November 27, 1993
It's television, so expect Bono to come in character.
Toward the end of U2's pay-per-view concert performance Saturday night, the singer promises to appear as MacPhisto, a leering lounge performer who joins The Fly and Mirror Ball Man in his pantheon of recently adopted personas.
"To me, the character is the logical extension of the rock jerk that starts the show - The Fly," he said. "This is the end. This is where he gets fat and plays Vegas, kind of slurring his words. It's very sad and some people find it very touching to see it all break down."
Bono and U2 are facing an end of another sort, the finish of a three-year burst of work that has included the "Achtung Baby" and "Zooropa" albums and the near constant high-tech tour known as "Zoo TV."
On the "Zoomerang" leg of that tour - in Sydney, Australia - U2 will record a show that will be beamed on pay-per-view this weekend to 20 million potential viewers in the United States.
It's an important moment for pay-per-view, which has never caught on for concerts in quite the same way as it has for boxing or wrestling matches.
"We've clearly got the equivalent of a heavyweight championship fight," boasted John Scher, president of Polygram Diversified Entertainment, which is promoting the show.
But that's less important to U2 than the chance to say farewell, at least for awhile. After some shows in New Zealand and Japan, the band will be off the road, probably for a couple of years. And maybe longer.
"I like the idea that U2 will tour again, but you can never be sure about these things," Bono said from Adelaide, Australia. "It's going to be very hard to follow `Zoo TV.' So I think for the next while, we will certainly be concentrating on recording."
Much like the propulsive, industrial sounds of its last two albums, the "Zoo TV" tour took many longtime U2 fans aback. It was a far cry from the earnest band of flag-wavers who toured during the 1980s.
Bono, admitting he wanted to play with his rock-star ethos, adopted a series of masks onstage as he pranced around a technological playground filled with cameras and huge video screens.
"Rock concerts have become quite self-conscious in a way, very clearly tribal events which are set pieces," he said. "You know what's going to happen, even when it comes down to, `Will the singer drink himself to death tonight?'
"While I think our concert is also self-conscious, (it is) in a different way," he said. "It's describing our subject and mocking it or milking it. There's an understanding between us and the audience about what is going on. Hopefully, that is some kind of progression in these events."
Since "Zoo TV" toured the United States, Bono said the show has taken on a more "European" flavor. Several songs from the "Zooropa" album have been added, as well as some older songs U2 hasn't performed in a while, like "New Year's Day."
Bono said the band didn't want "Zooropa" to be seen as an afterthought in America. Since U2 wasn't touring here again, pay-per-view provided an opportunity to perform some new songs for fans.
"It's just very important for us to get to our audience," he said. "I think they're a very elastic lot. I think they've stretched a long way with us in the last few years.
"I'm amazed that our records are selling so well," he said. "I'm amazed that the concerts did so well. It seems to suggest to me that people want rock 'n' roll to be progressive again. They want it to push out the walls and be on the cutting edge, whatever that is."
After this weekend, U2 will be content to let someone else do the pushing for awhile.
"It's been three years' work and I must say it was a really amazing time - a time when we were all inspired," Bono said. "It's going to be hard to turn it off, but I think if we don't turn it off, we'll just kill ourselves.'
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