Historically, one of the biggest drivers in the field of gigantic-scale LED screen technology was in the world of live music events.
It is generally agreed that the first video wall ever used was “Mr Screen”, a circular display system used for Pink Floyd’s 1974 summer tour that would display thematic imagery that captured the unusual symbolism in the lyrics to Dark Side of the Moon and the then-upcoming Wish You Were Here.
However, up until the late 1990s, large-scale video walls were typically achieved using rear projection techniques, which were often temperamental during lengthy tours. It would take until the late 1990s for this to change thanks to an otherwise disappointing tour.
Where The Stadiums Have No Screens
In the 1990s, the Irish Band U2 started to experiment a lot more with their staging as part of a somewhat ironic reinvention of themselves following the release of Achtung Baby and Zooropa.
Alongside the self-depreciation in their music, something that would later backfire on the band but was necessary following the infamous Rattle And Hum, Bono, The Edge, Larry and Adam expanded the scope of their live performances outside of the more conventional stage layouts they had used up to that point.
The result of this was the wildly successful Zoo TV Tour, which used a collection of video walls as part of its themes of media saturation, with multiple differently sized screens, projectors and banks of screens set up using the then-industry standard system of linking monitor screens together.
Whilst the albums themselves were subject to infamously troubled developments and the major change to their sound was not entirely popular, the significant boost to production values and the much larger venues were extremely successful, signalling the band’s transition from an alternative post-punk to stadium rock.
With their follow-up tour, they wanted to go even further, and part of this plan was the result of a remarkable innovation in screen technology.
The Successful Failure Of PopMart
U2’s three albums and two major tours of the 1990s were described by the band as “chopping down The Joshua Tree”, the rootsy alternative rock music they were famous for before Rattle And Hum, and the sets would only get more ambitious for PopMart.
The tour was already in production before Pop, the album it was set to promote, and if the lengthy Zoo TV Tour was considered to be ambitious and extensive, PopMart took it to a whole other level.
Designed by long-running U2 set designer Willie Williams based around a 1950s American supermarket aesthetic, the goal was to make a gigantic show based around a video wall which looked completely different from the intentional sensory overload of Zoo TV.
Stage architect Mark Fisher found that it was possible to make a much larger video screen than had ever been used before simply by spacing the pixels further apart, which sacrificed video fidelity in a way that would largely go unnoticed in huge stadiums.
It was also far easier to attach to a flexible material for easier transportation; it was originally designed to be attached to a cargo net and later a draping for the unsellable stadium seats behind the stage, but ultimately a stylised sloping frame with a golden arch was added instead.
It was 17m tall, 52m long and had a total pixel density of 150,000 pixels, which is the pixel density of the original iPhone. By contrast, a typical 4K monitor used today has over 8.2m pixels in total.
Despite this, as has been seen from concert footage taken from the era, it was a functional and versatile screen from the types of distances stadium audiences would view it from, whilst it would alternatively function as stage lighting for some of the close-up shots where the LEDs were more visible.
The screen itself was made by three different companies, with the pixels developed by SACO Technology, who had never produced any video technology before this and for whom U2 were their first client.
The Legacy Of The PopMart Screen
Whilst the tour itself was successful, the album Pop and the tour itself received a somewhat mixed reception. The staging was universally praised, but the performances were described as often subpar, particularly in the earlier shows.
Whilst designed to be intentional self-parody, as epitomised by the giant golden arch and bizarre metal lemon which the band used to enter the stage for their encores, crowds were confused as to which parts to take seriously.
Whilst the band would drastically change their sound and aesthetic for the Elevation Tour, the giant video wall remained a fundamental part of the tour setup, albeit used in a very different, more stripped-down way.