Visually speaking, how does the Vertigo stage rank?

[WalkOnTheEdge]

Just curious what you all think of the Vertigo tour's stage/lighting. I hated this DVD when I bought it. Watched it only once or twice because I think it falls so far short of Slane and Boston. It's been collecting dust for over a year now but for whatever reason I seem to have found a new appreciation for it.....I've been watching it all week. Certainly not saying it's one of their best but it's better than I initially gave it credit for.

I gotta say I think it's a damn good stage they had. Those light bulbs are cool as hell and the stage lighting was even better than the Elevation tour. How would you all rank it?

 

[xaviMF22]

good....but fails when compared to POPMart or ZOO TV

No fucking contest

 

[Chizip]

the light curtains didnt impress me much, too pixilated. they had to use simple visuals like the laaaaaame fighter jet during bullet the blue sky, i mean how cheesy was that thing?

 

[mandrake]

Vertigo stage was better than Elevation's. PopMart probably was the best stage, but you have to consider the stage the band made reflects what their tone of their music at the time.

 

[coolian2]

Vertigo outdoor > Vertigo indoor

 

[Caroni]

Third

 

[thelaj]

ZOO TV Outdoor
Popmart
Vertigo Outdoor
Vertigo Indoor
Elevation
ZOO TV Indoor

 

[Axver]

Popmart > ZooTV outdoor > Vertigo outdoor > ZooTV indoor > Vertigo indoor > Elevation > eighties tours

 

[tpsreports2424]

They could of been MUCH more creative indoors...

Didn't impress me at all... Plus the concerts I go to are so much more bigger and a huge part of a show so I guess I'm just not used to it..

Vertigo outdoor reminded me too much of Popmart too much. They also could of been more creative.

 

[J_NP]

You mean the indoor or stadium ?

Indoor is good I suppose nothing special

But the Outdoor , I think it's as good as ZOOTV , not so great like Popmart

 

[Chizip]

I'd rank Elevation production above Vertigo for the simple reason it was more original. It was something new and exciting for U2. Vertigo Tour, both indoor and outdoor, was just a ripoff of previous ideas.

I agree with Mr TPS that the creativity was lacking during the Vertigo tour.

 

[tpsreports2424]

You mean the indoor or stadium ?

Indoor is good I suppose nothing special

But the Outdoor , I think it's as good as ZOOTV , not so great like Popmart

I think both were lacking....


Vertigo indoor is the same as Elevation indoor except for the changes,


The LED balls replaces 6 foot screen

circular stage instead of square stage

and

circular eclispe replaces heart


Creativity was REALLY lacking... They better start chaging the stages to be TOTALLY different and not just changing some things...

 

[WalkOnTheEdge]

I'd rank Elevation production above Vertigo for the simple reason it was more original. It was something new and exciting for U2.

That's an excellent point. The heart stage of Elevation was fresh and it brought the guys, especially Bono, closer to the fans and made average seats seem better. It was an awesome stage.

But IMO Vertigo makes up for it because the bulbs were far more impressive than the screens hanging down on the Elevation tour. I see many of you aren't as impressed as I am with the bulb thing but I've never seen anthing like that before. Very cool.

 

[Chizip]

I think both were lacking....


Vertigo indoor is the same as Elevation indoor except for the changes,


The LED balls replaces 6 foot screen

circular stage instead of square stage

and

circular eclispe replaces heart


Creativity was REALLY lacking... They better start chaging the stages to be TOTALLY different and not just changing some things...

The Elevation Tour had screens that dropped down too, the only difference this time was that they lit up instead of having stuff projected on them.

 

[J_NP]

and outdoor, was just a ripoff of previous ideas.

I agree with Mr TPS that the creativity was lacking during the Vertigo tour.

1- Just coz the Outdoor Stage had a giant screen like Popmart , in no way that stage was a rip-off , People can say that about the indoor , but the stadium one ...... bullshit

2- I ain't gonna enter this discussion of creativity and all , coz it reminds that discussion we had weeks ago bout elevation tour and all ..... I define all this with a line

Elevation may had the creativity , originality , Elevation may had the idea , but it was Vertigo who made it really work and shine

In years we will se what's the tour that most will remember and how will be remembered the best

 

[Liesje]

It's hard to compare since I saw 9 arena shows. Of course PopMart and ZooTV trump anything, but those were huge stadium productions.

I think as a whole the arena legs are really only comparable to Elevation. I didn't see any Elevation shows, but I think I may have liked that stage more, because Vertigo seemed too similar, like they ran out of new ideas.


Things I really liked:

- Graphics during the entire The Fly in Hawaii. I enjoyed that as much as the song musically (which was a LOT).

- The lights "chasing" each other around the ellipse, during Miracle Drug I think.

- The graphics sequence during Yahweh, third leg.

Things I didn't care for

- The light curtains were cool, but it didn't seem like they really did anything all that unusual with them. Just seemed like a lot of money and work for the same types of imagery they use on their other screens.

- The jets during Bullet. Haven't they done a jet theme already?

- The African flags during Streets. Personally, I really enjoyed it having recently been to Africa, but I can see where they are kind of bla relative to the momentum of the song, and it sounds like people were *really* pissed about not having red lights.

 

[WalkOnTheEdge]

Elevation may had the creativity , originality , Elevation may had the idea , but it was Vertigo who made it really work and shine

That's a perfect way to put it and I was thinking the same thing. They knew they had something great with Elevation and they wanted to stick with the same idea. This time around they improved it and really brought it all together. The red rings on the Vertigo stage look awesome.

 

[Chizip]

1- Just coz the Outdoor Stage had a giant screen like Popmart , in no way that stage was a rip-off , People can say that about the indoor , but the stadium one ...... bullshit

The defining characteristic of the Popmart production was 1 giant screen behind them. The defining characteristic of the Vertigo stadium show was 1 giant screen behind them

I'll give you this though, the outdoor show wasn't as similiar to Popmart as the indoor show was to Elevation. If you watched the Chicago DVD and the Boston DVD, there would be points where you'd think they were the same tour. The same wouldn't be able to be said if you watched video from Milan and a show from Popmart.

 

[2861U2]

Any pictures of ZooTV indoors? The only pictures or video I've ever seen is outside.

 

[Chizip]

Any pictures of ZooTV indoors? The only pictures or video I've ever seen is outside.

heres a couple

 

[mandrake]

Does that sign really say "Bono Stop Lying" in that second one? It's between the Trabant on the right and the screen with the cross.

I'd like to change my answer, I think ZooTV was the best. Using Trabants (or any small car) as light is a really cool idea.

Another stage no one has mentioned are the War era stages with the torches and white flags with the picture of whats his face in the background.

 

[Chizip]

Elevation may had the creativity , originality , Elevation may had the idea , but it was Vertigo who made it really work and shine

Maybe, but I think if they went with the Vertigo production for the Elevation Tour, it wouldn't have been as good. Elevation Tour was all about stripping down the production, and their production really worked perfectly. The tour had its own special identity with what they were trying to do at the time. I never felt like the Vertigo Tour ever had its own unique identity. It was just kind of a lazy mix of previous ideas, and thats what hurt its "specialness."

 

[DontExpect]

I was just thinking about this exact topic last night. For the next tour, when they move indoors there is no way they will drop the whole "ellipse" thing. It makes being in the GA more fun because you are really never stuck too far from the action, and actual seats can sometimes be unexpectedly close to the band at times.

But, since they've done the heart and the ellipse now, what could they do indoors that would be different for the next tour but give the same effect?

I tried drawing out a bunch of possible stage designs and it all sorta looked like the Vertigo set up...

 

[Blue Room]

Popmart will probably always be the ultimate production they have done for me. Over the top but not so much that the music was completely lost in it or became secondary. (IE Zoo TV)

Regarding Vertigo, I agree that the staging was too similiar to Elevation. I kind of see Vertigo though as taking Elevation to the next level. I think it was a better tour performance and setlist wise. I didnt mind the light curtains but I didnt think they were anything spectacular either. My impression of the back screen for Elevation was the same, nothing spectacular. The tracer lights for Vertigo and Miracle Drug for the indoor production was really cool though, so that was an improvement.

The Vertigo outdoor production looked to me like they took the ideas from Zoo, Popmart and Elevation and combined them all. I think that stage looked very cool. Nothing super innovative about it though. But who cares, it looked cool!

 

[Chizip]

I was just thinking about this exact topic last night. For the next tour, when they move indoors there is no way they will drop the whole "ellipse" thing. It makes being in the GA more fun because you are really never stuck too far from the action, and actual seats can sometimes be unexpectedly close to the band at times.

But, since they've done the heart and the ellipse now, what could they do indoors that would be different for the next tour but give the same effect?

I tried drawing out a bunch of possible stage designs and it all sorta looked like the Vertigo set up...

easy, do a true "in the round" stage setup.

circular stage in the middle of the floor

 

[J_NP]

Any pictures of ZooTV indoors? The only pictures or video I've ever seen is outside.

 

[tpsreports2424]

1- Just coz the Outdoor Stage had a giant screen like Popmart , in no way that stage was a rip-off , People can say that about the indoor , but the stadium one ...... bullshit

But it has the same theme of the Popmart..

Can't they just think of something else than just one huge screen??

 

[coolian2]

- The African flags during Streets. Personally, I really enjoyed it having recently been to Africa, but I can see where they are kind of bla relative to the momentum of the song, and it sounds like people were *really* pissed about not having red lights.

I didn't care at all.

It was Streets, who gives a fuck about the background? Besides, we got the red screen and white wash towards the end of the song. It made the outro seem more special.

I liked it. I'd love to see the red wash and white lights return though.

 

[tpsreports2424]

- The African flags during Streets. Personally, I really enjoyed it having recently been to Africa, but I can see where they are kind of bla relative to the momentum of the song, and it sounds like people were *really* pissed about not having red lights.

There's a lot of things that lacked during that song, not just the song itself but the stage itself was lacking with effects, they could of had lights flashing and crap like they did on the elevation tour but that song just really crapped out the whole tour..

I never realized the red lights but now that I think of it, it kinda pisses me off that they didn't have it..

 

[J_NP]

I didn't care at all.

It was Streets, who gives a fuck about the background? Besides, we got the red screen and white wash towards the end of the song. It made the outro seem more special.

I liked it. I'd love to see the red wash and white lights return though.

Exactly , great one mate , What I always said or tried to

But it has the same theme of the Popmart..

Please tell me u aren't being serious

So they are both the same bloody ' theme ' coz of a giant screen ?