cjboog
Refugee
Yah, I really like how they went all out with Popmart. I love the Vertigo and Elevation tours, but they are too simple and safe. Next time they need to come up with a new concept for the stage, and hopefully do a US stadium tour.
A Visual Appreciation Of Popmart
- Thread starter namkcuR
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
tommycharles
War Child
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2005
- Messages
- 777
Lancemc said:
It was certainly a feast or famine thing. About half the setlist was brilliant, half was not so.
Mofo
I Will Follow
Gone
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Last Night On Earth
Until The End of the World
Bullet The Blue Sky
Please
Streets
Discotheque
Velvet Dress
Hold Me Thrill Me
still hold up without the visuals to me. However,
Pride
Still Haven't...
All I Want Is You
Miami
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Staring At The Sun
Desire
With Or Without You
Mysterious Ways
One
are all arguably at their worst during Popmart.
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
tommycharles said:
I agree with the first part and disagree with the second part. Miami, SBS, Staring At The Sun, and MW were great during Popmart, among others.
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
I found this review of Popmart while Googling for stuff about Popmart - I think it's one of the best reviews of Popmart I've ever read...the guy is obviously a good writer, and the review is almost in the form of a story with commentary at each stop...give it a read...(Note that this was written in 1997 and, as such, some of the links referenced in it might be out of date now).
-----
http://www.endlessla.com/june/062297_forum
Saturday, June 21, 1997
It's a beautiful June night in Los Angeles -- perfect for a stadium show. We're going to see U2 -- arguably the biggest rock band of our time. They're here on their "POPMART" tour. My 3 friends and I park about 6 miles away from the Coliseum and start walking. It seems as though everyone in the world is heading for the show.
For some reason, there seem to be a lot of questions floating around: "Is it going to be better than ZOO TV?" and "Are people going to the show? It's not selling out! The album's not doing so well..."
In short, there's a lot of hype, positive and negative, surrounding this band, their album, and tour.
We enter the stadium through long lines cramming through doors in the chainlink fence. Off in the distance I can hear the vague rumblings of Rage Against The Machine...I think.
At long last, we're out of the huge crowd outside the stadium. And now we're in the middle of a huge crowd inside the stadium. It is packed. We push our way through and head for our seats, passing all kinds of kiosks selling beer, food, soda, life insurance, and various U2 paraphernalia, ranging from t-shirts to giant inflatable lemons.
LEMONS? They're selling lemons? Man, that's pitching underhand to your critics...but since I don't want to spend an additional $20 and have to lug whatever goodies I buy around, I decide to wait.
Besides, I'm told all items can be purchased over the band's website, at http://www.u2popmart.msn.com. Hmm...Microsoft sponsoring their website. Perhaps that explains the curious similarities between the POP album cover and the Windows 95 logo...
Finally we're inside and I guess Rage Against The Machine isn't playing yet -- it's just 4 roadies clustered together at the front of the stage. They sure are making a racket, tuning up and playing old Faith No More songs.
Oops. That is Rage Against The Machine playing. While the band breaks into something that sounds like a Primus tune, the singer (His name is Zakk Wylde or something like that) starts doing one-armed pushups and breathing into the microphone.
I can't really make out what he's saying...all of the band's nuance and subtlety is completely lost in this stadium environment. But I think he's singing something like "Some of those with a mortgage are the same that own Porsches". Kind of an 80s-era message, but hey, it seems like he really means it.
The thing that's so weird is the band looks microscopic, like ants crawling around in front of the giant stage. And as the band finishes, the lights come up and I'm able to truly appreciate the size of the stage.
U2's got a giant arch ripped off from McDonald's, a huge LEMON (again, what's with that?) and something that looks like a radio tower -- but I eventually realize it's supposed to be a giant toothpick with an olive on top. And this big-ass backdrop that says POPMART in letters that must be 3 stories high.
As I'm standing there soaking in the pre-show anticipation, I realize there's something familiar about the techno music they're blasting through the PA. It's not real techno -- it's all disco remixes of U2 songs, almost unrecognizable. Clever.
Eventually, the lights die down and the music starts. The band approaches the stage by weaving through the crowd. A nice touch. It's almost like being in an LA club, except Larry Mullen Jr. doesn't stop to ask anyone to bring him a drink on his way to the stage.
It's hard to see through the crowd, and the TV camera guys are only flashing quick glimpses on the monitor...I can see Larry, he looks the same. But where's the rest of the band? I see some guy in an orange jumpsuit who is obviously a member of DEVO who's showing up at the wrong stage on the wrong night, followed by a guy in a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. It's Steve Earle! Wow! What a great cameo! I bet he's going to play all of those country licks Edge has been copping since "The Joshua Tree".
What about Bono? That's gotta be him...and my god, I can't believe it. He's wearing a KKK outfit. Yup. A big white sheet with a pointy hood. I can't believe it. Quite a change. I guess some of the fans can't believe it either, because the camera shows Bono punching the fans in the face repeatedly as he literally fights his way to the stage.
...And then I see that in fact, he's actually wearing a boxer's robe with the hood up, and is just shadowboxing. Whew. What a kidder that guy is.
The band starts out with "MOFO", the most techno-flavored track on their new record, and all questions fade away. There's no doubt, as the 3-story screen reveals itself to be a huge TELEVISION SET (the biggest ever) and the band rips into the song, that U2 is the best band in the world, the best band ever. I am completely awed by the sound, the visuals.
Somehow, the band members seem to be HUGE, larger than life, on the same stage where, just minutes ago, Rage Against the Machine seemed microscopic. U2 owns the place.
The band continues on through a survey of most of its newer product -- the only song they play off of an album prior to "The Unforgettable Fire" is a great reading of "I Will Follow", from Boy.
There's something special about each song -- during "Even Better Than The Real Thing", the band flashes various advertising-type messages up on the screen while they're playing. It sorta makes you wonder -- I paid $55 to come see "the real thing", when I could have stayed home, purchased the CD and heard it in stereo and had a couple of nice beers for half that. But I bought these tickets, I'm consuming this product, and dammit, I'm HERE!
There's "Last Night On Earth", which is accompanied on the big screen by a very disturbing, violent cartoon involving a woman shopping, guns, and blood.
"Miami" brings out Bono dressed as a tourist, with a cheesy, computer-generated "Miami" backdrop that looks like they bought it second-hand from Laurie Anderson.
During one song, they turn all the spotlights straight up. The band is quiet, brooding about love, and the audience is quiet along with them, all of us gathered together under a cathedral of light that stretches hundreds of feet into the sky. It's a breathtaking moment. Not the sort of thing you'd find at on the Rolling Stones' latest megatour or during Lollapalooza or even in many LA clubs.
And then something weird happens. I'm pulled out of the concert experience and I start looking around, thinking about the concert. Look at all these people -- contrary to reports, the place is practically sold out. The stage is amazing. The band is great. What other band could even try to pull off a show like this?
By the time I realize that I'm not paying attention, Davy Jones is onstage, singing "Daydream Believer". Really. Davey Jones. Onstage. Singing. Now that's worth $50, right there. Is U2 making some kind of statement about how they're no different than the Monkees? Perhaps. Again, they're making me think -- about their role as musicians, about how they see themselves, about how hard it is to grow old gracefully in the pop world (U2 has been on a major label for 15 years now), about what a good song "Daydream Believer" is.
And then it's over. I'm sitting down, a little dazed -- like the feeling I have after I've been in a KMart or Target too long -- overstimulated, overspent, jittery from the flickering fluorescent lights. The audience is screaming. The lights go down again.
Apparently that giant lemon is stuck on top of a Zamboni. Some roadie is driving it around. I guess they're packing up the stage and they've gotta get that thing out of here.
But the cover blows off of it, and it's not just a lemon...it's a giant mirrorball in the shape of a lemon. It starts to rotate, turning the Coliseum into the inside of a disco. I'm stunned.
I'm even more stunned when the lemon opens and the band come jumping out of it, walking down steps to a stage at the end of the proscenium. They break into an extended encore, playing right in the middle of the crowd.
And then it's really over.
Lights come up. Roadies start disassembling the stage and we begin to meander towards the exit. Most people seem satisfied, but not ecstatic, or awed, the way they seemed to be after the Zoo TV tour (which I had the good fortune to see in Anaheim).
What gives?
The show was both unique and better than anything else these people have seen or will have the opportunity to see in this summer of clichéd, overplayed chick rock, second-rate over-hyped demographic-targeted megafests, or seemingly endless parades of amateurs.
t's U2's own fault -- they raised the bar so high on their last tour that they're stuck competing with themselves -- themselves at a different time, in a different world, competing against an album (Achtung Baby) that was as unpopular as their current album is now, but which has become a respected classic in the intervening years.
For my money, POPMART was amazing. There is no other band I can think of who could provide such entertainment, while simultaneously inciting deeper thoughts about the nature of live performance, society, and the band's own growth and change.
Perhaps U2's "problem" is their willingness to take risks, to try to do something beyond the ordinary. You don't see REM (another alternaband-gone-huge that' s been around for over a decade) trying anything like this -- and supposedly, everyone loved their last album although I don't know anyone who actually OWNS it. Depeche Mode decided not to tour at all this summer. Cowards.
U2 are still amazing musicians. No, scratch that. They're amazing ARTISTS. And they put on a show I won't forget. Like many products at a supermarket, I wish it were cheaper. But enduring quality costs. I'm glad I paid.
---
Thoughts?
-----
http://www.endlessla.com/june/062297_forum
Saturday, June 21, 1997
It's a beautiful June night in Los Angeles -- perfect for a stadium show. We're going to see U2 -- arguably the biggest rock band of our time. They're here on their "POPMART" tour. My 3 friends and I park about 6 miles away from the Coliseum and start walking. It seems as though everyone in the world is heading for the show.
For some reason, there seem to be a lot of questions floating around: "Is it going to be better than ZOO TV?" and "Are people going to the show? It's not selling out! The album's not doing so well..."
In short, there's a lot of hype, positive and negative, surrounding this band, their album, and tour.
We enter the stadium through long lines cramming through doors in the chainlink fence. Off in the distance I can hear the vague rumblings of Rage Against The Machine...I think.
At long last, we're out of the huge crowd outside the stadium. And now we're in the middle of a huge crowd inside the stadium. It is packed. We push our way through and head for our seats, passing all kinds of kiosks selling beer, food, soda, life insurance, and various U2 paraphernalia, ranging from t-shirts to giant inflatable lemons.
LEMONS? They're selling lemons? Man, that's pitching underhand to your critics...but since I don't want to spend an additional $20 and have to lug whatever goodies I buy around, I decide to wait.
Besides, I'm told all items can be purchased over the band's website, at http://www.u2popmart.msn.com. Hmm...Microsoft sponsoring their website. Perhaps that explains the curious similarities between the POP album cover and the Windows 95 logo...
Finally we're inside and I guess Rage Against The Machine isn't playing yet -- it's just 4 roadies clustered together at the front of the stage. They sure are making a racket, tuning up and playing old Faith No More songs.
Oops. That is Rage Against The Machine playing. While the band breaks into something that sounds like a Primus tune, the singer (His name is Zakk Wylde or something like that) starts doing one-armed pushups and breathing into the microphone.
I can't really make out what he's saying...all of the band's nuance and subtlety is completely lost in this stadium environment. But I think he's singing something like "Some of those with a mortgage are the same that own Porsches". Kind of an 80s-era message, but hey, it seems like he really means it.
The thing that's so weird is the band looks microscopic, like ants crawling around in front of the giant stage. And as the band finishes, the lights come up and I'm able to truly appreciate the size of the stage.
U2's got a giant arch ripped off from McDonald's, a huge LEMON (again, what's with that?) and something that looks like a radio tower -- but I eventually realize it's supposed to be a giant toothpick with an olive on top. And this big-ass backdrop that says POPMART in letters that must be 3 stories high.
As I'm standing there soaking in the pre-show anticipation, I realize there's something familiar about the techno music they're blasting through the PA. It's not real techno -- it's all disco remixes of U2 songs, almost unrecognizable. Clever.
Eventually, the lights die down and the music starts. The band approaches the stage by weaving through the crowd. A nice touch. It's almost like being in an LA club, except Larry Mullen Jr. doesn't stop to ask anyone to bring him a drink on his way to the stage.
It's hard to see through the crowd, and the TV camera guys are only flashing quick glimpses on the monitor...I can see Larry, he looks the same. But where's the rest of the band? I see some guy in an orange jumpsuit who is obviously a member of DEVO who's showing up at the wrong stage on the wrong night, followed by a guy in a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. It's Steve Earle! Wow! What a great cameo! I bet he's going to play all of those country licks Edge has been copping since "The Joshua Tree".
What about Bono? That's gotta be him...and my god, I can't believe it. He's wearing a KKK outfit. Yup. A big white sheet with a pointy hood. I can't believe it. Quite a change. I guess some of the fans can't believe it either, because the camera shows Bono punching the fans in the face repeatedly as he literally fights his way to the stage.
...And then I see that in fact, he's actually wearing a boxer's robe with the hood up, and is just shadowboxing. Whew. What a kidder that guy is.
The band starts out with "MOFO", the most techno-flavored track on their new record, and all questions fade away. There's no doubt, as the 3-story screen reveals itself to be a huge TELEVISION SET (the biggest ever) and the band rips into the song, that U2 is the best band in the world, the best band ever. I am completely awed by the sound, the visuals.
Somehow, the band members seem to be HUGE, larger than life, on the same stage where, just minutes ago, Rage Against the Machine seemed microscopic. U2 owns the place.
The band continues on through a survey of most of its newer product -- the only song they play off of an album prior to "The Unforgettable Fire" is a great reading of "I Will Follow", from Boy.
There's something special about each song -- during "Even Better Than The Real Thing", the band flashes various advertising-type messages up on the screen while they're playing. It sorta makes you wonder -- I paid $55 to come see "the real thing", when I could have stayed home, purchased the CD and heard it in stereo and had a couple of nice beers for half that. But I bought these tickets, I'm consuming this product, and dammit, I'm HERE!
There's "Last Night On Earth", which is accompanied on the big screen by a very disturbing, violent cartoon involving a woman shopping, guns, and blood.
"Miami" brings out Bono dressed as a tourist, with a cheesy, computer-generated "Miami" backdrop that looks like they bought it second-hand from Laurie Anderson.
During one song, they turn all the spotlights straight up. The band is quiet, brooding about love, and the audience is quiet along with them, all of us gathered together under a cathedral of light that stretches hundreds of feet into the sky. It's a breathtaking moment. Not the sort of thing you'd find at on the Rolling Stones' latest megatour or during Lollapalooza or even in many LA clubs.
And then something weird happens. I'm pulled out of the concert experience and I start looking around, thinking about the concert. Look at all these people -- contrary to reports, the place is practically sold out. The stage is amazing. The band is great. What other band could even try to pull off a show like this?
By the time I realize that I'm not paying attention, Davy Jones is onstage, singing "Daydream Believer". Really. Davey Jones. Onstage. Singing. Now that's worth $50, right there. Is U2 making some kind of statement about how they're no different than the Monkees? Perhaps. Again, they're making me think -- about their role as musicians, about how they see themselves, about how hard it is to grow old gracefully in the pop world (U2 has been on a major label for 15 years now), about what a good song "Daydream Believer" is.
And then it's over. I'm sitting down, a little dazed -- like the feeling I have after I've been in a KMart or Target too long -- overstimulated, overspent, jittery from the flickering fluorescent lights. The audience is screaming. The lights go down again.
Apparently that giant lemon is stuck on top of a Zamboni. Some roadie is driving it around. I guess they're packing up the stage and they've gotta get that thing out of here.
But the cover blows off of it, and it's not just a lemon...it's a giant mirrorball in the shape of a lemon. It starts to rotate, turning the Coliseum into the inside of a disco. I'm stunned.
I'm even more stunned when the lemon opens and the band come jumping out of it, walking down steps to a stage at the end of the proscenium. They break into an extended encore, playing right in the middle of the crowd.
And then it's really over.
Lights come up. Roadies start disassembling the stage and we begin to meander towards the exit. Most people seem satisfied, but not ecstatic, or awed, the way they seemed to be after the Zoo TV tour (which I had the good fortune to see in Anaheim).
What gives?
The show was both unique and better than anything else these people have seen or will have the opportunity to see in this summer of clichéd, overplayed chick rock, second-rate over-hyped demographic-targeted megafests, or seemingly endless parades of amateurs.
t's U2's own fault -- they raised the bar so high on their last tour that they're stuck competing with themselves -- themselves at a different time, in a different world, competing against an album (Achtung Baby) that was as unpopular as their current album is now, but which has become a respected classic in the intervening years.
For my money, POPMART was amazing. There is no other band I can think of who could provide such entertainment, while simultaneously inciting deeper thoughts about the nature of live performance, society, and the band's own growth and change.
Perhaps U2's "problem" is their willingness to take risks, to try to do something beyond the ordinary. You don't see REM (another alternaband-gone-huge that' s been around for over a decade) trying anything like this -- and supposedly, everyone loved their last album although I don't know anyone who actually OWNS it. Depeche Mode decided not to tour at all this summer. Cowards.
U2 are still amazing musicians. No, scratch that. They're amazing ARTISTS. And they put on a show I won't forget. Like many products at a supermarket, I wish it were cheaper. But enduring quality costs. I'm glad I paid.
---
Thoughts?
Last edited:
Zoots
Blue Crack Supplier
What a great review! 
How I wish I'd seen them back then!
How I wish I'd seen them back then!
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
Zootlesque said:What a great review!
How I wish I'd seen them back then!
As I've said in the past, I'd give my left nut to be able to go back in time and go to Popmart or ZooTV show.
kennerado
Refugee
I am always annoyed that there was a POPMart show a mere 45 mins from where I live. I was not a huge fan back then.
Oh and about the "Zoo TV Presents" thing. I never noticed that until I saw it on that poster I got. Its pretty strange.
Oh and about the "Zoo TV Presents" thing. I never noticed that until I saw it on that poster I got. Its pretty strange.
ElectricalVoice
Refugee
babyman said:
It was Edge
Are you sure about that? I googled it, and found that Bono said it on David Letterman. I could be wrong, though.
Canadiens1131
ONE love, blood, life
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2004
- Messages
- 10,363
Popmart will be topped.
Organic LED is almost here.
Next U2 tour.
Organic LED is almost here.
Next U2 tour.
pepokiss
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
organic led?... as in BONO wearing a led screen?
he's going to become a human advertising sign?
he's going to become a human advertising sign?
Zoots
Blue Crack Supplier
pepokiss said:organic led?... as in BONO wearing a led screen?
he's going to become a human advertising sign?
kinda like Delicate Sound of Thunder! 
amerrydeath
War Child
I have bid on a copy of Popmart Mexico at eBay because Amazon was trying to charge me $35 for it!
Along with a tour program. I need popup Edge.
Along with a tour program.
I need popup Edge.
Zoots
Blue Crack Supplier
adrobw said:
I think it was in Germany, as can be inferred from the following poster!
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
Zootlesque said:
I think it was in Germany, as can be inferred from the following poster!
The concert the guy was reviewing, that he went to, wasn't in Germany though...it was in Los Angeles on the first leg.
I'm thinking they were always used....you'd need a panaramic or wide view to really see them and I don't think there's any panaramic or wide shots during Streets on the Mexico video.
amerrydeath
War Child
I think they were from Bullet, I saw some pictures from a different angle on a website and you could see the spotlights shooting up behind the stage (but not during other songs).
waynetravis
Blue Crack Supplier
Aardvark747 said:(U2 On The Jonathan Ross Show in the UK in 2004)
Ross - U were INSIDE the lemon?! Were u dressed as pips?
haha I rember watching that!!
Adam also said the Lemon got stuck when it was opening so they had go on to the stage through the door at the back.
fullautoreverse
War Child
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2003
- Messages
- 580
The most amazing thing I've ever seen. Walking into ANZ stadium in Brisbane, Australia and seeing that Huge Red & Yellow - amazing...
Zoots
Blue Crack Supplier
Chizip said:
i want this poster
Well... are you willing to shell out $78?
Here's the link...
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/Catal...KeySetID=46c8d3bf-63e6-4db8-80ae-d0dbd45b38c8
kennerado
Refugee
Zootlesque said:
Well... are you willing to shell out $78?
Here's the link...
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/Catal...KeySetID=46c8d3bf-63e6-4db8-80ae-d0dbd45b38c8
I've seen the same poster or similar MUCH cheaper on Ebay. Ebay rules!
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