Before Twilight Bono points to the 'Boy' backdrop.
Our users have written a total of 0 show reviews. This page is a great way to explore new or old amazing shows or bootlegs, just refresh the page to see new things. The highest rated shows are based on shows with more than two reviews. You can also write a review if you have been or listened to a show, and we invite you to!
Fearing I may end up a fair way from the stage, I made my way to the stadium just before the gates opened. The entry system and wrist band process was swift and faultless. I managed to get very close to larry at the tree stage and waited lime a kid on Christmas Eve. Noel Gallagher to be fair worked hard and eventually won over the crowd with a couple of Oasis classics. Larry strolled onstage at 8.15 and the stadium erupted as the others followed one by one. From the first drum intro to Sunday until the final notes of One, we were taken on an incredible journey through a forty year back catalogue of huge anthems. By the end I was both physically and mentally drained, but I can't wait until Melbourne tomorrow night to ride the ultimate roller coaster again.
Read full review »
Having missed seeing U2 over the years for a variety of reasons (family, work), I made sure I got the..
Read full review »
The first night was my opportunity to be right in the middle of the action and it gave me a..
Read full review »
I wasn’t originally going to this concert due to the similarity to the 2017 JT tour and the poor venue..
Read full review »
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.
Read full review »
We made our way to the concert way too early, but the rain had stopped, and we had little else..
Read full review »
What a ride! Montreal shows always have that something special. Tonight had that magic and even more than night..
Read full review »
Drove five hours to be in Montreal, with my 16 year old daughter for whom seeing U2 live was on..
Read full review »
Here is my report from the two Amsterdam concerts. I am quite late and it is probably impossible to write anything that hasn't been written many times before, but I feel like I need to write it all down for myself. I wanted to write a short review of the two gigs, but it turned out a bit differently :-)
Okay, let's get started. I have to start with the Friday evening, when the half secret video shoot took place. I arrived in Amsterdam on Friday at 2.25 pm. When U2 landed one hour later, I was still at the airport, which felt like a nice coincidence. I have registered for the video shoot happening, but didn't get the invitation. It didn't bother me at first, since the first info said it would start at 3 pm, but then, when I got to know it would start at 5.15 and where it would take place, I just kept on thinking about whether I should or should not go there even without the invitation. In the end I decided not to and went downtown, which made me think about it even more - the weather was bad, which made even such a beautiful city look gloomy and it had no atmosphere at all this time. I thought I might just as well had gone to the studios, since I didn't enjoy the downtown walk at all. So I am walking along Amstel, passing the opera house, these thought spinning in my head. Suddenly I am lying on the pavement and my leg hurts like hell. I don't recall any falling down and I am slowly picking myself up. There are people staring at me, obviously thinking I am drunk or something. I say I am okay, turn my head and realize I have overlooked a sign "STOP" in the middle of a pavement sticking half a meter up from the pavement. I had to laugh - yeah, I should really better stop before something worse happens - it somehow calmed me down - even though I bared my leg and got a big bruise, I was really lucky I didn't break it.
If I understand it correctly now, the actual video shoot didn't start until 9 pm and people were actually queuing there since 5.15. I am sure it must have been a blast, but looking back now, I was really exhausted and having those two concerts with long queuing ahead, I think it all actually happened the way it should.
I stayed in a hotel 5 minutes of walk from the ArenA, so later that the evening I went there to check the queue, which I knew started the previous day - 2,5 days before the concert! There were people sleeping in tents on the pavement (it was currently about 16 degrees and raining) and I was told that 230 people were in the queue so far, coming for the calls every 3 hours. As much as I love to be up in the front, I wasn't able to persuade myself to take part in this...I am too old for this...stuff. Well, I was surprised that most of the people in the tents were ladies older than me. Anyway, I had a plan to visit the Rembrandt house downtown the next morning and then join the queue, come what may.
The next morning the weather was even noticeably worse and I was actually in no mood for the gig. But when you are 1,5 an hour of flight from home, you just do what you planned to do. I went to see the Rembrandt house, which was excellent and the weather got somehow better. I had an early lunch and went to the queue. There were a lot of people, but it was not quite as bad as I expected. When we were let into the stadium, where I got at about 5.15, I actually got a very nice spot, which got way better as we all stood up at about 6.30 and moved towards the stage - I ended up in some 10th row, facing the Adam's spot on the main stage, a better place than I have actually hoped for. I was used to be in the 2nd or 3rd row on the I+E tour, but here, at a football stadium and with all the madness with the queue, I was just happy and now I was finally in the proper mood.
Noel Gallagher started to play at 7. I have never seen him before and even though I have only a general knowledge of the main Oasis hits and don't know any of his solo stuff, I was curious and looking forward to seeing him. Support bands are usually something one has to struggle through and survive and so Noel's band was one of the absolutely best support acts I have ever seen, but it really did feel as a support act and not as a gig of a rather big star. I guess that if you get up on such a huge stage without actually using it (okay, the screen on the right side was used, but still..) with only very basic lightning, it must feel that way. But they played very well, Noel sung great and I enjoyed the songs. So it was absolutely fine, but I can imagine that seeing a proper gig on a proper stage with proper lightning must be even better.
Most importantly - the sound was really good. Being first time in the ArenA and having read all those negative reviews, all agreeing on the ArenA having the worst acoustics in Europe, I was a bit worried, even though I knew about the acoustic adjustments that were adopted for gigs. I don't know how was the sound further back and on the stands (I read it was still really bad), but in front of the stage it was as good as one can get in a football stadium. And it was loooud! I was perfectly happy with it.
On with the show. One hour after Noel, at 9 p.m. U2 hit the stage. Since the first 4 songs are played on the B-stage, one doesn't get to see much from the place where I was, since one sees the band from behind and the B-stage is quite low, so it is difficult to see anything at all. But it is just time to jump up and down during Sunday Bloody Sunday and Pride, to enjoy New Year's Day and Bad (I have only heard Bad once before live, so this one was magical) and to wait for the band to move to the main stage, for the show to start properly :-) That happens really soon and we get the full Joshua Tree album. Now, it is impossible to write something new about it, so I guess I will just repeat what was said and written many times bore. One word - amazing. The live presentation of this 30 year old album is just amazing. It is such a consistent peace of music that holds together so well and the band does it a great justice 30 years after they recorded it. The songs from the first side have been played on most of the shows during the past 30 years, those are the "greatest hits," but hearing them in sequence and with those totally amazing Anton Corbijn's films on that huge and absolutely fabulous screen is something that makes you forget you have heard Streets, I Still Haven't Found What I am Looking For and With or Without You thousand times before, and you are just happy that you are at that precise place at that precise moment. Then comes the second side with all the "gems." Red Hill Mining Town - never played live before this tour, the most anxiously anticipated song - I though it was great, I loved Bono's vocals and even though I agree that it is somehow too clean and I would love The Edge to play guitar rather than keyboard, I enjoyed it a lot. Exit - probably the song all people love the most on this tour. I admit (don't throw stones at me) that I never cared much for this track on the album, but is amazing live and it was definitely one of the absolute highlights of the show. In God's country - that was the song that caught my ear most when I first bought the album 20 years ago. I never thought I would hear it live. Beautiful. Mothers Of Disappeared - Edge's guitar work, the stunning screen background, Bono's haunting vocals. Just...wow.
The band leaves the stage and comes back for the encores - well, 7 songs, so pretty much the last third of the show. They start with Miss Sarajevo and continue with Beautiful Day. One fan I talked to said he found it strange to play those two songs back to back - to play Miss Sarajevo with this heavy mood and message and then just kick into the party mode. Well, yeah, Miss Sarajevo comes before Beautiful Day, but it also comes after Mothers of Disappeared. There is the break of course, after MOD finishes, since it is the end of the Joshua Tree, but I think that it is more like with MS they say: "Okay, here is one more thing we need to get off our chest before the party starts." I think that the MOD - MS combo is really great and I disagree with all those who wrote, that Miss Sarajevo didn't work on this tour. It does. It does big time.
After Miss Sarajevo until the end of the show it is one big party. It starts with the Beautiful Day - Elevation - Vertigo sequence. Three songs that have been played to death, three songs most fans (including me) would agree that need to be put to rest at least for a while. I would not believe how those three songs would actually work on this tour. They all somehow got new energy. Beautiful Day in a new arrangement sounds great. The fans-organized balloons on the first night we beautiful and it obviously touched Bono. Elevation - everybody jumps. The Edge smiles and jumps - priceless. Vertigo - such energy, I guess the Vertigo Tour-like visuals play a big part in that.
In the end comes the Achtung Baby sequence - Mysterious Ways - Ultraviolet - One. The Edge finally plays the Mysterious Ways solo after 20 years! While the PopMart version still remains my favorite, this present one comes close second. As much as I love this song (the guitar part is absolutely out of this world), I thought it somehow didn't work on the I+E tour. It was such a pleasure to see this amazing version now. The first night closes with One. Again, one of my all-time-favorites. And again, the I+E stripped-down version mostly sung by crowd didn't do much for me, so it was nice to hear this "proper" version, which works perfectly even without Bono playing a guitar. And yeah, with the Hear Us Coming snippet!
So after the magnificent first show I felt like the second one would be a great bonus any way it would turn out. I kind of expected the queue for the second show not to be that crazy (though is started right after the first one ended, or was it even before?), but when I came to the stadium the next day at 3 p.m., I was really taken aback by how relatively few people were there. It was soooo easy. I went straight into the fence barrier, sat down and waited. Once inside the stadium I got a great spot of course, which again improved substantially once we got up - 4th row facing The Edge at the main stage - that's the dream :-)
The show itself was very similar to the first one in all aspects - setlist-wise, the performance, the atmosphere, I can't really say which one I enjoyed more, I really loved both. The setlist changes were scarce and predictable - we got A Sort Of Homecoming instead of Bad - the first and probably the last time I have heard this song live, so I was more than glad, since it really is one of my all-time-favorites, and while it is not as well known and so not such a crowd pleaser as Bad, it was fabulous. Of course, the price one has to pay is not having Bad in the setlist. Anyway, during the encores we didn't get Mysterious Ways, which is a pity, since I would have loved to hear it again, but then it was somehow given that there would be another song after One. I hoped for The Little Things, but when I saw Dallas bringing The Edge the Explorer, it was obvious that they would end with I Will Follow. I must admit, it was a little bit of a let down, since as much as IWF is a great song, I have heard it on several shows and felt like The Little Things would be way more special. Well, that was how I felt before the band kicked into the song. They stayed on the main stage and the whole place went totally nuts. The atmosphere was amazing during the whole show with the crowd singing and dancing all night, but with the first notes it shifted two gears up. The whole stadium was jumping, I can't recall whether I have ever witnessed a stronger crowd reaction. It was a magical ending really.
I stayed in Amsterdam the next day - went to the Anne Frank house, which was fantastic, I have stayed there for 3 hours, then walked around the town and in the afternoon I went to the Van Gogh museum, which was great as always (my 4th visit). When I went to the museum, I got off at the Weesperplein underground station, which is pretty much right next to the Amstel Intercontinental, where U2 had stayed. I passed it 3 or 4 times during the weekend, always stopped for 5-10 minutes. I didn't feel like waiting for hours for the band, I thought that if it was meant to be, then 5 minutes must be enough :-). Well, it was not meant to be. I thought the band left on Sunday after the concert, so this time I was surprised there were about 20 people outside the hotel. I went there and was told that they got a glimpse of The Edge just a while ago. It was half past three and I was about half an hour early for the Van Gogh Museum, so I decided to spend that time there, being sure, that there must be a reason why I set so early on my way to the museum. But again...it was not meant to be :-) Later somebody posted that The Edge was seen outside the Anne Frank house between 4 and 5 pm...
So during those 4 days I finally didn't get to meet anybody from the band (unlike Marcello - a Brazilian fan I stayed with in the hotel - who got his T-shirt signed by Bono and Adam and during the second show Bono gave him the harmonica he played on Trip) . True, I didn't put much effort to it, but... they landed before I left the airport, I was downtown when they did the video shoot, I passed their hotel several times (yeah, I would have to be really lucky if that happened without my waiting), I have visited the Anne Frank house before The Edge. Nevertheless I had a splendid time in Amsterdam and those two concerts...just WOOOWWW!
Read full review »
“FULL CIRCLE”
A circle:
-a perfectly round shape
-a line that is curved so its ends meet and every point on the..
Read full review »
This was almost a few different shows blended into 1 for me. The opening songs on the B stage were..
Read full review »
This was my first U2 show ever, so I was thrilled to finally be seeing them play. Kentucky was hot...
Read full review »
The Edge side
Fourth U2 show for me, the first one in my own country. I was there with two friends and my father. We were there early because we had GA tickets and we did good. We were right in front of The Edge and we were like in fourth row so pretty close and we had a very good view on The Edge, Bono and Larry Mullen Jr.
It was the first U2 concert for my two friends, the fourth for me and the fifth for my father (he saw them in 1985 in Werchter). Not much to say about the before show. We just wait there, talked, drank, ate and bought memories. No opening act this time. Stage, especially the screen is massive.
Songs I never see live before this show were : "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)", "Iris (Hold Me Close)", "Cedarwood Road", "Song For Someone", "Raised By Wolves", "Invisible", "Even Better Than The Real Thing (Fish Out of Water Mix)", "Angel of Harlem", "Every Breaking Wave", "October" and "Zooropa".
"People Have the Power" can be hear on the arena it's mean showtime. Everyone is looking at the B-stage and finally Bono is there. He walked to the main stage and the crowd repeated after him "Oh, oh" while the other members came on main stage. All lights are on and after the intro drumming of Larry Mullen Jr arena is in dark except stage lights wich were in red and guitar is starting so is "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)". Nice song and Rock atmosphere is there even if crowd is a bit calm.
"Out Of Control" followed and crowd awaked and became wild. I already heard it live but it was in 2005 so it was nice to heard it again especially seeing The Edge making his solo at 3 meters from us. Like usual Bono throwed water bottles in crowd. He then introduced Adam Clayton as the jazzman of the group, said about Larry Mullen Jr "The man who give us our first job" and about The Edge he said something like he won against Univers because he surrendered to music.
For the fifth time in four show I had "Vertigo". Well the song has energy, it's not a bad song and crowd reacted good. The start of the show is wild and it's a good thing but if the band would skipp that song for another I would be happy.
When I was talking about an energic start of the show well the next song was a part of it "I Will Follow" made the people jumping so do I. Classic song and maybe overplayed but it's only the second time I heard it live so it was good to me and when I saw the crowd jumping I think it was good to the majority of them. During the song The Edge walked playing for the back of the arena and Bono sung for them too before walking in direction of the B-stage.
Time for the first quiet moment of the gig wich came earlier than before. In my previous U2 show they used to play six to eight energic songs before a first speech and here it was only four songs. I don't blame them thought they were older than "Vertigo" or "360°" tours.
Bono did a speech to introduce "Iris (Hold Me Close)". Screen turned on and an old short movie of the wedding of Bono's parents was on it. I like that song which show a good exemple of U2 sounds. Especially guitar parts. And visual on screen were pretty too.
The screen became even more impressive in the next song "Cedarwood Road" as Bono went inside it and the visual showed the street but also Bono walking in it as he was inside the screen. Great visual wich went along with a nice intense song. And since we were in front of The Edge on the fourth row we also had a good view on the screen but also on other members even if The Edge walked to the B-stage for that song and his guitar solo.
"Song For Someone" followed and I really appreciate that song and the guitar in it as well as the visual on the screen. A classic song but in a new version came next "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Like I said classic song, crowd was happy and sung the song. It was a different version wich was good to have some change. It was more quiet. Larry Mullen Jr was below the screen on the long catwalk between the main stage and the B-stage while drumming as well as all members. Song ended on the BBC news announcing three explosions wich I learned later was actually about Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974. Larry Mullen Jr was still drumming while we can hear news and witness and it's lead to "Raised By Wolves". Guitar parts in that song are just great really so are bass, keyboard and drums parts. Bono sung it quiet good too. The genius guitarist was back in front of us while Bono was still standing alone on the catwalk but at the end of the song he was on the B-stage reading a book (the bible ?).
"Until The End Of The World" started then for my great pleasure. As a guitarist myself I just love this song wich is truly a Rock song. Crowd was jumping on it. The Edge made his guitar solo inside the screen while Bono was joking his image on the screen spitting water on the guitarist. My eyes were on The Edge but then I turned my head back to the main stage as Adam Clayton came saying hello to our side of the stage. End of the song was wild and energic with incredible guitar parts and an impressive visual on screen while thousand of papers were falling from the ceiling in the arena. I kept a few ones as memories. Arena then has been divided in two by the screen but also a kind of wall coming from the ceiling. Visual was like a giant Berlin yellow wall. All of this still under end of guitar solo. First part of the gig ended on that under a torrent of applause.
"Everything You Know Is Wrong" was written on the wall and so during the break "The Fly" was played not by the band but in speaker and it was a remix version made by Gavin Friday.
Second part started with "Invisible" with band inside the screen. Visual were good. Song was nice even if U2 can do better than that I liked some guitar parts.
"Even Better Than The Real Thing (Fish Out of Water Mix)" followed, still inside the screen with a nice visual. I never heard that song live so I was quiet happy to saw the band played it. I would prefer to have the album version instead of the remix thought. For all those songs played inside the screen or on B-stage my view was not the best because I was in front of main stage The Edge side in fourth row so I had to look in my back with a weird angle but I still appreciate the gig. At the end of the song the band left the screen to go on B-stage.
"Mysterious Ways" has been played then. Second time I heard that song live but still a nice one with nice guitar parts and it put energy in the crowd. Bono took a girl called Helene on B-stage to dance. Cool moments and song. He kept Helene on B-stage to record the next song with a smartphone for livestream. Band played "Desire" in an electric version wich I really enjoyed. I saw the band playing it in 2009 but it was in an acoustic version so seeing them playing it in electric one was a good thing. Crowd reacted quiet good too especially when Bono started to sing "Love Me Do" from the Beatles. Next song has been "Angel Of Harlem" with a fan pulled on stage to play guitar. As a guitar player I wanted to be at his place. First time I saw this song live so good memory of course. Band played it on B-stage and my father was like "I hope they will be back on main stage soon" because of course they were far away for us. Crowd sung the song too and was jumping for some of them. People on seats place were almost all standing so yeah it was a good song.
Then we had a more intimate ambiant with almost no light at all. Bono and The Edge were alone on B-stage and the guitarist became a pianist. They played a quiet version of "Every Breaking Wave". I know my friends appreciated this version but my father and I would prefer the album version. I had feeling Bono just wanted his moment when he can show his voice and he doesn't need that. Song is much better in album version rather than this quiet one. Anyway "October" followed and this is the first time I heard it live and so I was glad they did it. Then we had "Bullet The Blue Sky" wich my father and I appreciated. We also appreciated to see the band coming back on main stage to be able to see them better. It was the second time I saw "Bullet The Blue Sky" live, first one was in 2005, so it was a nice one to listen. I also really like that song, the atmosphere it create and the guitar parts and solo. Pictures of war were visible on screen. I prefer when Bono sing in his microphone instead of in a megaphone because we can hear better what he is singing. Anyway the effect was not the best but it was decent and the song was good to hear. I talked about guitar parts but drumming and bass parts are also nice such as Bono singing and lights show.
"Zooropa" was next song in a version quiet different than the album version and I really liked it and prefer that version to the album one. It was calm but atmospheric with guitar sounds quiet like U2 sound and well for a first time hearing it live I really loved it as well as the transition to the next song "Where The Streets Have No Name". Transition that crowd could feel by the sound and the red lights and screen. Before first note of The Edge the crowd was already getting excited. About "Where The Streets Have No Name" well it's the song that made everyone in the crowd alright about the show and the band. I heard it to each U2 gig I saw so far but if the band play it at next show I would still be happy to hear it. Crowd was excited and happy, some were jumping and nobody in seats were actually sit. What I liked about it it's the fact the introduction and the first guitar parts seems to me lasting longer than in 2010 were the introduction seems too short for me. I think part of the magic in that song is the introduction and if the band do it too short it's less good and so that live version was great with a longer introduction than 2010. I also appreciate the visual of the Joshua tree on screen at the end of the song.
U2 then played "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" and well even if I like that song, even if I found it's a great one, even if it make the crowd happy and put a nice atmosphere, even if it's a classic one and even if I was not unhappy to heard it I was not happy to heard it too. I like the "Oh, oh" parts of the crowd and like I said it's a good song but I'm tired to heard it live at each tour. I saw it in 2005 and 2009, not in 2010 but here we go again in 2015. It has been played at each tour since 1984 so yeah I would prefer that the band play another one. Why not "A Sort Of Homecoming", "Wire", "Bad", "Elvis Presley and America" or even a song not from the same album like "A Day Without Me" or "An Cat Dubh" and "Into the Heart" or "Van Diemen's Land", "Heartland", "All I Want Is You", "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World", "Acrobat", "One Tree Hill, "Please", "Kite", "Fez — Being Born". I just said a few songs from a few albums but I could say more songs. But just to say that I liked this gig, I love U2, I liked to heard "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" and I do think it's a good song but instead of playing same at each tour when you have so much songs and a so large catalogue of great songs they could play different stuff and do better. "With or Without You" followed and I could say the same about that song. My fourth U2 gig and fourth time I heard it. I like the song really and I was glad to hear it again but if the band would play another one instead it would be good too. For my friends it was different, it was their first U2 gig and so hearing "With or Without You" was a good moment for them especially because they are a couple and they danced and kissed each other during the song, it was their romantic moment of the night.
"Stephen Hawking Global Citizen" made the interlude before the encore with pretty visuals on screen. "City Of Blinding Light" has been played then followed by "Beautiful Day". Nice songs even if it's the fourth time in four gig I heard them live. I was happy to heard them because it's good songs but if the band would play another I would be fine too. Crowd reacted good and visuals and lights were great especially on "City Of Blinding Light" with flashtube of lights everywhere on stage it was good and guitar parts were cool. Let's be honest even if I heard them for the fourth time I enjoyed them. "Beautiful Day" can put lot of energy in a gig and it's a great song. It's like a bridge song to me, the kind of song able to linked an 80's song to a 90's song, a good transition song. Then we had a speech of Bono and him and The Edge played "Mother And Child Reunion" with explanation on screen about HIV in Africa and about medication. Then I knew band would either play "One", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" or "Bad" with "40". My favorite song is "Bad" and I never saw live yet. I haven't see "40" live as well. So of course I was hoping for "Bad". I'm a guitarist and I can play "Bad" and I was in front of The Edge in fourth row and had a good view on him and his guitar and I saw him putting his fingers on the way of playing the first chords of "Bad" but without the sound and he did it just before starting "Mother And Child Reunion". So at this point I was happy and thought I will hear "Bad" and maybe "40" as well, what a great end of a wonderfull night. But then the band played "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" as closing song. Well I had a little bit of dissapointment but only because I knew there were a chance they would play "Bad" and only because I saw The Edge ready to play it. I honestly wasn't dissapointed to heard "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".
This song is a great one and most of the crowd sung it, The Edge had his eyes closed while playing it, people clapped their hands and it was a good moment to close the night. Band left the stage one by one by walking on the catwalk and going on B-stage and then leaving stage in the middle of the crowd like Bono made his enter two hours and 15 minutes earlier. Band left the stage under the crowd singing "But I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and under their applause. Bono sung "People Have The Power" from Patti Smith while leaving the arena, same song as introduction one, circle is closed. In conclusion, it was a great night, good show, nice visuals and stage, good moment with friends, energic band, nice songs and on twenty-five of them eleven was first time hearing them live so no complainng about them. Of course if the band would skip some of them like "Pride (In The Name Of Love" to play another one it would be better and of course if the ending would be "Bad" and "40" it would be better but everyone in every gig of every band has preference and would like to hear that song or that song so for tonight show I would say it was still a wonderful gig and I enjoyed it with my friends and my father close of The Edge with a nice view so yes great memories no doubt about it.
Read full review »
Not as many people looking for tickets tonight - unlike last night, where we had the guy mimicking the homeless,..
Read full review »
The U2 show rolls on.. Second night in London, and my friend and I (and her husband) were there. Along..
Read full review »
This close to the front, I figured I wouldn't be bothered by vexatious people wanting me to sit - and..
Read full review »
A Magnificent birthday
My third U2 gig, still in France stadium but this time we were far away from the stage. We were in A9 block. Like the previous time there were me, my father, my mother and my brother but also an uncle and two friends. We left Belgium in direction of Paris. After getting in the stadium and found our seats we bought usual tee-shirts and drinks and the waiting started. Oh by the way this concert took place six days after my 18th birthday so it's a nice birthday gift I had.
About setlist songs I never had in live before and that I got at this show were : "Return of the Stingray Guitar", "I Will Follow", "Mysterious Ways", "Until the End of the World", "North Star", "Mercy", "Miss Sarajevo" and "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me"
The opening act was Interpol and well I didn't really appreciate them. I prefered Snow Patrol or Kaiser Chiefs. Stage and stadium were still very huge. At 20:45 we can hear "Ground Control to Major Tom" so the song "Space Oddity" of David Bowie. It meant showtime.
Band arrived on the still massive and impressive stage. It's seems simple to say but as simple their enter was it was quiet amazing. Imagine a full stadium of 96,540 people becoming wild and throwing white ballon when the screen showed U2 walking to the stage with all lights on. They then started to play a new song "Return of the Stingray Guitar" and Bono did his showman walking on the B-stage circle, jumping and talking to the crowd and screaming "Allez c'est parti". He then made the stadium screaming "Oh, oh" and all the stadium turned the light off (Willie) at the same moment "Beautiful Day" began. Classic song but nice effect and good show introduction. Bono ended it on a "Edge is beautiful".
I knew then that it would be either "I Will Follow" or "New Year's Day". My father was hoping for "New Year's Day" as it's one of his favorite one. Both of them would be fine to me and the band played "I Will Follow" wich was the first time hearing it for me so I was happy and I jumped like lot of people in the stadium. "Get on Your Boots" followed then and well quiet energetic but not my favorite song. A much better song has been played then "Magnificent". I like that song and guitar parts as well as bass and drumming parts are really good. I remember that Adam Clayton walked off behind the stage and played for the back of the stadium. Bono did a quick look to see where was he and said "The magnificent Adam Clayton" at the end of the song and was close to him in the next song. I also remember watching the solo of The Edge with my binoculars.
A song I never saw in gig before followed it "Mysterious Ways". I did appreciate to heard it for the first time live. Bono who was energetic since the start of the show played with the crowd on one of the two bridge and made the people waves with their hands. He then sung the song on the same microphone as The Edge, nice moments.
Band energy, crowd playing and Bono show was still there for "Elevation" with a Bono full of energy who took a ballon to change his voice and played with it before doing the same with a hat from the crowd. "Until The End Of The World" followed for my great pleasure as I like this song and never saw it live before. Light show was amazing so was the bridge moves. Bono played to annoy The Edge and Adam Clayton for fun. Guitar solo was great and I watched it with my binoculars. Band was in playfull mood.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was the next song. Before it there was the first calm moment since the start of the concert. Bono thanked Interpol in French before introducing the band. "Je vais vous présenter le groupe, à la basse, le renard d'argent, Adam Clayton, à la batterie, notre beau gosse, Larry Mullen". When he saw Larry Mullen didn't get it Bono told him "I'll explain later" and both laughed. "À la guitare", the crowd already applaused strongly. "Le mystérieux, énigmatique, le Louis Pasteur du Rock 'N' Roll, le père de Hollie and Arran pour n'en citer que quelques-uns, The Edge". Bono then introduced himself as "Votre humble serviteur, le Bossu de Notre-Dame" and the song started. People sung the first verse with a bit help from Bono and the chorus.
Two next songs were unreleased new songs and so people listened them and kept quiet. "North Star" was a quiet one played only by The Edge and Bono while "Mercy" has been played by the whole band and has more energy.
"In a Little While" and "Miss Sarajevo" were the two next. Two good songs and nice to hear them especially the second one which was the first time for me. On the first one Bono took a lucky girl on stage and layed down his head on her legs. He then made her a walk on stage and ended dancing with her on the bridge. Frank De Winne apperead then on the screen saying the last lyrics of "In a Little While" and during that the first note of "Miss Sarajevo" started. Bono received applause after his scream during the song.
Screen growed for "City of Blinding Lights" and we had the same sequence as in 2009 show with "Vertigo" "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" "Sunday Bloody Sunday" with a nice snippet of "Get Up Stand Up", "MLK" and "Walk On". Songs were nice, band full of energy especially Bono and crowd reacted positively. Only change between 2009 and 2010 band skipped "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" wich was a good thing. I love that song but you can't hear it each time you see the band because if you do then you have less chance of hearing a song you never heard before.
Time for first encore (I remember my brother asked me if the gig was over. Not yet I told him) with the same Desmond Tutu speech that lead us to "One" who started with an improvised small guitar solo from Bono. Classic song with nice guitar parts and all lights from mobile phone from people gave a nice visual.
"Amazing Grace" introduced "Where the Streets Have No Name". As soon as first organ pipe sound started while Bono was still singing "Amazing Grace" the crowd reacted. All was beautiful in that song. Guitar parts, bass parts, Larry had a powerful drumming and Bono had so much energy. The visual, the light, the stage and the crowd were amazing. Bono and The Edge came to the back of the stage playing for the back people. It was a really good moment and so much positivy in that song. At the end Bono thanked the crowd "Vous avez été formidable".
Second encore was there then. I remember my brother asked me "So now this is the end" and me "Still not yet". A video showing two extraterrestrial people in a small rocket travelling in space apperead on the screen. Then the claw (name of U2 stage) flyed over the two extraterrestrial people rocket and took their place on the screen. Baby Zooropa face apperead then asking "What's time is it in the world" and then singing something that I honestly can't remember. I know he said something like "Baby, baby, baby" but I can't remember the rest. Anyway that lead us to "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me". A nice surprise to hear it. The band hasn't played it in a tour since the "Popmart" one so definitely a good song to hear live. Light show and jacket was similar than 2009 show for "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)". Guitar parts and Bono performance were great.
End of the show was the same as 2009 gigs "With Or Without You" and "Moment Of Surrender" closed the set. Similar songs, similar lights and visual. Crowd appreciated and phone lights were seen in stadium. Good atmosphere and people made the "Oh, oh". We could cleary see that U2 enjoyed to be there, enjoyed the show and the crowd. They were in a good day with lot of energy and happiness. The crowd also really enjoyed the show. At the end of the show Adam Clayton said "Thank you Paris, you have been great", Larry Mullen Jr said "Merci, au revoir, bonne nuit" while The Edge was laughing. Then the guitarist said "Thank you Paris, thank you" and for once Bono said nothing. They then took all their times to leave the stage and waves the people. End of a great night.
Read full review »
A family Oddity
My second U2 gig. Like the first one it was in France Stadium, like the first one my..
Read full review »
From getting in line at 6am to the end of Moment of Surrender, I'll never forget this first show. Bono..
Read full review »
It's my first U2 concert, so how can't I give this a 5! But seriously, it's a great bootleg. The..
Read full review »
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 played,Gloria,Ocean and Bad.So,an old diehard like me was very pleased.Every...Thing...You...K....K..KNOW...The Fly..Mint version....Bono is very into this show.I brought my daughter for her 11th birthday.It was her first U2 show.She loved it.She kept saying "Bono is having so much fun".Very true.ISHFWILF is wild.I remember thinking "what the hell??"..The band call up a couple of guys (The Bankrobbers) from the crowd to play and sing.It was a funny moment.Bono keeps saying "Thank You" after,but they wouldnt leave.They didnt kill the song either....As I said..very loose gig.
Read full review »
Here it is, the first Vertigo show. Technically not the debut of the songs (there was a rehearsal in L.A...
Read full review »
The show was brilliant; we were standing for one hour straight after the guys came out with their flashlights. The..
Read full review »
I have this same record but split into 4 parts, 5 or 6 songs in each one. so, if you..
Read full review »
I was at this concert. It was my first time back in NYC after 9/11, and you could feel the tension in the air- it was still fresh on everyone's mind. The setlist was perfect- almost every song seemed custom made for the way we were all feeling, or wanted to feel- even the ones written 20 years before. "Streets" was a particular highlight. And during the encore, Bono was wearing a NYPD t-shirt and hat, and all the police officers and firefighters in the house joined him onstage. The house lights were on, everyone was smiling... it was an amazing experience and went a long way to making us feel good again. I'll never forget it, it was the best concert I have ever been to.
Read full review »
Maybe I’m too biased about this night. Some issues don’t ruin at all what was a perfect special magic night,..
Read full review »
From the outside, this is simply the best Elevation concert and the most special one. It was way more important..
Read full review »
I enjoyed this listen, but the sound unfortunately knocks this one down to a 3.5 for me. Worth a listen..
Read full review »
absolutely the best popmart gig in my opinion - there are a couple of other shows that might be considered equally as good but we've all seen/heard mexico 1000's of times and the other well known highlights from the final shows of the tour and of course sarajevo which were all great but this gig just has something else about it for me. the band seems to be relaxed but at the same time on TOP form, and refreshingly there are no serious moments, not even from bono who just seems to be having a great time.
every song is awesome but the (many) highlights are"
mofo-i will follow are the best you will ever hear them bar none, new years day is as good as it ever got in 97, miami-bullet will blow your face off (i have never heard a more brutal sounding first few bars of bullet). please is intense, discotheque with its whole lotta' love outro is my favourite version of this song ever, velvet dress has the extra verse, HMTMKMKM is perfect, mysterious ways is also my favourite version ever - the george harrison outro just works SO well!! and the the closing cover of rain is the icing on the cake.
if you're a fan of the popmart era this has to be in your top 3 MUST HAVE shows! you will listen to it over and over again
Read full review »
Well,as I said,I was down on the band at this point.Thank God they woke up and went back to basics..
Read full review »
the now legendary (among U2 fans) first night of the popmart tour makes for a very uncomfortable listening experience...! ..
Read full review »
I actually enjoyed this show for what it is: a testimony of how Popmart evolved and the songs were developed..
Read full review »
One of my favorite 1st leg shows, second only to the Boston Saint Patrick's Day show.
Highlights:
Even Better than the Real Thing - Bono introduces the band; "This is the Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr...and I don't know who the f**k I am tonight" and during the song goes into his loudest "TAKE ME HIGHER!" ever. It'll startle you if you're not expecting it. After the song, he tries (unsuccessfully) to make a call to buy a diamond ring he sees on TV, in the style of the Auburn Hills pizza-for-everyone concert.
Mysterious Ways - great extended solo from Edge; my favorite version ever.
One - Bono improvises the last bit, and it almost makes sense: "One love. One life. One life. One wife. One love. You get to share her. If you give it away, [kids?] have gone astray. You can push it up. You can buck it up and get it all mixed up. Knockin', knockin', knockin' up, love!"
Until the End of the World - extended ending
Bad - Bono gets into it and leads the audience in screaming "no!".
Bullet the Blue Sky - I think it's because of the recording, but it's a lot faster than usual, which is fun to hear for once.
With or Without You - "We will shine like stars in the summer night. We will kick the darkness 'till it bleeds daylight. One hope. One blood." Everything's extended, from Edge's solo to the Shine Like Stars snippet to the last chords Edge strums. The highlight of the whole concert, and that says a lot.
Read full review »
My ratings were pretty much consistent 3.5's all the way across the board, and here's why. This show wasn't terrible...
Read full review »
Not really much for me to say about this show. Stock-standard ZooTV show. The sound was okay, but a little..
Read full review »
Good show all around, especially with the complicated new songs! The audience takes to them well and the band have..
Read full review »
My very first U2 gig, was amazing!! But I've an even better story that I've been telling for years but never published it till now.
I'll cut it short. I befriended a Bono lookalike competition winner from Dooley's Irish Bar in the Valley the night before. He was the absolute spit of Bono with the wig and all the Joshua Tree era clobber on I'm not kidding you. I never knew his name except I called him Bono.
We decided we'd go around Brisbane City looking for U2's hotel. Made up a story that he was actually Bono, that he was drunk and lost his key, and could someone escort him to his room. Went to 3 different hotels till we found them at the then named Sheraton. Before that all the other hotels believed it was really Bono but said he wasn't staying there.
We went up to the check in desk at the Sheraton like we did at the other hotels and low and behold one of the managers believed us and said "yes sir I'll help you to your room, come with me". I said my goodbyes and the manager brought him to the lift... I was absolutely gobsmacked! Here was this guy who I'd never met before till that night heading for Bono's room!
I left him and went and sat down in the foyer. 5 minutes later they came back down and the manager and another staff member bundled him into a taxi.
I never ever saw him again after that. It all happened too quick. I didn't even know his name except I was calling him Bono all night.
Anyway the next night at the concert we're half way through the gig, don't know what song, but Bono starts talking about this geezer who knocked on his door in the middle of the night!! Says he opened his door half asleep looking at this guy who was the spitting image of him and saying WTF! He said he wasn't happy about being woken up but saw the funny side of it.
I couldn't believe my ears!! I was telling everyone around me that I was there! I never actually knew till Bono told the story whether he had actually made it to his room or not. And there was Bono confirming it the next night... unbelievable!!
True story I absolutely kid you not!!!!!!
Read full review »
Sometimes I wonder why I was born in December 1988, one year before this lovely concert in Rotterdam. I was..
Read full review »
Very strong show!! Dirty Old Town at the end of RTSS always gets me. God Part II is excellent, Edge..
Read full review »
What a way to start Lovetown in Europe! The crowd was already going nuts even during the PA songs and..
Read full review »
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.
Read full review »
I think this gig has flown under the radar.I know it was a long time ago,but this is classic U2.No..
Read full review »
First concert I ever went to age 17. I haven't missed a U2 tour since. Listening to this was like..
Read full review »
Just superb! The band was inspired by BB King's presence and turned it up a notch. The JT tour peaked..
Read full review »
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.
Read full review »
We were all young. The place was crammed. U2 were already massive in Glasgow by the end of 1982 and had played bigger venues (the legendary Apollo). In 1984 it was a difficult ticket to get.
The Barrowlands is essentially a dancehall with a spring-loaded wooden ballroom floor but quite a low ceiling. This all made for much 'bouncy-bouncy' and the very definition of a sweat-filled room! Condensation was literally running down the walls and dripping from the ceiling (I even remember it dripping from my elbows !). You could wring it your t-shirt.
The Watherboys were support who were also very big at the time& they did sing of course All of the Moon !
The energy in the crowd and from the band was incredible. New songs from TUF and older songs went down a storm. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill (from Simple Minds, local Glasgow boys and friends with U2) were at the back and the crowd all spotted them & sung to them. (Bono a month later in January 1985 joined the Minds on-stage at the same venue for New Gold Dream which blew the roof off).
We only had tickets for the first night but it was so good we went back up the next day and queued up for on-the-door tickets with probably 100 or more others. I remember a scuffle broke out in the queue as some people started singing sectarian/Irish Celtic songs. They were quickly shouted down by others stating '...we are U2 fans, we are not here for that, the band would not want it, we are better than that'! We got in again having barely recovered from the previous night dehydration.
...and U2 brought the house down again.
A mere 7 months later they would conquer the world at Live Aid and everyone would know what all the fuss was about.
...and 34 years later I still want to get tickets for the next tour in 2018 !
Read full review »
One of the most special UF shows and the best setlist of the tour! At the beginning Bono said they..
Read full review »
I was 19. I didn't drive.
We were more or less 10 kids from my neighborhood who went to this show..
Read full review »
A very inspired show during weird circumstances. Bono had forgotten his guitar riffs and he had to buy his own..
Read full review »
In the late afternoon easily 4 or 5 hours before the performance I was riding my yellow bicycle past Ritchie Coliseum on the way back to my dorm room (246-6 New Leonardtown) when I saw the band's tour bus was parked alongside Ritchie Coliseum. I think there was a second bus perhaps for the equipment and such; it is a little fuzzy now as this was a long time ago. There were two or three fans standing around hoping the guys in the band would come out and chat. It was a cool damp day. One fan was a girl that went to high school with me, 1 year younger, and her first name was Marla. I stayed and talked with Marla for a while also hoping to chat with the band. Marla had her vinyl LP records with her from October, Boy, and War. She wanted to get the records autographed. My records were at home so that wasn't an option for me. After maybe half an hour I gave up and went on my way. A week or two later Marla told me that soon after I left the band came out from the tour bus, chatted with her and the other fans, and autographed her three records! Very cool. Sadly I missed it.
Read full review »
I wanted to give higher than 4 stars. There’s a lot to like about this show - several songs are..
Read full review »
A must-have. Excellent quality bootleg, probably the best I've heard from the early tours.
Highlights:
-Surrender (best performance, somewhat different than the..
Read full review »
Rated high, because I really enjoyed this early show. Sometimes the early ones (pre-TUF, in my opinion) really just don't..
Read full review »
Excellent early October show, just about up there with the Lido Beach gig the following month. That one benefits from better sound, but this one has got a longer setlist.
The very ending of Stories For Boys is cut, which is a shame as it was very strong. The sound is good throughout (barring Gloria) but does waver somewhat here and there.
Ultimately, I was on the fence between 4.5 and 5 stars, but given the strength of the performance went for the full 5. The sound quality is decent enough that it's not much of a setback.
Highlights:
- I Threw a Brick Through a Window/A Day Without Me
- An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart
- With a Shout
- Rejoice
- The Electric Co.
- 11 O'Clock Tick Tock/The Ocean (very long and excellent!)
Read full review »
U2 in the Netherlands. Enough said. There's always something in the air when the band plays here and this show..
Read full review »
This and Lido Beach are perhaps the best October bootlegs you'll find. The setlist is great and some songs had..
Read full review »
A good friend of mine was at this show and was billed as U2's homecoming show in Dublin in January..
Read full review »
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.
Read full review »
Still early in the tour and their career which probably explains the lack of enthusiasm in the audience. The band..
Read full review »
Good show, good recording, good performance. Solid all round. How great is it to think that people in the audience..
Read full review »
From Pimm Jal de la Parra, U2 Live - A Concert Documentry: Before Twilight Bono points to the 'Boy' backdrop.
Read full review »
Nothing spectacular, fun but inexperienced performance and mediocre sound. The main selling point for this boot is the number of early songs that were not released until the 2008 deluxe edition of Boy or remain unreleased. Out of a 16 song set, half of the songs fall into that category.
Highlights:
-Silver Lining (early version of 11 O'Clock Tick Tock) has really good music but the lyrics are hard to hear
-Stories for Boys
-Cartoon World
-Shadows and Tall Trees
-Twilight (very good musically, especially the intro)
-Out of Control
Read full review »
I love this show / recording. All the old, unreleased tunes are stellar Punk/New Wave and hint at what U2..
Read full review »
One of the first recordings that exist from the band in its earliest stages. Just for that, this concert should..
Read full review »
One of the earliest known bootlegs and a fun one to listen to. As many have said, only here you..
Read full review »
Having seen a tweet late last Thursday afternoon from U2ComZooMods inviting a reply with just my name to maybe get tickets to the live broadcast of tfi Friday in London - I did just that.
tfi Friday launched the weekend for millions of fully signed up lads and ladettes back in the 90's. Brash and soaked in alcohol it was fast paced and at times funny, but always high energy.
Brought back off the shelf for a short run this year it jumped back into living rooms, now owned by the 90's lads and ladettes, on Friday past with U2 as the main draw.
So fast forward 20 hours and I am now stood outside a very small and now defunct theatre with a Production wrist band on my wrist and knowledge that the next two hours will be special.
The venue maybe had 150 in the performance area - a mix of 20 U2 fans, a handful of 40something women reliving their early twenties as Take That fans (for they were on the show as well) and I guess some members of the public. It was a strange crowd, but with the TV lighting it made for a hot sweaty club vibe.
Showtime - Raised By Wolves - the B Man is 6 feet away giving it everything. The sound was incredible and the lads played as if their very lives that night depended on it. I'm no writer, so there is no way that I can give you any understanding of how incredible it was to be in the room. Bizarrely, watching over the weekend on the extended playback, it came across as the worlds greatest live band did an ok job! By now you will have seen it for yourself, and I guess it plays back to way back when when U2 became the only band to ever go DOWN the charts after an appearance on Top of The Pops (UK TV chart show).
A very unenlightening interview later in the show away up on the theatre gallery was nothing more than swapping banter between host and band, and hosts Son and hosts Mother! That didn't matter the band weren't here to chat and we weren't there to listen to them talk!
They closed the TV broadcast with Vertigo. Edge's guitar sound taking our heads off! Song for Someone carried all the emotion and then the "This is our first single.." intro and a version of Out of Control that will be with me until I am no more. Just incredible. The room was too small to hold the energy! Bonotised with champagne and it was thank you, goodnight!
Dallas, Sammy, Jake and Stuart left to pick up the pieces as U" have left the building.
Insane evening - thank you to all who made it happen.
The venue was the Cochrane Theatre, London.
I was told that the tour will play indoors and outdoors next year, and then follow the yellow brick road to Aus/NZ in 2017........ Here's hoping!
Read full review »
I didn't have a ticket to this show and I got a single 5th row ticket as a return at..
Read full review »
We were one the few radio station winners to win this contest. Each radio station only had one grand prize..
Read full review »
A true raw outdoor performance. Engagement with the crowd takes place at some level on almost every song. Three..
Read full review »
