According to music industry types, most 12- to 34-year-olds never pay for their music; they just visit free ‘torrent’ sites to download an artist’s complete back catalogue in one go.
So how do you get them to cough up? Live performance is one way, but that only raises so much. Better to film the concert – preferably in 3-D to give it extra oomph – then chuck it at the big screen. Voila! More bums on seats, more cash in the coffers. ‘U2 3D’ was filmed over several nights during the group’s 2004 Vertigo tour of Latin America.
It’s an impressively slick production set on a huge stage that extends way into the audience, allowing Bono to strut his stuff as if he owns the place. A selection of props and a backdrop of imagery accompanies the competently played songs (14 in all) to atmospheric effect, but some of the more full-bodied 3-D shots make the band look like toy models.
Bono, meanwhile, should refrain from ramming his preachy political meanderings down our throats and let the music do the talking. Even if some of that music becomes a little stultifying.