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2011-06-24 - Glastonbury
 Tour: Various Dates
Songs played: 20
Audio recordings: 1
Videos: 1
  1. Originally posted by germcevoy:I reckon if they had played Glasgow back in 2001 they would have rivalled the nest of all time. They have missed the boat to do something godly. I don't think they'l ever play another festival. Still enjoying One and WOWY thought.


    Glasgow?


  2. Not even that. They were already touring with a minimalist stage, they had the huge current hits, the music suited it and the band seemed emotionally charged (Bob ill etc).

    I dislike Elevation but it would have worked the festival scene.
  4. Originally posted by germcevoy:I reckon if they had played Glasgow back in 2001 they would have rivalled the nest of all time. They have missed the boat to do something godly. I don't think they'l ever play another festival. Still enjoying One and WOWY thought.

    I think you mean Glastonbury and not Glasgow, but anyway, Bono's voice in 2001 was crap. Bono's voice in 2011 is just the best he's had since 1994. And don't fool ourselves, a great performance with a crappy vocal delivery would have been worse rated and remembered than a very good performance with good vocals.

    Moreover, playing Glasto in 2001 would have meant at least 5 ATYCLB songs in the setlist... and I don't think anyone here would like that nowadays. They better play 5 Achtung tracks than 5 Leave Behind ones, methinks.
  5. Bono's voice on the Sane DVD is crap yet that is a universally praised performance. There was less ego back then but watching Sane is exactly like watching a festival performance.

    I'm not saying there were any problems the other night, I still maintain that was about 8/10 as good a performance that they could deliver today. They still did well. Glastonbury won't remember it though.
  6. Glastonbury remembers very few notable things. Radiohead back in 1997, Muse and Paul McCartney in 2004, Roger Waters in 2001 or 2002 (can't remember, I have the bootleg but I coudln't be arsed) and maybe The Kinks in 1993... From recent times, Pulp in 2009 and The Who in 2007 will go into history at the same level than the others, but apart from that...

    No, of course U2's performance won't join that select group of legendary performances. Of course. But I think we should be proud that they did almost their best - counting with a strong jet-lag, not having performed full shows on festivals for 25 years, being mid-tour, having an awful weather... The conditions were not even close to optimal, but they did very well. Not legendary, but clearly above-par.
  7. U2 also isn't a festival band I reckon. Muse and Coldplay are suited for the job, although the Glasto crowd was much louder than the most 360 crowds.
  8. Originally posted by LikeASong:No, of course U2's performance won't join that select group of legendary performances. Of course. But I think we should be proud that they did almost their best - counting with a strong jet-lag, not having performed full shows on festivals for 25 years, being mid-tour, having an awful weather... The conditions were not even close to optimal, but they did very well. Not legendary, but clearly above-par.


    agreed
  9. Originally posted by dieder:[..]

    not sure, I think they are bigger now., Back then they were also way more conscious that they had something to prove.


    "Bigger" might have been the wrong word..."something to prove" is right and therefore they relied more on their music (as opposed to the whole production). They had more critical acclaim a decade ago. In other words, they were praised for stipping things back down.
  10. I think there are four factors to a legendary Glasto performance:

    1) The artist must be the biggest, or one of the biggest acts, in Britain at the time of the performance.
    2) They must be at their peak.
    3) They must be able to sustain a good live show for two hours.
    4) They must be able to deal with the small stage being so far away from a huge crowd.

    It's a tall order, which is why only a few performances from the Pyramid Stage are really remembered. The obvious example is Radiohead in 1997. They had just released OK Computer. The British public had grown tired of Britpop and everyone loved Radiohead's stripped-down approach which focussed on the songs.

    In recent years there has been a trend of 'marquee' acts, i.e. Paul McCartney, and 'novelty' acts who are different for Glastonbury, i.e. Jay-Z, or indie darlings, i.e. The Killers, Arcade Fire, who can't sustain a full set to that size of crowd.

    U2 are definitely a marquee act and have passed their peak. There was no way they could produce an all-time classic performance. But they hardly put a foot wrong.
  12. awesome!
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