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on its feet. If the track sounds like uninspired mumbling on Pop, it is transformed on stage into rousing, furious industrial blues. Then in complete, premeditated contrast, comes the classic ‘I Will Follow’. In both songs, Bono confronts the death of his mother.
As usual, past and present are interwoven in the band’s songs. The unpretentious ‘Please’ is an unemotional stock-taking of Northern Ireland’s Troubles — all the more poignant given the current, fragile peace process. It is followed by a tactfully edited ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday‘. Then the 90s trip hop hymn ‘Miami’ merges into the 80s guitar inferno ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’.
10 THE LIST 29 Aug—11 Sept 1997
Despite the accusations of megalomania the ambitious Pop Mart tour has provoked, U2 have confounded the critics with yet another mass, multimedia spectacle. If their ‘Zooropa’
show irritated audiences with its stream of
’The notion that you can't go into a club if you're older than 35 is a problem for white people. In black culture it's understood that 50-year-olds can go to clubs to dance.’ The Edge
images from countless monitors, Pop Mart has a coherent visual appeal.
‘The stage is aesthetically perfect, but it’s also a laughable perversion — the contrast is
very stimulating,’ says Bono, sounding like a child absorbed by his toy.
After touch down, U2 meet in the Ritz Carlton Lounge for a drink, where they are joined by a small man in a chequered suit and beret. This is Glasgow DJ guru Howie B - U2’s co-producer and coach. He is accompanying the group as a special guest on the US toun
Every evening he stands on stage behind his record decks, attempting to entice U2’s American audiences with European club culture. It is almost a mission impossible — most spectators are barely aware Howie is on the stage mixing the songs live.
Poptarts: (from left to right) The Edge. Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton and Bono