popmart stage versus vertigo stadium stage

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akann

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Which one is better?? Can someone shed some light on this. I haven't been to vertigo yet but got tickets to sydney. I heard that the effects on this tour are pretty good, and the European shows were unbelivable. Some even say that it beats Popmart which I find very hard to believe... Any truth in this??
 
Popmart is definately bigger.. and from what I remember louder too. So a bigger spectacle.. but the technology on this tour is superior.
The vertigo screen is definately 'better' quality than the Popmart one. However I think the lights on the vertigo tour could have been better. I love how the huge spotlights open during Electric Co. on the European leg though. I like the two Bstages on the vertigo tour it makes it so much better.
I Enjoyed Vertigo better but thats biased because the concert I saw in Perth was seated for Popmart. Which sucked. :mad:
 
I´ll have to disagree. Vertigo Europe was the loudest I've ever heard U2. "The Fly" made my ears bleed.
 
Popmart is slightly bigger but Vertigo is much BRIGHTER!

From my recollection Popmart is more video friendly but Vertigo is more audience friendly. By that I mean Popmart does look better on film that it did in the flesh.
 
You've got to be kidding me!

Popmart was wáy better than Vertigo-outdoor! The screen was groundbraking where these days the Vertigo-outdoor screen can be rented by anyone!

Popmart had the bigger concept :

- Unique design
- Central PA system
- Weird shaped screen
- The lighting on the top of the screen
- The lemon
- The BTBS spotlights

Why compare it at all? I think Willie and Mark will be very disappointed if people would like the Vertigo-outdoor stage more!
 
i agree, popmart was way more impressive.

the resolution was better too, sure vertigo may have been brighter, but i prefer the clearer resolution.
 
after seeing both i would have to say that popmart has a more of a WOW factor maybe because it was so new and fresh when it happened where as a lot of bands now have the big screens etc.

but in defence of the vertigo tour i would say that the screen was much clearer and the images much easier to see.

1 last point was that in vertigo the screen was only used about 50% of the concert popmart was much more.
 
PopMart Stage wind hands down!

Even thinking about it now gives me goosebumps!!!

Add to everything that all the other posters have mentioned - the guys dressing up and having FUN (except Larry, of course).

Come on, walking out of a giant mirrorballed lemon!!!!!!!

What people fail to remember about this tour is that the band were having such a good time - fuck the press and fuck the critics!
LISTEN TO THE MUSIC!!!

Mofo makes your teeth melt!
Please - Streets.
Miami - Bullet (still the coolest version ever!)
LNOE!!!!
EOTW!!!

...oops, going off topic a bit!
 
what i dont like about the veritgo screen is thats basically all there is, a screen

for popmart there is much more going on visually.

PopApes.jpg


i love how the screen is outlined in lights. you also have the arch, which is also outlined with lights. youve got the lemon and youve got the giant olive on a stick.

youve also got spotlights and other lights going off all over the place.

i always felt like there was something missing from the vertigo stadium set up. there isnt really anything there that compliments the screen. its just the screen and darkness around it, i never really liked that.
 
I guess seeing Vertigo in Cardiff did it for me - with the roof closed it was awesome, and there was still a great intimacy with the band.. you just felt nearer to the stage than Popmart where everything seemed further away, and where the band/screen balance was inconsistent (ie sometimes the screen took over).

Don't get me wrong though I loved Popmart but the big Vertigo stage indoors did it for me. I would say though that the Popmart artwork was better.

Perhaps this is comparing apples to pears.:shrug:
 
I'm so jealous of those of you who got to see PopMart AND stadium Vertigo. :( Arena Vertigo was awesome in its own way, but I would have loved to see that massive screen.

As for which is better, I can't really comment as I didn't witness either in the flesh. I think based on pure design, though, PopMart wins. Everything about PopMart was cool. I mean, who else but U2 could stick a giant fucking olive on a stick and emerge from of a glittering lemon? And the shape of the actual screen was so cool too. No boring rectangles for U2!
 
Jim said:
From my recollection Popmart is more video friendly but Vertigo is more audience friendly. By that I mean Popmart does look better on film that it did in the flesh.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they screwed that up with the indoor Vertigo curtains, didn't they? They use a frequency that cameras can't handle. Resulting in very much of what's happening on the curtains not being visible on film.
 
chizip i have been meaning to have a little bit of a debate with you regarding how you feel the vertigo stage resembles the elevation stage etc, my debate is this, the only real connection is the face that there is a catwalk with 4 screens above the stage, now the elevation stage didnt have multi couloured LED lights, while the vertigo stage has, the elevation didnt really use the 4 screens above the stage, while vertigo does (love and peace etc), the elevation tour didnt really have much of a backdrop, it had a screen at the back granted, but it wasnt very high, where as the vertigo tour now has a backdrop to it with the light curtains, granted they arent used on some songs, but the LED lights around the ellipse are, which means still more colour and visuals than the elevation tour,

also, wasnt popmart just really following the same concept of ZooTv? i mean they swapped the multiple smaller screens for one large screen, they swapped the trabants for a lemon, arch and olive on a stick, so really the use of unusual stage props wasnt completley new

just a little friendly dabate :)
 
KUEFC09U2 said:
...
also, wasnt popmart just really following the same concept of ZooTv? i mean they swapped the multiple smaller screens for one large screen, they swapped the trabants for a lemon, arch and olive on a stick, so really the use of unusual stage props wasnt completley new

just a little friendly dabate :)
Click to expand...

I know you're seeking a debate with chizip, but to say the above is just TOTALLY WRONG!

ZOO was all about the media, about playing with imagery and making art out of technology. Being playfully sexy, but with serious overtones.

POP was about FUN. PopMart was about having a fuckin ball!
To say they just swapped tv screens for one big screen and trabants for lemons and olives actually makes my point.

Listen to the concerts, watch the videos/DVDs and you'll have to admit that they are TOTALLY different concepts.

LOVE both tours though :)
 
I like both.... POPMART was u2 pushing it to the limits of that time, both technically and financially... don't forget that POPMART wasn't U2's most profitable tour. Things are more balanced now...
Having seen four VERTIGO shows this summer from different angles (varying from front of stage to nosebleeds in the back).
I experienced VERTIGO outdoor as mega-impressive as well.

I can't really say which of the tours I liked better. They're both unique in their own ways... It depends on the mood I'm in I guess...

Great for South America, Japan, the aussies and the kiwis that they'll get Vertigo outdoors.. You'll love it..
 
I have not had the chance to see Vertigo outdoors, but nonetheless here is my analysis.

I can summarize the difference this way:

Popmart was more of a 'performance production' than Vertigo which is more of a straightforward 'rock production.'

I think all setpieces need to be included when stages are compared and the bottom line is Popmart had a drivable, rotating, hydralic-opening mirrorball lemon that transported the band to the center of the stadium.

I am fairly certain that no other tour in the history of rock will be able to say this.

That said, I believe the Popmart stage platform itself was a tad boring. it was basically a flat rectangle, with a couple of underworlds on either side.

It is really hard to compare them because one stage is so much more technologically advanced than the other. Then again, there is something to be said for vintage.

It is like comparing a 2005 Enzo Ferrari with a 1962 250 GTO. At their respective times, they were on the cutting edge of technology, one is now just more current.

The Vertigo screen has about the same amount of LEDS in one of the Barco tiles as the Popmart screen had in about one square meter (widely estimating here.) I mean the Popmart screen basically INVENTED LED screens as we know them today.

The olive was cool, the graphics in my opinion were superior in Popmart as they went with a theme (pop art), but the arch to me is what sets that tour off from all others.

ZOOTV was my favorite for its excess, but the arch was such an elegant display of engineering. Form and function. The form obviously was a big middlefinger to McDonalds, but the way it functioned was highly impressive. From its constructability (steel arch truss with pulleys to pull the yellow pieces up onto it) to its content, the arch alone had rope lights, moveable lights, stationary lights, and followspot postions built-in. Then of course, there was the Bono-in-mono sound system. You have to imagine how much that big orange sucker weighed and basically was tied into the arch with a cantilever from the screen. It is that moment when Fisher showed his true genius as an architect.

This was the first time he used water tanks as ballast to hold the stage in place, and one of the first times generic steel frames were toured leapfrogging each other. Then there were the xenons. I will never forget when the xenon lights that surrounded the stadium were turned on, they were the brightest lights I had ever seen, and how they simply projected onto the clouds was amazing. I think I remember a story that the touring crew notified the FAA in each city that they were using these lights so that commercial pilots would know what they were and were not distracted by them.

Then there was the Chinese yo-yo screen. Forgetting for a moment that the LEDs were developed for this screen, and forgetting that they were custom mounted on aluminum tubes, it was the construction method for me that made this impressive. Each vertical strip of the screen folded down into a flight case for transport, and basically plugged in when constructed. The fact that sucker worked by the end of the tour is amazing. I mean think of the weather they played in and all the places they took it.

Then there is Vertigo.

I mean we have all studied this thing ad infinitum from the guessing renderings that were sent out to the actually bloody thing. I think the one word that can be used to summarize this design is efficiency. I mean the band did not spare any money on this, and it was custom built, but the way in which they use it is very cost effective. Basically the stage that the band plays on is the indoor Vertigo stage, but layed out in a different arrangement. So the embedded floor LEDs are there, but the ellipse is just reorganized to make two wings at the front of the stage under the PA. I think this is becoming precedent as Fisher utilized the same idea for the Rolling Stones. For Bigger Bang all they do is build a scaffold platform, and then assemble the arena stage on top of it to give it greater height. No more need for touring indoor and outdoor stages, they simply use one, with supplementary platforms for the outdoor shows.

Now again, I have never seen outdoor Vertigo, but I am not convinced by the double B stage. it could be very cool, but it seems half-assed. I mean look at ZOOTV with its Trabant hanging above the B-Stage, or Popmart's driving lemon to the B. I just think something is missing from the execution of this design.

The screen looks pretty cool, but as the arena Vertigo show has been compared to Elevation, I do think the outdoor Vertigo screen has to be compared to Popmart. I mean obviously it is the same idea, big screen behind stage, but the fact that Williams separates the Barco tiles to make a bigger screen decreases the resolution, bringing it closer to Popmart. I mean of course, if the entire size of that screen were filled with LEDS, the resolution would be so much better, but I am guessing due to cost and time, this was chosen.

The sound system of Vertigo does look massive, and the screens above the sound system look vivid, but they follow my disapproval of the four screens they utilize indoors. I just think that whole concept is not only dated, but quite distracting.

I am very much interested in the spotlights located behind the screen, and the moveable operation of the lower section of the screen, but overall I think it is a decent design.

To compare them, I would have to give the nod to Popmart as the production had a bigger impact to me, and had a very clear theme. Looking back in time, I think the U2 tours that will be remembered the most will be the ones that had some thematic drive behind them. ZOOTV, Popmart, and hell - even The Joshua Tree (U2 conquers America) will go down as classics, whereas Vertigo will be remembered as Elevation's bigger, smarter, better looking brother.

Those are my thoughts and sorry for using so many words....
 
Ouizy, I think that's the first post of that length that I've actually read the whole way through on Interference. :bow:
 
ouizy said:
I have not had the chance to see Vertigo outdoors, but nonetheless here is my analysis.

I can summarize the difference this way:

Popmart was more of a 'performance production' than Vertigo which is more of a straightforward 'rock production.'

I think all setpieces need to be included when stages are compared and the bottom line is Popmart had a drivable, rotating, hydralic-opening mirrorball lemon that transported the band to the center of the stadium.

I am fairly certain that no other tour in the history of rock will be able to say this.

That said, I believe the Popmart stage platform itself was a tad boring. it was basically a flat rectangle, with a couple of underworlds on either side.

It is really hard to compare them because one stage is so much more technologically advanced than the other. Then again, there is something to be said for vintage.

It is like comparing a 2005 Enzo Ferrari with a 1962 250 GTO. At their respective times, they were on the cutting edge of technology, one is now just more current.

The Vertigo screen has about the same amount of LEDS in one of the Barco tiles as the Popmart screen had in about one square meter (widely estimating here.) I mean the Popmart screen basically INVENTED LED screens as we know them today.

The olive was cool, the graphics in my opinion were superior in Popmart as they went with a theme (pop art), but the arch to me is what sets that tour off from all others.

ZOOTV was my favorite for its excess, but the arch was such an elegant display of engineering. Form and function. The form obviously was a big middlefinger to McDonalds, but the way it functioned was highly impressive. From its constructability (steel arch truss with pulleys to pull the yellow pieces up onto it) to its content, the arch alone had rope lights, moveable lights, stationary lights, and followspot postions built-in. Then of course, there was the Bono-in-mono sound system. You have to imagine how much that big orange sucker weighed and basically was tied into the arch with a cantilever from the screen. It is that moment when Fisher showed his true genius as an architect.

This was the first time he used water tanks as ballast to hold the stage in place, and one of the first times generic steel frames were toured leapfrogging each other. Then there were the xenons. I will never forget when the xenon lights that surrounded the stadium were turned on, they were the brightest lights I had ever seen, and how they simply projected onto the clouds was amazing. I think I remember a story that the touring crew notified the FAA in each city that they were using these lights so that commercial pilots would know what they were and were not distracted by them.

Then there was the Chinese yo-yo screen. Forgetting for a moment that the LEDs were developed for this screen, and forgetting that they were custom mounted on aluminum tubes, it was the construction method for me that made this impressive. Each vertical strip of the screen folded down into a flight case for transport, and basically plugged in when constructed. The fact that sucker worked by the end of the tour is amazing. I mean think of the weather they played in and all the places they took it.

Then there is Vertigo.

I mean we have all studied this thing ad infinitum from the guessing renderings that were sent out to the actually bloody thing. I think the one word that can be used to summarize this design is efficiency. I mean the band did not spare any money on this, and it was custom built, but the way in which they use it is very cost effective. Basically the stage that the band plays on is the indoor Vertigo stage, but layed out in a different arrangement. So the embedded floor LEDs are there, but the ellipse is just reorganized to make two wings at the front of the stage under the PA. I think this is becoming precedent as Fisher utilized the same idea for the Rolling Stones. For Bigger Bang all they do is build a scaffold platform, and then assemble the arena stage on top of it to give it greater height. No more need for touring indoor and outdoor stages, they simply use one, with supplementary platforms for the outdoor shows.

Now again, I have never seen outdoor Vertigo, but I am not convinced by the double B stage. it could be very cool, but it seems half-assed. I mean look at ZOOTV with its Trabant hanging above the B-Stage, or Popmart's driving lemon to the B. I just think something is missing from the execution of this design.

The screen looks pretty cool, but as the arena Vertigo show has been compared to Elevation, I do think the outdoor Vertigo screen has to be compared to Popmart. I mean obviously it is the same idea, big screen behind stage, but the fact that Williams separates the Barco tiles to make a bigger screen decreases the resolution, bringing it closer to Popmart. I mean of course, if the entire size of that screen were filled with LEDS, the resolution would be so much better, but I am guessing due to cost and time, this was chosen.

The sound system of Vertigo does look massive, and the screens above the sound system look vivid, but they follow my disapproval of the four screens they utilize indoors. I just think that whole concept is not only dated, but quite distracting.

I am very much interested in the spotlights located behind the screen, and the moveable operation of the lower section of the screen, but overall I think it is a decent design.

To compare them, I would have to give the nod to Popmart as the production had a bigger impact to me, and had a very clear theme. Looking back in time, I think the U2 tours that will be remembered the most will be the ones that had some thematic drive behind them. ZOOTV, Popmart, and hell - even The Joshua Tree (U2 conquers America) will go down as classics, whereas Vertigo will be remembered as Elevation's bigger, smarter, better looking brother.

Those are my thoughts and sorry for using so many words....
Click to expand...
great post :up:
 
I would think seeing an outdoor Vertigo stadium show in person would give you a better feel to compare rather than doing your comparison based on reviews, photos, video snippets, etc. Popmart was no doubt a huge production...unfortunately I did not get to see Popmart, but I have been very happy with the Vertigo tour.
 
I love reading your analysis ouizy, especailly about the Popmart.

Has anyone thought about how the stage production might change because of the moonlight being out sooner than Leg 2?
 
zoopop said:
Has anyone thought about how the stage production might change because of the moonlight being out sooner than Leg 2?
Click to expand...

Isn't it about the same? It's summer in the southern hemisphere, don't forget.
 
GibsonGirl said:


Isn't it about the same? It's summer in the southern hemisphere, don't forget.
Click to expand...

I think the "daylight" excuse is about the worst one I've ever heard (it's right up there with using "we're playing in the same buildings" as the reason to reuse the ellipse) - U2 didn't feel the need to change the opening of the show when Joshua/ZooTV went outdoors, why should they now?
 
I'm not sure how the band can avoid any and all daylight in the summer, unless they start their shows at, what, 10 pm?

Of course, the B-stage and the catwalk never got reused.
 
Chizip said:
what i dont like about the veritgo screen is thats basically all there is, a screen

for popmart there is much more going on visually.

PopApes.jpg


i love how the screen is outlined in lights. you also have the arch, which is also outlined with lights. youve got the lemon and youve got the giant olive on a stick.

youve also got spotlights and other lights going off all over the place.

i always felt like there was something missing from the vertigo stadium set up. there isnt really anything there that compliments the screen. its just the screen and darkness around it, i never really liked that.
Click to expand...

I have seen both and the vertigo screen has way better resolution. You can tell with the imagery they put on. Plus with the Popmart screen is now considered an old technology to that of the Vertigo screen which has much finer LED technology.
The Vertigo screen looks pretty good close up where as the Popmart screen was a little dissapointing up close.. not that it matters if your close anyway. :wink:
 
Last edited:
Jim said:
I guess seeing Vertigo in Cardiff did it for me - with the roof closed it was awesome, and there was still a great intimacy with the band.. you just felt nearer to the stage than Popmart where everything seemed further away, and where the band/screen balance was inconsistent (ie sometimes the screen took over).

Don't get me wrong though I loved Popmart but the big Vertigo stage indoors did it for me. I would say though that the Popmart artwork was better.

Perhaps this is comparing apples to pears.:shrug:
Click to expand...

Yeah inside at Cardiff was great.
You did feel closer to the Band and I liked tha experience more.
The big stage and screen works better in the dark thats for sure
 
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