James U2
The Fly
then why didn't the popmart tour sell well in the US? you remember those shows with about 26 people at them, right? not everything U2 put on the shelves sold.it sold because back then any U2 would sell
at the end of the day, U2 chose to not (publicly) take themselves - or the presentation of their music - seriously, and the public obliged them.
U2 can argue "irony" all they want, but at the end of the day they let the musical pendulum swing too far in one direction and the casual fans said, "see ya later." (incidentally, the same thing probably happened with NLOTH). and for casual fans, all it takes is the appearance of "uncool" and there they go. and U2 got a heaping dose of "uncool" during the popmart tour - but not before it. it wasn't until casual fans (and let's face it, most U2 fans are casual U2 fans) "saw" that U2 were in over their heads (relatively speaking) that they decided to move on to third eye blind, or the goo goo dolls, or live, or any other "band of the moment".
at the end of the day, U2 presented themselves poorly in 97 and 98. edge wore a cowboy hat and adam had a "drug mask" on his face, for crying out loud. they walked out of a giant lemon and they quoted spinal tap as an influence on the tour!!!
and eventually the band realized this. this was made so abundantly clear that they effectively produced the "safest" record and tour they had ever done to that point as a follow-up. but discotheque wasn't the problem. it wasn't even close to the problem. and to suggest that it was is nothing more than revisionist history.