gvox
Ghost of Love
I used to remember that, but then alot of those memories were forever overwritten with the scars of reading J's Wire contributions. 
A quick question for those who saw a Zoo TV show in person.
- Thread starter trevgreg
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
It's not quite the same. In person, your brain and eyes felt like they were forced to choose between looking at 20 different things all at once.Was seeing "The Fly" performed live just as cool as the Sydney show makes it out to be, or was it 100 times more than that or anything else that can do it justice? Just wondering...
While I was one of the loudest complainers about this w/ 360 2009, I don't think I would have minded it much at all on Zoo TV.
U2 were releasing albums so close together back then that it hadn't really been a long time since these favorites were played. They had just spent most of the 1980s as staples or frequently rotated standards.
Also, AB was not just a big album like TUF or ATYCLB or HTDAAB, but an iconic album in rock history, just like JT. Having 2 smash hit, worldwide phenomenon records in 4 years, one of which the tour was designed to promote, is more than enough justification for 15 songs in the set.(5 JT, 10 AB).
Just coming into the 1990s, a U2 fan who was a show veteran would've heard Gloria, Electric Co, SBS, NYD and IWF too many times to count. And pretty recently, all things considered.
SBS was supposed to continue a band imposed hiatus that had been working quite well since 1989.
Besides, at that time, all that the die hard live veterans really needed and viewed as indispensable was Bad, and that was played all the time for the first couple legs of Zoo TV.
Finally, and most importantly, AB and Zoo TV were designed, as others have already said, to be a major overhaul in image and sound. The tour was to reflect this, and it did. The concept worked, I think, more than anyone could have ever imagined. All of the AB songs seemed to work perfectly where they were placed, the middle part on the B-stage worked just as well and then the run through the 80s U2 to end the main set was mind blowing.
Ultraviolet and WOWY were and still are a great team in encores, Desire was and continues to be reinvented and LIB was a great closer. Later, Zooropa material worked well in the encore too.It just wasn't conducive at all to coming out, playing 2 AB songs and then going right into I Will Follow or Gloria. Maybe those songs could have rotated with Still Havent Found or a slot they usually reserved for covers, but on Zoo TV, I can't see the absence of them as something I'd complain about.
Plus, SBS and NYD both came in and stayed for a long time, especially NYD. Even IWF got some busker type performances on the b-stage.
All of the songs fit exactly where they were, and the AB material was especially good live and on the Zoo TV set in particular. It was almost a case of you love the back catalog, but you don't really need it to put on a spectacular show.
360 is entirely different. The stage production is not in the least bit tied to the album, yet being U2, they had to play a bunch of new songs. So as a result, we got songs like Unknown Caller, which are not at all suited to stadiums, instead of I Will Follow and Bad, which clearly are. Then you have the whole issue of putting this massive claw out there and playing YBR and a bunch of mediocre ATYCLB stuff. I've said it before and I'll say it again, 2009 almost put me to sleep.
This tour works much better when songs are rotated, and it lends itself to that much more than Zoo TV did. It's different today, U2 have more of a catalog to cover and the old classics don't suffer from the worn out, we're sick of the same old 80s U2 syndrome they did back during Zoo TV. They've actually aged quite well.
I think the 2000s output is great, I rate it a good deal higher than most people here, and it should get its due live. That doesn't mean it should stamp out so many great songs entirely, however. I just think the 2000s has more songs that are better left on the 1st 1 or 2 tours after release (Elevation, Walk On, Stuck, Love and Peace, Original) than either the 80s or 90s. After that, it should be either new material that works(i.e. not unknown caller) or songs from the back catalog.
So I guess I can see the criticism from 80s fans of early Zoo TV but I don't agree with it. If I had to say they had a point somewhere, it would be that Zoo Tv was when U2 said "aha, we really don't need all those 1980-87 live favorites to put on a damn good show, let's remember that in the future." PopMart, Elevation and Vertigo had a good balance between old and new, I think, but they chose 360 to remember this from Zoo TV. Which would have been ok if, as I already said, NLOTH was as popular, as much of a departure, and as conducive to the 360 production as AB was to Zoo TV.
It wasn't and attempts to construct a Zoo TV like opening barrage of all new material came across as awkward and was dropped for 2010.
/end of long, pointless, somewhat off topic set list rant!
Being one of the younger fans, my eperience of U2 was actually the opposite of what has been said here. AB was my first U2 album, and the Zoo TV Sydney show was my first U2 dvd. So their sound and image from the early 90s was how I was introduced to U2 and for me that was the "real" U2. And when I saw the Rattle & Hum film I was thinking "Who the hell are these guys? They seem like strangers! So earnest and down to earth. Where are the quips, where's the irony?" Pretty funny.
kingofsorrow
Refugee
While I was one of the loudest complainers about this w/ 360 2009, I don't think I would have minded it much at all on Zoo TV.
U2 were releasing albums so close together back then that it hadn't really been a long time since these favorites were played. They had just spent most of the 1980s as staples or frequently rotated standards.
Also, AB was not just a big album like TUF or ATYCLB or HTDAAB, but an iconic album in rock history, just like JT. Having 2 smash hit, worldwide phenomenon records in 4 years, one of which the tour was designed to promote, is more than enough justification for 15 songs in the set.(5 JT, 10 AB).
Just coming into the 1990s, a U2 fan who was a show veteran would've heard Gloria, Electric Co, SBS, NYD and IWF too many times to count. And pretty recently, all things considered.
SBS was supposed to continue a band imposed hiatus that had been working quite well since 1989.
Besides, at that time, all that the die hard live veterans really needed and viewed as indispensable was Bad, and that was played all the time for the first couple legs of Zoo TV.
Finally, and most importantly, AB and Zoo TV were designed, as others have already said, to be a major overhaul in image and sound. The tour was to reflect this, and it did. The concept worked, I think, more than anyone could have ever imagined. All of the AB songs seemed to work perfectly where they were placed, the middle part on the B-stage worked just as well and then the run through the 80s U2 to end the main set was mind blowing.
It just wasn't conducive at all to coming out, playing 2 AB songs and then going right into I Will Follow or Gloria. Maybe those songs could have rotated with Still Havent Found or a slot they usually reserved for covers, but on Zoo TV, I can't see the absence of them as something I'd complain about.
Plus, SBS and NYD both came in and stayed for a long time, especially NYD. Even IWF got some busker type performances on the b-stage.
All of the songs fit exactly where they were, and the AB material was especially good live and on the Zoo TV set in particular. It was almost a case of you love the back catalog, but you don't really need it to put on a spectacular show.
360 is entirely different. The stage production is not in the least bit tied to the album, yet being U2, they had to play a bunch of new songs. So as a result, we got songs like Unknown Caller, which are not at all suited to stadiums, instead of I Will Follow and Bad, which clearly are. Then you have the whole issue of putting this massive claw out there and playing YBR and a bunch of mediocre ATYCLB stuff. I've said it before and I'll say it again, 2009 almost put me to sleep.
This tour works much better when songs are rotated, and it lends itself to that much more than Zoo TV did. It's different today, U2 have more of a catalog to cover and the old classics don't suffer from the worn out, we're sick of the same old 80s U2 syndrome they did back during Zoo TV. They've actually aged quite well.
I think the 2000s output is great, I rate it a good deal higher than most people here, and it should get its due live. That doesn't mean it should stamp out so many great songs entirely, however. I just think the 2000s has more songs that are better left on the 1st 1 or 2 tours after release (Elevation, Walk On, Stuck, Love and Peace, Original) than either the 80s or 90s. After that, it should be either new material that works(i.e. not unknown caller) or songs from the back catalog.
So I guess I can see the criticism from 80s fans of early Zoo TV but I don't agree with it. If I had to say they had a point somewhere, it would be that Zoo Tv was when U2 said "aha, we really don't need all those 1980-87 live favorites to put on a damn good show, let's remember that in the future." PopMart, Elevation and Vertigo had a good balance between old and new, I think, but they chose 360 to remember this from Zoo TV. Which would have been ok if, as I already said, NLOTH was as popular, as much of a departure, and as conducive to the 360 production as AB was to Zoo TV.
It wasn't and attempts to construct a Zoo TV like opening barrage of all new material came across as awkward and was dropped for 2010.
/end of long, pointless, somewhat off topic set list rant!
My first show of U2 was Zoo TV was March 24, 1992. I was a poor and broke university student back then. I somehow managed to get to that show in Toronto, at Maple Leaf Gardens. Back then in residence, many folks had CD players and owning and buying new CDs was the thing to do. Lots of folks had Achtung Baby on automatic play....... That album was the bomb and still my favourite to date.
The Zoo TV tour was the tour that created the touring monster in me. After seeing them in Toronto, I went to Detroit that same week , Friday March 27, 1992, with floor tickets in hand. It was at this show I witnessed the Speedy Pizza incident and the spontaneity of the band.
It wouldn't be until the Outside Broadcasts shows where I knew I would be following U2 for the rest of my life.
That tour.....that album.....Bono's personas....they changed me and they were the shows that dreams were made of.
The Fly was the first single from Achtung Baby, I believe. Bono said, "the sound of four men chopping down the Joshua Tree." It truly was an amazing reinvention....an amazing time.
In my university dorm room, I had (and still have) the program from Zoo TV. I would read the interview program almost every night in disbelief that these guys from Dublin just changed the game (music, touring, re-invention) for all bands to follow.
The Zoo TV tour was the tour that created the touring monster in me. After seeing them in Toronto, I went to Detroit that same week , Friday March 27, 1992, with floor tickets in hand. It was at this show I witnessed the Speedy Pizza incident and the spontaneity of the band.
It wouldn't be until the Outside Broadcasts shows where I knew I would be following U2 for the rest of my life.
That tour.....that album.....Bono's personas....they changed me and they were the shows that dreams were made of.
The Fly was the first single from Achtung Baby, I believe. Bono said, "the sound of four men chopping down the Joshua Tree." It truly was an amazing reinvention....an amazing time.
In my university dorm room, I had (and still have) the program from Zoo TV. I would read the interview program almost every night in disbelief that these guys from Dublin just changed the game (music, touring, re-invention) for all bands to follow.
Yahweh_OMG
New Yorker
better in person by 1000 miles....
but I guess my memories are a bit "brainwashed". However, I remember myself being paralysed for 10 minutes during Zoo Station and The Fly....
I was 15, first U2 concert, first rock concert at all I guess....1992 please come back.
but I guess my memories are a bit "brainwashed". However, I remember myself being paralysed for 10 minutes during Zoo Station and The Fly....
I was 15, first U2 concert, first rock concert at all I guess....1992 please come back.
Yahweh_OMG
New Yorker
I like your comment.
For me it was the opposite. I was shocked when AB came out, but after a few days, I loved it better than anything before. It still is by far my favourite album.
Popmartijn
Blue Crack Supplier
but I guess my memories are a bit "brainwashed". However, I remember myself being paralysed for 10 minutes during Zoo Station and The Fly....
I guess the ZooTV concerts are a bit like the Sixties. If you can remember them then you weren't there.
nirniva
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
...It really is a cycle, isn't it?The more things change, the more they stay the same.
EDIT: Also, 
.
.
I saw both the shows in Tacoma, and they were probably still my favorite concerts performances ever! The whole show on both nights blew me away--especially with the, ahead of its time, sensory overload! Oh yeah...and The Fly was incredible!
doctorwho
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Not to discredit your experiences, but I attended several ZOO TV shows too and with some long time fans. Both were in the Chicago area. And I did not hear any comments about "selling out".
I will admit, some 80's fans were not overly thrilled with AB at first. In another thread I mentioned how some of the songs on AB can indeed flow with JT and R&H. But that's with the advantage of perspective. In 1991, it was a dramatic departure. However, the quality of the album won those fans over. Sadly, some of those fans refused to accept "Zooropa" (and probably more were lost with "Pop"). ATYCLB saw them return - but I digress.
As I stated, some fans needed time to adjust to the music, but by the time the tour had come around, it was clear what U2 as doing and their image, etc. So I never heard any of those "sell out" comments in my world, nor in the online world (used to interact with the alt.fan.u2 and alt.music.u2 newsgroups back in the day, before WIRE and well before Interference).
As for the song, it was incredible live. In fact, the whole show was fantastic. It really was a sensory overload. The criticism I heard was not about selling out, but that the music was so good it didn't need all of the visuals that U2 provided. In fact, some felt it was a distraction. But then, with the JT tour, I heard criticisms either about Bono's rants or that as there were no video walls at all, people couldn't even see U2 if they were further back. ZOO TV, as every tour since, has taken care of the latter issue. The Bono rants remain.
Moser
Refugee
While I was one of the loudest complainers about this w/ 360 2009, I don't think I would have minded it much at all on Zoo TV.
U2 were releasing albums so close together back then that it hadn't really been a long time since these favorites were played. They had just spent most of the 1980s as staples or frequently rotated standards.
Also, AB was not just a big album like TUF or ATYCLB or HTDAAB, but an iconic album in rock history, just like JT. Having 2 smash hit, worldwide phenomenon records in 4 years, one of which the tour was designed to promote, is more than enough justification for 15 songs in the set.(5 JT, 10 AB).
Just coming into the 1990s, a U2 fan who was a show veteran would've heard Gloria, Electric Co, SBS, NYD and IWF too many times to count. And pretty recently, all things considered.
SBS was supposed to continue a band imposed hiatus that had been working quite well since 1989.
Besides, at that time, all that the die hard live veterans really needed and viewed as indispensable was Bad, and that was played all the time for the first couple legs of Zoo TV.
Finally, and most importantly, AB and Zoo TV were designed, as others have already said, to be a major overhaul in image and sound. The tour was to reflect this, and it did. The concept worked, I think, more than anyone could have ever imagined. All of the AB songs seemed to work perfectly where they were placed, the middle part on the B-stage worked just as well and then the run through the 80s U2 to end the main set was mind blowing.
It just wasn't conducive at all to coming out, playing 2 AB songs and then going right into I Will Follow or Gloria. Maybe those songs could have rotated with Still Havent Found or a slot they usually reserved for covers, but on Zoo TV, I can't see the absence of them as something I'd complain about.
Plus, SBS and NYD both came in and stayed for a long time, especially NYD. Even IWF got some busker type performances on the b-stage.
All of the songs fit exactly where they were, and the AB material was especially good live and on the Zoo TV set in particular. It was almost a case of you love the back catalog, but you don't really need it to put on a spectacular show.
360 is entirely different. The stage production is not in the least bit tied to the album, yet being U2, they had to play a bunch of new songs. So as a result, we got songs like Unknown Caller, which are not at all suited to stadiums, instead of I Will Follow and Bad, which clearly are. Then you have the whole issue of putting this massive claw out there and playing YBR and a bunch of mediocre ATYCLB stuff. I've said it before and I'll say it again, 2009 almost put me to sleep.
This tour works much better when songs are rotated, and it lends itself to that much more than Zoo TV did. It's different today, U2 have more of a catalog to cover and the old classics don't suffer from the worn out, we're sick of the same old 80s U2 syndrome they did back during Zoo TV. They've actually aged quite well.
I think the 2000s output is great, I rate it a good deal higher than most people here, and it should get its due live. That doesn't mean it should stamp out so many great songs entirely, however. I just think the 2000s has more songs that are better left on the 1st 1 or 2 tours after release (Elevation, Walk On, Stuck, Love and Peace, Original) than either the 80s or 90s. After that, it should be either new material that works(i.e. not unknown caller) or songs from the back catalog.
So I guess I can see the criticism from 80s fans of early Zoo TV but I don't agree with it. If I had to say they had a point somewhere, it would be that Zoo Tv was when U2 said "aha, we really don't need all those 1980-87 live favorites to put on a damn good show, let's remember that in the future." PopMart, Elevation and Vertigo had a good balance between old and new, I think, but they chose 360 to remember this from Zoo TV. Which would have been ok if, as I already said, NLOTH was as popular, as much of a departure, and as conducive to the 360 production as AB was to Zoo TV.
It wasn't and attempts to construct a Zoo TV like opening barrage of all new material came across as awkward and was dropped for 2010.
/end of long, pointless, somewhat off topic set list rant!
Nice rant, but I disagree with one point. I really liked 2009! September 13 in Chicago absolutely blew my mind. The city really embraced the band and their new songs. Even YBR. Which was amazing! I couldn't believe they actually played it!
coolian2
Blue Crack Supplier
this.
jaynejenjune
The Fly
1000 x better in person ......... i remember being blown away by the sets .. the lights ... the art! ....... i had seen an installation of the artist Jenny Holtzer (known for streaming LED phrases) not too long before I saw the Zoo tour ... was so impressed with U2's use of that media.............when those lights went down and the blue static screens appeared with The Fly... that was it for me .... i was totally hooked on U2 for life....the problem with viewing this on film is that at that live U2 show ... you were inside the experience ... it was complete sensory overload ...
I personally enjoyed YBR in Boston 9/21. I loved both those shows overall.
Though I still think 2010 was much better.
Just in terms of energy, crowd response, set lists, etc, something was missing compared to the other U2 shows I had seen. Can't really describe it.
The crowd, usually great in Boston, was terrible, people exited in droves at the end of the main set and then filled out stupid surveys from BoB Kraft saying they would not see a 2010 U2 show in Boston. Most cited traffic on the survey.
Boston had no clue what the new songs were and playing 4 in a row to start did not help.
It was 1000x cooler in person, especially the first time when I had no idea what to expect!
The only thing I really knew about the Zoo TV Tour was what I read in the paper. I hadn't even seen a clip on TV about it. I had no idea what to really expect. I didn't even know what the set list was really going to be. The first Zoo TV show I saw was the Hersheypark Outside Rehearsal show in 1992. It was my first U2 concert and is still my favorite. In some ways I think this may have been better not knowing too much about the show beforehand. By the time I saw a 360 show I knew exactly what to expect from reading fan reviews and watching clips on Youtube. 360 was a great show but Zoo TV is still the best in my opinion.
this.
and this.
i freaking cried when ybr started. i cried! i'd never experienced that before at a u2 show to be honest, the last time i had was during vertigo for totally different reasons. it sucks they dropped ybr but oh well, to be selfish it is kinda awesome that not only did i hear its live debut, but i was also part of a very small percentage of people who got to hear it at all.
popacrobat
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
that's how I feel about vertigo's discotheque. saw it in toronto - so I also only saw the only show with the pop muzik encore. sucks that both got dropped, but hey, i'm part of that small percentage that saw it.
so I guess i'm selfish right with ya there.
cobl04
45:33
i got to see the best Streets ever in December as well!!
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
The inside broadcast one was even better 
doctorwho
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Yep, I agree. Saw the Chicago shows - they were great. I love this tour. Maybe not all of the songs flow with the design, but many do and the claw is so over-powering it become inspirational. You really feel awed yet drawn in at the same time.
So while I can accept arguments about setlists (and those have gone on since PopMart), I think U2 are right there with ZOO TV in terms of showmanship and quality.
nirniva
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Oh, man, Chicago II might have been one of the greatest nights of my life. Roll on, 7/5/11!
