1992.09.01 - Details Magazine - U2 Anew [excerpts] (Axl)

U2 Anew

Sean O'Hagan, Details, 1 September 1992

With Achtung Babyand their Zoo TV tour, U2 have found a way to be the biggest band in the world and still have fun. Sean O'Hagan joins the party in L.A., London, and Berlin

[...]

At the first L.A. show, the backstage hospitality suite customized with a fake Zoo TV satellite dish, massive video walls showing archive footage of exotic '50s belly dancers, Zoo TV dinners (self-service Mexican beans nestled inside a hollowed out television). In this film-set ambiance, Hollywood's finest have come out to play. I take in the scene: Sean Penn chews the fat with Dennis Hopper who, even in this dimly lit inner sanctum, never once takes his shades off. Robert De Niro is here, sporting a serious crew cut; Julia Roberts and Jason Patric chat with the Edge. There's Timothy Leary, looking slightly ridiculous in a customized denim waistcoat with illuminations stenciled on the back, and Billy Idol, reminiscing about dear old Blighty with Ringo Starr. And Springsteen and Perry Farrell. And Terence Trent D'Arby and L.L. Cool J. And Axl Rose. Axl, it seems, is a big U2 convert. He has turned up at various points along the tour; he has also sent champagne backstage and thinks 'One' is just about the best rock song in years. Axl connects with the new U2. I'm not sure if this is deeply meaningful or deeply disturbing. I ask the Edge.

"I personally don't trust press profiles of people, so it's not big surprise to find out how different the guy we met was from The Demon With the Notorious Reputation. I was surprised that he liked the album and the show so much, though."

[...]

After the second L.A. show, the entire U2 entourage attends a show-biz party high up in the hills, drinking and dancing in the unlikely company of the now ubiquitous Axl Rose (and his ever-present giant of a minder), Bruce and Patti, a seriously dapper Terence Trent D'Arby (in frock coat and silver-topped cane), and sundry illustrious movers and shakers (and god-awful dancers) from the Bel Air business set. The following night, too, everyone sits around till dawn, then finishes up with breakfast at a local diner. When I stroll back to the hotel, I find Bono sitting across the road chatting to faithful fans who, apart from the duration of the two shows, had been waiting patiently across the street from the hotel.

[...]

The two U2 shows in L.A. were on April 12 & 13, 1992.