Pop Mart Tour - Conception and Planning

Conception and Planning

U2 stage designer Willie Williams and stage architect Mark Fisher began developing the PopMart Tour in late 1995. U2 re-entered their Dublin recording studio in October 1995, shortly before releasing an experimental/ambient album with Brian Eno, entitled Original Soundtracks 1, under the pseudonym "Passengers". The band started to work on their ninth studio album, which was set to be finished by mid-1996 and released later that year prior to the Christmas and holiday season. Around the same time, in late 1995, Williams began developing concepts for the band's next tour. Among the proposed themes for the tour was a concept based around the end of the millennium titled "U2000", and a discothèque concept involving a large mobile disco. Lead vocalist Bono became interested in one of Williams' designs that resembled a supermarket, which was inspired by facades of American post-war suburban outlet stores. Bono who believed that the symbol of a supermarket, with its large amount of choices and temptations, could be used as a metaphor for U2's songs, which often deal with the struggle between desire and faith. With the help of Fisher, Williams designed a fantasy "entertainment outlet", and decided to create a tour with a consumerism theme.

While still in the recording studio, U2 began scheduling tour dates in early 1996, along with band manager Paul McGuinness. U2's stadium performances from the Zoo TV Tour received much positive reception, therefore McGuinness decided that the entire tour should take place in large stadiums, as opposed to beginning the tour in smaller arenas, despite the fact that the band did not feel another stadium tour was necessary. After risking bankruptcy by self-financing the Zoo TV Tour, U2 decided to seek outside sources to finance the cost of taking the PopMart Tour around the world. Initially, the band announced they were looking for sponsors to support the tour, but they later decided to instead use a single promoter for financial assistance. Bids were made with five separate parties, and eventually a deal was made with Toronto-based concert promoter Michael Cohl for $100 million. Cohl expected a total five to six million attendees at over 100 concerts, beginning in April 1997. He also expected the tour to gross $260 million, almost $20 million more than The Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge Tour, which was the highest grossing tour at the time, also organized by Cohl.

As the recording sessions on the new album progressed, U2 decided they would not be ready to finish their album for the mid-year production deadline, and pushed back the release date by several months. To get the album ready for its March 1997 release, the album's recording sessions had to be finished by the end of December. Within one month of the production deadline, the album was still untitled and had much work left before it could be completed. Because the dates for the tour had already been booked, the album's release could not be delayed any further. Eventually, the album was titled Pop, and Williams dubbed the title "PopMart" for the tour. The album's recording sessions were finished in time for the March 1997 release date, but the band felt they still needed another month to fully complete the album. Bono later stated that letting McGuinness book the tour before the album was finished was the worst decision that U2 ever made because it forced them to finish up the album sooner than they had wanted.