Visuals on the next tour? NIN think they know what they'll look like...

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Wow...Having seen all three of the bands that are discussed in the thread, U2, Radiohead, and NIN. I do think the Vertigo visuals (arena tour) were a small step back when compared to Zoo TV and Popmart. Radiohead this past year was amazing. NIN incredible. I guarantee that U2 boys will push the envelope even further. BTW, I think Trent has a hate on for U2.
 
Trent Reznor tells it like it is. This doesn't mean he hates U2.

It is true though, sometimes U2 get the credit for things that other artists may have done first. Trent is just covering his own ass. Plus I'm pretty sure it was a joke. :hyper:
 
What doesn't Trent hate? :lol:

But seriously what makes you say that? He did do a remix for U2 recently...

absolutly right -

I really hope they make the 3D movie with James Cameron - (and I'm absolutly not an NIN Fan - but this stage...:drool:)

Hope U2 go this direction - and I hope that Willie Williams is again in top form. Really like his George Michael Stage also -
 
The thing though is watching that video. People really seem to cheer only at things that happen on a screen. U2, during the Joshua Tree, got people to cheer like that from just performing their songs.

I saw Pearl Jam at MSG this past June.

I have NEVER been to a rock concert with more energy and passion from every human in the arena- fans and band. 20,000 stood and sang and cheered for 3 hours straight.

Aside from the most minimal and basic light arrangement, there was not one single visual enhancement. It could have been 1975, at least visually. There were not even video screens. The show was better for it. It made the elevation tour look like Popmart. It was the best event I have ever attended, non-U2 category.

I'm not advocating one style over the other. It depends on your taste and your expectations for what a rock concert should be. But man, at least personally, I would love to see U2 take that approach. That is one of the reasons I liked the Irving Plaza show so much.
 
Sometimes I feel bad for U2, because their own fanbase hates them so much.

I just don't understand the hate for the Vertigo and Elevation tours, setlists, and stage designs. I thought they were all incredible.

As for this NIN stuff, yeah, that stage looks incredible. But I think it's very distracting from the songs. We need something that enhances the music without taking away from it. I think the band could definitely use some of this stuff, but not too much.
 
Sometimes I feel bad for U2, because their own fanbase hates them so much.

I just don't understand the hate for the Vertigo and Elevation tours, setlists, and stage designs. I thought they were all incredible.

a few vocal idiots on a message board does not equal U2's fanbase and I don't think they are losing any sleep over it.
 
Sometimes I feel bad for U2, because their own fanbase hates them so much.

I just don't understand the hate for the Vertigo and Elevation tours, setlists, and stage designs. I thought they were all incredible.

As for this NIN stuff, yeah, that stage looks incredible. But I think it's very distracting from the songs. We need something that enhances the music without taking away from it. I think the band could definitely use some of this stuff, but not too much.

Don't know if you were referring to my post, but I was merely contrasting the level of visuals at the elevation shows with those at the popmart shows, i.e. pearl jam's stripped down show made the visuals at elevation seem as expansive as those of Popmart. If there is one cliche used about the elevation tour, it is that the set design was "stripped down."

The elevation tour happens to be my favorite U2 tour. Nothing in my post remotely belittled anything about the elevation tour design or setlists.
 
u2's curtain was an adaptation of the LED curtains being used by japanese artist for almost 2 yrs before u2 used it. compared to the jpop artists', u2's version was cheesy and cheap looking. not too mention the design they went with limited the visiual capabilities of the format. even when they took "vertigo" to the stadiums and utilized the more up to date SMT LED's they went with a cheap design/layout.
NIN use of the format has truly taken it too it's limits.

I never said U2 created the curtain. I wrote that U2's giant screen for PopMart was novel (as it was the first in the world). The screen curtain was a nice trick, but not unique to U2. However, if it was U2's goal to combine simplicity (a "simple tour") with one that had some effects, I feel the curtain worked.

Regardless, I still feel that NIN's visuals, while fantastic, are just the next level up from what U2 and other artists have done. That is, it's not this wonderfully novel design that no one else has done.

U2 tends to have the tour built around the songs. If the songs merit a grandiose stage design, then I guess there'll be one. I have a feeling, though, that U2 will still focus on arenas and as a result, keep things sharp yet streamlined. In other words, not as fancy as what NIN did, but some of those elements.
 
Not sure how many NIN shows you've been to, but they aren't always in
the dark or strobe.

I haven't seen them live, but have seen a few youtube videos and they all seem to have the blackouts and/or strobes. Are there recent videos without those effects?
 
I thought the shadow puppets during "New York" on the Elevation tour were better than most the tricks/visuals on the Vertigo arena tour. U2 just didn't try too hard on the Vertigo tour. I saw My Morning Jacket at Stubbs (small venue in Austin TX) a few weeks ago and their light show was pretty mind blowing compared to U2.

I expect much more from U2 on the stage/visual side of things next tour. I'm sure with High Definition, 3-D technology, and whatever else U2 will deliver.
 
We need something that enhances the music without taking away from it.

Exactly. For example, Pink Floyd's The Wall tour had a radical stage design and concept. What made it so amazing though was that it served the music perhaps better than ever has. Same with ZooTV. People are more likely to remember tours that serve the music. :up:
 
The thing about those visuals which I didn't realise at first is that they're being controlled and done on the fly as it were, so its not scripted/pre-determined, the band members and behind the scenes guys are improvising with them. So while on one hand they are just maybe the next logical progression visually, there's more to them than that.

I think given NIN's music, those visuals compliment the mood and energy of their songs pefectly.

I didn't intend this to be a topic slagging off NIN in any way or U2's previous tours as we've all discussed things like that to death. It was more just to highlight what I thought was some truly amazing visuals and tech.

And yes, I do hope that U2 can produce something as exciting as that when they tour again, something which we haven't seen before and will compliment their new material perfectly.
 
Personally I really do hope U2 do put all their energy into creating a huge show on the next tour - they have a reputation as one of the premier live acts always at the fore of new technology, they should try and serve it. Having been introduced to the band by being blown away by watching a video of Zoo TV, I think they should strive to out do it. But at the same time I understand why people believe they've been there, done it, and should focus on the music instead.

As well though its what the band desire. We know Bono says the reason they place such high expectations on themselves is that it has to blow their minds as well as the audiences - well, for a band who have put on Zoo TV and Popmart, it must be pretty hard to blow their own minds as well in terms of the show and spectacle.
 
I never said U2 created the curtain. I wrote that U2's giant screen for PopMart was novel (as it was the first in the world). The screen curtain was a nice trick, but not unique to U2. However, if it was U2's goal to combine simplicity (a "simple tour") with one that had some effects, I feel the curtain worked.

i was pointing out the inaccuracy of your statement about NIN using the next version of the U2 curtains. NIN was/is using the current and original version of the screen. u2's version was just that, their version. nothing unique or advanced about it. i know the PopMart screen was the 1st of it's kind, i was there and i was thrilled to see that the LED technology was being put to use for something other than the 3rd brake light on cars and the "on" buttons on electronic devices.
simplicity is not in the u2 vocabulary. even in the 80's, the stage may have been simple but the gestures, speeches and presentation of their songs were grandiose.
NIN themselves are not doing anything unique/novel. once again they are copying what foreign artist have already done and introducing it to the western world, who are of course WOWED by it.
 
Personally I really do hope U2 do put all their energy into creating a huge show on the next tour - they have a reputation as one of the premier live acts always at the fore of new technology, they should try and serve it. Having been introduced to the band by being blown away by watching a video of Zoo TV, I think they should strive to out do it. But at the same time I understand why people believe they've been there, done it, and should focus on the music instead.

As well though its what the band desire. We know Bono says the reason they place such high expectations on themselves is that it has to blow their minds as well as the audiences - well, for a band who have put on Zoo TV and Popmart, it must be pretty hard to blow their own minds as well in terms of the show and spectacle.

I agree with your post. I don't think it'll be too hard to surpass PopMart. Just make the screen twice as big. :wink:
 
I hate to say it, but I think even PopMart was a bit over the top.

Zoo TV served to truly make the songs BETTER through visual enhancement. Everytime I think of The Fly live performance, I get chills. The sensory overload was phenomenal. And "Love Is Blindness" was haunting on Zoomerang.

PopMart, however, was a bit distracting. Honestly, did you really get emotional during the slow part of Mofo? Did "If You Wear That Velvet Dress" come off as intimate as it should have? No way.

The PopMart stage should have resembled an actual discotheque. Something clubby. Ironically, the very first stage setup in this NIN videoclip would have worked for Pop.
 
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