review: U2: POPMART LIVE FROM MEXICO CITY

UMe  //  Buy from Amazon.com Described as a sci-fi disco supermarket, the PopMart Tour opened in its "spiritual home", Las Vegas on 25th April 1997. All trash and kitsch, PopMart introduced a giant mirrorball lemon, a 100ft cocktail stick - complete with olive, and the works of Lichtenstein, Warhol and Haring, to a live rock audience: a production experience never quite seen before. Originally filmed on analogue video, the film has been transferred to a digital format with re-graded and cleaned pictures. Great care has been taken to maintain the original look by simply enhancing it, with an added degree of sharpness and contrast unavailable when originally filmed. The audio has also been re-mastered and mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound. Having really discovered U2 with their "Achtung Baby" album (I was aware of "Joshua Tree, just too young & dumb to care), I quickly became a rabid fan and began devouring their back catalogue. Shortly after I was first turned onto them, they released "Zooropa" which quickly became my 2nd favorite (2nd only to the undefeatable "Achtung Baby") and I really got into their techno-y, futuristic sound. Why, then, was I so unimpressed when "Pop" came out, and left me disappointed and underwhelmed? Thankfully, however, I was able to catch their "Popmart" tour when it rolled through western Canada, and while I may not have been a fan of that album or just how far down the electronic path the band had journeyed, I was a U2 fan through & through and enjoyed that concert like none before. Ironically enough, 10 years later, I count "Pop" as one of their best albums, and definitely one of my faves (once again, 2nd only to "Achtung Baby.") As such, it's bittersweet to now get the opportunity to review this concert DVD, as it somewhat gives me a 2nd chance to appreciate the band at the height of their "Pop" days... What a fantastic concert - mixing in old faves and new classics, Bono & the boys manage to deliver an epic concert and seemingly find a way to connect with every single one of the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of fans in attendance. Underappreciated (if at all) back in '97, 10 years later this concert and this music resonates infinitely more than it did back in the day, so this DVD is well worth picking up for any fan (new or old) of U2 interested in catching a glimpse in time, of a band on the cusp of change, yet revelling in the moment... Video Presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, the video quality of this concert is quite nice - it would've been great to see it in HD, but we'll take what we can get! Audio Your choice of either Dolby or DTS 5.1 surround mixes - both are fantastic, and both will drop you smack-dab in the middle of this epic concert. Extras nada Closing Thoughts Wonderful concert from an unappreciated tour + no extras = a trip back in time to see a band ahead of its time