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Performance:
Easily one of the best, slickest, most vigorous and committed performances of the entire Vertigo tour. Bono's vocals are powerfull, the band is tight.
Specific standouts are Desire and the AIWIY closer, perhaps the best performance of AIWIY on the vertigo tour, and maybe even since the lovetown tour, hypnotic and muscular altogether.
Audience:
Reviewing a crowd is not a fair thing to do...
You can't really compare the reserved temper of a Japanese audience with the football stadium zeal of a South American/Italian one, or straight out pub-joy of a Dutch or an Irish audience. It's different vibes and dynamics, but I do think this show has perhaps the best Japanese crowd in U2's entire career. bono's aware of that and refers to that a lot during the concert. Japs are great, smart, creative and very attentive and they have the ability to reveal they're honest amazement of something without trying to conceal it or shield it with forced sarcasm like some Americans or Europeans as well as too many of my (yet beloved) Israeli compatriots do. I just guess that's a combination of that mentality with the anticipation, the long wait through all the ordeal the crowd and band had to face until these concerts finally got off the ground and the notion of the scarcity of U2 concerts in that part of the world that had made the Saitama crowds in these 3 nights, one of the most receptive on the Vertigo tour. Check the 29th closer One Tree Hill for Bono's amazement at the crowd's enthusiastic reaction to first notes of the songs which he doubted that more than a few people even remember.
Sound:
Very pro recording, full and inclusive band sound for an Audience boot, accurately deilvers the vibes of the event. yet it is still an Audience boot, wish they'll release SB's of these shows on iTunes or something sometime in the future.
Overall:
The only lows are that the previous night, from the 29th saw a much better One Tree Hill (they should have played it here right after One instead, to close the first set and the crowd would have lifted them to greater hights), and that the following concert 4 nights after (December 4th) had an even better rendition of The Fly (one of the all time top-3 IMHO).
My best advice is to get all 3 and compile a best of Vertigo Japan.
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Performance:
It's such a shame it took so long for the Vertigo Tour to really be very, very good. But these shows in the last leg, and especially the ones in Tokyo are superb.
I've never really thought COBL was a good opener, but it seemed to have a bit more energy here and really got the show off to a good start. Love the Japanese counting in Vertigo and Elevation is superb. Blackbird is possibly my favourite 'BD' snippet, so obviously loved it here.
Despite AOH previously being billed as a 'party' song, I think it doesn't quite fit here. And one reason I dislike Vertigo as a tour is too much Bono-blabber. So it's a shame The First Time has it at the beginning. However, SYCMIOYO is, as usual, an emotional rendition and kind of brings the set list back to where it should be.
OTH is SUPERB!! It really is a treat. I can only think of the Point Depot version as being better. I do like the SBS>Bullet segue with Larry's drums, and although Miss Sarajevo is an excellent song, especially to follow Bullet, I have heard better versions.
I'd like to drop Pride from a great height. Full stop.
Streets is good, but again, too much Bono-blabber at the start, would much prefer Psalm 116. And The intro to One seems just a little too long, or am I being picky?
The Fly and MW are good and there is a surprsing and welcome snippet of Shine Like Stars in WOWY, but it is the last three songs that really are a surprise on the setlist.
WITS is brilliant. I know Desire was used as an encore opener during ZooTV but I don't thiknit's ever been played this late in the set as an acoustic version. It really is a good version. And I never, ever, thought AIWIY would work as a closer, but it's great.
Overall, a bit of a mix, but I've given 4.5 stars because I really think the band were in good form so despite the 'lowlights' of the set, it's still a boot you should download and listen to.
Audience:
Well up for it!!!!
Sound:
Excellent sound. Can it get better than this?
Overall:
Highlights:
-Good opening 6 songs
-One Tree Hill
-Shine Like Stars snippet
-Last three songs
Lowlights:
-Bono-blabber!
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Performance:
Typical opening for a Vertigo show, a bootleg that contains 'Wake Up' in full is a treat. I'm very happy with City of Blinding Lights as the opener. The Edge creates a noise like no other, it just sounds amazing. I do wish the introduction to the song was a little longer really, but then it kicks in for real and the sound from The Edge just gets better and better. Bono is perfectly fine here, doesn't quite nail the "ooh ooh" sections and does sound a little rough in parts, but it's good enough for me. A little lyrical mix up at the end, then again it is Bono. He makes up for it in the "Ohhh Tokyo" though. No messing around, straight into Vertigo we go - with a little Japanese flair at the start. Pretty solid performance as you'd expect at this stage in the tour. Fantastic snippet of 'She Loves You' at the end. Bono continues his Japanese speech at the start of Elevation, I have no idea what he's saying - the Japanese crowd probably has no idea either. Again, the band nail the performance. They continue this streak with an excellent performance of Until the End of the World, the crowd seem to be loving it too. They follow with New Year's Day, and if I'm honest, I wasn't feeling it much at the beginning, but Bono really does step up and deliver some spine tingling vocals. I guess it's always good to hear an old song in the show. Beautiful Day rounds off the energetic start and it is pretty much perfect. Again, shivers when Bono goes into the "You can touch me/Teach me" part and he throws in some very nice lyrical changes for "See the world...". The only thing that could make it better? A snippet of Blackbird, and, Bono begins " Blackbird singing in the dead of night"...
Now we enter the slower section of the show, Angel of Harlem kicks us off. The usual semi-stripped back performance of just Bono and The Edge on the first verse, with Adam and Larry coming in for verse two. It's a great song to hear live, a favourite of mine for a long time. Nice to hear Bono on the harmonica too, a little throwback to the late 80's there. Now, here's a rarity. Not only Zooropa song to be played during the Vertigo Tour, but also one of the few times we hear it in full at all. It's really nice to hear, until Bono sings "I feel love....love! Love! Love!" - that takes away some of the magic. Moving on, back to some normality with Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own. Bono dedicates is to not only his father, but all fathers. It's an incredibly touching song, particularly with the story that goes behind it from just Bono's perspective, but also it's a song that can adapt to many people's lives and sometimes, you just have to sit back and listen, take it in. The Edge always compliments Bono nicely in the chorus part and does so again tonight. A shame there isn't a snippet of No Regrets thrown in, but that's personal preference. Now, surprisingly, we have another treat thrown into the setlist now with One Tree Hill. Rarely seen outside New Zealand this one. Perfect.
Sunday Bloody Sunday kicks off the more political section of the show. It's an energetic, strong performance. You can argue all day about whether or not it has a place in the set, but the band will continue to nail it. Ok, the speeches do get a little annoying after a while. Singing the song is fine, but stopping it to give a speech is a little too much. Sunday Bloody Sunday lasting for eight minutes? Give us Bad?... Perfect, effortless segue into Bullet the Blue Sky though. A fantastic song that really comes alive when played live. Exceptional performance, it sounds so good. The tempo of the show is slowed down now for Miss Sarajevo, a truly beautiful song that they really get right live. Of course, the main attraction may be Bono's attempt of Pavarotti's part...well...he does it justice. The Human Rights declaration at the end really doesn't sit well with me, so it's great to actually hear Pride kick in. Solid performance, I can't really pick any faults out with it, so we'll move on to that lesser known song, Where The Streets Have No Name. More political messages from Bono, the journey of equality. It's difficult to really pick the song apart, it's so powerful that you just get carried away and end up loving it. The musical arrangement before One is really nice to listen to, it kind of helps with having to listen to Bono talk. One closes the main set off really well. The crowd really love it.
The Fly opens the encore in the only fashion that The Fly can. A real shame that the vocals let it down somewhat. Good start to the encore though, continued through Mysterious Ways. It's not a notable performance for me, but enjoyable nonetheless. With Or Without You brings some intimacy back to the show. It's a really good performance, Bono is strong throughout and it's capped off with the must have snippet of Shine Like Stars. Just as you think we're done for the night though, another rarity is pulled out of the bag. The second ever performance of Window In The Skies. Dedicated to Hiroshi Sugimato, who of course played a future role in U2's history. The performance is great. Really, for just the second time it's been played, they do really well. Desire continues the encore and the band deliver a flawless performance. Some of my favourite vocals of the night in truth. " Guitar solo" and "harmonica encore" - what more could you ask for? It does set us up nicely for the closer and All I Want Is You closes the show perfectly.
Audience:
This crowd are fired up for the show. Singing along to the usual parts in Vertigo, Elevation etc. They are pleased to hear Until the End of the World, Miss Sarajevo and so on. They do lower their voices in some parts, but they do come back strong again. They really help to close the show well.
Sound:
Pretty solid throughout. Obvious arena environment, which isn't my favourite setting and it does have that particular sound to it, common to arena shows of this era. It's almost crystal clear though, very enjoyable, easy to listen to. A few little interruptions in sound quality, interference during Streets for example - which may not be the tapers fault. Other than that, you can't ask for any more.
Overall:
A very solid performance at the end of the Vertigo tour. Almost all of the songs are played to a high level, the band remain consistent throughout and put of a great show for the crowd.
Highlights:
- Until The End Of The World
- Beautiful Day
- One Tree Hill
- Bullet The Blue Sky
- With Or Without You
- Window In The Skies
- Desire
- All I Want Is You
Lowlights:
- The politics, I know they're part of a Vertigo show, but they drag on and on.
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