Imax 3D Concerts: a great experience

This Friday, Corey and I enjoyed a date out of town. We drove to Fresno to watch "U23D," the first concert ever made for 3D Imax viewing. First of all, we knew we'd love it, since we've already seen two showings of U2's Vertigo tour. (May I also add that we have the DVD? Does that make us nerds? Oh well... call me nerd! ;o>) Although a theater show does not replace the concert feel, it adds a new dimension to it for sure. The cameras are allowed to go all sorts of places that no one else can go, even with the coolest cool-guy pass. The vantage points were like being on stage with the entire band, hovering over the set, as well as floating just above the crowd to view the concert front and center. The opening shot was neat, because it would be from Bono's view. You got to open the show with him and see thousands of Argentine fans going out of their minds. Wow. I dang near felt famous myself.

Aside from the vantage points... I LOVED the graphics that were integrated into the show. From the opening credits to the finale set featuring "The Fly," I KNEW that this viewing experience was not just a mere concert DVD on steriods. The producers had integrated animated text and images into the live performance, so that I felt that the 3D Imax show was now purposefully made for us theater viewers.

About the quality of the 3D... this is the best 3D I've seen. Like, if I could illustrate the scale of quality... poorest: the Pepsi half time commercial from the early 90's, traditional 3D movies, Captain Eo from Disneyland, and then IMax 3D. There was not merely a couple seconds of that really in-depth 3D feeling going on. There was a constant level of good 3D quality throughout. And the graphics that were integrated were LAYERED in... I can't explain it. You have to see it.

Anyhow, does a 3D IMax concert replace a live concert? Certainly not. It's not near as fun to sing the artists' songs back to a screen. If you miss a concert, can't pay for the tickets, or just want to supplement your live concert experience with the cool-guy Imax access, 3D Imax is as good as it gets.