Bush appeared on the giant TV screen just prior to U2 opening up.

 The figure of George Bush was reminiscent of Max Headroom as he kept repeating
 "We Will, We Will Rock You" as the rest of the screens crackled to life, and 
 then the show began.

  Zoo Station:  I looked for Bono to be on top of one of the screens as it
		was in the Madison, WI show, but I missed it if it happened.
		The first I saw him he was on the stage and was singing.

  The Fly:  This one and Until the End of the World were two of the best
	    sounding songs in the concert.  The band appeared to be having
	    trouble with feedback throughout the show, and whenever Bono
	    spoke, it was hard to understand him.  However, the guitar bridge
	    on this song sounded better than the recording.
 
  Even Better Than the Real Thing:   Like the other shows, Bono flips through
				     the stations.  I can't remember what all
				     appeared on the screen, but I do remember
				     seeing Dan Quayle being interviewed which
				     sparked a mixed response from the audience.

  Mysterious Ways:  Complete with the belly dancer and light-splitters to 
		    create the mirror-ball, dance hall effect throughout the 
		    Dome.  Bono did the same thing of reaching out for the 
		    dancer but not actually touching her.

  One:  Same as before...buffalos, sunflowers, one in many languages.


  Unchained Melody: Bono alone...he didn't get the feedback as bad this time as
		    he apparently did in the Madison, WI concert.

  Until the End of the World: #'s flash on the video screens.  What looked like
			      stock prices scrolled across the teletypes during
			      the song.  The guitar bridge on this also sounded
  			      really phenomenal live.  The trabi's (cars) again
			      came to life to shine spotlights into the crowd.

  New Year's Day:  Again, a HUGE crowd pleaser.  Edge missed the intro to his
		   guitar solo during the switch from the keyboard to his
		   guitar, but it still sounded awesome, and it really brought
		   the crowd to life.


  Whisky in the Jar:  Larry growls this Irish song in acappella.  It was very
		      well received.


  Tryin' to Throw Your Arms 
         Around the World:  Bono pulls a girl out of the crowd, and DANCES with
			    her this time, instead of giving her the cam like
			    he did in Madison.  Also, this song was extended
			    a bit, because they repeated the last stanza of
			    "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle"
			    twice.  Once Bono sang it alone and the second
			    time he shared the mike with Edge.

At this point, the band moved to the secondary stage, which jutted out like
a reef into a sea of the crowd.  The band moved to the base of the "L" shaped 
stage and did the next three songs:


  Angel of Harlem:  Bono started singing a tiny tiny bit of the Beatles song
                    "Hello Goodbye" before the song.  It was either this song
	  	    or the next that I think Larry plays the congas.

  When Love Comes to Town:  Kinda more bluesy than the recorded version, and
                            Bono let Edge sing the last verse.

  Satellite of Love:  Same extended version that was in Madison, with
                      with Bono trading vocals with Lou Reed 
	              ( who was on all the video screens ).


  The band leaves Bono on the secondary stage alone with an accoustic guitar,
  and Bono sings the following song:

  All I Want is You:  Very slow and melodic, with the main stage and all
		      the TV monitors darkened.  Nothing but the spotlight
		      on Bono.

  Bono walks slowly back towards the main stage, and hands his guitar to a
  roadie down in the crowd.  About that time, Edge begins the intro to:

  Sunday Bloody Sunday:  The crowd really erupts on this one.  After 4 slower
			 songs the playing of this old favorite was very 
			 effective.  At the end of the song, instead of waving
			 a white flag like he did in Red Rocks, Bono takes an 
			 Irish flag and drapes it around him like a cloak.  
			 He didn't begin the chant of "No More", but he did 
			 close the song with the usual "I'm so sick of it!".

  Bullet the Blue Sky:  Burning crosses on the screens, then an American flag.
		        It seems ironic to me that the crowd REALLY got into a
		        song as anti-American as this one is.


  Running to Stand Still:  Bono's closing with the chanting of
			   "Hale hale hallelujah" remained consistent.
			   He stood on the secondary stage when the fires
			   filled the Dome area with smoke.  I missed the
			   harmonica, but I feel sure he was playing it.
			   The organ began with the familiar music of...

  Where the Streets Have No Name:  The crowd REALLY responded to this one.
				   There was the red background, the flashing 
				   lights on the antennae (like a hundred 
				   random flashes going off constantly) and 
			           then the desert images on screen when they 
				   went into verse 2.


Pride:   This was really the only point where Bono really personalized the show
	 for Atlanta.  He stated prior to the last chorus: "Of all the places
	 in the world, Atlanta, Georgia is the place to sing this song..."
	 (Atlanta is the burial place of MLK, and the headquarters of alot of
	  his movement).  The song ended with a video newsclip of MLK
	 making a speech, apparently to an Atlanta audience, because I heard
	 (or at least think I heard) the word 'Atlanta' in it.


ENCORES:

After they left the stage, they had an aquarium up on all the screens
and one of the fish wasn't a fish but a car with fins and a tail.

Desire:  Bono comes out in silver lame' and cowboy hat, kisses himself in the 
         mirror and says "You know something?  You're f---ing beautiful."
         The teletype boards flashed:  Desire....Love....Money.

	 I'm not sure, but I believe that it was in this song that
         the 4 colored cars that were used as spotlights were stacked right 
	 on top of each other on the left side of the stage and all focused 
	 on Bono.  At the end, the Bono-dollar cannons went off and shot the 
	 money all over.

Ultraviolet:  Bono dials the White House:  Instead of asking to talk to the
	      president, he asks to talk to operator #2 (He knows them all by
	      name, now).  He asks the operator why she didn't come to see
	      them at the South Carolina concert when he had asked her to.

	      He then told the operator that he thought he loved her, and if at
	      any time she wanted to see U2 in concert that she could just let
	      him know.  The crowd, of course, went wild.  He then started
	      singing into the phone, and the song started.

	      I THINK it was this song that Bono runs up and down the secondary
	      stage with a baseball cap on and a headset-mike looking like
	      Janet Jackson.

With or Without You:  If the nude was on the screen, I missed it.  To be honest,
		      I can't even remember if they did this song, but I
		      believe they did.

Love Is Blindness:    They showed something on the screen that looks like
		      a cross between a map of the stars and moon and a
		      picture from an electron microscope.  It was really
		      weird.  I presume that it represented 'Blindness'.

Can't Help Falling In Love WIth You:  Bono alone.  He ends the song with the
				      usual "Elvis is still dead."

				      They hit the lights and play the Elvis 
				      version of the song.  It left the 
				      audience with an anti-climatic feeling.

	It really WAS an awesome concert.  I missed some of the older stuff,
	but the concert was DEFINATELY worth seeing.

  	------
	Gary.


-- 
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" Duty, Honor, Country.  Those three | Gary Braswell, Sr. Sys. Engineer
  hallowed words reverently dictate  | Problem Assessment and Solutions Eng.
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  be, what you will be."             | gary@rocker.b11.ingr.com
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