I was flipping through my old copy of BP Fallon’s Zooropa tour book and all of its awesome photographs, and a short while later came across some promo images from Pop. It was amazing to me how much these guys changed their music—and their look (and certainly frame of mind)—from Joshua Tree to Zoo TV to PopMart. It was an impressive self-awareness and willingness to take chances on every level.
But Bono’s got a wee bit of an image problem right now. With the new energy injected by these two EPs and a new album and tour on the way, it’s a good time to shake things up.
The hair dye and old man mullet have to go. So do the John Lennon shades. It’s time to embrace age and everything that comes with being an elder statesman of rock music. There’s another guy in the band who plays bass guitar who has embraced his age and looks cool as a polar bear.
I don’t really care how he does it. The above AI image is suggestive. But dude needs to shake things up like he did when he shaved his head in Miami and came out to the stage like a prize fighter.
I love the guy. His Surrender tour was reflective and humble and brilliant all at once. But it’s time and a great opportunity to enter a new stage and show even the haters that he’s the genuine cat the rest of us know he is.
I know this is about style over music but it’s something I would like to see happen with new things on the horizon.