from Launch

(6/22/01, 10 a.m. ET) -- U2 wraps up the first North American leg of its Elevation world tour tonight (June 22) at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The tour began in late March in Sunrise, Florida, and has crisscrossed the United States and Canada extensively. During a May break, frontman Bono's wife gave birth to the couple's fourth child and second son, and the group recently filmed a concert in Boston for a home video and TV special that should air later this year.

With nearly 50 concerts under his belt this year, singer-guitarist the Edge tells LAUNCH that playing the Elevation shows has increased his appreciation for the Irish quartet's latest album, All That You Can't Leave Behind. "This record--I can listen to it and I really, I enjoy it, which is a testimony to, I think, a good record. But there's still so many things I'd love to change about it, and in particular now that we've started playing the songs live," he says. "You know, you start to discover things about the songs when you've played them in front of your audience that only that experience could tell you. We know some of the songs could have been even better than they were on the record."

U2 will take a two-week break before kicking off its European tour on July 6 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The band is planning to return to North America this fall, playing mostly cities it didn't hit in the past three months.

-- Gary Graff, Detroit