First up, the sound is immensely better than the Adelaide show I recently picked with no serious sound defects, sound drops or problems, but it sounds like a mono recording - but that loses none of the sheer brilliance here. If a lossless one day comes up, I'll be more than happy to take it.
Performance
All the good songs are played here, so nothing really poor as far as I'm concerned. All the songs are played to their ultimate potential - and this boot I think is a serious contender for the best version of TUF. Apart from that, as others above me have said, it has to be the best Bad next to the R&H from the 80s.
MLK is so haunting here, I got shivers up my back. Songs like Electric Co, Gloria, Bad, ''40'', Sunday Bloody Sunday, I Will Follow....might be played on more recent tours, but they could never match up to what you're in for here. The band have as much energy as Mick Jagger, but they carried this show off in such a way, you want to listen over and over (again they were only 20-something years old). No wonder this band are still the biggest in the world.
Some other highlights was Bono yelling at someone to stay out at the beginning of Wire or MLK - it was one of them, the killer scream during TUF, the almost opera-like part during Electric Co, the racing guitar riffs in Pride, Gloria and New Year's Day, and the almost nine-minute Bad. And ''40'' should always be the way to end a U2 show. Too, too many highlights to name, but that's just a few.
Rating: 11/10 for performance. 9/10 for sound. Essential.
I'm gonna say exactly what I thought: FUCKING AWESOME
This really was a surprise, downloading this and looking at the 4 star rating, i was preparing for a gig to be loud and listenable but lacking bass and having a running commentary from some Scotsman who came to see The Proclaimers. I was wrong, the sound is clear, the audience there but not annoying, and the bass was loud and clear (one of the best I’ve heard from an audience recording). Apart from sounding a bit distant, the energy of the gig can be heard loud and clear.
Performance 9/10
It has that feeling of a Lovetown, the crowd are energetic, the band are enjoying themselves and the setlist is preformed to perfection. Mr Clayton sound creative and free, something that’s been lacking it the post JT era, Bono is a ever, other the top and in total connection with the Audience, the Edge never but a fret wrong and Mullen was on top form.
If this was a gig from Zoo TV to Vertigo, at this time I would break into some kind of set list rate (maybe next time folks). This one had really surprise, flow and abstract creativity. The band was not bored, laid back or biding time though the songs they play week in, week out. They enjoyed every song and maintain the same energy though the whole gig, creating the following highlights:
Wire: I don’t really like this song, but Clayton doesn’t play bass like that anymore
MLK: Close Encounters don’t you think
Party Girl: Sounded like a bit of a laugh if you were there
Gloria: it was the greatest song on October and it still sounded crap, this gives it justice, problem the best of the Gig
Bad: Simply a great performance of a great song
The Rain Beats Down 1984-06-11 Live at the Borrowlands, Glasgow, Scotland
Sound: Really deserves the 4-star rating here. My remaster I think has more bass compared to the original. I must agree though that a fresh encoding from lossless would be best. Bono’s voice is there, the drums are okay (sometimes a bit distant) and Adam is on fire here, because the bass noise is very loud and clear.
Performance: Just awesome….As said before, I discovered this gem at the end of 2007. Lovetown was and still is my favourite tour, but I fell in love with the TUF-era after downloading and listening quite often to the Dortmundt-show. That incomplete recording is great and that show was played at November the 21th in 1984. I soon started to download several other 1984-shows, including this one. It got my attention because it is a Scottish show, which could possibly be a great one. U2 is usually on fire when they play in Ireland or Scotland. I was right this time…the 4-star audience was worth it. I know the 1985 shows are great (Chicago, Wembley, Hartford, East Rutherford etc.) but 1984 just has better setlists and more energy in the show.
I’ve been listening to this show for many times. I was thrilled with Bad and for me it’s the best version out there. Together with Live Aid and maybe Stockholm 92 and Rotterdam 01-10 Lovetown. It’s so full of energy and commitment…just awesome.
Other stand-outs are definitely:
-The Unforgettable Fire, with a screaming Bono. The start is breathtaking too.
-Electric Co, with The Cry to start with, the song explodes into a brilliant riffs and guitar work. Amazing Grace beautifully ends it.
-Gloria, powerful and very solid. Not as good as some Lovetown performances, but very good nevertheless.
-40, love the way they played this song during the UF-era.
-SBS, played at high speed, as it should be played.
-11 O’Clock Tick Tock, I guess the Red Rocks one can’t be topped, but this one is very good too in my humble opinion.
-New Year’s Day, very powerful and flawless.
Sound: 8/10 Performance: 10/10 A must-have!
I knew this one was good and it wasn’t really difficult for me to choose this one. My first BRT-show was 1990-01-06 Rotterdam (My favourite tour Lovetown) and with TUF being my 2nd favourite tour, it wasn’t that hard to choose this one.
Well, firstly, I was originally going to go for the original but after downloading both and getting Casper's remaster, I'm glad I went for the latter. The sound on both is good but the remaster version brings depth to the bootleg and the crowd isn't too overpowering (which is quite refreshing for me, for whom most of my experiences with 80s audience recordings haven't been best...). Adam's bass blends in well, Edge's guitar chimes through as only Edge can, Bono's vocals are typical of the era and Larry drives the show along with an impeccable performance on the drum.
NB - my only qualm is that, on the whole, I'm not too keen on remasters or re-encoding or whatever you call it, because I find that often the music is broughttoo muchinto the fore and does my ears in because it sounds a bit 'shiny', like a lot of soundboard recordings and thus loses some of the magic that you get at a live show. Hence, if I can, I generally stick to audience or broadcasts because I find them to be more fully rounded (that said, give me a remaster over an earpiece recording...). However, this time round, I was far from disappointed with the remastering job Casper has done, and I would recommend this show on the sound alone.
Performance
Well, what is there to say? I think this is a hidden gem of a show - the band are on fire, the crowd raise the roof and I was fairly blown away. The more I listen to 11 O'Clock Tick Tock, the more I fall in love with it, particularly here when Bono shouts "this is the real guitar player!" before Edge's solo part, which is just incredible anyway, but this has got to rate as one of the best performances I've yet to come across - a great show opener. The band drives through the main set with a kind of reckless abandon combined with verve and panáche, a few of the highlights for me being;
Wire - my God I love this song, and this performance does it full justice. The Unforgettable Fire - a lot of people have now put this as one of the great performances, and were it not for the performance from Denver (1987-07-11) I would be inclined to agree. Two Hearts Beat As One - I don't like this song that much, still don't really, but as far as this show goes, it's an amazing performance and the crowd fed off the energy it generates; just listen to them sing the refrain on the first chorus...awesome. Seconds - another song I love, and again, a far more refined and polished performance that the War tour ever threw up in my opinion. The Electric Co. - for one, it's opened by The Cry, with for me is just a must for this song; it doesn't sound complete for me without that riff. Although I disagree with Drew about his preference for the earlier performances of early U2 songs like this, I Will Follow, Gloria etc. (although I agree that Sunday Bloody Sunday has lost some of its appeal now it's been dropped down a key and lost some of the energy it used to have), this performance is special. I haven't heard any other performances with the Amazing Grace snippet, but Bono just blew me away here during the break after Edge's solo...that was singing from the heart at its rawest and most hair-raising. I don't care for shouting, screaming, bawling etc., give me singing with soul. That was soul if I ever heard it.
Ok, A Sort Of Homecoming was slightly spoiled for me by the crowd clapping out of time and either Bono or Edge seemed to go out of sync. slightly, but that was probably the only blemish on an otherwise stunning performance. Loved every minute of it!
Conclusion
If you haven't got this show yet, get it. In the meantime, hats off to the band for pulling off incredible performances such as this that we can uncover, polish the dust off and remind ourselves just why;
a) they're the best band the world has seen, and probably ever will, and;
b) why we love them so much.
