See U2's Crazy 360° Stage Design

U2 may have fizzled a bit, ratings-wise, on their recent 5-night Letterman residency, and maybe they actually brought Good Morning America's ratings down when they did a live performance for the show last Friday, and perhaps their new album, No Line on the Horizon, has sold about 42% fewer copies than 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb did in its first week. But that isn't stopping the Irish combo from creating a completely insane, War of the Worlds-style contraption to support their upcoming tour. The band's stadium performances will be "in the round," with a custom-made four-legged structure holding up the speakers, lighting and a large cylindrical screen, supposedly offering "an unobstructed view" to audiences. Except for the giant alien monster legs, which are also helpful for sucking up unsuspecting concert-goers and grinding them into sweet, sweet fan-pulp, to power our takeover of your puny planet. Bwah hah haa! You can check out a virtual tour of the thing over here.

After the jump, "in the round" concerts: infuriating or just annoying?

I've been talking a lot about my high school concert experiences recently, but here's another: I saw Mr. Mister and The Bangles (!) in the round in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1987, and even though we had fourth row seats, inevitably the slowly revolving stage would turn away from us, again and again, and it was ultimately kind of like seeing one-fourth of a show. If you're interested in watching The Edge's back for 3/4 of a concert, the U2 360° tour hits the US in September.