PARK CITY, Utah " After a legendary career playing to sold-out stadiums, Bono and the Edge this weekend doing what their fans have done for years " standing in line to see a U2 concert.
That concert was "U2 3D," a film of the band's 2005-06 Vertigo tour, shot at several shows in South America with new 3D technology.
"I was really hoping we weren't crap after all these years. Luckily we weren't," the Edge told the Associated Press before the band donned plastic glasses to watch the movie's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday night.
The band's frontmen, joined by drummer Larry Mullein and bassets Adam Clayton, joked about the absurdity of seeing their own concert after playing together for over 30 years.
"It's kind of horrific," to watch himself on stage in 3D, said Bono. "Its bad enough on a small screen. Now you get so see the lard arse 40-foot tall."
The Edge said the cutting-edge 3D technology allowed "the songs to shine through," though he was surprised to see the chemistry of the band in the details on screen, and how separate his band mates were on stage.
"Are you saying you felt lonely up there?" said Bono, smiling.
"No, I felt lonely for Larry," the band's drummer, the Edge replied.
"He likes being on his own," said Bono. "Didn't you bring him back a bottle of water?"
Bono said he loved playing to the enthusiastic audiences of Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro.
"Irish people are essentially Latin people who don't know how to dance," he said. "When people are screaming and roaring and shouting, the humbling thing is to realize it's not really for the band or artist on the stage. It's for their connection with the songs. A song just can own you ... . I think that's why concerts are so powerful. If that song is such a part of your life, and you hear it, it's too much almost."
Bono also expressed hope that the film would allow more people to experience their music, especially teenagers and college students who might not be able to afford the pricey tickets to their sold-out shows.
The band is currently working with longtime producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno on a new album that will merge Lanois' respect for traditional music and Eno's futuristic sound.
"Music like the band had formed on Venus, and somewhere between that is our next album," Bono said. "Where they join, where something feels always existing but you never heard it before, that seems to be what the two of them bring out in us."