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  1. I'll open the batting (apologies to non-cricket playing nations)

    Thomas and Mack Arena, Las Vegas 2001-11-18

    Performance

    This was a decent outing from the boys as they entered the home stretch of this relatively short tour. After a fullish year of touring Bono's voice was clearly on the wane and the band overall seemed to be suffering from a bit of tour fatigue at times. Add to that a rather weak setlist without some of the tour's highlights - Remakes of The Fly and Discotheque and the rediscovery of Out of Control - and you probably have a show that was never going to reach any great heights.

    However the band still managed to belt out some solid performances that make this boot worth at least one listen.

    I thought the front quarter of this boot was clearly the best. Elevation is thrashed out with some energy as is Beautiful Day. The momentum is maintained right through the standard follow through numbers Until The End of the World, New Year's and I Will Follow.

    From there it starts to turn to shit. Sunday is bellowed out pretty painfully, Stuck in a Moment's seen better days and that middle set is absolutely atrocious. From Kite to Please would disappoint me if I was there.

    But Elevation's great strength was that if the boy's acoustic set fell flat (which it does here) they have their big guns in Bad----->Streets to up the ante and it worked a treat here. What a snippet to slot in between in Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses! Clearly a show highlight.

    I Still Haven't Found doesn't work in this position while the encore is lacklustre but all post-9/11 shows suffer from this when you have What's Going On effectively replacing The Fly. It's like trading in a Rolls Royce for a bike - and Gwen Stefani doesn't save it.

    The encore's strengths were Bullet and New York. That's about it really. The boys tried hard and delivered in most parts of the show. 3.5 stars.

    Audience

    The audience was impressive. You could hear them getting into it all the way through. They knew the high spots and gave the boys a rousing reception at every opportunity. 4 stars

    Sound

    Probably not quite the 4-star rating listed here. Volume was a problem (I had it up close to maximum) and no instrument cuts through with any great penetration. This version sounds like its changed hands a few times. 3.5 stars

    Overall

    Highlights

    Elevation--->Beautiful Day gave the showa good kickstart

    Bad/Wild Horses--->Psalm 116/Streets - particularly Wild Horses snippet. Great diversity.

    Lowlights

    That middle part was a total disappointment. Wild Honey just doesn't work live, Bono's changing the lyrics stuffed up People Get Ready and Please is always crap. Compare this to some real Elevation acoustic beauties in Desire, Staring at the Sun and Stay. I know what I'd choose.

    A show worth checking out at least. But this show loses at least one star simply because of when it was played - by then the tour had lost all its bright spots, particularly The Fly. 3.5 stars.
  3. I can get mine done tomorrow if that's cool. Wait until you see what I've got to say about the show.
  5. 2001-11-18 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Thomas And Mack Arena


    Performance (2.5 stars)

    Back to Las Vegas, four years later after the 1997 screw-up (one of the best U2 screw-ups, mind you). Like aussie has already pointed out, Bono's voice was not too great towards the end of the tour, but it was decent enough, and he seemed tired. I find Please to be a great song, but an acoustic version just does not do it justice. I won't even bother with tracks 1-11, I can't be stuffed writing about them.

    Larry, Edge and Adam, however, are on fire in Las Vegas and it only got better for them towards the end of the tour. Maybe they were looking forward to a holiday!

    Why they bothered with Gwen Stefani is beyond me - she might be a special guest, but Bruce would have been better on I Still Haven't Found. Probably starting from Bad through to Walk On, the show picked up a bit of pace with some real good tunes - New York is one of my favourite songs from the whole album and they were on this one real well. Kite was truly painful and not in a good way. I Will Follow is always a great track to stick in anywhere, and this was one of the only good performances at this show. Even Walk On, which live sounds like the 7EP mix, was a bit lacklustre.

    Sadly, you get a standard set-list here, which is a bit of a disappointment.




    Audience (3 stars)

    It's Las Vegas, the most energetic crowds in the whole US of A - and nothing can be too strange there. They're loud enough to give U2 a real applause after almost every show, but not so loud to ruin the recording, which is always a good thing.




    Sound (3.5 stars)

    As I've pointed out numerous times, a recording obviously cannot capture the true sound of a show, but it was a decent recording. No audible clicks, pops, stutters or anything else await you - but it was only a small venue, so the recording should have been more than decent, which it was.




    Overall

    Overall, I'd have to give it a combined rating of three stars. Not too low, not too high but about right on average. No U2 show is absolute crap, but they can be lacklustre, and this is one of the perfect examples of being lacklustre and unexciting. But then, the supporting album is not exactly the most exciting thing to hit me in the last few years.
  6. Originally posted by drewhiggins:2001-11-18 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Thomas And Mack Arena


    Performance (2.5 stars)

    Back to Las Vegas, four years later after the 1997 screw-up (one of the best U2 screw-ups, mind you). Like aussie has already pointed out, Bono's voice was not too great towards the end of the tour, but it was decent enough, and he seemed tired. I find Please to be a great song, but an acoustic version just does not do it justice. I won't even bother with tracks 1-11, I can't be stuffed writing about them.

    Larry, Edge and Adam, however, are on fire in Las Vegas and it only got better for them towards the end of the tour. Maybe they were looking forward to a holiday!

    Why they bothered with Gwen Stefani is beyond me - she might be a special guest, but Bruce would have been better on I Still Haven't Found. Probably starting from Bad through to Walk On, the show picked up a bit of pace with some real good tunes - New York is one of my favourite songs from the whole album and they were on this one real well. Kite was truly painful and not in a good way. I Will Follow is always a great track to stick in anywhere, and this was one of the only good performances at this show. Even Walk On, which live sounds like the 7EP mix, was a bit lacklustre.

    Sadly, you get a standard set-list here, which is a bit of a disappointment.




    Audience (3 stars)

    It's Las Vegas, the most energetic crowds in the whole US of A - and nothing can be too strange there. They're loud enough to give U2 a real applause after almost every show, but not so loud to ruin the recording, which is always a good thing.




    Sound (3.5 stars)

    As I've pointed out numerous times, a recording obviously cannot capture the true sound of a show, but it was a decent recording. No audible clicks, pops, stutters or anything else await you - but it was only a small venue, so the recording should have been more than decent, which it was.




    Overall

    Overall, I'd have to give it a combined rating of three stars. Not too low, not too high but about right on average. No U2 show is absolute crap, but they can be lacklustre, and this is one of the perfect examples of being lacklustre and unexciting. But then, the supporting album is not exactly the most exciting thing to hit me in the last few years.


    Pretty much along the same lines. Overall what would you give it?

  7. Originally posted by drewhiggins:An interesting fact, while having nothing to do with my review that occured to me was that my favourite Joshua Tree show took place 14 years to the day in Los Angeles in 1987.
    Indeed. They seem to like November 18th... 1980, 1981, 1987, 1989, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006... Is there any other dat on the year with 8 (great) concerts!?


  8. Three out of five stars, easily. Nothing more, possibly less if I felt like it. The original IEM put me off this show permanently and the last Miami show. There are some fantastic recordings in 2006 leading from the 7th (Brisbane) to the 19th (Melbourne), but I still say the 16th is the best show of that week.
  9. More reviews pls!
  10. I'm delayed as always...probably coming weekend
  12. Thomas and Mack Arena, Las Vegas 2001-11-18

    Performance

    If you like the Elevation tour, I don't think you'll be disappointed by this show. The band certainly give it a go, and the crowd seem to relish the occasion, storming through a pretty impressive opening set (special mention to an awesome rendition of UTEOTW, with Edge in top form and nailing the solo), although SBS felt a bit flat, despite the best efforts of all involved (including the guy who sings "no more!" out of time quite a lot). I don't have any bone to pick with the middle section, i.e. from Stuck In A Moment through to Please; ok, I've never been much of a fan of People Get Ready but I liked the jaunty feel of Wild Honey, and I love Please in pretty much any form, and I think it's a great acoustic rendition - there's something about the acoustic format that really captures the raw power and emotion of the song.

    Now, Bad - I love the snippet of WGRYWH (I'm sure everyone would be shocked if I said otherwise!) but as a segue into Streets, it just doesn't work at all, similar to the few times during the Vertigo tour where they played WGRYWH on the European leg before COBL - without a good bit of work, it's not a song that you can follow on from. Unlike snippetting something like '40' or AIWIY where the crowd's participation really connects the 2 songs together, there's just no feel of natural continuity, although as individual performances, it must be said that they are both churned out with feeling and energy by the band. I liked ISHFWILF and Pride closing the main set, although I feel I'm probably in the minority on that score! The encore was, for the most part, great (really gutsy version of New York, certainly gets a thumbs-up from me) although I just can't bring myself to like What's Going On with Gwen Stefani turning up - I'm sorry, I can't stand her singing, and never could, but if you are a fan you may well love it.

    Audience

    As ever, a lively and enthusiastic Las Vegas crowd who contribute to the bootleg without overtaking and spoiling the experience as a whole.

    Sound

    Nice balance with the crowd not taking over and the band being audible without overpowering in any department. Not a pinnacle amongst audience recordings but certainly better than many. There are the odd few moments when the sound fluctuates (notably at the beginning when Elevation kicks in) or flutters and pops (e.g during Streets), but otherwise it makes for comfortable listening.

    Overall

    I like this show, I won't beat around the bush on that - sure, I wouldn't say it comes close to Lovetown or other moments in U2's history with regard to pinnacles in live performances, but I listen to this show quite a lot and never feel disappointed for it. For me, it's a typical 3rd leg show - post-9/11, I've never got the feeling that U2 were going out to promote new material or to woo people with a stunning performance; they were going out night after night with the intention of bringing hope and joy back to a nation who had suffered in the most tragic of circumstances, and I think this show really exemplifies that - Bono is very refreshing in his performance because of it. The word that keeps going around in my head is humility; there's no sense of "oh yeah, bring it on, check us out" - he quite simply seems to be living for the moment and enjoying just going out and playing music with his best friends and in front of an adoring audience, and the band provide an impressive platform for him to really vent forth and it's quite inspiring.
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