Performance:
:
Generally very good....although Bono's out-of-tune guitar in "The Fly" sounded pretty awful....but it was interesting to get a better sense of what he plays during this song. Besides that and Edge's little mishap in Yahweh, I'd say the band's performance was the highlight of this show.

Audience:

Hard to judge the audience for being too quiet since this is an IEM, but they were still audible at times, so that's always a plus.

Sound quality:

IEM, so you're getting a lot of static throughout the whole performance. While I personally don't listen to this often, I find that I do enjoy listening to them every once in a while, for a "behind-the-scenes" sort of look at the way the show is produced. It's interesting to hear the added instruments like the piano on SYCMIOYO or the organ on LAPOE. The guy's voice always cracks me up though...."Bass.....1, 2, 3, 4!" And the click-track is pretty annoying, but it does add to certain songs. (Miss Sarajevo comes to mind). While I won't punish it for being an IEM, the constant static really does hurt the sound.

Overall:
Show Highlights:
This really goes without saying, but the Mofo/Discotheque sequence really steals the show. In fact, it's the whole reason why I chose this show for this week's BRT. Great little number, even if it was pretty sloppy.
Bono's in a great mood the whole show....laughing and cracking jokes. Many of which are actually funny!
Drums at the end of "The Ocean"....and I pretty much always hate that song.
Vertigo was surprisingly good.
Certain snippets (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/Please/Relax)
Eddie Vedder singing "Ol' Man River"
Bono reading "Have a glass of water!" from the teleprompter before SYCMIOYO


Show Lowlights:
Certain Snippets (Black Hills of Crap-koda)
As much as I love Africa, I've never been a big fan of making it the sole emphasis of this "Streets." Tonight's version seemed a bit over-the-top in this regard. That being said, at least it seemed to cut down on the intro into "One."
Bad sound and missing chunks of good songs (COBL, OMR)

Overall:
This bootleg isn't ever going to be remembered for it's sound quality, but it will be remembered for being loaded with snippets and one of the few Vertigo-tour performances of Discotheque. If you love the Vertigo versions of this song, it's worth getting this show just to hear it performed. It's also a great show worth checking out if you don't mind IEMs and you want to hear Bono having fun during the entire show.

Performance:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Audience:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Sound quality:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Overall:
Not the best broadcast I've ever heard, but the band is rockin' and Bono's having a great time in the rain.

Performance:
Everyone is spot on and you can tell they're having a ball playing to the home crowd.

Audience:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Sound quality:
Best part of the bootleg, in my opinion. As Drew mentions, it's surprising that the sound is this crisp after 20 years. The latest upgrade makes it an amazing soundboard.

Overall:
There are no lowlights in this show. The whole thing is on fire. A great rendition of "Two Hearts Beat As One", along with a beautiful "The Unforgettable Fire" adds so much to an already rockin' show.

I can't say it enough. If you don't have this show yet, download it immediately. It's the best U2 show in the archives.

Performance:
I tried to be nit-picky and pull something out that ruined the performance, but it's impossible. The only thing I heard that was off was Adam's bass in the opening bars of "In God's Country," which he quickly fixes. (and it's mistakes like that that I actually really enjoy in a show.) The band is on fire and they play with a lot of energy.

Audience:
My favorite part of the show, without question. This show has so many moments where the crowd sings just as loud as Bono. It's right up there with Milan 92's "The Fly" performance or the "Dirty Ol' Town" from Point Depot on New Years Eve. They sing so loud on every song, often improving their own vocal lines, harmonies, etc. It makes for a really cool listen. (See New Years Day for a great example)

Sound quality:
One of the best audiences I've ever heard. Rock's Hottest Ticket, Denver, and Tempe are great places to start with this tour because the sound quality is off the charts on those, but this is right behind them. I used to hate audience recordings (when I first found this website) but now I realize they're so real, so raw. This is a perfect example of that.

Overall:
Wonderful show. I'm not putting it above the Point Depot shows (those are sacred in my book!), but I prefer this show to Tempe and Denver for sure. Get it now.

Performance:
Well....in reading other people's reviews, I'm going to be in the minority. I thought it was a very lackluster performance by the band, perhaps they were looking past the gig at their 2+ week vacation coming up before starting the European leg. It sounded to me like they were all just going through the motions on almost every single one of these songs. Compared to your local rock band, the performance is still very good, but I hold U2 to a higher standard, and they just didn't deliver. Too many screw-ups (mainly lyrically, but some instrumental) and no real heartfelt interaction with the crowd. The only thing I can really remember where Bono had any real interaction with the crowd was when he mentions that the best seats are in the back, and where he thanks memberes of the crew.

Audience:
The audience for this boot is strong. I'm sure it was a spectacle being at the show in person, but it doesn't translate for me in this bootleg. Nevertheless, they carry the bootleg on their backs.

Sound quality:
In my opinion, the sound is the best attribute of the bootleg. Surprisingly clear. Sure, there's a few hiccups, but I'm starting to realize just how commonplace these blips are in bootlegs.

Overall:
Decent bootleg, but the performance was pretty lackluster in my opinion. I'll make sure when I see them on the next tour, to try not to catch them on one of their last nights before jumping to the next leg. Sure they worked out the kinks that plagued them in early shows, but they just seem to not really care about connecting with the audience. If they did, it didn't translate well to the bootleg in my opinion.


Highlights
Any MLK appearance is a good thing.
Mofo

Lowlights
Thank you, Fun Lovin' Criminals for ruining Edge's karaoke. Sure, it's karaoke and a little schmaltzy to being with, but you killed it by storming the stage and stealing Edge's little "moment."
Botched lyrics and transitions (chorus to verse, bridge, etc.) throughout the show.
Personally, I love Bono's little speech during the intro of LNOE from Mexico City ("I wanted to meet God!") but here it was just silence and felt flat.

Random thought: How many times have we heard Bono ask Bruce and Willie to turn the lights off during New Years Day? You'd think they'd just do it at every show....oh well.

Performance:
Alright, I might be incredibly biased on this one, since this is the only show I've ever been to, but the performance at this show was simply flawless. I noticed 2 lyrical flubs by Bono (Amazing Grace, Walk On), but those were very minor mistakes in an otherwise flawless show. Seriously. It's amazing. Everyone was spot on the whole night.

Audience:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Sound quality:
I went back and forth about the sound on this one. As you know, I had some problems with the soundboard-iiness of the last show, but this one is just a LITTLE too audience-y for my tastes. There's got to be a happy medium, right? I found it pretty annoying that you could hear specific audience members screaming or shouting "Woooo!" all the way through show, many times drowning out the instruments or the vocals. That's my biggest beef with the sound on this boot. I can't really comment on Casper's upgrade vs. the original files, since I haven't listened to that source in a while. There were times where the sound was a little tinny for my tastes, but the mix of the instruments was good, there was decent bass, and no real moments of distortion, which I attribute to Casper's remaster. Thanks, Casper!

Overall:
Performances of the whole band. Unbelievably good.
Bono's falsetto on "In A Little While" was the best I've ever heard. Hit every note perfectly.
Discotheque - Please guys, bring this one back.
Staring at the Sun snippet - Fits into the end of Discotheque perfectly.
Sweetest Thing - This song wasn't in setlists for very long, but good while it lasted.
The "Joey Ramone" set. One- Amazing Grace - I Remember You - Walk On.....very touching, very well excecuted.

Performance:
Good for the most part....."Bad" was pretty awful, as the synth track and the rest of the band weren't matched, but they plowed through it regardless. I also found the synth part (not the one Edge plays, the other one) during "The Unforgettable Fire" to sound like an elephant was sitting down on the keyboard.

Audience:
Pretty top notch, if you ask me. Love hearing them sing along to the songs.

Sound quality:
No major problems. Everyone can be heard, and the sound is particularly strong for it being as old as it is....

Overall:
Highlights: TUF, ASOH, Pride, THBAO, Seconds

Lowlights: Gloria, Bad

Performance:
Personally, I didn't hear any missed notes that stuck out to me. Sure, everyone has to keep up with Bono when he's improvising on something, but these boys are professionals.

Audience:
As an Angeleno myself, I can be critical of these folks. Crowds in Los Angeles are notorious for showing late to concerts and sporting events, and even leaving early. I get the sense that this show was no exception. Sure, you've got a lot of die-hard fans here screaming their lungs out, but you can also tell that not everyone in the crowd is very familiar with the songs. For example, even most casual fans know it's "Beautiful Day" when Edge rings out on the harmonics....but it wasn't until Bono sang "The heart is a bloom" that he got a loud cheer for a song they recognized.

Exceptions to this: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and the People Have The Power snippet on the end of Bad.

Sound quality:
Surprisingly good for an audience bootleg. There's no distinct fans screaming out or carrying on a conversation, so it's a very nice bootleg to have. I do wish that we could hear Adam a bit more in the mix, and Bono tends to overpower even Edge's guitar at times.

Overall:
All in all, a very great show. I'm glad I stumbled upon it for sure, and it's staying on my hard drive.

Highlights: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, In A Little While (ad lib/snippet), Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Miss Sarajevo, MLK, Walk On, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (once Bono finds a lyric sheet)

Lowlights: Probably more semi-casual U2 fans at this show than in other cities, and their lack of familiarity with the band/songs is apparent at times.

Performance:
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Audience:
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Sound quality:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Overall:
Not really much for me to say about this show. Stock-standard ZooTV show. The sound was okay, but a little inconsistent for my tastes. Mostly it was pretty good, but it dipped and faded around a bit in the beginning which was annoying. All in all, a basic ZooTV show that isn't staying on my iPod or iTunes.

Highlights
Until the End of the World
Bullet the Blue Sky
Transition from RTSS into Streets
Bono's guitar/added synth during "ISHFWILF"....a breath of fresh air into a song that really needed it.
Edge's guitar on Love is Blindness after the solo

Lowlights
Pretty much everything else. Nothing blew me away with this show. Is it just me or did anyone else feel like the band was just going through the motions?

PS - Everytime I hear Larry sing "Dirty Ol' Town" I think he's going to hack up his tonsils on the stage. Take it easy, Larry boy....and stick with the drumming.

Performance:
Let me start by saying that the intros at the Popmart shows are, in my opinion, the best beginning to a show the band has ever done. I get chills every time I hear "Pop Muzik" on a bootleg, especially that part where the vocals drop out and it's just the drum loop playing that high-hat heavy dance beat. When the crowd realizes for the first time that the band is walking to the stage from the back of the stadium and let out that primal shrill, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This is what going to a Popmart show was about. Absolutely my favorite part of every Popmart bootleg.

"Mofo" sounded exceptional on this bootleg. I don't know if it's my new Sennheiser CX300s or what, but this particular mix blew me away. I heard every single detail of the looped drumbeat like I've never heard before, especially at the part right when Edge holds those high notes (2:25 into the song). Amazing.

Am I the only one that thought that "Last Night On Earth" was dragging? Probably the fact that the master tape is over 10 years old now, but there were times where I thought the tempo was really dragging.

Dear U2: Please drop "Until the End of The World" from the setlist for your next tour. The song was cool and fresh in 1992, but perhaps its time to put that song away and dream it up again.

Loved the beginning of "Pride", where it's a couple bars of just Larry on the drums before Edge chirps in with those famous harmonics. Anything they can do to this song to make it different or stand out is good by me. Perhaps this one should be dreamed up again too.

I loved how the band dropped out in the middle of "One" so Bono could sing with the crowd for a bit. 150,001 people singing in unison = AMAZING. Also, Edge really nails the solo on this version, which leads to another moment in this show: Edge's ringing guitar right before the "Here Us Coming" snippet gets me every time. (4:15 into the song)

Audience:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Sound quality:
Sound quality was pretty good, although I was hoping that we'd hear a little bit more of the audience. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's hard to get a sense that this was U2's biggest show ever. 150,000 people sure sounds like 20,000 on this bootleg...

Overall:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Performance:
Add me to the list of people who really enjoyed the Molly Malone snippet on the end of Bad. I didn't know where the song came from, so I looked it up on wikipedia and it made me appreciate it even more. Anytime they personalize a song, I think it's a good thing.

Starting the show off with "Beautiful Day" instead of Elevation = Brilliant. Loved hearing "The heart is a BLOOM!" over and over and over....as someone mentioned earlier, it is very similar to the beginning of the Vertigo shows with "Everyone."

I'm not going to lie: I don't care for the studio version of "New York," and usually skip over it when I'm listening to Elevation tour bootlegs. But not this show. It's brilliant.

Audience:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Sound quality:
The sound on this bootleg is amazing. I thought originally that I'd watch the DVD, but apparently the DVD has the old sound mix, and it was atrocious. I had to shut it off two songs in because I knew that the audio bootleg (Hodel's?) is 1000% better than the old one. And I wasn't disappointed. I hadn't listened to this boot in a few months, and hearing it again brought a smile to my face. Most bootlegs seem to be lacking in bass, but this one definitely wasn't. (Example: PRIDE)

Overall:
Post 9/11, the band does a brilliant job in helping a wounded nation heal. Normally I would criticize a band for taking the bold stance and saying "let our music help you heal" but when you listen to these songs, you can make the case that each and every one is directly related/in response to the tragedy one month earlier. The boys pulled it off with grace. (but thankfully not the song "Grace," because that would have put everyone to sleep...)

Performance:
One of the highest energy gigs I can remember listening to, which is really cool to think about. Here's a band coming off their first major album our, and they're coming home (somewhat) after playing across Europe and the United States. The crowd sings along and really carries the show for a lot of the songs. You can tell the guys are really having fun and enjoying themselves at this show.

"I'm a Believer" snippet was awesome. I love how Bono even says "Let's try that again."

"Stories for Boys"....oh, how I wish they'd bring this song back to the setlists in its entirety. I would probably crap my pants out of sheer joy.

Nice to see some songs that I'm not that familiar with in the setlist: Boy-Girl and Fire, to be specific. Also great to see the band trying out some songs from the October album....


Audience:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Sound quality:
Audio quality was okay (3 out of 5 in my opinion), but it had some pretty major glitches throughout. Bass was almost non-existent, which I'm discovering is a pretty common problem in these bootlegs (particularly audience recordings)

Overall:
Overall, I love this bootleg. Sure, the audio quality isn't spectacular, but the crowd's energy alone makes it worth having. Oh, to be able to jump in a time machine and check out the band's early shows......

Performance:
Edge's guitar in "Streets" was barely audible. What a shame.
Heartland? Really?! Oh...just speaking the lyrics over the Streets intro....oh well.
Bono arguably does the worst impression of George Bush I've ever heard. Bono may be a bit of a renaissance man, but he should steer clear of trying to pull off the Texas accent

Audience:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Sound quality:
This week there doesn't seem to be general agreement with the audio quality. Some thought it was great, others thought it was terrible. Personally, I'm siding more with the "terrible" people than the "great" people. I personally found the audio really bad and distracting, which really made it hard for me to enjoy the show.

Overall:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Performance:
I agree with Nate about playing "4th of July" over the PA at the beginning. Reminded me of opening earlier shows with "The Ocean," which I never really understood. Interesting choice that I guess I don't see the point of.

I miss songs like "11 O'Clock Tick Tock," "Gloria," and "Seconds." In fact, I wasn't even sure what song Seconds was when it first started playing. I had to look at the display to the iPod and was surprised to see it was that particular song.

"A Sort of Homecoming" is a truly amazing song. I wish it got some love on the next tour, but I doubt it. Sad.

"Knockin' On Heaven's Door" was great. It got stuck in my head the rest of the day.

Did anyone else laugh outloud when Bono was talking before "Knockin' on Heaven's Door?" Here's what made me laugh:

Bono: I've just learned, it's not important all the amplifiers, and the machinery, the equipment, and the stadium. It's not important. What's important is this....

Random Female Fan in the Audience: The money!

Audience:
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Sound quality:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Overall:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Performance:
Another aspect of the show that has both good and bad. The first seven songs (Zoo Station - UTEOTW) were on fire. I personally didn't have anything to complain about, and everything seemed to be nailed dead on by all members of the band. That all changed once they started New Years Day and sloppy mistakes just kept adding up after that. This is about as inconsistant as I've seen U2 (not counting the atrocity that happened when they opened Popmart in Vegas. Yikes .). I don't know if they just got lost and forgot where in the song they were, or the fact that the band was just coming off a month and a half break, but some of the songs are outright sloppy. So, what started off as an amazing show was mired by some surprising mistakes by a usually focused band. Rating: 3 out of 5.

Sidenote: "Bad" seemed to have problems with the synthesizer track cutting out unexpectedly, and it made me wonder if someone's playing along live with the band under the stage (thought I saw someone hanging out under the stage at a keyboard during a special feature on the Boston DVD?) or if it's all pre-programed and the band has to play along with a pre-recorded arrangement.

Show Highlights:

"Zoo Station" through "UTEOTW" - Everything nailed perfectly. Zoo Station was especially good.
"Ultraviolet" - Brilliant
Edge's solo in "With or Without You" - Need I say more?

Show Lowlights:
Surprising mistakes by the band during "New Years Day," "Bad," "Pride," and "Desire."
No crowd noise makes it feel like this isn't even a real show.
I absolutely hate the "acoustic set" of Angel of Harlem and ISHFWILF. A complete waste of setlist space, if you ask me.

Audience:
The bad part of the sound is fairly obvious: there's no crowd whatsoever

Sound quality:
This is a strange one. It's got it's good, and it's got it's bad, that's for sure. To start off, the good is the balance of the instruments in the mix. Everything sounds pretty clear to my ears, and no member of the band is too loud or too soft. I'm not sure why someone would go out of their way to eliminate the crowd noise like they did. There were also some weird blips throughout the show, and in some songs, Bono seemed to be a maxed out, causing some minor distortion (Bad comes to mind.) If there would have been "normal" crowd noise, I would have rated the sound a bit higher, but as it is, I can only say it's an average sound quality

Overall:
There's some really good tracks on here, but some other tracks are ruined by some technical glitches and uncharacteristic mistakes by the band. Worth a listen, but not staying on my hard drive

Performance:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Audience:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Sound quality:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Overall:
Not much for me to add to what has already been said. We're all in agreement about the sound quality being pretty poor at the beginning, then merging into something that's actually worthwhile towards the end. I remember thinking that the performance of Bad was actually quite good, and another song or two...but I've since forgotten. What does that tell you? Gerard is going to disagree with me on this one, but I think the highlight of this whole thing was hearing Maggie's Farm. Musically, it's not the most interesting song, but I've only heard it one other time, so it was a nice change. The rhythm at the end of the show reminds me of Love and Peace or Else....would anyone boo if on the next tour they did a Maggie's Farm snippet at the end of LAPOE? ;-)

Performance:
Good:
EBTTRT- Adam’s bass was ON FIRE. He rocks that thing from the very beginning. This song was perfection, up until the last note of the song (4:59). Sounds like Edge missed it by a fret or two, which is a shame. If not for that, could be the best performance I’ve ever heard of this one. I wish they’d bring this song back.

I really enjoyed the acoustic-style version of “I Still Haven’t Found…” I’m fairly inexperienced when it comes to early ZooTV shows, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Bono’s improvised lyrics at the beginning of “Pride.” I’d love to see video footage of this. I’m assuming some fan jumped up on the stage?

“Love is Blindness” continues to be one of the most underrated and haunting live songs ever performed. I’m speechless.

Bad:
“Trying To Throw…” - Pretty brutal. Anyone know what guitar Edge is playing here?

Ugly:
Bono’s channeling of Elvis Presley during “When Love Comes To Town.” Instrumentally, it’s great….Bono’s vocals were horrible.

General notes:
Zoo Station: 2:52-3:02 – I heard some clean guitar scales I’ve never noticed on this song before. Was that Edge?!

It’s weird to hear One without any sort of lead in by Bono (i.e. talking about the One campaign). I found it really abrupt that they went from him saying “Sure is hot up here…” into such a beautiful, touching song. Might this have been served better a little later in the set?

Who’s Mick Cunningham? This guy? http://www.wwu.edu/soc/Mick_biog.htm

Am I the only one that heard a little bit of “Holy Joe” during UTEOTW? (4:43)

I’m embarrassed to say that this is my first exposure to “Dirty Old Town.” I remember reading about it in U2 by U2…what was the reasoning for putting this in the setlist? Did Bono just need a minute to catch his breath? Was there a costume change here?

Was that Edge singing the last verse of “When Love Comes To Town?”

Audience:
This part is only rated, not commented on.

Sound quality:
I found it annoying that the audio shifts from right channel to left channel with no apparent rhyme or reason. The overall quality of this bootleg was shifty at best. Sometimes it sounded great, other times it seemed muddled or distorted.


Overall:
Here's my thoughts....Hope you enjoy! Feel free to answer any of my questions if you know the answers!!