What are some of U2's best shows/performances?

[Songman]

I'm not new to U2. I am aware of their impressive back catalogue in music, and have checked out stuff on youtube and have all their dvds except Elevation Boston, Vertigo Milano, and ZooTV Sydney which I plan to get, Popmart Mexico I really don't know about getting. I have checked out some of their earlier shows, some ZooTV stuff, but of all the fan shot stuff I've watched, the performance of 'Beautiful day' on the day after Bono's dads death, has to be the most powerful.

So really, what I'm asking, is a suggestion of maybe a list of some of their best shows. I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan, and fans make a bootlegs best of list that fans go off of. Is there anything like that here? And also, some of their best unofficial stuff on youtube that you really like.

Cheers.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Get yourself onto dimeadozen or u2torrents and start with soundboard / FM / broadcast shows from all eras and then take it from there. I think one big difference compared to Springsteen is lack of setlist variation and the fact that U2's shows aren't nearly as long as Bruce's. Also with their static setlists and in particular from 2001 (Elevation Tour) and beyond there isn't a pile of variation in terms of their performance from one night to the next. Again, start with the good quality shows and go from there.

Make a start with the Dublin Lovetown shows from December 1989.

 

[Galeongirl]

U2 start.com | Share your passion
You can check the setlists there and download shows the slow way. But all audio is ready to use MP3.

www.u2torrents.com
super fast torrent sharing, BUT no officially released material is allowed. Audio bootlegs are in FLAC, lossless, and video boots are high quality.

As Andrew Said, the Point Dupot shows are brilliant. I can also suggest Lovetown Rotterdam, ZooTv Dublin radio broadcast, ZooTv Stockholm, Popmart Sarajevo is very special with the backstory, Popmart Leeds was a great show, Vertigo Milan2, Vertigo Amsterdam III, 360 Amsterdam II(first mad setlist change).

 

[nickoslo]

my favorites:
unforgettable fire tour-bolonga italy 1985
Joshua tree tour-denver colorado,paris dvd all r&h songs 1987
lovetown-point depot first date thats 26 12 1989
zoo tv-stockholm washington anaheim 1992,london dublin adeliade 1993
popmart-leeds sarajevo mexico 1997
elevation- madison square garden 1+2+3 2001
vertigo- Hawai 2006

 

[Songman]

Woa thank you very much for those links and suggestions....I think I'm going to have a lot of fun. Awesome stuff

And yes Andrew, that is true. Springsteen's concerts are just the absolute pinnacle of rock and roll shows. But I am really appreciating the energy of U2's shows lately. There's something very raw and fierce in their performances that just makes you watch on.

 

[Utoo]

Are you looking for audio boots and DVDs, or just the latter? Some of their greatest shows are audio only or only half-decent video, given the era in which they were performed.

If you're interested in audio, check out the four Point Depot, Dublin Lovetown shows from 1989, "Mountains and Deserts" from Denver 1987-11-07, Dublin 1993-08-31, the PopMart Leeds show, the Elevation show from London (?) on the day Bono's dad died (August, but can't recall the date). There are plenty more, but those are some of the commonly loved ones off the top of my head.

As for DVDs, there are a handful of proshot bootleg DVDs from most eras, many of which are great shows. A good number from Boy, Lorely Amphitheater from 1983 (where most of the audio of UABRS is from), Dortmund Germany from 1984 (a must-have for all Bad fans), LA 1987, Syracuse 1987, Lovetown/Sydney segments, the Rattle & Hum Outtakes discs, Stockholm ZooTV, a handful of other proshot ZooTV, a few PopMart but it sounds like you might not be a big fan of that. For Elevation onward, your best bets are probably the official DVDs IMO.

 

[youarenotimmune]

The last 8 Lovetown shows.....4 at the Point Depot, 4 in Rotterdam.......the absolute pinnacle of rock shows imho

 

[Axver]

For some earlier quality audio recordings, check out 1981-11-04, Berlin (the DVD is good too); 1982-12-06, London; 1983-05-06, Boston; and 1985-03-21, Chicago.

 

[kramwest1]

Some Vertigo musts (obviously Bonolulu is a must):

Vertigo Vegas night 2. I'm pretty sure there is a ChrisEdge recording of it. Fabulous ending with Bad.

Oct. 8, 2005 NYC Madison Square Garden was pretty damn good--Mary J Blige on One and Fast Cars live.

Vertigo Auckland night 1 is my recording--first NZ show in 13 years. Great One Tree Hill!

 

[bono_man2002]

The show when they played One. That was fucking great.

 

[Galeongirl]

The show when they played One. That was fucking great.

You mean the one where they had MJB on stage right?

 

[bono_man2002]

Oh yeah that is totally up there

 

[Chrisedge]

From my post on U2T.com (one from each tour )

1981-02-12 Den Haag
1983-05-06 Boston
1984-10-23 Nantes
1987-04-29 Chicago
1990-01-10 Rotterdam
1993-08-28 Dublin
1997-08-28 Leeds
2001-06-09 Boston (Or my 11/19/01 recording )
2005-03-28 San Diego (My recording)
2009-09-13 Chicago (My recording...I might change this to a newer show, but I like all the songs this night)

 

[brooklynmike]

I'm not new to U2. I am aware of their impressive back catalogue in music, and have checked out stuff on youtube and have all their dvds except Elevation Boston, Vertigo Milano, and ZooTV Sydney which I plan to get, Popmart Mexico I really don't know about getting.

Well Jeez, that's like saying I have all of Bruce's albums except Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Nebraska, Born in the USA, Tunnel of Love, Human Touch, Lucky Town and the Ghost of Tom Joad. I'm not sure about getting Greetings from Asbury Park

In my opinion, get yourself ZooTV Sydney first, followed by Popmart Mexico and then Elevation Boston.

Then move on to the bootlegs suggested in the posts above.

 

[kramwest1]

Well Jeez, that's like saying I have all of Bruce's albums except Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Nebraska, Born in the USA, Tunnel of Love, Human Touch, Lucky Town and the Ghost of Tom Joad. I'm not sure about getting Greetings from Asbury Park

In my opinion, get yourself ZooTV Sydney first, followed by Popmart Mexico and then Elevation Boston.

Then move on to the bootlegs suggested in the posts above.

WAY back when, I watched ZooTV Sydney on Laserdisc on my (rich) friend's home surround system (1994? 1995?).
This was before I had seen U2 live in person, and became the reason I went to Sydney to see Popmart.

WATCH IT!!!

 

[bono_212]

1985-03-21, Chicago.

Thissssssss