Joshua Tree tour hits London - All discussions

Originally posted by shappers72:[image]
Was my only JT show yesterday as life gets in the way for me, but thought it was incredible. The QA queue was well run by the stadium team, the crowd were great and good company, and the set list all worked a treat for me!

Originally posted by guykirk9:I know it's been said already but holy shit Bad with Heroes is just brilliant. It's been a while since I've gotten the chills from watching a song on my phone. I hope that they can bring that snippet to the US for the next leg. What a great performance, happy for all my U2 friends on the other side of the pond that saw these shows. They looked and sounded fantastic, can't wait for the rest of the Euro shows!

Originally posted by PEDRO67:Great couple of shows after a long trip to get back for them.

Great to meet DesertDog on both days and thanks to him for sorting my Sunday ticket. A real gentleman.

Originally posted by iTim:I am completely worn out. Not had much sleep and had to do a lot of travelling, but my word, it was worth it. A few tired ramblings coming up.

Night One
I went into night one without having heard any audio or seen any videos, but I knew the setlist. My expectations were almost rock bottom. The main set looked fine, but I wasn't keen on the idea of them playing the album in sequence. The encore was by far the weakest looking part of the show aside from Ultra Violet and the possibility of a new song.

The first four songs are an excellent way to start the show. I was curious about Sunday Bloody Sunday opening, but it really does work. Bad is always great to hear and that snippet of "Heroes" was so good. Then, before you know it, The Joshua Tree lands and the screen comes into play. It's a shame that it wasn't dark at this stage, but it's still ridiculously impressive. They rattled through side A of the album, each and every track right on point. I like how they try and stick to the original arrangements. The only slight downside is that they really raised the bar for Bullet on the last tour and it can't compete now. At this stage, I was getting a little pissed off by this prick that was standing behind Remy and myself, so I didn't really get into the second side of the album and my least favourite track from the album, Red Hill Mining Town was as equally unimpressive. Exit however, amazing.

Miss Sarajevo was a little awkward, particularly with the Pavarotti recording and that large image of Omaima that gets passed around the lower tier. Beautiful Day was quite impressive, I liked the new intro and the visuals were great (if you know what I mean, eh, Remy? ). Elevation, meh. Vertigo was good and it was great to hear Ultra Violet again. I know there's been a few grumbles about that one alongside it's message, but I'm ok with it. This would also be my first time hearing The Little Things, which is pretty good. The second half is excellent, but the first half does drag on a little bit and some of the lyrics are a little unimaginative. Closing the show on that second half though is how it should be done. It works so much and should be played every night. Overall, far better than I expected but I still felt there could be areas for improvement.

Night Two
Almost the same setlist, one change, good job guys. Night two blew me away. I had a more central spot this time, just in front of the mixing area and had a relatively decent view of the band all night. Those opening four songs again, great energy, really great way to get into the swing of things. The first side of The Joshua Tree doesn't need to be talked up again, it speaks for itself and I think that playing it in order removes some of that tiredness we sometimes associate with one or two songs there. The second half was a totally different experience tonight. Once Bono started to belt out red hill Mining Town I was so into it. In God's Country was perfect as was Exit. Thoroughly enjoyed the album tonight. Up steps the encore. Miss Sarajevo was ok, a girl next to me was quite taken aback by the visuals (I do think that they are powerful) and the message from Omaima. Which just goes to show that we can knock it all day long, but there are fans out there get hit by this stuff and that's what the band want. Tonight's Happy Meal went down a treat. The fans around me were great and even I, as someone who considers Elevation to be the worst thing going, went absolutely nuts during Elevation. Then you're hit with Vertigo, then Mysterious Ways and by this point I'm dying for a break. But I don't get one (until One).

On the whole, a massively enjoyable night and all with only one change. Both nights were an amazing experience and I am now so hyped up for the remaining shows that I'm to see. the crowd across both nights seemed fantastic, and the band seemed to be really into it as well.

Also took my brother to his sixth show (Sunday) (he sat in the roof with his girlfriend, her first show) and my uncle (also first show). They loved it.

Dublin can't come soon enough!

Originally posted by badirishcharlie:[..]
Great write up Tim...I must have been very near you last night on the pitch as was in front of the mixing desk myself. Was immense anyway