Amazon.com
This stunning concert documentary sheds fresh light on U2′s controversial 1997 Popmart tour, the Irish rockers’ gaudy, epic trek in support of their electronica-edged Pop album. Mixed reactions to the pulsing, dance friendly music on Pop and disappointing ticket sales to stateside Popmart shows were interpreted as evidence that the band’s new sound and look were merely opportunistic. Yet one need only view Popmart Live alongside the Rolling Stones’ contemporaneous Bridges to Babylon 1998 long-form video to grasp U2′s underlying passion and conviction. While Popmart trumps the Stones (ringmasters of the original rock & roll circus and among the principal inventors of stadium rock) in terms of sheer scale, U2′s presentation still strikes thematic sparks missing from the Stones’ more conservative designs for the Bridges stage. With its vast, ramped stage and enveloping video backdrop, the Popmart set serves the band’s posttechno impulses, yet the music remain (more…)
