Bono’s “Fly” image—where he strode about clad head-to-toe in leather and wraparound shades—was, we learned, a send-up: he was parodying rock-star poses by creating the ultimate post-everything shamanistic frontman. It was part of a disinformation campaign that included the massive Zoo TV tour, which grew like a horn from the forehead of the band’s outsized ego.
As seen here in a concert ?lmed in late 1993, gargantuan video screens were everywhere, projecting images of static, slogans, news and Lou Reed, all in an attempt to say, uh… something about media saturation. I guess.
The idea that U2 thought overexposure problematic is laughable, but the astonishing grandiosity on display has a certain grotesque charm. And the set list and performances are ace, drawing heavily from Achtung Baby and the underrated Zooropa, cherry-picking from the best of the ’80s output, and throwing in some interesting covers. U2 may’ve been confused and more than a little ridiculous, but you can’t argue against these songs.