from Launch U2 has been winning rave reviews for its performances on the Elevation world tour, which is winding its way through North America until late June and then picks up in Europe in early July. Most have noted that the Irish quartet's return to arenas after the Zoo TV and PopMart stadium tours has been accompanied by a downsizing of the visual extravaganzas, which is a reflection of the music on the group's new album, All That You Can't Leave Behind.

U2 guitarist the Edge tells LAUNCH, "Everything followed on from the record, and the record seemed...seemed like a very balanced record. It wasn't heavily conceptual--it was really just a record of songs. And there didn't seem to be any strong indication as to how it should be staged or how we would produce the show. So we said, 'Well, let's go the opposite direction. Let's keep it very much of a, an open-stage production, keep it to a bare minimum. Let's make the music the centerpiece of the show as well and, and not have a conceptual show.'"

That said, the Edge acknowledges that the Elevation show--with its video screens, elaborate lighting effects and heart-shaped ramp that extends into the audience--isn't quite a bare bones production. "It's not exactly a couple of colored lights and a bare stage," he says. "I mean, it does have production elements, but they're nothing more than just a platform to help to present the songs. It's not a case of any other thing being presented--it's, like, the music is what's important. But we have learned so much over the last few tours that we obviously were gonna incorporate some of that into this tour--so we have."

During its performance Wednesday (May 30) at the Palace of Auburn Hills outside Detroit, U2 dedicated its version of "In A Little While," a track from All That You Can't Leave Behind, to the late punk rock pioneer Joey Ramone. Frontman Bono told the crowd that Ramone "loved this song. He turned a song about a hangover into a gospel song. This was the last song Joey Ramone was played before he passed away." U2 hits the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York, on Saturday (June 2).

-- Gary Graff, Detroit