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Though it’s been 10 years, I can still remember sitting at the table in my parents’ house, telling my dad (who wouldn’t know Bono from Sonny Bono) all about U2’s 1997 PopMart tour. I’d seen the show in Detroit—and I was still on a wide-eyed, PopMart high (though I was a little tired, since I’d been too wound up to sleep after the show).
I remember telling my dad, “Even if I didn’t know anything about U2, it still would have been worth the ticket price, just for the show. It was amazing!”
Ten years later, U2’s PopMart tour is still an amazing show. It’s a breath-taking spectacle of light and sound and color and, most importantly, great music performed by four talented musicians. The open-air show in Mexico City that’s featured on the PopMart Live DVD is evidence of the tour’s non-stop flash: the giant arch, the 40-foot mirror-ball lemon, the world’s largest TV screen. As Bono sings, his image is shown in bright, flashing, multi-color glory, all over the giant screen behind him—which, throughout the concert, shows everything from concert footage to flashing graphics to cartoons.
Though the band was widely criticized for its sudden, over-the-top PopMart transformation—one that took them far from the old “With or Without You” days, to an album (and a tour) filled with dance beats and techno-pop sounds—it still worked for me. And, fortunately, the PopMart tour mixed the old with the new. During the 25-song concert, you’ll find old favorites like “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and “Where the Streets Have No Name,” among others. There are a number of acoustic songs, too, as well as a moving solo performance of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by The Edge.
And as for the band’s front man, Bono may be a humanitarian and a political activist. He may dine with presidents and popes. But he’s still a rock star—one who definitely knows how to play to a crowd. And although there are a few moments when the performance falters the slightest bit, the energy is contagious.
While the camera work is better and more extensive than you might expect from a concert video, the footage was recorded using technology from 10 years ago—so the picture isn’t always crystal-clear. And although watching the concert on DVD may not be the same as being there, in person, it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement of it all—the constant roar of the crowd, the twinkling of lighters throughout the stadium (remember when people still used lighters at concerts?). The whole thing is undeniably exhilarating.
If you’re a U2 fan, be sure to pick up the limited edition two-disc set, which includes a whole disc of bonus features: a handful of documentaries (including the mind-blowing “A Tour of the Tour”), bonus live footage from Rotterdam and Edmonton, and more.
But, just as I said 10 years ago, I’ll say it again now: even if you don’t know anything about U2, PopMart Live is worth seeing—because it is, without a doubt, an amazing show.
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