Hidden within the Meadowlands swamps Saturday night, there loomed a small, dystopian city — crumbling skyscrapers the color of sand, an immense urban landscape miniaturized to span only the width of the MetLife Stadium stage.
The damned skyline, which appeared to include the Empire State Building and Toronto’s needle-like CN Tower, lived and died across the New Jersey night, sometimes pouring smoke and flames, in other moments fully conscious, emboldened by high-def images blasted onto the enormous backing video screen — or perhaps the steady shrieks of nearly 60,000 screaming fans.