Rock’s Hottest Ticket : POP MUSIC REVIEW : U2: Flashy, Trashy . . . and Spectacular

AUSTIN, Tex. —  “Yow - eeeeeeee.”

The shriek was from a young man who was waving a U2 ticket as he raced toward the entrance of the Erwin Center arena this week. He had just paid a scalper three times the face value of the $25 ticket--and he thought it was a bargain.

It was.

Andrew Troyer, owner of Encore Tickets here, said Thursday that tickets like the one bought by the fan--about 20 rows from the stage on the arena level--were being sold by his company and other independent brokers for around $125 to $150 each. Tickets in the first two or three rows commanded about $500 to $600.

Remarkably, even those prices would be a bargain--some might say a steal--in Southern California, where brokers this week were asking as much as $1,200 for second-row seats to the Irish rock band’s concerts Sunday and Monday at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The group also will be at the San Diego Sports Arena on Wednesday.

At the top Los Angeles prices, a California U2 fan could have flown here ($312 round trip), stayed at the plush Four Seasons hotel (about $175 a night), indulged in room service (say, $50), bought souvenir T-shirts for a couple friends back home ($23 each) and still have saved money on a second-row seat. Estimated cost, including taxi fare: about $1,100.

Ticket demand has been intense because U2 has been one of mainstream rock’s most exciting live acts for years, and this tour offers some dramatic new twists.

Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose even flew here from Los Angeles for an advance look. Though several fans tried to catch his eye as he stood by the sound mixing board Tuesday night, Rose was too busy focusing on the band and the show’s lavish production.

The idea of U2 as part of the “flash and trash” of rock ‘n’ roll--as the band’s touring deejay describes the show during intermission--would have been unimaginable just a year ago.

Throughout the ‘80s, the Dublin quartet sidestepped rock ‘n’ roll theatrics in favor of a purist, no-nonsense stance on stage that reflected the ideals of its spiritually conscious, uplifting music. It was that sense of integrity and purpose that helped establish U2 as the contemporary link with many of the classic bands of the ‘60s, including the Beatles and the Who.

On this tour, however, U2 rolls out perhaps the most lavish rock ‘n’ roll production since Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” dates in 1980. It’s an orgy of sight and sound designed to reflect the modern-age anxiety outlined in the jarring, dance/industrial-rock textures of the band’s recent “Achtung Baby” album.

During the opening, 40-minute flurry of songs from that album, the audience seemed enthralled by the high-tech extravaganza, which incorporated everything from lasers and a belly dancer to a dozen video monitors offering a constant barrage of images and messages.

The words on the monitors ranged from complete thoughts--such as “Everything You Know Is Wrong”--to juxtapositions of words flashed across the screens so fast they seemed either provocative or mundane, depending on which sequence you picked up.

At the center of it all, lead singer Bono Hewson, who for years dedicated himself to avoiding rock star cliches, allowed himself to be the ultimate cliche. His black leather outfit and dark glasses incorporated everything from the ‘50s hero worship of Elvis Presley to the ‘60s self-absorption of Jim Morrison.

Though all this seemed wildly out of character for U2, it became clear over the course of the nearly two-hour performance that it was part of a slyly imaginative game plan: The “Zoo TV” tour is at once the ultimate ‘90s salute to, and sendup of, rock’s inherent show-biz gimmickry.

The point was made most dramatically following the “Achtung Baby” sequence when Bono, guitarist Edge, drummer Larry Mullen and bassist Adam Clayton gathered on a second stage in the middle of the arena for two acoustic numbers, including the delicate “Angel of Harlem,” a song from 1987’s “Rattle and Hum” album.

Having eliminated all the special effects, U2, in effect, reminded the audience that it’s really the music and the ideas in the songs that matter. But the switch in emphasis was so sudden and so subtle that the point didn’t really register until the band got back on the main stage to perform some of its earlier material.

Where the audience’s attention had been divided between the music and the effects in the early moments of the show, the music was the entire focus as U2 went through captivating renditions of such tunes as the poignant “Bad,” one of its most moving, introspective tales, and the urgent “Bullet the Blue Sky,” one of the group’s most overtly political numbers.

As the show continued with other songs from U2’s past, including “Desire” and “With or Without You,” the monitors and special effects sometimes rejoined the activities--which may seem like a bit of a contradiction: If the show underscores the fact that great music doesn’t need theatrics, it also shows that the theatrics can be fun.

It’s an admission that adds an especially warm touch to the show. In the souvenir program, the band members are asked to name some of their early rock favorites, and their answers include the names of ‘60s acts--such as Slade and T. Rex--that certainly emphasized the “trash and flash” side of rock.

In those answers and in this show, U2, the band that was long accused by part of the rock community of being too self-important or aloof, has a bit of a laugh at itself in a way that is disarming. Mostly, however, it is the power of the music--and the band has never sounded better--that makes the “Zoo TV” tour the band’s most spectacular live achievement.