Misplaced Pages

PopMart Tour

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

A concert tour (or simply tour ) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific tour with a particular album or product. Especially in the popular music world, such tours can become large-scale enterprises that last for several months or even years, are seen by hundreds of thousands or millions of people, and bring in millions of dollars in ticket revenues. A performer who embarks on a concert tour is called a touring artist .

#441558

146-428: The PopMart Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2 . Staged in support of the group's 1997 album Pop , the tour's concerts were performed in stadiums and parks in 1997 and 1998. Much like the band's previous Zoo TV Tour , PopMart was an elaborate production. Its lavish stage design had a 165-foot-wide (50 m) LED screen, a 100-foot-high (30 m) golden arch, and a large mirror-ball lemon. As with

292-457: A discothèque and even imitating The Village People ) limited its appeal. This started a backlash against U2 and Pop , limiting sales, as many fans felt that the band had gone a bit too far over-the-top in the self-mocking and "ironic" imagery. The follow-up single " Staring at the Sun " was released 15 April 1997 and became a Top 40 success in the U.S., but to a lesser extent, peaking at No. 26 on

438-399: A discothèque concept involving a large mobile disco. Lead vocalist Bono became interested in one of Williams' designs that resembled a supermarket, which was inspired by facades of American post-war suburban outlet stores . Bono who believed that the symbol of a supermarket, with its large number of choices and temptations, could be used as a metaphor for U2's songs, which often deal with

584-490: A "creative coordinator", saying, "There were some tracks where I didn't necessarily have a major involvement... but ultimately the buck stopped with me. I had the role of the creative supervisor who judged what worked and didn't work." Howie B had previously provided mixing , treatments, and scratching for Original Soundtracks 1 . On Pop , he was initially given the role of "DJ and Vibes" before assuming responsibilities as co-producer, engineer, and mixer. One of his main tasks

730-499: A "great record," and said, "I was very proud of it by the end of the tour. We finally figured it out by the time we made the DVD . It was an amazing show that I'm really proud of." In the same interview, Edge also stated: "We started out trying to make a dance-culture record and then realized at the end there are things we can do that no EDM producer or artist can do, so let's try and have it both ways. In that case, we probably went too far in

876-513: A Mystery to Me " and "Staring at the Sun" each ended a single show, as well. A total of 55 different songs were played throughout the tour and 17 of the 55 songs were played at all PopMart shows. Out of the 12 songs on Pop , each song was played in full at least once, with the exception of " The Playboy Mansion ", which was only featured as a snippet several times at the end of "Where the Streets Have No Name". " Do You Feel Loved "

1022-418: A concert tour to celebrate the anniversary of their past albums, such as U2 's 2017 tour to mark the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree (1987) and Janet Jackson 's 2019 tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). A farewell tour is a concert tour intended to signal the retirement of a singer, the disbanding of a band, or the end of a show's run. Many of

1168-484: A delay in the album's release date until March 1997. Even with the extended timeframe to complete the album, recording continued up to the last minute. Bono devised and recorded the chorus to " Last Night on Earth " on, coincidentally, the last night of the album's recording and mixing. When Howie B and the Edge took the album to New York City to be mastered , changes and additions to the songs were still being made. During

1314-430: A few smirks, out of random sounds, letting their roots filter up from below." Bernard Zuel of The Sydney Morning Herald praised the album's understated tracks and the influence of Howie B, and said that the band avoided making the same mistake as rock counterparts of "trying to slap a traditional bottom-end on top of a metronomic beat and calling it dance". He said that despite not being "the future of rock'n'roll", Pop

1460-402: A filter pedal , along with being processed through an ARP 2600 synthesizer. The song's riff and techno dance rhythm are then introduced. The break in the song's rhythm section features guitar sounds utilizing a " Big Cheese ", an effects pedal made by Lovetone . Writer John D. Luerssen noted that the song is "often cited as U2's first experiment with electronica," calling it "a continuation of

1606-439: A fucked-up world it is too". It is also one of only a few U2 songs to include profanity. Pop was originally scheduled for a November 1996 release date, but after the recording sessions went long, the album was delayed until March 1997. This significantly cut into the band's rehearsal time for the upcoming PopMart Tour that they had scheduled in advance, which impacted the quality of the band's initial performances on tour. Though

SECTION 10

#1732779670442

1752-561: A greater extent, on 1993's Zooropa . In 1995, the group's side-projects provided them an opportunity to delve even deeper into these genres. Bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. recorded " Theme from Mission: Impossible " in an electronica style. The recording was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance in 1997 and was an international top-ten hit. In 1995, U2 and Brian Eno recorded an experimental album, Original Soundtracks 1 , under

1898-526: A guitar solo to end the song. "Wake Up Dead Man" began as an upbeat song from the Achtung Baby sessions in 1991. It evolved into a darker composition during the Zooropa sessions, but it was shelved until Pop . One of the band's darkest songs, "Wake Up Dead Man" features Bono pleading with Jesus to return and save mankind, evident in the lyrics "Jesus / Jesus help me / I'm alone in this world / And

2044-417: A guitar, but it wouldn't come back sounding like a guitar; it might sound more like a pneumatic drill , because I would take the raw sound and filter it, really destroy the guitar sound, and rebuild it into something completely different." Although sequencing was used, mostly on keyboards , guitar loops, and some percussion, it was used sparingly out of fear of becoming overreliant on it. Nellee Hooper left

2190-711: A handful of shows, but otherwise it was followed by one more song. " Unchained Melody ", " Wake Up Dead Man ", and " MLK " were variously performed to close the show. On a handful of occasions, the show ended with another song, such as " Rain ", " Hallelujah ", " Mothers of the Disappeared " (during which the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo were brought on stage in Buenos Aires), " 40 ", or " Can't Help Falling in Love ". " She's

2336-441: A hi-hat as you can imagine... the task in 'Miami' was to make it unlike anything else on the album, and also unlike anything else you'd ever have heard before." Edge also comes in with a frenetic guitar riff and Bono's affected vocal style singing about Miami in metaphors and descriptions of loud, brash Americana. D. Leurssen described it as a "sonic travelogue," while the Edge termed it "creative tourism." In 2005, Q magazine included

2482-623: A lightweight quality, it has a kind of oxygen in it, which is not to say it's emotionally shallow. We've had to get the brightly coloured wrapping paper right, because what's underneath is not so sweet." —Bono describing the difference between the "surface" of the songs to "what lies beneath". Pop features tape loops , programming, sequencing , sampling, and heavy, funky dance rhythms. The Edge said in U2's fan magazine Propaganda that, "It's very difficult to pin this record down. It's not got any identity because it's got so many." Bono has said that

2628-449: A lot of costs, time, and energy. It is very common for musicians to not see family members for over a year during their touring. British singer Adele expressed her unhappiness of concert tours, saying "Touring is a peculiar thing, it doesn't suit me particularly well. I'm a real homebody and I get so much joy in the small things." A concert residency concept is offered as an alternative to performers who just need to stay in one venue and

2774-456: A mellow, dark atmosphere. Marius De Vries played keyboards on this track, contributing to the ambient feel. Mullen uses brush stroke style drums for the most part. When news first broke of U2's work in the studio, it was reported the band were recording a trip hop album; writer Niall Stokes believes that "The Playboy Mansion" comes close to the assertion due to Hooper's heavy hand. Flood stated that Hooper "started things off" but did not finish

2920-412: A new world record for having the most attendees at a concert for a single performer. More than a decade after PopMart, despite the criticism and mishaps, Bono said that he considered the tour to be their best. "Pop(Mart) is our finest hour. It's better than Zoo TV aesthetically, and as an art project it is a clearer thought." He later added "When that show worked, it was mindblowing." The Edge said that he

3066-640: A press conference in the lingerie section of a K-Mart department store in New York City to announce details for the PopMart Tour. On 26 April 1997, American television network ABC aired a one-hour prime time special about Pop and the PopMart Tour, titled U2: A Year in Pop . Narrated by actor Dennis Hopper , the documentary featured footage from the Pop recording sessions, as well as live footage from

SECTION 20

#1732779670442

3212-532: A rain storm during a concert. The video screen required time for repairs which ended up causing an entire concert in Raleigh, North Carolina to be cancelled. Like the band's previous Zoo TV Tour, PopMart was another huge success in terms of revenue, grossing US$ 173,610,864 from 3,982,657 tickets sold. On 20 September 1997, the band performed in front of over 150,000 people in Reggio Emilia , Italy, and set

3358-400: A record whose rhythms, textures and visceral guitar mayhem make for a thrilling roller-coaster ride" and that the band had "defied the odds and made some of the greatest music of their lives". David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B rating, saying: "Despite its glittery launch, the album is neither trashy nor kitschy, nor is it junky-fun dance music. It incorporates bits of

3504-499: A similar song against a cheap karaoke CD, complete with lyrics shown on the giant screen. The end of each main set featured " Please ", which segued into " Where the Streets Have No Name ". At the end of the main set, before the first encore, the giant lemon moved to the middle of the stage. There a sheet fell off exposing a huge disco ball that lit up the stadium in spinning lights while the Perfecto Mix of " Lemon " played over

3650-451: A single. Flood applied VCS3 spring reverb and ring modulation in a few places, and used it a lot on the basic rhythm track of this song. "Miami" has a trip rock style. It begins with a drum loop, with Mullen's hi-hats playing backwards through a very extreme equalization filter . Howie B explained, "The main groove is actually just Larry's hi-hat, but it sounds like a mad engine running or something really crazy – about as far away from

3796-626: A small hatch at the back. This incident was later listed as one of "Rock 'n' Roll's 15 Most Embarrassing Stage Antics" by AOL 's Spinner.com. The lemon malfunctioned again at a show in Sydney, and was not used at all, and also malfunctioned in Osaka , Japan, where the band were again trapped inside but unable to escape through the back. In addition to the issues with the mechanical lemon, the large LED video screen became damaged in Washington, D.C. by

3942-498: A small part in a musical number. U2's guest appearance was later featured on The Phoenix ' s list of " The Simpsons 20 Best Guest Voices of All Time." In December 1997, the two PopMart Tour concerts in Mexico City were filmed for various future video and audio releases. In November 1998, PolyGram and Island Records released the video PopMart: Live from Mexico City on VHS and Video CD . The video combined footage from

4088-445: A total of 93 shows, the tour took the band to stadiums worldwide from April 1997 to March 1998. Much like the band's previous Zoo TV Tour , PopMart was elaborately staged, featured a lavish set, and saw the band embrace an ironic and self-mocking image. The band's performances and the tour's stage design poked fun at the themes of consumerism and embraced pop culture . Along with the reduced rehearsal time that affected initial shows,

4234-439: A very different record. I would like someday to rework those songs and give them the attention and time that they deserve." McGuinness disagrees that the band did not have enough time, saying, "It got an awful lot of time, actually. I think it suffered from too many cooks [in the kitchen]. There were so many people with a hand in that record it wasn't surprising to me that it didn't come through as clearly as it might have done... It

4380-435: Is how to move the performance's logistics from one venue to another venue, especially for a transcontinental tour. Tour logistics should be very organized and everything has to happen on time and in the right order as planned. Autoweek magazine estimated 30 to 50 trucks were required by Taylor Swift 's The 1989 World Tour to bring all the stage, sound equipment, instruments, props, and clothes. When Beyoncé visited

4526-588: Is just our springboard'." — Flood , on the use of samples on Pop Following Mullen's return and the sessions' resumption in February 1996, the production team of Flood, Howie B, and Hooper spent three months attempting to re-work much of the band's material to better incorporate loops and samples with their musical ideas from 1995. This period was a difficult one; Mullen, in particular, had to record drum parts to replace loops that Howie B had sampled without permission. Flood said, "We took what we had and got

PopMart Tour - Misplaced Pages Continue

4672-502: Is viewed in the music press and public as a disappointment. In a 2013 article, Spin was more critical of the album than in the magazine's original review, calling it "U2's nadir period" and a "weirder, bolder, nervier record than its garish exterior would suggest... if you can tune out Bono's mugging, which of course you can't, which was the whole problem. The stupidity of all this subsumed the prescient bravery of it..." Caryn Rose of Vulture said that "A lengthy book could be written about

4818-546: The Orlando Sentinel rated the album two stars and found the band's attempt to merge rock music with dance rhythms underwhelming, saying, "U2 lacks the zest for experimentation that has helped make electronic music so appealing to music fans weary of formulaic rock". John Sakamoto of Jam! Showbiz said, "Far from an exercise in daring self-indulgence, Pop is too often guilty of a much more serious offence: not going far enough." He added, "as with so many elements of

4964-566: The Village People in the "Discothèque" video, and this willingness to mock their serious image continued during PopMart. (At the Los Angeles Coliseum show on 21 June, tribute was paid to the original "Prefab Four" with a guest appearance by Davy Jones of The Monkees to perform his signature song, " Daydream Believer ".) But U2's irony-drenched "big shtick " failed to satisfy many critics and fans seemingly confused by

5110-581: The Zoo TV Tour , U2 aired controversial satellite link-ups to Sarajevo . The link-ups were arranged by aid worker Bill Carter , who interviewed ordinary people about their experiences of the ongoing War in Bosnia and Herzegovina . As a result of the satellite broadcasts, U2 promised to play in Sarajevo. The Sarajevo show had to wait until the PopMart Tour, when U2 became the first major band to perform in

5256-416: The pixels further apart, thus creating a lower resolution image. A prototype was built with LED pixels placed 75 mm (3 in) apart on a cargo net . It worked successfully and served as a basis for the proposal of the design. The idea for producing another video-based tour gained much interest when Fisher and Williams were determined to create the largest video screen in existence at that time. When

5402-437: The 2018 European leg of her Joanne World Tour , signed for a Las Vegas residency to help manage her fibromyalgia illness, which can be exacerbated by touring. The 2015 study by charity Help Musicians found that over 60% of musicians suffered from depression or other psychological issues, with touring an issue for 71% of respondents. Pop (U2 album) Pop is the ninth studio album by Irish rock band U2 . It

5548-483: The ARP 2600 on the song. He explains, "For ages the rhythm track played all the way through the track. It's a fairly tight groove/bass thing, and then we suddenly decided to drop out the rhythm section in the middle and add a load of strings and these weird synthetic sounds at the end of that break." The single releases and live performances of the song were different from the album version, with more prominent guitar playing and

5694-588: The Billboard Hot 100. " Last Night on Earth " was released as the third single on 14 July 1997, but did not crack the top 40, peaking at #57. " Please ", " If God Will Send His Angels ", and " Mofo " were subsequently released as singles, but none reached the Top 100. The Please: Popheart Live EP , featuring four live tracks from the PopMart Tour, was also released in most regions. In the United States ,

5840-528: The Elevation Tour ("Discothèque", "Gone", "Please", "Staring at the Sun", and "Wake Up Dead Man") were often presented in relatively bare-bones versions. On the Vertigo Tour , songs from Pop were even more rarely played; "Discothèque" was played twice at the beginning of the third leg, while other Pop songs appeared merely as snippets. No Pop songs appeared on the band's U2 360° Tour , though

5986-553: The March 1997 release date, but the band felt they still needed another month to fully complete the album. Bono later stated that letting McGuinness book the tour before the album was finished was the worst decision that U2 ever made because it forced them to finish up the album sooner than they had wanted. After producing the band's previous tour, Zoo TV , which featured a complex setup involving 36 different video screens, Williams did not want to produce another video-based show unless it

PopMart Tour - Misplaced Pages Continue

6132-556: The PA. The band then would walk out of the giant lemon onto the B stage to perform " Discothèque ". The rest of the first encore typically consisted of " If You Wear That Velvet Dress " and " With or Without You ". After another brief break, the band would return to perform " Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me ", their single from 1995 for the Batman Forever soundtrack, followed by " Mysterious Ways ". " One " always followed, ending

6278-533: The PopMart Tour, each show had a similar setlist, with 21–24 songs performed by the band at each show. The concerts began with U2's remix of M 's " Pop Muzik " played through the PA system. During the song, the band members would walk through the crowd with bodyguards, similar to the beginning of a boxing match. The band would then walk onto the end of the B-stage , heading towards the main stage, where they would begin

6424-445: The PopMart Tour, the company had no experience with video technology. Each of the pixels were mounted onto 4,500 separate aluminium tubes, which were then broken down into 187 foldable panels, spread across 22 columns, which would easily fit into two trucks. The set's public address (PA) system was initially designed by Fisher who proposed a monophonic system with speakers mounted on top of two large antler -like structures in front of

6570-502: The Rolling Stones ' Voodoo Lounge Tour , which was the highest-grossing tour in history at the time, and also organized by Cohl. As the recording sessions on the new album progressed, U2 decided they would not be ready to finish their album for the mid-year production deadline, and pushed back the release date by several months. To get the album ready for its March 1997 release, the album's recording sessions had to be finished by

6716-523: The Spheres World Tour became the second tour to gross $ 1 billion in revenue. In third place is Elton John 's Farewell Yellow Brick Road , with a total gross of $ 939 million from 2018–2023. On fourth place is Ed Sheeran 's ÷ Tour , with a gross of $ 776.2 million. On fifth place is U2 's 360° Tour , with $ 736.4 million. Global touring revenue reported to Billboard Boxscore exceeded $ 5.5 billion in 2016. Due to

6862-574: The Sun " during the middle of the set, and many shows featured " New Year's Day " and " All I Want Is You ". " I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For ", " Pride (In the Name of Love) ", and " Bullet the Blue Sky " (often preceded by " Miami ") were also played at every show. Those songs were often followed by an "Edge Karaoke " slot, in which the Edge would sing the Monkees ' " Daydream Believer " or

7008-510: The Sun " were also partly written already. For the new record, U2 wanted to continue their sonic experimentation from Achtung Baby and Zooropa . To do so, they employed multiple producers to have additional people with whom to share their ideas. Flood was principal producer, having previously worked with the group as engineer for The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby , and co-producer of Zooropa . Mark "Spike" Stent and Howie B were principal engineers. Flood described his job on Pop as

7154-408: The Sun", "Last Night on Earth", "Gone", and "Please". Bono also recorded and issued a drastically different studio version of "If You Wear That Velvet Dress" with Jools Holland . Bono said: " Pop never had the chance to be properly finished. It is really the most expensive demo session in the history of music." Although he reiterated his belief that the album was rushed, the Edge still viewed Pop as

7300-528: The US. In its second week in the US, the album's sales fell 57 per cent, selling 150,000 copies. The record quickly dropped out of the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart. Pop ' s lifetime sales are among the lowest in U2's catalogue. It was certified RIAA platinum once, the lowest since the band's album October . In support of the album, the band launched the PopMart Tour. Consisting of four legs and

7446-631: The United Kingdom and the United States. However, the album's lifetime sales are among the lowest in U2's catalogue, and it received only a single platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America . Retrospectively, the album is viewed by some of the music press and public as a disappointment. The finished product was not to U2's liking, and they subsequently re-recorded and remixed many of

SECTION 50

#1732779670442

7592-444: The United Kingdom with her 2016 The Formation World Tour , it took seven Boeing 747 air freighters and a fleet of more than 70 trucks to get her stage set and other gear to the venues. The logistics phase of that tour did not include transportation of the backstage staff, musicians, performers, and the singer herself. The majority of concert tours are part of a promotional campaign to support an album release. Hence, new songs from

7738-529: The United States. PopMart grossed US$ 173.6 million from 3.98 million tickets sold. The tour was depicted on the concert film PopMart: Live from Mexico City . U2 stage designer Willie Williams and stage architect Mark Fisher began developing the PopMart Tour in late 1995. U2 re-entered their Dublin recording studio in October 1995, shortly before releasing an experimental / ambient album with Brian Eno , entitled Original Soundtracks 1 , under

7884-482: The Zoo TV Tour, the band delivered an image and performance that were ironic and self-mocking on PopMart, deviating from their earnest performances of the 1980s; the band performed in costumes that, along with the stage design, poked fun at the themes of consumerism and pop culture . The PopMart Tour spanned five legs and 93 shows, and took U2 to South America, South Africa and Israel for the first time. The tour

8030-412: The album "begins at a party and ends at a funeral", referring to the upbeat and party-like first half of the album and sombre and dark mood of the second half. According to Flood, the production team worked to achieve a "sense of space" on the record's sound by layering all the elements of the arrangements and giving them places in the frequency spectrum where they did not interfere with each other through

8176-514: The album, achieved with a variety of effects pedals , synthesisers and knob twiddling . Bono was very determined to avoid the vocal style present on previous (especially 1980s) albums, characterized by pathos, rich timbre, a sometimes theatrical quality and his use of falsetto singing: instead he opted for a rougher, more nervous and less timbre-laden style. The production team made his voice sound more intimate, as up-front and raw as possible. As Flood explained, "You get his emotional involvement with

8322-507: The announced dates several days after the tour's announcement, and were priced at an average of $ 50 worldwide. Due to the lack of sponsors for the tour, ticket prices were almost 50% higher for this tour than Zoo TV. In markets where the average income was low, tickets were sold for a lower price, which was enough for the band to break even and not lose any money in the process. Before the tour, various markets distributed singles to promote ticket sales. A double 12-inch single of U2 remixes

8468-447: The band and for them to improvise to. That could be anything from a jazz trumpet solo to a super groove funk thing, with no holds barred. We also programmed drum loops , or took things from sample CDs; anything to get the ball rolling. U2 arrive in the studio with very little finished material." These sessions lasted until December 1995, and around 30–40 pieces of music emerged during this period. Mullen, who had mostly been absent from

8614-439: The band and production team eventually became comfortable with it, even sampling Mullen's drumming, the Edge's guitar riffs, Clayton's bass lines, and Bono's vocalisations. Howie B sampled almost anything he could in order to find interesting sounds. He created sequenced patterns of the Edge's guitar playing, which the guitarist, having never done it before, found very interesting. Howie B explained, "Sometimes I would sample, say,

8760-771: The band answered questions for a half-hour. On why retail was the primary theme of the tour, Bono said, "I can’t quite recall how it got to the idea of taking a supermarket on the road...I remember it making a lot of sense at the time. As I’m sitting here, I’m trying to think what that [reason] is." It was announced that the beginning of the PopMart Tour was to feature stadium shows in 66 cities throughout North America and Europe, beginning in Whitney, Nevada , on 25 April, and ending in Seattle, Washington , on 12 December. They would tour an additional 12 cities in 1998 throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. Tickets went on sale for

8906-503: The band settled on the album name Pop , many working names and proposed titles for the album, including Discola , Miami , Mi@mi , Novelty Act , Super City Mania , YOU2 and Godzilla , went as far as having artwork made for them, while the names Pop for Men and Pop Pour Hommes were also considered. Pop was dedicated to Bill Graham, one of the band's earliest fans who died in 1996, famous for suggesting to Paul McGuinness that he become U2's manager. As with Rattle and Hum , it

SECTION 60

#1732779670442

9052-407: The band to play to it and work it into their own idiom, while incorporating a dance ethic... The groove-orientated way of making music can be a trap when there's no song; you end up just plowing along on one riff. So you have to try to get the groove and the song, and do it so that it sounds like the band, and do it so that it sounds like something new." Despite the initial difficulties with sampling,

9198-401: The band to shift from having played to loops of other people to playing to loops of themselves. We felt it was essential to do that, though, because you can get very lazy with samples . They're an easy way to get the ball rolling, but you're always in danger of sounding like some basic samples with the band on top. You're in danger of being dictated to by what's there, rather than saying: 'this

9344-412: The band to various electronica influences. At the time, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. was inactive due to a back injury, prompting the other band members to take different approaches to songwriting. Upon Mullen's return, the band began re-working much of their material but ultimately struggled to complete songs. After the band allowed manager Paul McGuinness to book their upcoming 1997 PopMart Tour before

9490-481: The band would travel over the audience and onto the B-stage during the show, while making reference to the Parliament-Funkadelic spaceship. Williams took Bono's idea seriously, and suggested that the mirrorball should be lemon-shaped, a reference to U2's song " Lemon " from their album Zooropa . Fisher designed a 40-foot (12 m) motorized lemon mirrorball, which was placed on the right side of

9636-454: The band's first ever live performance of " Miss Sarajevo ." Luciano Pavarotti , who was guest vocalist on the original recording was not in Sarajevo. However, his vocal was retained. An old style phonograph , complete with amplifying horn, was brought on stage for the song and its stylus was moved into position by Brian Eno to coincide with the tenor's vocal contribution. Unfortunately, the performance of this song did not go as well as planned as

9782-457: The band's new image and elaborate sets. One NME critic later recalled a "ludicrous hullabaloo" that was a departure from "Planet Reality." Disrupting a few shows, technical problems also arose throughout the tour. As the band were about to walk out of the giant mechanical lemon for the encore of a show in Oslo , the lemon malfunctioned, trapping the band inside and forcing them to escape through

9928-427: The band's timing was off and Bono was having difficulty with his voice. It was in this context that Bono chose to apologize to the audience for the band not being able to "fucking play it." After the Sarajevo show in 1997, "Miss Sarajevo" was not played again until the second leg of the Vertigo Tour in 2005. This concert was also the first time the band had performed " Sunday Bloody Sunday " in more than four years. It

10074-478: The bonus DVD of the special edition release of the album, The Best of 1990–2000 . Footnotes Bibliography Concert tour Different segments of longer concert tours are known as "legs". The different legs of a tour are denoted in different ways, dependent on the artist and type of tour, but the most common means of separating legs are dates (especially if there is a long break at some point), countries and/or continents, or different opening acts. In

10220-403: The chorus and guitar riff of "Discotheque" did appear as a regular snippet during the "dance" remix of the song " I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight " late in the tour. U2 did not play a single song from the album on their Innocence + Experience Tour in 2015, although "Mofo" was sampled twice in the earliest tour dates. Pop was the only U2 album that U2 did not play a single song from for

10366-482: The city after the war had ended. The highly emotional concert was among the highlights of the PopMart Tour. 45,000 people attended and effort was made to make sure all the ethnic groups were present. Also in attendance were several hundred members of the international "Stabilisation Force" ( SFOR ) who were tasked at that time with upholding the Dayton Agreement . During the encore, Brian Eno got on stage for

10512-534: The collapse of record sales in the 21st century, concert tours have become a major source of income for recording artists. Besides the tickets, touring also generates money from the sales of merchandise and meet-and-greet packages. However, the touring business suffered in the early 2020s because of the COVID-19 pandemic . Pollstar estimated the total lost revenue for the industry in 2020 at more than $ 30 billion. The mobility of concert tours requires

10658-404: The concert stage transformed into a supermarket, which later appeared in the Pop album artwork. While the set's overall design consisted of simply an arch in front of a sloped video screen, Williams wanted to incorporate a mirrorball into the set, which had previously been featured on both The Joshua Tree and Zoo TV Tours. Bono proposed that the mirrorball should be used as a vehicle in which

10804-466: The conference, whose location was not revealed until the night before. Upon their arrival at the store, U2 got up on the stage assembled in the store's lingerie department and performed "Holy Joe," a B-side from the " Discothèque " single, which had been released nine days prior. The entire event was broadcast live through various sources on television, radio, and the Internet. Following the performance,

10950-426: The continual experimenting and re-working of song arrangements. Clayton's bass guitar was heavily processed , to the point that it sounded like a keyboard bass (an instrument utilized on "Mofo"). The Edge wanted to steer away from the image he had since the 1980s as having an echo-heavy guitar sound. As a result, he was enthusiastic about experimenting with his guitar's sound, hence the distorted guitar sounds on

11096-491: The disaster that was Pop and the subsequent tour." Nonetheless, the album has been praised, including from Elvis Costello who included it in his 2000 list of "500 Albums You Need", and from Hot Press which ranked the album at number 104 on their 2009 list of "The 250 Greatest Irish Albums of All Time". Similarly, in 2003, Slant Magazine included the album in their list "Vital Pop: 50 Essential Pop Albums," with reviewer Sal Cinquemani saying "the reason why Pop wasn't

11242-419: The early months of recording. Eno attempted to convince the other band members to wait for Mullen, but as the Edge explains, "The thinking was that we were going to further experiment with the notion of what a band was all about and find new ways to write songs, accepting the influence, and aesthetics of dance music... we thought, 'Let's just start with Howie mixing drum beats and see where that gets us.'" Mullen

11388-412: The end of December. Within one month of the production deadline, the album was still untitled and had much work left before it could be completed. Because the dates for the tour had already been booked, the album's release could not be delayed any further. Eventually, the album was titled Pop , and Williams dubbed the title "PopMart" for the tour. The album's recording sessions were finished in time for

11534-418: The entire tour should take place in large stadiums, as opposed to beginning the tour in smaller arenas, despite the fact that the band did not feel another stadium tour was necessary. After risking bankruptcy by self-financing the Zoo TV Tour, U2 decided to seek outside sources to finance the cost of taking the PopMart Tour around the world. Initially, the band announced they were looking for sponsors to support

11680-457: The ephemeral culture it both disparages and celebrates, it ends up being something considerably less than has been advertised." Village Voice critic Robert Christgau rated it a dud, indicating a bad album unworthy of a review. Pop was initially a commercial success, debuting at number one in 27 countries, including the UK and the US. In its first week on sale, the record sold 349,000 copies in

11826-459: The experience of using others' changed his approach to recording rhythms. During the recording sessions, U2 allowed manager Paul McGuinness to book their upcoming PopMart Tour before they had completed the album, putting the tour's start date at April 1997. The album was originally planned to be completed and released in time for the 1996 Christmas and holiday season , but the band found themselves struggling to complete songs, necessitating

11972-419: The experimentation the band had done on Zooropa ." "Do You Feel Loved", which was considered for a single release, runs at a slower pace and features electronic elements. Bono said of the song: "It's quite a question, but there's no question mark on it," as the band took the question mark off the title of the song for fearing it would be perceived as "too heavy." " Mofo " is the most overtly techno track on

12118-415: The extravagance of the tour was visually and technically impressive, the early dates of PopMart were, on occasion, marred by subpar performances. The band had booked the tour before the album was finished, and with the planned November 1996 release pushed back until March 1997 to finish the album, valuable tour rehearsal time was lost. This lack of preparation manifested itself in the shows, particularly during

12264-584: The fans come to see them. The concept has been revitalized in the 21st century by Canadian superstar Céline Dion with the success of her A New Day... residency (2003–2007). Her residency introduced a new form of theatrical entertainment, a fusion of song, performance art, innovative stage craft, and state-of-the-art technology. She managed to popularize the Las Vegas residency as a desirable way for top artists to essentially tour in place, letting their fans come to them. American singer Lady Gaga , who cancelled

12410-423: The first time since the war to enable people to see the concert, though they were stopped again afterward. Bono later called the Sarajevo show "one of the toughest and one of the sweetest nights of my life." Mullen called it "an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life, and if I had to spend 20 years in the band just to play that show, and have done that, I think it would have been worthwhile." Although

12556-476: The four live tracks were instead released on the "Please" single, along with the single version of "Please," itself. Pop initially received favourable reviews from critics. Barney Hoskyns of Rolling Stone gave Pop a four-star rating, praising the band's use of technology on the album: "U2 know that technology is ineluctably altering the sonic surface – and, perhaps, even the very meaning – of rock & roll." The review also stated that U2 had "pieced together

12702-407: The full duration of their tour. "Staring at the Sun" was performed live during U2's 2018 Experience + Innocence Tour , which Andy Greene of Rolling Stone described as "a rare onstage acknowledgment that Pop is a thing that happened." Pop was viewed as U2's "most neglected album" with the band "effectively [disowning] the record by purging its material from setlists." Retrospectively, Pop

12848-412: The group's musical experimentation, saying, "It is such boldness that has enabled U2 to remain at the creative forefront of pop music for more than a decade." James Hunter of Spin rated the record 9/10, writing, " Pop realizes a symphonic transcendence for which the band's earlier stabs like The Unforgettable Fire could only wish." He added, "They are now experts at wringing genuine emotion, and even

12994-404: The idea for the screen was proposed to U2, they decided to take the risk of creating a show based on an undeveloped technological experiment, and invested US$ 7 million to develop the screen. Fisher proposed the idea of creating an LED screen on a flexible fabric sheet that could be draped over the stadium seats behind the stage. It was later decided that it would be easier to build the screen if it

13140-407: The internet, as radio stations played the snippets as a means to introduce listeners to the album. The clips were traced back to Polygram, where an executive had shared a VHS tape with previews of the tracks to marketing managers worldwide; one writer said that "from there it got into the hands of a label employee's friend." On 12 February 1997, two weeks before the album was released, the band held

13286-439: The largest concert tours, it has become more common for different legs to employ separate touring production crews and equipment, local to each geographical region. Concert tours are often administered on the local level by concert promoters or by performing arts presenters . Usually, small concert tours are managed by a road manager whereas large concert tours are managed by a tour manager . The main challenge in concert tours

13432-421: The man with the echoey guitar sound. So he was up for trying out all sorts of ideas, from using cheap pedals and getting the most ridiculous sounds, like in ' Discothèque ', to very straight, naked guitar sounds, like in 'The Playboy Mansion'." —Flood, describing Edge's guitar work on Pop " Discothèque ", the lead single, begins with a distorted acoustic guitar that is passed through a loud amplifier and

13578-403: The moniker "Passengers". The project included Howie B , Akiko Kobayashi and Luciano Pavarotti , among others. Bono and the Edge had written a few songs before recording started for Pop in earnest. "If You Wear That Velvet Dress", "Wake Up Dead Man", " Last Night on Earth " and " If God Will Send His Angels " were originally conceived during the Zooropa sessions. " Mofo " and " Staring at

13724-489: The new technology – a high-pitched siren squeal here, a sound-collage splatter there – but it is still very much a U2 album". Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times rated Pop four-stars-out-of-four, judging the album to benefit "from the tension of... competing influences, sometimes leaning more on the electronic currents, elsewhere showcasing the more melodic and accessible songwriting strengths". He praised

13870-464: The night before. The program received poor reception, ranking at 101 out of 107 programs aired that week, according to Nielsen ratings , and became the lowest rated non-political documentary in the history of the ABC network. Despite the low ratings, McGuinness appreciated the opportunity for the band to appear on network television in the first place, stating that the small audience for the television special

14016-428: The opening PopMart show in Las Vegas, which took place the night before. The program received poor reception, ranking at 101 out of 107 programs aired that week, according to Nielsen ratings , and became the lowest rated non-political documentary in the history of the ABC network. Despite the low ratings, McGuinness appreciated the opportunity for the band to appear on network television in the first place, stating that

14162-476: The other direction. We probably needed to allow a bit more of the electronica to survive." The band took a considerably more conservative, stripped down approach with Pop ' s follow-up, All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000), along with the Elevation Tour that supported it; All That You Can't Leave Behind featured a "more traditional U2 sound". The few songs from Pop that were performed on

14308-446: The other singles, the single version is different from the album version. Written on acoustic guitar, D. Leurssen described it as a "techno-tinged ballad". Bono originally thought the song was too soft and asked to "fuck it up," saying "I thought, this is, like, pure. Now drop acid onto that." " Staring at the Sun " features acoustic guitars and a distorted guitar riff from Edge, and a simple rhythm section from Mullen. The backing track

14454-399: The poorly received opening night in Las Vegas. There was intense pressure for the band, especially with several journalists and celebrities in attendance. The band lost their timing on the song "Staring at the Sun", stopped playing partway through, and then started over. During "Discotheque", the crew filled the stage with too much dry-ice; the Edge could not see his guitar pedal in the midst of

14600-534: The process, Howie B was adding effects to " Discothèque ", while the Edge was recording backing vocals for "The Playboy Mansion". Of the last minute changes, the Edge said, "It's a sign of absolute madness." Flood says, "We had three different mixes of 'Mofo', and during mastering in November '96 in New York, I edited a final version of 'Mofo' from these three mixes. So even during mastering, we were trying to push

14746-459: The pseudonym "Passengers". The band started to work on their ninth studio album, which was set to be finished by mid-1996 and released later that year prior to the Christmas and holiday season . Around the same time, in late 1995, Williams began developing concepts for the band's next tour. Among the proposed themes for the tour was a concept based on the end of the millennium titled "U2000", and

14892-486: The record was completed, they felt rushed into delivering it. Even after delaying the album's release date from the 1996 Christmas and holiday season to March 1997, U2 ran out of time in the studio, working up to the last minute to complete songs. In February 1997, U2 released Pop ' s techno-heavy lead single, " Discothèque ", one of six singles from the album. The record initially received favourable reviews from critics and reached number one in 35 countries, including

15038-413: The record. Bono's lyrics lament the loss of his mother. There are little guitar and vocal samples that the band played and the production team sampled. They selected the bits that they liked, and then Edge played them back in a keyboard. Pop' s producer Flood also put some of guitar work through the ARP 2600 on this track. " If God Will Send His Angels " is a ballad with Bono pleading for God's help. Like

15184-516: The recording sessions to Hanover Quay in Dublin to a studio the band had just converted from a warehouse. The studio was designed to be more of a rehearsal space more than an actual studio. Flood, Howie B, Steve Osborne, and Marius de Vries joined Hooper and the band there, each of them incorporating their influences and experiences in electronic dance music. Flood described Howie's influence thus: "Howie would be playing all kinds of records to inspire

15330-532: The recordings from Mexico City, live versions of "Please", "Where the Streets Have No Name", and "Staring at the Sun" from Rotterdam , as well as "With or Without You" from Edmonton , were released internationally on the Please: PopHeart Live EP , and later on the "Please" single in the United States. A live video of "Please" filmed in Helsinki , known as the "Live Mural Cut", was featured on

15476-455: The respective album are included on its tour's setlist . Some tours are known as "greatest hits tours" or "reunion tour" without any new material or specific album release, such as Fleetwood Mac 's 2009 Unleashed tour and No Doubt 's 2009 Summer Tour . Taylor Swift 's The Eras Tour (2023–2024) is a retrospective of her career to that point, where each act of the concert represents one of her albums . In another case, artists embark on

15622-667: The rest of the tour. By the second leg in Europe, the performances had vastly improved as evidenced by the Popheart EP that featured three songs from the first European show in Rotterdam . The band had some difficulty filling stadiums in the southern and Midwestern US, yet there were multiple night sellouts in Chicago, New York and Boston. It was however better received by Europeans and in particular, South American audiences. It

15768-449: The rhythm track, which were recorded as loops by Mullen. Howie described the loops thus; "Larry went off into a side room and made some sample loops of him playing his kit, and gave the loops to me and Flood. It was the same with the guitars; there's a guitar riff which comes in the verse and chorus, which is a sample of Edge playing." Bono's lyrics are a tongue-in-cheek account of pop culture icons. "If You Wear That Velvet Dress" features

15914-518: The same size as the backdrop used during the band's Lovetown Tour in 1989. The screen was created with the help of three separate companies, each of whom manufactured different components. The screen contained 150,000 pixels , each of which contained eight separate LEDs of various colors. The pixels were manufactured by SACO Technologies, a Montreal -based company, which specialized in manufacturing control systems and panels for nuclear and hydrogen power stations. U2 were SACO's first client, and prior to

16060-664: The sessions in May 1996 due to his commitments to the Romeo + Juliet film score. The recording sessions changed radically in the last few months, which is why Hooper was not credited on the album. By forcing the band members out of their individual comfort zones, the producers were able to change U2's approach to songwriting and playing their instruments. Mullen, in particular, was forced to do this, as he used samples of other records, sample CDs, or programmed drums while recuperating. Although he eventually reverted to recording his own samples,

16206-425: The sessions to start a family and nurse a worsening back injury, had major surgery on his back in November 1995. Mullen was unable to drum properly during this period, forcing U2 to abandon their usual methods of songwriting as a group but also allowing them to pursue different musical influences. Mullen admits that he was upset that the band entered the studio without him, cognizant that key decisions would be made in

16352-424: The show during a performance of "Pride (In the Name of Love)." The four members of the band and entire PopMart stage were shown in animated form. Bono, the Edge, and Adam Clayton had voice appearances in the episodes, as well as the band's manager, Paul McGuinness , and McGuinness' assistant, Susie Smith. Mullen was not present for the studio recordings and therefore appeared in a non-speaking role. The band even had

16498-595: The show. Each concert opened with a performance of " Mofo ." Following "Mofo" at every show, the band performed " I Will Follow ", " Even Better Than the Real Thing ", " Gone ", " Last Night on Earth ", and " Until the End of the World ". As the group performed, the audience was bombarded with images and colors, all designed towards the show's ironic embrace of tackiness and pop -ular culture. Each show featured " Staring at

16644-402: The small audience for the television special was still a large audience for the band, as it was much larger than any audience that could be obtained by MTV . Pop featured six international singles, the most the band has released for a single album. "Do You Feel Loved" and "Gone" were also considered for release. The album's first single, " Discothèque ", was released on 3 February 1997 and

16790-517: The smoke and had to kneel down to find it by touch. Nonetheless, the quality of the performances improved greatly as certain new songs were dropped or reworked, old crowd favourites re-introduced and the setlist evolved into a more coherent order during the first two months. At the Giants Stadium dates, "Staring at the Sun" was performed acoustically by Bono and the Edge. Becoming one of the show's highlights, it would be performed this way for

16936-480: The song "Miami" in a list of "Ten Terrible Records by Great Artists". However, Andrew Unterberger of Stylus Magazine acknowledged the inclusion of the song in Q's list and said "I’m pretty sure they gave this album some super-glowing review when it was first released, so clearly they’re not to be trusted in the first." "The Playboy Mansion" starts out with mellow, wah-wah guitar playing from Edge. Along with Mullen's drumming, there are breakbeats and hip-hop beats on

17082-577: The song to another level. It was a long process of experimentation; the album didn't actually come together until the last few months." Ultimately, U2 felt that Pop had not been completed to their satisfaction. The Edge described the finished album as "a compromise project by the end. It was a crazy period trying to mix everything and finish recording and having production meetings about the upcoming tour... If you can't mix something, it generally means there's something wrong with it..." Mullen said, "If we had two or three more months to work, we would have had

17228-409: The songs for single and compilation album releases. The time required to complete Pop cut into the band's rehearsal time for the tour, which affected the quality of initial shows. In the first half of the 1990s, U2 underwent a dramatic shift in musical style. The band had experimented with alternative rock and electronic music and the use of samples on their 1991 album, Achtung Baby , and, to

17374-472: The songs through the lyrics and the way he reacts to the music—without him having to go to 11 all the time... We only used extreme effects on his voice during the recording, for him to get himself into a different place, and then, gradually, we pulled most effects out." "Edge has been given this tag of having a certain type of sound, which isn't really fair, because on the last two or three albums he's already moved away from it; but people still perceive him as

17520-477: The stage. The final additions to the set included a 12-foot-wide (3.8-m) olive mounted onto a 100-foot (30-m) cocktail stick . Going along with the tour's satirical theme of consumerism, U2 announced their tour on 12 February 1997 by holding a news conference at a Kmart discount store at Astor Place , Manhattan , New York City . Hundreds of reporters from record companies, radio stations, television networks, newspapers, and magazines were in attendance at

17666-422: The struggle between desire and faith . With the help of Fisher, Williams designed a fantasy "entertainment outlet", and decided to create a tour with a consumerism theme. While still in the recording studio, U2 began scheduling tour dates in early 1996, along with band manager Paul McGuinness . U2's stadium performances from the Zoo TV Tour received much positive reception, therefore McGuinness decided that

17812-483: The tour suffered from technical difficulties and mixed reviews from critics and fans over the tour's extravagance. The PopMart Tour grossed US$ 171,677,024 Following the PopMart Tour, the band expressed their dissatisfaction with the final product. Between the album's various singles and the band's The Best of 1990–2000 compilation (and disregarding dance remixes), the band re-recorded, remixed, and rearranged "Discothèque", "If God Will Send His Angels", "Staring at

17958-467: The tour, but they later decided to instead use a single promoter for financial assistance. Bids were made with five separate parties, and eventually a deal was made with Toronto -based concert promoter Michael Cohl for $ 100 million. Cohl expected a total five to six million attendees at over 100 concerts, beginning in April 1997. He also expected the tour to gross $ 260 million, almost $ 20 million more than

18104-430: The tours end up not being the last tour, with frequent regroupings, or revivals of shows. Luciano Pavarotti 's 2004 tour and Kenny Rogers 's 2015–2017 tour are examples of farewell tours which were the last to be staged before their deaths. As of October 2024, the highest-grossing concert tour of all time is Taylor Swift 's Eras Tour , with $ 2.089 billion earned from 125 shows. In 2024, Coldplay 's Music of

18250-478: The track due to his time constraints. Bono reworked this song as a lounge-jazz piece for the 2002 Jools Holland album Small World Big Band Volume Two . " Please " features Bono lamenting The Troubles and the Northern Irish peace process, pleading with the powers that be to "get up off their knees". Mullen uses martial-style drumming, similar to " Sunday Bloody Sunday ". Flood put guitar work through

18396-456: The two concerts, and featured all 25 songs performed at both shows. The VHS and Video CD releases have since been out of print ; however, a DVD version was released for the first time in September 2007. In 2000, the album Hasta la Vista Baby! was released exclusively to members of U2's fan club, which featured 14 of the 25 songs from Mexico City on one CD. Released around the same time were

18542-467: The various " Beautiful Day " singles, which featured the live versions of "Discothèque", "If You Wear That Velvet Dress", and "Last Night on Earth," the latter of which was also featured on the " Elevation " single. The live video of "Last Night on Earth" appeared on the Australian "Beautiful Day" single, and the live video of "Gone" appeared on The Best of 1990–2000 video releases . In addition to

18688-411: The video screen. While discussing the structure to support the centralized PA system, Williams recalled a statement Bono made on the Zoo TV Tour about having a "secret fantasy to play a show underneath a set of gigantic golden arches". So the design was changed to feature a 100-foot (30-m) parabolic arch supporting the PA in the center of the stage. To further develop the concept, Fisher drew a version of

18834-528: Was "a genuine snapshot of its present by a band bright enough to keep exploring, smart enough not to abandon its past and big enough to make it palatable to radio programmers" resistant to dance music. Other reviews were more critical. Neil Strauss of The New York Times wrote that "From the band's first album, Boy , in 1980, through The Joshua Tree in 1987, U2 sounded inspired. Now it sounds expensive." He further commented that "U2 and techno don't mix any better than U2 and irony do." Parry Gettelman of

18980-547: Was "very proud of [ Pop ] by the end of the tour. We finally figured it out by the time we made the DVD . It was an amazing show that I'm really proud of." In April 1998, one month after the PopMart Tour had ended, U2 appeared as guest stars on the 200th episode of The Simpsons , " Trash of the Titans ." The episode featured U2 performing a PopMart concert in Springfield Stadium where Homer Simpson disrupted

19126-488: Was a huge dance and airplay success in the U.S. and UK. It also reached No. 1 in the singles charts of most of European countries including the United Kingdom, where it was their third No. 1 single. In the United States, "Discothèque" is notable for being U2's only single since 1991 to crack the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 , peaking at #10. However, the song's dance elements and more humorous video (featuring U2 in

19272-449: Was also dedicated to the band's production manager Anne Louise Kelly whose dedication message, "4UALKXXXX", is hidden on the playing side of the CD where the matrix number is found. On 26 October 1996, U2 became one of the earliest bands to fall victim to an internet leak when a Hungary -based fansite leaked clips of "Discothèque" and "Wake Up Dead Man", creating a buzz which built quickly on

19418-400: Was also the first time I started to think that technology was getting out of control." The band ended up re-working and re-recording many songs for the album's singles, as well as for the band's 2002 compilation The Best of 1990-2000 . "I thought 'pop' was a term of abuse, it seemed sort of insulting and lightweight. I didn't realise how cool it was. Because some of the best music does have

19564-457: Was back in the studio three weeks after his surgery, but his back prevented him from fully dedicating himself to recording. As he described, "I needed a little more time to recover. But we were struggling with some of the material and for the project to move ahead, I had to put a lot of time in." Sessions ceased temporarily in January 1996 to allow Mullen to rehabilitate. "It was quite hard for

19710-406: Was booked while the band were still completing Pop , which was planned to be released during the 1996 holiday season. However, the recording sessions went long, delaying the release until March 1997 and cutting into rehearsal time for the tour. Although it was the second-highest-grossing tour of 1997, PopMart was marred by technical difficulties and mixed reviews from critics and fans, particularly in

19856-569: Was distributed in Canada, and a CD single of various songs taken from U2's studio albums was released by a radio station in Mexico. In Europe, U2's remix of " Pop Muzik " used to open the PopMart shows, was released as a single on both 12-inch and CD formats. While the first single from Pop , "Discothèque", was released in January 1997, " Staring at the Sun " became the second single from the album, and

20002-460: Was going to be completely different from its predecessor. His initial proposals to U2 featured physical designs, including a center stage surrounded by a racetrack with circling trucks and motorbikes. Fisher researched one of the first LED screens to be imported into the United States. (It was built for the State Fair of Texas in 1995). Fisher proposed to make a much larger LED screen by spacing

20148-405: Was hung in its own frame, so a sloped frame was added to the screen. Several months were spent experimenting with and demonstrating the capabilities of LED video. The screen designed for the show was ten times larger than all 36 Zoo TV screens put together, with a total size that ranged between 150 and 170 feet (46–52 metres) wide and 50–56 feet (15–17 metres) tall, approximately

20294-438: Was only performed during the first six shows, and " If God Will Send His Angels " was performed once by the full band, plus about 20 other times solely by Bono and the Edge. " Bad " and " Desire " were also played at a handful of shows. This set list is representative of the tour's average setlist as conducted by Setlist.fm, which represents all concerts for the duration of the tour. Encore 2nd Encore During

20440-456: Was performed solo by the Edge who frequently introduced the song during the final legs of the tour by stating that the band had "rediscovered" it in Sarajevo. Larry Mullen Jr. also played the leading drumbeat from the song as part of the second half of "Please". Despite the subpar performance, a news story said, "For two magical hours, the rock band U2 achieved what warriors, politicians and diplomats could not: They united Bosnia." Trains ran for

20586-399: Was played to the ARP 2600 running in free time, playing an odd drum-like sequence. " Last Night on Earth " is anthemic with fuzzy, layered guitars, a funk-inspired bass line, and vocal harmonies during the song's bridge. "Gone" features a "siren" effect from Edge's guitar, complex krautrock style drums from Mullen and a funk-inspired bass line. This track was also considered for release as

20732-595: Was produced by Flood , Howie B , and Steve Osborne , and was released on 3 March 1997 on Island Records . The album was a continuation of the band's 1990s musical reinvention, as they incorporated alternative rock , techno , dance , and electronica influences into their sound. Pop employed a variety of production techniques that were relatively new to U2, including sampling , loops , programmed drum machines , and sequencing . Recording sessions began in 1995 with various record producers , including Nellee Hooper , Flood, Howie B , and Osborne, who were introducing

20878-464: Was released in April 1997 to coincide with the beginning of the tour. On 26 April 1997, American television network ABC aired a one-hour prime time special about Pop and the PopMart Tour, titled U2: A Year in Pop . Narrated by actor Dennis Hopper , the documentary featured footage from the Pop recording sessions, as well as live footage from the opening PopMart show in Whitney, which took place

21024-428: Was still a large audience for the band, as it was much larger than any audience that could be obtained by MTV. During the middle of the tour's first leg, MSN launched U2's first official website, U2popmart.MSN.com. The website was updated constantly throughout the tour, featuring images and audio clips from various concerts, as well as live webcasts during select performances. Out of the 93 concerts performed during

21170-459: Was the first time U2 had toured South America and Bono remarked that the rapturous fan response they received there helped U2 regain their confidence and appreciation for playing together. Despite its cleverness and positive critical response, many fans felt alienated by the shows; certain material from the Pop album did not go down as well as U2 might have hoped and many people did not seem to have understood its satirical nature. U2 had dressed as

21316-459: Was to introduce the band to sounds and influences within electronica. The band and Howie B regularly went out to dance clubs to experience club music and culture. The overall goal for the record was to create a new sound for the band that was still recognisable as U2. U2 began work on Pop in mid-1995, collaborating with Nellee Hooper in London, France, and Ireland. In September, the band moved

#441558