1981-05-15 - San Francisco, California - California Hall

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review by CMIPalaeo

8 years ago

Performance

Very good performance. The band are performing really well, it's amazing to listen to them flying like this early on.

Bono teases Edge at various points about being slow to get ready for some songs. Bono is very energetic, though his voice is rather squeaky sometimes. An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart is very strong. The Electric Co. has a very weird sounding bit in the middle; I can't tell if it's a sustained guitar effect or just a bad spot in the recording - but it kind of lends a neat effect either way. Stories For Boys has some very altered lyrics for the last verse. Boy/Girl is long and strong with a brief Let's Twist Again snippet; it flows right into Out of Control in a very cool moment. Bono sings a little intro to Twilight and alters the lyrics ('I follow, I will try to see the light'; 'boy meets the boys in the shadows'), and gets the audience to hold up lighters during it. Bono is hesitant to drink champagne (although he can open it, unlike the show four days earlier). A Day Without Me is very good, with an awesome opening. The second 11 O'Clock Tick Tock is incredible, one of the bands best 'epic rocking' songs, and the transition into the show-ending The Ocean is always pure magic.

Sound

A very good soundboard recording, the best you could hope for from '81. The audience isn't a major presence here but that's alright; the audio quality is a really special thing for such an early show.
Recording: "Soundboard (Upgrade)" - 5 stars

Audience

They're not super present, as it's a soundboard, but when they can be heard they're really enthusiastic. Bono urges them to hold up lighters during Twilight. The lighting system goes out for a bit, and Bono tries to entertain the crowd, who seem to be very positive about the band's performance.

Overall

Excellent early show, with just about all the Boy Tour material represented. The band are energetic and really doing a great job; mastering their craft already. It's really interesting, listening to a lot of the early tour shows, how Twilight often seemed to be treated as a really key point in the show - which I think is great, as it's one of my favourite U2 songs.

Bottom line: the performance is incredible, tight, and passionate, the sound quality is brilliant, Bono is playing around with the lyrics, and many songs have some absolutely outstanding performances. This is one of the best early bootlegs I have ever heard. One common problem I have with pre-TUF tour shows is that many versions of the early songs all sound very similar - this show gives them a lot of sparkle and uniqueness. I'll be revisiting this show many times.

Highlights:
- 11 O'Clock Tick Tock (both of 'em, of course - but especially the second one)
- The early version of I Fall Down
- Touch
- Stories For Boys with altered lyrics (one of the best)
- Boy/Girl/Out of Control
- Twilight with altered lyrics (one of the best)
- A Day Without Me
- the second The Ocean, with a little outro (one of the best)

all reviews

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CMIPalaeo