U2’S COLOSSAL RETURN; WONDER’S BENEFIT : By Scheduling Stadium Concerts So Early in Its Career, Is Ireland’s U2 Creating a Trap for Itself?

Don’t expect an announcement for a few more days, but it’s official: U2 is coming back to town.

Avalon Attractions has reserved Nov. 17 and 18 for the Irish quartet at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, making it the first rock attraction to play the 85,000-capacity stadium since Bruce Springsteen did four nights there in 1985.

Though he would not confirm any West Coast dates, Paul Wasserman, the publicist for U2, acknowledged Friday that the band will begin the second leg of its U.S. concert tour early next month on the East Coast--and that the itinerary, still being pieced together, includes some outdoor shows.

The Coliseum concerts will be good news for thousands of fans who were unable to get tickets or were forced to pay scalper’s high prices when the group played five nights in April at the 15,000-seat Los Angeles Sports Arena. To match the 170,000 seats that would be available through two Coliseum shows, U2 would have to play 12 nights at the Sports Arena.

But the move outdoors poses a potential problem for the band itself. By going outdoors so early in its career (most of the band members are still in their mid-20s), is U2 creating a trap for itself?

U2 fans can point to the fact that Springsteen made a successful transition to stadiums last year--and that their band is widely regarded as the most stirring live act since Springsteen. But Springsteen stepped up to stadiums only after more than a decade of playing indoor arenas.

The question facing U2 is what it does for an encore after stadium shows.

As soon as the news about the Coliseum shows arrived, three Times pop contributors who happened to be in the office carried on their own mini-debate about the decision.

Don Waller, a moderate U2 fan, defended it: “What else could they do? They’re bigger than ever. They’ve had two No. 1 singles since they were here last spring and the album is still in the Top 10. The buzz is still out there.”

But Steve Hochman, who is probably a stronger U2 fan, questioned the decision, wondering if the move outdoors might not work against the buzz. “I recognize (playing the Coliseum) is the only practical way to meet the fan demand, but there’s the danger of becoming ‘too big.’ Their fans may feel distanced from them . . . the kind of thing that happened with Springsteen when he played the Coliseum last year.”

Retorted Waller: “But if you are good, you can play to any size room. It doesn’t have to have a roof on it. They’ve always been so dramatic anyway and it won’t hurt them to take the show outside. I don’t see how those (stadium) shows hurt Springsteen. How many copies of the live album did he sell?”

Lori E. Pike, a huge U2 fan, sided with Hochman. “Why don’t they just play LAX? I don’t think the Coliseum shows make them look greedy, but it does make them look like they are not willing to invest the time. Instead of doing six or eight nights at the Forum, they are in here two nights and gone.”

But Waller thought it would be absurd for the band to spend the “450 nights or whatever it’d take” on the road trying to please all the band’s fans.

“Instead of burning themselves out on tour, they should do the stadium shows and get back to Dublin,” he said. “They spend the next year writing good songs, which has always proven to be the most effective antidote against backlash.”

Yet Hochman added: “Still, I worry about the implications of the stadium shows. Does it also mean the band is going to do everything else ‘big,’ too--like a five-album boxed set, a full-length concert video, a TV special? I don’t expect U2 ever to be able to retreat to an intimate cult status, but it should be careful not to get caught up in the bigger-is-better syndrome.”

Wasserman, the band’s publicist, said that U2, whose “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is the nation’s No. 1 single this week, will release a new single around Sept. 1: “Where the Streets Have No Name,” along with a video for the song that was shot in part in downtown Los Angeles.

He also said that the band has been working in Dublin on the next album. One song will contrast the opulence of parts of Los Angeles with some of the skid-row hotels they saw when shooting the video.

About the decision to do stadium dates, Wasserman said that the band members did have reservations about playing stadiums so soon in their career, but that the decision to go outdoors this time was based on the effectiveness of Springsteen’s stadium shows, their own recent success with some outdoor shows in Europe, and the practical problem of trying to meet the mushrooming fan demand in this country.

There is no information available about when tickets for the Coliseum shows will go on sale.

LOS LOBOS SEES THE LIGHT: Ritchie Valens’ legacy and Columbia Pictures aren’t the only winners in the success of the “La Bamba” film. Los Lobos, whose version of the title song has just cracked the Top 10, is also enjoying a growing interest in its own music.

Though the band’s excellent “By the Light of the Moon” album stalled at No. 52 on the Billboard magazine sales charts in April, it has--in light of the “La Bamba” exposure--rebounded dramatically: from No. 141 last week to No. 114 this week.

In hopes of boosting sales even further, Linda Clark, the band’s manager, said that Slash Records is releasing “One Time One Night”--the second single from the “Light” album--around Sept. 1. Before that, however, Slash expects a second Los Lobos single from “La Bamba”: “Come On, Let’s Go.”

“The ‘La Bamba’ exposure has been phenomenal,” Clark said. “The (title) single is being played on almost 1,000 stations and is cutting across formats . . . pop, urban-contemporary, dance, even some country stations. We’ve seen the (increased demographics) in the audience at our shows, people who were turned on to Los Lobos by ‘La Bamba’ and wondered what else we did. That’s why the ‘Light’ album is getting a new life. They may come to hear ‘La Bamba,’ but they also enjoy Los Lobos’ own music.”

CD DIGEST: With the Grateful Dead’s “In the Dark” in the Top 10, Warner Bros. has released the band’s two most acclaimed albums in CD: “Workingman’s Dead” and “American Beauty.” . . . Also from Warners: Jimi Hendrix’ “Electric Ladyland” and “Cry of Love.” . . . New CD releases from record-company catalogues: “The Doors,” a two-disc best-of collection; the first Todd Rundgren albums, and X’s “Under the Big Black Sun.” . . . Among the new releases on CD: Def Leppard’s “Hysteria,” Dio’s “Dream Evil,” Rosanne Cash’s “King’s Record Shop,” UB40’s “Live in Moscow.” . . . New CD sound tracks: “Who’s That Girl,” “The Lost Boys” and “La Bamba.”

LIVE ACTION: Burbank’s troubled Starlight Amphitheatre kicks off its most ambitious concert series since 1979 on Aug. 29 with an oldies show featuring the Coasters, Zola Taylor of the Platters and Penguins, plus an appearance by “La Bamba” star Lou Diamond Phillips. Tim Pinch, who is booking the 6,000-capacity theater, said other shows will include Bill Monroe (Sept. 7), the Knack and Dwight Twilley (Sept. 11), Molly Hatchet (Sept. 12) and the Bellamy Brothers (Oct. 10). Tickets go on sale Monday. . . . Dan Fogelberg will be at at the Universal Amphitheatre on Sept. 16-17 (on sale Sunday) and at the Pacific Amphitheatre on Sept. 19 (on sale Monday).