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  1. Here’s a thought. Maybe they’d had a tribute band on and were playing back something to end saved from the soundboard. Them tribute acts can be hella good.
  2. I actually looked up Achtung Babies (probably the most popular on in Europe) performances of Bad just to see if any had long guitar intros, or if they favored the Fool to Cry snippet in 2015


  3. My memory and original post has me thinking that by saying ‘long intro’, I might not have been referring to a Bono speech. More so the band just playing the kick quite a few times over before Bono came in.

    Edit - I see I specified this in a later post.
  4. This thread will still be going in 30 years time
  5. Originally posted by germcevoy:[..]


    My memory and original post has me thinking that by saying ‘long intro’, I might not have been referring to a Bono speech. More so the band just playing the kick quite a few times over before Bono came in.

    Edit - I see I specified this in a later post.
    yeah i've been going through just listening for a longer-than-usual intro. it filters quite a bit out...i promise to underwhelm everyone with a brief summary of results later today
  6. I'm ready for the underwhelming
  7. I am waiting ......
  8. Originally posted by MattG:[..]
    yeah i've been going through just listening for a longer-than-usual intro. it filters quite a bit out...i promise to underwhelm everyone with a brief summary of results later today
    If it’s anything like the annual awards I’ll come back in 2028 to read your findings.
  9. LMAO, fucking ace
  10. The awards should come back. It would be.. interesting.
  11. Alright, then.

    I have been through just about each and every performance of Bad on the Elevation Tour and I've got it narrowed down to a couple possibilities you may have heard.

    Granted, at this point, I say respectfully that at least some of your collective memories are - with certainty - incorrect. So we will have to perhaps re-rank the criteria based on how strong your recollection seems.

    When listening, here's the criteria I used to judge:

    1. Is the intro longer than usual? Ger mentioned that the backing track / Edge guitar part may have gone on "as long as a minute" - even if he's exaggerating slightly, HALF that length would be a long intro for Bad. If it is a standard 2-bar intro, or if Bono comes in immediately without letting the intro loop another bar, the performance is disqualified.

    2. If the intro seems like it could be long enough, I move to the snippets. Spoiler: Providence is the only one that even kind of fits.

    That should be enough to get us to Point B. I don't care what source I hear the performance on - the possibility of untraded sources exists and is nearly impossible to investigate without a specific show in mind. I have to go by the details of the performance itself.

    So, if Providence is ruled out (which it has been previously), not a single Elevation Tour show fits criteria. However, several come close enough that they're worth mentioning. Notes were taken next to each and every performance as I listened, and I'm happy to share my full notes if anyone wants a look. They are not interesting.

    2001-05-27 Montreal, Quebec (Longer intro - Strong "Norwegian Wood" snippet, but no "Fool to Cry")

    2001-07-17 Paris, France (Edge doing some harmonic tuning which stretches the intro slightly; Bono says a few things thru it. STRONG Bongolese ending - but too intense to mishear as Fool to Cry)

    2001-10-30 Providence, Rhode Island (Backing track goes longer than usual before Edge chimes in. He plays a little longer than usual before Bono comes in.)

    2001-10-31 Providence, Rhode Island (Bono mentions addiction while backing track goes long. Starts singing right away w/ Edge. Snippets are exact but I'd hardly call Fool to Cry "strong")

    A few other things I've been considering...

    -I don't think you heard a tribute act. I've heard a bunch of them and a lot of them are GREAT...but I doubt I could ever actually mistake one for the real U2. The fact that you went so far as to think it was South Bend prior to hearing snippets reinforces this to me.

    -The probability of you hearing anything from '84-'89 seems extremely low, because I would be stunned if you confused two entirely different vocal styles from Bono. I also doubt it came from one of the few Popmart performances but they MAY be worth investigating just since the later shows seemed to be more professionally captured, and Bad was only performed late in the tour.

    That essentially leaves Zoo, Vertigo, and 360. There are a TON of snippets of Fool to Cry from ZooTV and I think that's where this search is headed next. The next song being Bullet is a stark change from the guys being sure it was about to go to Streets, but I don't know where to turn next.
  12. i will say that sifting through 87 performances of bad for the sole purpose of teasing yourself with the backing track to hear when edge drops the intro....

    is a great way to really, really miss seeing these guys live