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Before Twilight Bono points to the 'Boy' backdrop.
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This was the only show that I was seated for the residency. Got seats in section 305.
Going from the bridge from the Venetian to the Sphere was smooth enough, and there was no trouble getting through security. This was my first time seeing the lobby of the Sphere, and it struck me how much attention to detail there is, with the architecture, the math equations everywhere, and the spherical/curved aesthetic.
The upstairs merchandise stands had virtually no line, and the bathrooms were clean. In-fact, I believe I saw Pavel Sfera leaving the men's room on the 300 level. I just saw his back-- wearing the big gray coat Bono wears, the same glasses, and the hairdo. Then again, it could have just been another impersonator.
The show itself was great. Video from the 300s makes the band look tiny, but the view of them was still good. The 300 sections are also the perfect height for the visual-aid (which looks very sharp). Couldn't help but glance at the video control monitor on the left, to see what was up, every once in a while. It's also worth noting that the perspective of the Fly and Even Better is significantly different than GA, due to the shape of the screen. The former looks curved outwards, and the latter looks more three-dimensional. Also, the illusion of the stone dome was broken when the light is reflected off the frame, which isn't apparent from GA.
The haptics randomly fired during Pauli The PSM's set, and again during the Zoo Station "reveal" and Vertigo helicopters flying in. The haptics weren't by any means necessary, but I was surprised how silent they are.
Sitting so high also allowed for more careful observance of the graphics... For instance: noticing the ZOO TV logo and Adam during Zoo Station, the balloon before the show, the stars during Streets, and The Fly Changing the last word sequence from "IT'S YOUR WORLD YOU CAN CHANGE IT" to "ALL OF US IS BETTER THAN ANY OF US". It was also nice actually seeing the stage effects during Acrobat/Vertigo/Atomic City. The only visual bug that I noticed was some screen tearing during With Or Without You
The 2024 Ultra Violet visuals aren't as good as the violet bursts or gold rain, but it's still awesome... I just hope Discotheque shows up last-minute with those visuals.
Also, the little bit of MacPhisto during Until The End Of The World was a nice touch.
Overall, it was a strong show, glad they mixed it up a bit with Angel of Harlem instead of LoveTown. The audience was questionable, but the performance was great.... However, it doesn't even compare to Sunday's show.
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Personally, the greatest U2 concert I have attended. And I’ve been going since 97 Popmart. I was too young for..
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My second show at the Sphere & I think the band was better than the 10/7 show, which was, to..
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For this show, my parents got Vibee floor passes. We ended up being about 20th-23rd in line (most of the..
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Little can be said about Bono that hasn't already been said a thousand times. Rivers of ink have been poured about him and his band, he has transcended the boundaries of his own persona and is now in the public domain. Everyone has an opinion about him, good or bad (usually bad). But what almost no one knows is that this chubby little red-headed Irishman is capable of moving mountains with a simple gesture, capable of getting standing ovations just by stepping on stage, capable of making you cry just by uttering a word. He is our little shaman, our 1,67 m billy goat, and around him we feel at home. Because we are. U2 and everything around them is home. As ABBA says in a song, "Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk, she says I began to sing long before I could talk". And so it is, my friends. The first conscious memory I have of my life is sitting - at the age of 3 or 4 - on the parquet floor of the living room of our house in Peñagrande, in front of the record player, and asking my mother to play "the lemon record" (Zooropa) again.
The music, voice and lyrics of Paul David Hewson have been with me since before I can even remember, and to have him slitting open his chest literally in front of me to show us his weaknesses, his strengths, his worries, his triumphs and his defeats has been an absolutely unrepeatable experience. Halfway between micro-theatre and stadium concert, between the intimacy of telling in whispers how his father died on a hospital bed in front of his eyes and the grandeur of describing a Wembley stadium packed to the rafters? Life itself. For what is life if not that, a succession of contrasts and contradictions?
Monday 28th was a luxury, a rara avis, one of those times when everything aligns and life smiles straight out for a few hours. Thanks are superfluous because all of us who were there shared the privilege of having enjoyed our shaman looking us in the eye and convincing us that the streets have no name, that he is still out of control and that, in spite of everything, if you leave, if you leave.... We will follow.
And if, as fate would have it, Monday 28th ends up being our last event in the presence and under the baton of Paul David Hewson, I will be happy and grateful that it is so. If that brutal a cappella "Torna A Surriento" ends up being the last thing we hear Bono sing, we'll just have to say amen and thank you. Thank you for giving us a great life.
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The show was great from start to finish. It was very entertaining when Bono told his stories, and exciting when..
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The venue was situated in the centre of Cheltenham in Montpellier Park in a temporary festival setting. It held around..
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After 24 hours of processing last night’s performance, here are a few of my thoughts on Bono’s “Stories of Surrender”..
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I was born in February of 1999 and basically ever since then i have been listening to this band, especially the Joshua Tree album. My parents were U2 fans so i got my interest from them and once i learned how to work the CD player, i would listen to them non-stop. So when this tour was announced i decided to do as many shows as possible, meaning crossing the pond and heading over to Auckland.
I came alone and had no idea what to expect. I was told at a fan meet up about the check-in system and the 8:00 wrists band so i made sure i got to the ground early. After getting the wristband and and getting some rest, at 1 i headed down to the stadium to line up, buy merch (which i bought everything there was) and great ready for a great show. i got to know some people and found that socializing with U2 fans was easier than people i went to high school with. We got let in at 5 and went straight for the Tree stage, that way i had a good view of the screen and could still be close to the band.
at 7 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds came on, i was not an oasis fan but i did know Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger, i had bought Noel's latest album, but hadn't listened to it much so i wasn't really aware of his solo stuff either. "Wow" i said at the end, it really surprised me how good he was and his interactions with the audience was nothing i had ever seen before. He made a real good impression on me and i was looking forward to seeing him at the other Australian shows.
8:45 rolls around and The Whole of the Moon starts, which was cue that U2 were about to start. Finally after waiting 9 years i finally get to see my favourite band and also i'm seeing them in a different country, this idea was ludicrous to me just a few years ago and yet here i am in Auckland waiting for Larry to walk out and launch into Sunday Bloody Sunday, which he did. I'll never forget when the syth to Bad started, i lost it, this was one of my favourite U2 live songs, i have never heard a version of Bad that didn't stop me in my tracks and made the world disappear, and this was no exception; this was amazing, i still struggle to find the words for that moment, you could have come up bend me and stabbed me as many times as you like and i still wouldn't have paid attention to you, i was going to live in this moment for as long as i could.
After Pride had finished the intro synth to Where the Streets Have No Name started, again i was gone. This wasn't like any other concert where U2 were about to play streets; They were about to start The Joshua Tree. One by one the songs came along, Still Haven't Found, With or Without You, Bullet the Blue Sky and on and on. Bullet is one of my favourite U2 songs, but i though version was a bit flat (there would be better versions to come); Running to Stand Still, however, brought me to tears again, except this time it was unexpected. I'd always loved the song but in that moment something happened and any emotions i was feeling just came out, love, anger, joy, remorse, it all laid bare to see. The album continued on, i enjoyed every minute, but once was got to One Tree Hill, things got serious. Part of the whole reason i came to NZ was to hear them play One Tree Hill in that country, and it didn't disappoint. Exit was next that was amazing, the Trump reference and Bono playing the character of this dark, mysterious cowboy was fantastic and how he adapted to stage movements to the dynamics of the song was amazing to see, he truly is one of the great front-men. Finally ending with Mothers of the Disappeared was just perfect, however that didn't end the main set, they decide to celebrate Rattle & Hum and the Lovetown tour by playing Angel of Harlem, which was fantastic, no complaints here.
The encore was a reference to the eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE tour from last year, it had a short version of the show from when the intermission ends. Bono came on in his MacPhisto get up (from the e+i tour) and they did Elevation, Vertigo and Even Better Than the Real Thing. they then went into Every Breaking Wave, returning to the proper tour setlist for the first time since the end of the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE in 2015. Then did the feminist section with Beautiful Day, Ultra Violet (so happy to hear that, love that song) and Love is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way. That was rumored to be the end of the show but i noticed out of the corner of my eye, while the band was bowing, Dallas put Edge's Les Paul on the Guitar stand. Bono gave a speech about the terrorist attacks in Christchurch earlier this year and how it was great how NZ responded with such grace, then Edge begun the riff for One. On the screen behind them they had a Muslim symbol and then slowly all the names of the victims appeared on the screen. This was the perfect way to end a great concert.
This was my first time seeing U2 since the second Sydney show of the 360 tour and it easily topped that show. Everything was great so far, the people were awesome and i had a great time talking to every single person and then seeing this show feed an appetite i had been working up for the last 9 years. Although there were better shows to come, this night, still, was amazing and a night I'll never forget.
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The first night was my opportunity to be right in the middle of the action and it gave me a..
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I wasn’t originally going to this concert due to the similarity to the 2017 JT tour and the poor venue..
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Fearing I may end up a fair way from the stage, I made my way to the stadium just before..
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We are from the Chicagoland area, and were very excited to travel for a weekend getaway to St. Louis. We left in the late morning, and went straight to Budweiser for the Brew Tour, which was fantastic and something we always wanted to do. I was wearing a U2 shirt on the tour and met a couple of very nice people going to the show that evening. We left Bud and went over to a bakery that had been featured on the Food Network (amazing btw)...then to a BBQ place (also was on the food network) to have dinner. We then checked into our hotel and walked to the show. We walked down to our seats and found two squatters in them. They acted annoyed that we asked to sit in our ticketed seats and reluctantly moved....I should have known how thing were going to go from there. We sat down though, and started talking to fans next to us. It was a mother and daughter who were super excited (as we were) to be at the show. They were pointing out tribute band members on the floor and we discussed all things U2. The Winter Beats started to play, and the excitement mounted. The lights dimmed, the MRI 'scan' began and we were ready to have list off with Love Is All We Have Left. We joined our section in standing to greet the boys, when suddenly I noticed my wife get pushed forward. We had real witch sitting behind us, who felt entitled because she was 60 and felt she could push my wife around....a real bully. I describe her in more detail in the audience area so I won't go into in any more. Luckily she left the show several times, at one point we even traded seats with her to appease her. Then she left at Acrobat...so a little early I would say. Not sure if she was mentally ill, drunk, or a bit of both. Anyway....the show overall was good, I wouldn't say U2's best (as described above), and after seen U2 2 more times after (in Chicago), there was no comparison in shows. The Chicago shows were way better....venue (the Scottrade Center was a dump compared to the United Center in Chicago), audience, acoustics/sound, the band, pretty much everything.
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Yet again. It was a BEAUTIFUL DAY for me. ONE of those days which I will remember all my life...
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Love this band, these shows, and my experience.
We had seats for night 1. After relaxing and enjoying dinner and..
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I overall enjoyed it a lot. It was such a wonderful concert and its always great seeing these guys again...
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American landscape in Belgium
That show has been special to me. I went to USA for the first time in May-June 2017. I went in Arizona and California and saw the kind of landscape the band saw and used for their album "The Joshua Tree" but also for the visual of this tour. So seeing them two months after my USA trip was special to me. I went to my fifth U2 gig with my father. We had GA tickets and well Belgium is not known as a good organized country. Doors were supposed to be opened at 4pm. To enter in GA in King Baudouin stadium there are two doors. With a bit of logic and organisation you open those two doors on same time but they didn't and one of them has been opened before the other one. I was not on the lucky door but it didn't matter. We had a good spot. If you look at the drums on main stage we were in front of it and if you look on B-stage it was on our left at maybe five meters. So we had a great view on B-stage and we were not too close of the huge screen of the main stage, we actually had a good view on the screen, not too far and not too close. I mean in my opinion being in first row of the main stage for this show wouldn't be great because stage and screen are too large and you wouldn't enjoy the show the best. Of course if I would be in first row of the B-stage it would be the best but my spot was great like I said. So after a few hours of waiting we had the opening act and what an opening act. It's like having two gigs for price of one and half. We enjoyed Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds concert. "Champagne Supernova", "Wonderwall", "Don't Look Back In Anger" it was a nice moments. I mean the atmosphere was the one you can have on a hot summer day. Lot of sun, hot weather, nice sunlight on stage, people were in good mood and in peace with lot of smiles listening good music from Noel and his band it was really cool. Crowd sung some songs like the ones I mentioned before and Gallagher joked with the crowd wich was pleasant. Also a word about the stage. Well like usual U2 didn't make it small and minimalist. A large main stage (59 meters), behind it a large screen (61 meters long and 14 meters high) with a high resolution (7200 x 1560 pixels). On the screen we could see the shape of the Joshua Tree. That shape made the 14 meters of the screen high but also 9,1 meters higher than the screen, so 23,1 meters high. Then there is a catwalk and a B-stage wich looks like the Joshua Tree. The tree trunk stage is 37 meters long and on the end of the trunk around it there is a 17 meters wide B-stage in form of the Joshua Tree. So a cool stage.
During all the waiting, before the opening act and after it, poems in English has been showed on screen. Then "The Whole of the Moon" from The Waterboys could be heard from the speakers and people gets excited because everyone knew it's mean showtime.
We saw Larry Mullen Jr walking on catwalk to the B-stage and then launched the concert with "Sunday Bloody Sunday", The Edge appeared second, followed by Bono and then Adam Clayton. All the band is on B-stage so pretty close of my dad and I. Of course a classic song like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" made the crowd happy and some of them jumping and it's an energic start. Nobody in sit in seats place. Band then played a new version of "New Year's Day". They actually played and sung the last verse they usually skipped. The song was so longer than usual and in a kind of new version. People were happy so my father and I were too. Crowd made clapping during the song. Band was energic and our view were good. They were playing and moving all around the B-stage so everyone could see each of them closer to them from time to time.
Then came THE moment. After four gigs without my favorite song (even if that song was on the printed setlist of my first U2 concert they didn't play it on that night) they finally played it. I heard "Bad" in concert for the first time. To be honest if I could had "A Sort Of Homecoming" and "Bad" like they did in Seattle on 14th May 2017 it would be perfect. But back to "Bad". As soon as first keyboard introduction notes started, the crowd really appreciated it. I could hear "Aaah" all around me. I remember that when first notes has been played I turned back to see my father face and said "Yes" happily. It's my favorite song and I do really love that one. I can't explain. It's just a beautiful song with a nice sounds and atmosphere like U2 can created and it start quiet to became wild and wild and it put lot of energy and emotions on same time. And if you look the video of this concert you will see that the crowd is wild during "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day" but on "Bad" the crowd is just listening and seems quiet but it's not the boring quiet, it's the kind of quiet when a crowd is into the song and enjoyed it and the kind of quiet when a crowd is astonished by a performance. I'm a guitarist myself and during my first small concert I did at my college with friends we lived something similar but way less good than U2 of course. It was an exhibition and we were there to play music while people were looking at pictures. And we had three songs to play, it was our first gig and we only made a few quick rehearsals. I didn't talk on microphone because I was so stressed. So we just started to play a first song and to be honest nobody were really looking at us and I think nobody realised we started to play and everyone was talking. Then we started to play the second song and during it I made a guitar solo and suddenly in 20 seconds step by step the crowd became silent and quiet and they looked us until the end of our small gig in a deep quiet and it's that feeling in much bigger and deeper I recognize in the crowd during "Bad".
Even if it's my favorite song I didn't recorded with my phone, I wanted to be into it and to enjoy it from start to end and I did. Lot of people didn't used their phone during it. There were lot of phone for first two songs but not here wich was better. I can play it at guitar so I know how wonderful is it to play it but listen it is great too. And the "Heroes" snippet is a good one as well and everybody recognized it and sung it. Anyway good song that make everyone in the audience alright and agreed on it. There were clapping and singing. I think I kept my eyes on the band singing all the time and making the clapping when it need to do it. Well Bono messed a bit in the lyrics but it didn't matter. Also everyone in seats place were still standing. Intense performance.
"Pride (In the Name of Love)" followed and well I would prefer "A Sort Of Homecoming" or another song but only because I already heard it at almost each of my fifth U2 gig and so yes even if I like the song and think it's a good one I would like some change but it's only to me. Crowd appreciated it and made the "Oh, oh" wich lead us to "The Joshua Tree" part of the set.
At the end of "Pride (In the Name of Love)" the screen wich always been off before turned on to show some messages before turning all red with the shape of The Joshua Tree in black while the orgue introduction of "Where The Streets Have No Name" was starting. Larry Mullen Jr walked at the end of the B-stage to give his drums stick and then rejoin other members all standing in silence on B-stage. Then the band walked on main stage, stand at the foot of the tree for a few seconds and then The Edge launched the song. Like usual during this one crowd became wild and when the screen show an West american road trought the desert we could see the crowd like us appreciate the quality of the video. Visuals were really good and of course reminded me my recent USA trip wich was awesome. Something I really appreciate in that live version is the fact the introduction lasted quiet long like in the album version, it's something which give me the magic feeling of the song as well as seeing thousand of people jumping and singing it. Energic and great moments.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" followed and visuals were once again really cool. Bono drunk a Belgian beer at the start of the song. Crowd sung the first two verses and the chorus and in this live version drums and bass started at the beginning of the song wich was nice. There has been some clapping from the crowd too. Everyone really enjoyed the song as well as me and my father. It's the first one I ever learnt to play at guitar after all so it's a bit particular for me. Song end on people singing the chorus.
"With or Without You" followed and as soon as it started the crowd make a huge noise of satisfaction. A live version closer of the album version as ever. Nice visuals from the Death Valley and crowd singing the song and also making the "Oh, oh". Some lightfire in the audience and some clapping. Band walked on main stage on this one. Good moments.
"Bullet the Blue Sky" came then. Darker song, visuals still showing USA, and what a great live version. Close of the 1987 version with The Edge also using a "Wah Wah" effect and a bottleneck. Great guitar parts, nice crowd wich sung and was energic. Solid drumming too, in two word, amazing song.
"Running To Stand Still". Quiet song played on keyboard. This song is a great one too and is maybe underated. There is emotion in it and it was cool to heard it. Bono ended it with some harmonica parts. People sung it a bit and used lightfire again. Nice moments.
"Red Hill Mining Town" followed. First time for me I heard that song live and well I was expecting better. I was expecting the guitar parts like in the album version and well I was dissapointed by the keyboard but also the small orchestra playing it. So glad to saw it live but I was expecting better.
"Welcome to the side two of the Joshua Tree itself" said Bono to launch "In God's Country". I love that song and since the snippet Bono made of it in "Beautiful Day" in Rose Bowl in 2009 I wanted to heard it live and tonight this became true. I loved the guitar, bass and drumming parts, the energy in it and visuals were nice especially at the start with the Joshua Tree, the mountains and the sun. I also appreciated the Irish flag on the landscape and the end.
"Trip Through Your Wires" was the next one. I like that song. For me there is the typical American sound U2 was looking for. A bit of country and south music in it. I also liked the visuals again, with the woman painting the USA flag on her house. Guitar parts were good as always. For a first time hearing this song I was happy of it.
"One Tree Hill" followed. And really I was so happy to heard it. It's one of my favorite song of that album. I like the sound in it, the guitar parts and when The Edge lets himself go to a good guitar solo. And I always thought I will never hear that song live unless I go to Australia but I finally saw it live and I really appreciated that performance even if the guitar solo was not the best I heard for this song. Also visuals were once again really beautiful.
"Exit" was the next one. It began with a short video clip showing western and cow-boy. One of them looked a bit like Fred Trump, the father of Donald Trump, but was not him. However his name in the clip was Trump and he made the promise to protect the village by building a wall around it. One of the villager said he is a liar. I learned after the show that this short clip came from a 50's TV series called Trackdown. Then the song started and two hands apparead on screen with messages on them. One had "Love" the other had "Hate" on them. During the song Bono came on B-stage for the first time since the start of The Joshua Tree set so we could see it closer wich was great. That live performance was a great one. Lot of tension, intensities, energy in it. Musicaly song was awesome but guitar parts were really great. Bono had energy as well and light show was cool.
Bono stayed on B-stage during most part of "Mothers Of The Disappeared" before going back on main stage. Visuals showed a dozen of women holding a candle in their hands. Song was nice and I loved it and was glad to heard it for the first time live. Song ended on crowd singing the "Oh, oh". Band came then in front of stage to applause the crowd while Bono made a speech of thank you and said the stage has been build in Belgium. End of The Joshua Tree set and time for the first encore. During the wait the stage was in dark and the shape of The Joshua Tree was in blue.
Then a face apparead on the screen, probably a Syrian woman, and a speech was written on the screen. Well unfortunately almost nobody could see it. Speech was too low on screen and behind the drums set. Pictures of devastated Syria followed and "Miss Sarajevo" renamed "Miss Syria" was played. Not my favorite song but not a bad one neither, it's a nice and emotional one. Visuals were a war and ruined Syria. During Pavarotti singing part, a giant flag with a woman face on it travelled on seats place and it's a prerecorded Pavarotti singing wich could be heard. Crowd was quiet but listening it carefully. Bono thanked them.
Bono then launched the crowd with a "Oh, oh" while a pretty visual similar to an aurora borealis was on screen and while a prerecorded remix version of "Beautiful Day" could be heard from the speakers. This of course launched the song itself. Bono was on B-stage for that one so close to us for our pleasure. Also a funny fact from "Exit" to the end of the concert, Bono didn't wear his sunglasses wich is rare for him. Anyway back to "Beautiful Day" it was a bit of a different version played here. Introduction was a bit new and the verse "See the world in green and blue" was sung by Bono but also by robotic voices. Song is still nice and give energy to the crowd. I heard it at each of my five U2 show I attended so yes in a way if they would play another I would be happy but I was fine with hearing it.
"Elevation" was next, here too it's a nice song wich gave energy to the gig. Third time i heard it after 2005 and 2010 but I liked hearing it. Visual of Larry Mullen Jr waving to the crowd was fun and cool. "Vertigo" followed and well even if it's a good song, first it's not their best one but also hearing it at each gig became tiring. I heard it six times in five concerts, it's enough. Please skip it and play another one instead. Crowd reacted good but my father and I were maybe the only one who were boring by this song. Same way of playing it since 2005, same joke about Spanish lessons since 2005 and even same visuals of red and black circles since 2005. Really guys on next tour just forget about that song.
Bono walked back to main stage at the end of "Vertigo", so he stayed on B-stage for "Beautiful Day", "Elevation" and "Vertigo". A word about stage and how band used it. Main stage was 59 meters long but mainly the band stayed in the middle of it on about 15 meters almost all the concert. They rarely walked along the stage so why having a 59 meters stage long when you used maybe 20 meters of it. And about B-stage, members used it for the four first song and then only Bono came on it during "Exit", "Mothers Of The Disappeared" and the three song I mentionned before. So Bono used it good but other members didn't go on B-stage often wich was a bit dissapointing. It's not so bad but if The Edge or Adam Clayton would go on B-stage once or two after The Joshua Tree set it would be good.
"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" followed and I was happy to heard it. Pictures of many, many women with their names apparead on screen during that song. I recognized many of them and discovered many as well. I remember of Anne Frank, Hillary Clinton, Marie Curie, Queen Mathilde, Patti Smith, Nafissatou Thiam, Emma Watson, Malala Yousafzai, The Suffragettes and The Pussy Riot. Good songs and Bono again came on B-stage half of the song and stayed on it for next one.
"One" was the one. Stadium became dark with only phone lights from the crowd who sung some parts of the song. Classic one but good one with great guitar parts on it. Happy to heard it. Bono then thanked us the crowd but also remembered that U2 has a special connection to our country. A lot of innovation and staging came from Belgium. After all his thank you he launched the last song of the night "I Will Follow". That one of course make all the stadium happy and wild. A great old rock song to close the show. I loved it especially when he made some Werchter references saying it's happy memories. We could clearly see they were happy to play it and to made that show in Belgium. And in conclusion I would say I lived a great show and concert, a good afternoon and night, a nice opening act, a nice setlist and some impressive visuals and I had a nice spot in GA to watch all of that so yeah I loved that gig.
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This was almost a few different shows blended into 1 for me. The opening songs on the B stage were..
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This was the first of two shows at the Rose Bowl, and the first two night stay of the tour...
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This was my 13th U2 show since 1992 and it happened to fall on my birthday. It was great to..
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Hello, hello.. last U2 concert in Britain this year! After an amazing show the night before, I was hoping for great things.
Once inside, it was busier than the night before - I'd left an hour later. Unfortunately, this meant a really long queue for my burger, during which they started announcing that the concert would start in x amount of time, and would people please take their seats. I knew they were fibbing, but it was still unnerving, since I hadn't had a chance to order yet. Even when I had got my burger, they were still at it, so that I gulped it down and dashed in search of my entrance.
This time, I was seated on Level 2 (of 3 in total). There are escalators, but not many, so stairs it was - I found my entrance door, and asked the nice man where to go for my seat. He gestured upwards. Row T, it seemed, was third from the back of this section. But my seat was on the other side of the row, so rather than push past everyone (most people had taken their seats by now, it was well after 8), his advice was to go up to the walkway just at the top of that section, walk across and take the steps down on the other side.
Sensible advice, and up I went - a bit dubiously, as it was both high and steep, and I have a problem with steps. And these places never, never have handrails. Well, I made it up to the walkway, hurried across to the next steps.. and froze. A phobic's nightmare - I had to descend a steep flight of stairs, with no rail, and a long, uninterrupted view in front of me, not even a barrier at the end. "Oh shit!" I groaned, audibly. Well, the nice lady at the end of the back row heard me, understood the problem, and grabbed my arm to steady me - which got me down the first row. I managed to clamber - undignifiedly - down two more, and with no small amount of relief, excused myself to the people at the end and climbed into my row. Kicking over a drink container in my haste - I hope it was empty..
So yes, I was higher than the night before.. I found myself seated with two girls to my right who had Yorkshire accents by the sound of it, and were just thrilled to be there. You could tell by the spontaneous shrieking. One of them was examining the celebrity section with her zoom lens - and how gratifying it was that the celebrity seats were side-on to the vidiwall: worst seats in the house, for this show! Anyway, she spotted Jim Kerr through her lens, and was good enough to point him out to me - he was the one who was waving at the crowd, it seems. Those on the floor had spotted him too, and were waving back.
When People Have the Power started, as usual, I jumped up - well, rather carefully, given my elevated position! Yes, it did make me a bit woozy at first.. it was gratifying to see the people on both sides of me in my row do the same: particularly since ours seemed to be the only row nearby that was standing. Cue a night of terrific audience participation - hang the rest of our section, we in Row T inspired each other!
It was nice, particularly for the video sections, that the people in front of me didn't stand. I say this just as an observation - I'd have had no objection if they had, it was just handy if they didn't - but even if they had, the rake was so steep that you still had a good view. Actually, the girl behind me asked the woman behind whether she'd mind if she stood, and received the reply that why would she, when she'd be standing herself! In parts, it would've been nice if the people in front of me had stood.. when I was standing and they weren't, I was suffering some serious vertigo - and for once, I was glad not to be on the aisle.
The girl pulled onstage for Mysterious Ways was Elena, from Italy. During Bullet the Blue Sky, Bono has developed a habit of making paper planes and throwing them into the audience. During Pride the night before, someone threw one back at him. No such efforts tonight. :-)
During City of Blinding Lights, Bono - for the first time in ages - pulled a guy out of the audience and exchanged jackets with him, giving him his sunglasses. This impressed the girl to my left no end, who looked at me in amazement.. he returned his jacket to him later, remarking that the guy's phone was ringing.
Highlight of the night for me, and others, was Bad. They tend to finish their run in any given city with that, and 40 - this was obviously news to the girl with the zoom lens, who broke down when she heard the opening chords of Bad. She set me off not long after - it's a song with a lot of meaning for us longterm U2 fans. Towards the end of the song, Bono started collecting flags from the audience, finally clutching them all together in his fist - I hadn't realised before that that line went "like a burning flag". I saw Ireland, Poland, Argentina, Brazil, Belgium.. they were throwing them at him. I'm sure none of the owners took it personally when he flung them from him at the end of the song - he's never been one for flags, and we know it.
40 finished the night, with the crowd in fine voice. Even after the lights came up, and Simple Minds started to play over the pa, the crowd took up the refrain of 40 again. And the girl to my left turned to me, and the Yorkshire girls to my right, and in an American accent, thanked us profusely for being so enthusiastic - she'd thought she'd be the only one. Turned out this was her 21st U2 concert. She was lucky - this was the concert of the tour so far, for me at least. If the night before had been special, this was transcendent. Made by the size of the venue, as well as the devotion of the crowd.
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Well, what a difference it makes to arrive early! The corridors were practically deserted, and I was soon able to..
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So a bit of background, which will add or detract credibility from my review! 
I’ve seen them 7 times..
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This close to the front, I figured I wouldn't be bothered by vexatious people wanting me to sit - and..
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A family Oddity
My second U2 gig. Like the first one it was in France Stadium, like the first one my father was there too, like the first one we took the road from Belgium but this time my mother and my brother were with us.
The first one I saw U2 I knew the band but not all of their songs and I had no idea wich song they were going to play. It was my third gig ever and the first one outdoor and I was only 12. This time was a bit different. I knew almost all of their songs (not very much the album "October" and "War" except the hits). It was my 8th concert ever, my third time in a stadium, I was 16 years old and I knew what songs they were going to play, thanks to internet for that. In a way I like when you have no idea what song the band will play and in another way I can't wait until the day of the gig because I want to know everything about a tour.
Anyway after the road, the U2 music and discussion on car, the stop on highway (to heaven ?) we finally arrived in Paris. Like the first time it was a huge U2 party around the stadium. The first time we were on GA and here we were on seats in K9 so behind the stage and Adam Clayton side. Since we have reserved seats and not GA we arrived shortly before doors opened this time. We bought tee-shirts, drinks and a poster and then we wait. I remember when I went to buy a tee-shirt I went near doors for GA just to have a view from the floor on the massive stage. It was impressive. Opening act was Kaiser Chiefs and they were super good, very energic and lot of motivation. Usually an opening act doesn't receive lot of attention from the crowd but this time the crowd were enthousiastic. I remember singer screaming after each song "Nous sommes Kaiser Chiefs". Like the first time, there were a good ambiant and crowd made some ola.
But then "Space Oddity" of David Bowie began and crowd applaused as it was the opening song. It's a change since the first time I saw U2 in 2005. In 2005 not everyone knew the opening song or the setlist but seems in 2009 almost everyone knew them. There were almost no phone or camera in 2005 but much more in 2009. Right after "Soon" of U2 started and we saw the four Irish guys coming but only one was on stage. Larry Mullen Jr walked alone on stage and started to play "Breathe". The Edge and Adam Clayton came shortly after on stage and finally Bono too. I started to play guitar in 2006 so I really appreciate the solo on "Breathe". I always appreciate guitar parts and solo but between 2005 and 2009 I became a guitarist and so I was appreciating guitar with a different view.
"No Line On The Horizon" followed and crowd was singing it and then "Get On Your Boots" arrived. I like the first one but I think "Get On Your Boots" is like the band wanted to make another "Vertigo" and so it's not really my favorite song. But we could see Bono jumping on it. Actually I could see the whole band much better than the first time. I was still not very close but view was good. The Edge and Adam Clayton went on B-stage circle using the two bridge during "Get On Your Boots". After it "Magnificent" has been played and it's a good song. Crowd reacted positively and sang the "Oh, Oh". Guitar parts and solo were great. Bono was on B-stage circle for this song. After those four energic new songs, U2 decided to play "Beautiful Day" with a special introduction "Paris mon amour" also knows as an unreleased song "We love you". Both songs were appreciate by the band. They seems to be full of energy and in a good day. I could see Bono jumping, playing with the crowd and doing the show. He probably did the same in 2005 but I was too far and too small to saw it. This time however I saw him giving all he had.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was special to me because it's the first song I ever learnt to play on guitar. Before playing it the band took their first calm moment after a solid 30 first minutes of full energy. Bono did a speech in English wich has been translated on the screen. It's always an impressive moment when you see 93.000 people singing a full verse and the chorus of a song. "Movin' On Up" snippet was also very good.
After that I got four songs I haven't saw on my first U2 gig. "Desire" wich was sung by the whole stadium with a special "Billie Jean" and "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" snippet. Michael Jackson died on 25th June 2009 and it was the 11th July 2009. Anyway a nice song with full of energy. During "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Desire" Larry Mullen Jr was in front of the back of the stadium for our great pleasure.
"In A Little While" was the second of those four songs. The rest of the band played it like Larry Mullen Jr did, in front of the back stadium. A quiet song but a good one. Back in front of the stadium for Larry Mullen Jr and the rest of the band for the third song which was "Unknown Caller". That song has been preceded by a talking with ISS and the Belgian Frank De Winne. The conversation has been recorded before the show but Bono acted like if the conversation was in live. Translation in French were on the screen. "Unknown Caller" was good despite a bit too much "Oh, oh" but the guitar solo was very cool.
Last of the four was "The Unforgettable Fire" wich was a great one to hear and the crowd really appreciate it. I particulary appreciate guitar parts. The screen began to grow and to grow and it was pretty impressive. Bono played with the crowd on the bridge. It has been followed by "City Of Blinding Lights". Good song and nice guitar parts and once again the screen effects was amazing. "Vertigo" followed for the pleasure of the crowd but less for mine since in two concerts I heard that song three times but I participate to the party with the crowd and sung it too. "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" followed. I prefer the album version to the one they did in live but it was nice to hear it, after all I never heard it in a gig before and it was like a giant discotheque. It was also the chance to see Larry Mullen Jr walking on the stage. And to be honest it was pretty energetic and I did appreciate it. Larry was back in front of us for "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" were playing right after. Not much to say about them. Classic songs, crowd appreciate so do I and at the end of "Pride (In the Name of Love)" crowd sung the "Oh, oh" wich lead us to "MLK" that I haven't see live before so it was a pleasure to hear it. I can say the same for the following one "Walk On". I love that song and guitar parts in it. I really appreciate to hear it. Lights on stage were pretty and people walking on stage at the end made that pretty nice.
Time for first encore with a Desmond Tutu speech that lead us to "Where The Streets Have No Name". What can I say about that song ? It's incredible. The giant stage all in red, the organ pipe introduction with the bass, the crowd who knew what was coming and finally the first note from the guitar wich lead the people to madness. The song gave even more life to the show. The Edge was running on the stage while playing and came in the back of the stage saying hello to us. Magic moment. The only less good thing is that the guitar introduction was a bit too short.
"Sexy good looking crowd" said Bono. Then he did a speech before "One". It was another magic moment. Stage and stadium in dark with only 93.000 mobile phones as lights (and some people used actual lightfire). I remember I used my mobile phone at that moment. Nice song, nice "Hear Us Coming" snippet and nice memories. Bono ended the song by saying in French "Ce soir ceci est pour vous, bonsoir".
Second encore was there. A video introduced us to the song "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" that I didn't know before that tour and that I heard for the first time that night. A nice discover. Bono and his red light jacket and microphone was a nice visual. I don't remember if the red stick we received at the gate before the show were for this song or for "Where The Streets Have No Name" but many people used them for this song. White lights coming from the stage like a mirrorball for this song and for "With or Without You" gave a real nice effect in this giant stadium. "With or Without You" was nice to hear especially when the crowd made the "Oh, oh" while the light show them. Concert ended with "Moment of Surrender". This is not my favorite song but it was nice to see it for the first time live. Band then left the stage under lot of applause. It was a real good gig with a good crowd, good visual effect, good songs and band had energy like often and seeing so many times 93.000 people singing togheter was truly magic moments.
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Ok so as I mentioned in the band performance section, this was my first, and as of writing only, U2..
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I loved this show."The Manhattan skylin,The City Of Blinding Lights".Bonos great quote.Nothing like seeing the band band here.Your Blue Room..
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Overall, this show in Moncton is a phenomenal conclusion to the 2009-2011 360 tour full of many positives, such as..
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I was there , that amazing night. I'll try to be objective . Bono s voice is not the best , but that wasn t near to ruin the show. The band was motivated because a great crowd ( during some songs -especially Vertigo- the stadium was shaking like an earthquake). I m sure that this show is a top 5 in Vertigo tour shows. The setlist is classic but no the last encore. Mothers of the dissapered was played with a small guitar called charango . Is typicalform South America.
Lowlights: some songs sounds tired
Bono s voice not the best form
Classic setlist
Highlights: Amazing start.
Vertigo ( reallly amazing !!! )
The Fly ( reallly amazing !!! )
Mothers of the dissapered
Original of the species
All i want is you ( great closing song)
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An impressive bloody Sunday
I remember that day, I was 12 years old and I was going to see my favorite..
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Gotta leave this one with a four. The whole show left me wanting just a LITTLE bit more out of..
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Great show.I was lucky to have attended 4 shows from this tour.This show stands out,as well as NYC 10.07.05.But,the band..
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I had the amazing pleasure to have U2 play in my hometown on the only tour that really mattered to me. I thought the new album was ridiculously great and had absorbed everything on the tour I could including a show earlier in the tour in Toronto.
This is the first show where I had an amazing POV. Basically centre floor near the tip of the heart. The sound where I was standing was sublime. Like Joe was mixing just for me. The lights and presentation were magical in moments.
The one song that really stood out for me was Still Haven't Found...I wasn't expecting it at all. Edge had his shimmer sound going on during it and it just felt mystical. Like Bono says during it 'Feels like church to me."
My good friend decided to buy a new digital camera just for the show and his pics are uploaded here.
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U2 in Chicago is always a good combo. U2 playing the last night in a city is always a great..
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So it ended where it all began. Bono was singing for Miami but he knew that all America was listening...
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It’s no secret that the band bring their ‘A’ game to Chicago. This run of Elevation shows culminates with a..
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Review written on 22 March, 1998.
Saturday night i was rather deaf and got in bed @ 2am - but sooooooo excited. A dream came true. There’s this ultra marathon in South Africa - 90 kilometres (60 miles?). Once the winner commented looking @ the crowd still finishing in the heat 7 hours after him, that they experience the true spirit of the event. So was the U2 concert. 35 metres from the front or was it 50? Seeing the screen beautifully, but having to stretch to see the stars we wanted to thrill kiss, hold, &kill :-). Afterwards smelling from beer, nicotine, marijuana and dripping from sweat, but happy after a truly spiritual experience. It was the best worship of God I ever had (even better than church where I lead it) when we pleaded with God in 40 and throughout.
The event was broadcast semi-live over national television. Semi because the show started 9:30 and on tv @ 10 so they could squeze commercials in - so popmartish :-).
Looking 2 the show afterwards on tv I got the best of both worlds. Live the vibe and crowd…..tv the quality and some moments you missed in the crowd.
I taped it from my VCR to tape - great listen in the car. Anybody wanna trade? I need Achtung baby & Zooropa on CD.
What a mess afterwards. Interesting - selling beer in plastic bottles - good thing :-). Were there from 5:00. Tickets (ours) cost 170 rand each for me and my youngest brother - I made him the U2 fan year’s ago, so he bought the tickets. We sang “how long to sing this song probably for 5 minutes and heard some music and went wild!!!
But that wasn’t them. Just a cd. Then: looking for baby Jesus under the trash.
U2 - thanx for blessing us. We’ll pray for you guys. Peace to you and fans all around the world.
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Hey Lads and Lassies! It's been a long time since this show, nearly twenty years, but it's a story I've..
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No lows, just highs really!
This was one of the first bootlegs I listened to and is since then my..
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I actually enjoyed this show for what it is: a testimony of how Popmart evolved and the songs were developed..
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21/3/1992 - Albany, New York - This review has heavy spoilers
Well this one was a mess. The show starts off very sloppily as technical issues and instrumental errors completely plague the first three songs - the droning sound in Zoo Station is completely absent, as are the extra guitar parts played between the main riff, and Bono messes up a good few times. Would I consider this version a trainwreck? Absolutely. Larry forgets what song is next as he plays the opening drum part to Even Better than the Real Thing instead of The Fly, sending everyone into a confused frenzy for a moment. To wrap things off with the first three songs having sloppy moments, the guitar continuously cuts in and out during the first verse of Even Better than the Real Thing. From here, sloppy moments still show up, albeit they’re less common. Another Hear Us Coming snippet variant on One is heard here, we’re getting quite close to the final version of the snippet now but it still needs tweaking to sound like the usual Zoo TV version of the snippet. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, despite being incredibly sloppy as expected from this show, is the first ever show to feature both B4s on the performance, as well as a surprisingly good guitar solo considering the state of the show so far. Bad is great here, as is the Joshua Tree Suite. A standard encore ends spectacularly with a jaw dropping Love is Blindness solo - I’m still yet to be disappointed by his solos on that song. The rest of the show is just okay though - nothing really stood out much to me here. I have one thing to say about the earlier Zoo TV setlists - I find the placing of I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For in these shows to really drag out the main set, by the time it comes on I usually at least partly want the main set to have ended at this point, but it just adds minutes, making the final stretch of the main set quite tiring sometimes. Overall, despite some great moments, this is a very messy show, even if it wasn’t entirely the band’s fault. It makes for maybe the worst Zoo show I’ve heard as of now.
5/10
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15/3/1992 - Providence, Rhode Island - This review has spoilers
This show alternated to the band trying new things out in..
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17/3/1992 - Boston, Massachusetts - This review has spoilers
Here we see the first major variations in the Zoo TV setlist..
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One of my favorite 1st leg shows, second only to the Boston Saint Patrick's Day show.
Highlights:
Even Better than the Real..
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Sometimes I wonder why I was born in December 1988, one year before this lovely concert in Rotterdam. I was probably in my cradle as a 1-year old boy when Edge hit the first tabs of Where the Streets Have No Name in Ahoy Rotterdam on that special 6th of January 1990, 90 kilometres from my hometown.
I often ask myself the question: what would it have been like to be part of the audience during a Lovetown-show. I fell in love with the Point Depot gigs in Ireland, and the Rotterdam-shows from early January were even better, some say. Lovetown:the name itself explains it, like BB King spells during When Love Comes To Town: L-O-V-E. Yes, I love rock, I love U2, but I especially love Lovetown. Don't get me wrong, because I know the Joshua Tour was enormous and awesome. And Zoo TV was one big happening, followed by Popmart, whether you like it or not. Also Elevation gives me special feelings and was my favourite tour for a long time. But Lovetown is top-notch. The mix of songs between the Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum, performed in small places with BB King's Orchestra makes Lovetown the best tour for me. I didn't take long and U2 didn't even cross the world with it. But the modesty of it does it for me. Like Bono says at a Point Depot show: 'After all these big places, we wanted to play a small place'Â.
Lovetown also marked the end of a decade in which U2 finally showed itself to the world in full glory. Live Aid in 1985 was a very important turning point, sealed by the release of The Joshua Tree. But U2 felt that every end had a start. U2 was looking for a new direction and needed time.
The energy and commitment of U2 was awesome back then. Bono was at his prime. His voice was a mix between the Joshua Tour and the upcoming Zoo TV. And U2 really enjoyed what they were doing. Lovetown was not a show, it was no entertainment like Zoo TV or Popmart. It wasn't a show with political context, like Vertigo. It was based on music, pure music, pure rock and roll. And you can feel the excitement and joy of U2 trough these shows. I guess they enjoyed every bit, like the audience.
U2's first European success was actually founded in Holland, where the single I Will Follow became a giant hit. Bono mentions this during this Rotterdam show when they start Love Rescue Me, when he says: 'And this is also a good place to end, because we more or less started here ten years ago. You've been very good for us, thank you!'Â. The crowd was ecstatic.
This show is awesome. It has reached a nice spot in my top ten favourites, I think. It's equal to the Point Depot shows, with U2 really on fire. I missed New Year's Day and Bad, but I know U2 played 4 shows at Rotterdam. The Bad from the 10th of January is one of the best there is.
This show is quite memorable as The Unforgettable Fire was played for the last time. I listened to this show trough my Sennheiser CX300 and my eyes shut. I transferred myself to Ahoy, Rotterdam, 18 years ago, being in the audience. I felt the energy, I experienced U2 in their best days
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My very first U2 gig, was amazing!! But I've an even better story that I've been telling for years but..
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The band continued their epic residency in Melbourne with this 4th show and this is one of the best! This..
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I like Lovetown because it throws up some real surprise sets and this tops the lot. Opening by playing..
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The atmosphere was very foul. It was my first U2 concert, but not my first stadium concert, and I remember it well. The rain had started in the afternoon, but in the morning and around noon it had been very hot. There was a terrible pushing and shoving of the audience waiting at the entrances for doors open, and many seemed to be well drunk and I did see many, many empty drinks containers, beer cans, wine packs and bottles outside. The doors open seemed badly organised. Some a few yards away opened before others did, the seemed to be little coordination. People were pissed off by that, they wanted an equal chance in the run to the centre stage spots.
The openers, I remember The Pretenders, Big Audio Dynamite and Lou Reed, were all booed and generally badly accepted, at least in the part of the audience I happened to be stuck in, which was third, second row, slightly to the right of centre stage. The place looked like an open battle for the first row and of course I participated first, being rather stoutly built and not one to back off easily. This concert had meant the world to me, after I had gotten hold of a ticket, through a multitude of different lucky concurrences.
I believe, I cannot be sure anymore about it, that The Daltons opened last. I might confuse that, though, with a show I might have seen on the internet of that time, after all, it's been 28 years.
When WTSHNN began with its droning synth-sounds and the guitar's delayed arpeggios, and the band appeared one by one, the crowd went mad and the stifling squeeze got worse. But when the bass and the drums joined and slowly built up the song's hard pushing, driving beat the crowd went berserk. I had a fight with an American, a GI by his crew cut and confidence, and the security did not notice. He hit me in the nose, but luckily he could not swing properly, for lack of room to move. I could not get my arms up enough, so I hit where I could. The security were highly unprofessional (I did that job later in life myself) and completely taken aback with the sheer violence of the crowd's pushing forward, the yelling and the screaming of girls who obviously were in acute fear. The waves of people’s shoving often moved me ten or more yards away from where I had been before. I remember the moment when the band jumped into the first song and the red lights flooded all over the rain-drenched crowd. The heat from the electric lights washed over the people and actually felt quite warm on the face. Seconds afterwards clouds of vapour of the drying rain partially took away the sight of the stage.
I had had enough by then. I withdrew to the seats ranks, found myself a place and watched from about a hundred yards away. I was deeply disappointed with the on-goings and felt betrayed and let down. I had thought that we had all been there together to celebrate the same thing. I had been wrong. U2 had become a phenomenon and had stopped being a rock and roll band. They were a sensation, not music to dance and sing the lyrics and to feel alive by, because the songs spoke to you about your life and you inner self. This was a spectacle, not a concert. No one danced. They all fought. No one sang. Everybody screamed. No one had fun. They all tried to hold on to their place or get a better one by being more brutal than the opponent, because that is what everybody was, an adversary and a rival in trying to be as close to the band as possible. Do not think that I was naive about it. I understood as I do now that people want to be as close as possible to their lucky stars. But I wasn't expecting the brutality I encountered, and it did not seem to make sense, and I was not prepared to put up with it, as I would not be today. I do not think that it was anything else but sheer good fortune that there wasn't anyone killed in the throng in front of the stage. It was brutal enough for that. None of my later U2 shows had that quality and quantity of ruthlessness and viciousness.
When 40 began I was on my way out, walking outside the stadium trying to hitchhike my way back to where I was due. I remember feeling like hell. It took me weeks to be able to enjoy the music again.
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I was at this show! I was 15 and I had a friend of mine from our small town who..
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This was my first U2 show. Met Bono before the show. Hours before they were warming up and..
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My first time watching the boys and is still my favourite.
Travelled from Liverpool as a 17 year old with my..
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Everything I WASN'T looking forward to about this show, I loved. "Pride" and "Maggie's Farm", I wasn't all that cracked up about listening to. The former is on just about every show I ever listen to, and it gets tiring, the latter I just didn't care much about. They ended up both being phenomenal.
The "Norwegian Wood" intro to "Bad" is outstanding, and chorus gives me goosebumps. Listen to some recent shows (Vertigo, 360°), and then give this one a spin- Yes, folks- Bono DID used to sound like that
Everything about this show is simply gorgeous. Download it RIGHT. NOW.
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Oh my fu...in` goodness what a brilliant show.
Today first time Iistened/watched this awesome concert. What an oustanding performance, especially..
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I was 19. I didn't drive.
We were more or less 10 kids from my neighborhood who went to this show together.
Parents of my friends drove us to the place. We were in 3 or 4 cars.
I enjoyed everything from the time we arrived in the neighborhood of the venue till the moment i got home ... and after .. when i discovered all of U2's records and songs.
Next to the venue there was a record store. On that evening there were only selling U2 records. All the place was decorated with U2 posters, coverart and pictures.
We had been waiting for the doors to open for about one hour and also one hour inside the venue for the support act (The Alarm) to arrive.
While we were waiting the people who organized the show played Simple Minds New Gold Dream record.
During tThe Alarm's gig we were frontstage.
After that we went in the seating places to attend U2's gig.
I think I bought a poster of U2 after the show.
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One of the most special UF shows and the best setlist of the tour! At the beginning Bono said they..
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This has quickly become one of my favourite U2 recordings. The crowd are wild and the show is excellent. All..
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Second UF show I've done, first being Dortmund. This show is much longer so already better in my books, plus..
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First of all, the FM broadcast is NOT from this concert, it is actually from the show next day, so I think this is the first proper review of the show. And what a show! The band feed from the Irish-Bostonian vibe in the house and they gave it all. The main highlight of this boot is the last performance ever of Tomorrow. If you are a Tomorrow "completionist" like me, you must get this. I don't know why it wasn't played regularly. Another excellent performance was Two Hearts, with the Let's Twist Again part extended. 11 O'Clock was excellent as well. I'm a sucker for the Drowning Man snippet and the final solo is amazing. In Surrender Bono invoked the spirit of Michael Jackson and it was great. I liked the Brick/ A Day Without Me combo too. There's an unlisted snippet of Send In The Clowns in Electric Co. Perhaps the only song I can't consider good is Party Girl. They were still playing with it and it's not the version we know.
Funnily enough, Bono did mistakes between songs, like saying "It's great to be back in NY" (WTF?) or introducing NYD as Two Hearts.
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In the late afternoon easily 4 or 5 hours before the performance I was riding my yellow bicycle past Ritchie..
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Rated high, because I really enjoyed this early show. Sometimes the early ones (pre-TUF, in my opinion) really just don't..
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The show is plagued by tech problems but was oddly funny, specially after first 6 songs!!
Highlights: Out of Control..
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U2 in the Netherlands. Enough said. There's always something in the air when the band plays here and this show is no exception. For the October tour, the band reworked some of their Boy songs and they sound better than ever. Another Time, Another Place, An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart, Stories for Boy are highlights of the show. The October songs are always better than their studio counterparts and the broadcast has great sound for them here. During 11 O'Clock Bono plays with the audience and it sounds incredible (he did that for the whole tour, I love these October versions). After Fire, they sang Happy Birthday to Larry. By taking pieces of all 3 sources of this show, you can form a great, complete bootleg for this show. This is the first great full October bootleg and one of the best.
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This and Lido Beach are perhaps the best October bootlegs you'll find. The setlist is great and some songs had..
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A good friend of mine was at this show and was billed as U2's homecoming show in Dublin in January..
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U2 playing in Werchter for the first time (they eventually became the headliners just 3 years after) and they gave..
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As I remember it, this was a free show or cost next to nothing to attend. It was held in the student union ballroom of San Jose State University. This room was built to be earthquake proof and the floor was suspended on something like springs. When the floor got packed and the music started and people started moving in time with the music the floor started to act like a trampoline. No kidding. If you timed your jump you could launch yourself 3 to 4 feet off the floor. They had to have crew guys hold the P.A. system in place as everything started to wobble. I saw XTC, Huey Lewis, Fabulous Thunderbirds and more in this room and all the shows were amazing with a very intimate vibe. I miss those days.
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From Pimm Jal de la Parra, U2 Live - A Concert Documentry: Before Twilight Bono points to the 'Boy' backdrop.
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Still early in the tour and their career which probably explains the lack of enthusiasm in the audience. The band..
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What an amazing show! I was so impressed when I watched this show. Of course this is very early U2,..
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2/26/1980 - Dublin, Ireland
Executives at Island Records saw this show, and after it, signed U2. Ireland Records choice was understandable, as this gig contains so much energy from all four of the guys. Though, even though how much energy there was, Bono's voice is no where near as good as it would be in the coming months on Boy, and its tour. A funny part of the show is when right before Trevor(which would later become Touch) some guy gets on stage and starts swearing at the band. Security was good at National Stadium though, and he was taken off stage in a matter of seconds. After this incident, Bono makes the cheeky remark of "Thank you, dont mention it". The crowd, besides the guy that stormed the stage at the beginning of Trevor, were absolutely loving up the show. It is very cool listening to a lot of U2's early unreleased / not released in its form played songs.
Some of the examples of these songs that would be vastly changed are the previously mentioned Trevor, and Silver Lining(which would eventually become 11 O' Clock Tick Tock).
A must listen for that, because they are all great versions, along with Shadows and Tall Trees (the only Boy song not played on the Boy Tour), Another Day (U2's actual first single, and also wasnt played on the Boy Tour), Twilight (which is surprisingly better than the single version), Out of Control, and Another Time Another Place (which along with the other Boy songs played, sounded very different from their Boy counterparts), and also because of how significant the show is in U2's history. A great first taste of U2.
Official Release: Cartoon World on the Boy Deluxe edition
Fun Fact: Allegedly The Electric Co. made its debut at this show and was great, though there is no recording of this encore
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I love this show / recording. All the old, unreleased tunes are stellar Punk/New Wave and hint at what U2..
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One of the earliest known bootlegs and a fun one to listen to. As many have said, only here you..
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Silver Lining is an early version of 11 O'Clock Tick Tock. Musically it's nearly identical (except a few neat little..
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Wow. Just wow. Of the little hype this act was given, the band certainly came out and hit it out of the park. Seven acoustic songs, partly accompanied by a string section. There are a couple surprises. The first and major surprise is the live debut of "A Man And A Woman." This rather obscure HTDAAB song was seemingly hated on left and right by hardcore fans, but the band decided to stick it to the man and bust this one out. I will be honest and say that it is probably one of the strongest acoustic songs they now have. The second surprise is "Staring At The Sun." Another rather underrated song, this one hailing from Pop, makes its first appearance since it was last played during the Elevation Tour back in the early 2000s. While it was speculated that this song would make a 360 appearance, that appearance never materialized, so Pop fans will be pleased to hear this beauty joined by the string section.
Other hits include Desire, I Still Haven't Found, Sunday Bloody Sunday, all played acoustically along with One accompanied by the strings (and a very strong performance, must I say). The main set ended with Clinton coming on stage to announce the encore while praising Bono and Edge for their work. The show ended with Miss Sarajevo with Edge trading the guitar for the piano. Another song with string accompaniment and a strong performance by Bono brought the night to a close.
Highlights - EVERYTHING
Lowlights - NONE
Download this one! The rarity of a full acoustic set this good is bound to keep you coming back to this when you need your U2 fix but don't want a full dose of rock n roll.
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I didn't have a ticket to this show and I got a single 5th row ticket as a return at..
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Having seen a tweet late last Thursday afternoon from U2ComZooMods inviting a reply with just my name to maybe get..
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WOW,wow,wow,wow! This is the best bootleg on this site. i know everyone's favorite show(s) is on you were..
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