Popmart: Live From Mexico City (DVD) Germantown MD

Popmart: Live From Mexico City (DVD)

U2

Island, 2007

http://www.u2.com

REVIEW BY: Benjamin Ray

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/04/2007

You can hide your true self under layers of pride and cockiness, belying a vulnerability because appearing weak would be the worst thing in your inner circle.

You can hide a jerk under makeup, nice clothes and appearances at charity events or church, but eventually his or her true self will be revealed.

And you can hide a big-hearted band that wants to change the world under banks of hot lights, giant disco balls, elaborate stage shows and costumes, but that same band will emerge as its true self underneath.

U2 wanted to be someone else in the 1990s. Tired of their post-punk roots and their anthemic stances, the Dublin foursome opted for a stance of ironic detachment from the world with Achtung Baby and the ensuing ZooTV tour, a gaudy, otherworldly sort-of satire of mass media and consumption.