Bono and Edge perform two (old songs) in O2 Dublin

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I disagree about the tours.

Vertigo was better for me alone for Bono's voice.

It was more about the message, Elevation was more intimate and about the band being the band.

Elevation may be more emotional in retrospect because of everything that happened that year.

I loved Elevation, but I loved Vertigo even more. I just listened to Kite from Sydney a couple of days ago and it is my favourite performance of that song. That and Bono's "operatic" voice are the keys to why I prefer the Vertigo tour. But both tours had special moments. Then again, I'm not a fan of PopMart.

I wouldn't mind them reducing the visuals and special effects for the next tour and return into a more intimate environment. I want to see the music take center stage again.

I loved the Vertigo outdoor stage, it was really impressive. The visuals not being really effective is a problem of summer open air shows, because of the long daylight.
 
last unicorn said:
I disagree about the tours.

Vertigo was better for me alone for Bono's voice.

It was more about the message, Elevation was more intimate and about the band being the band.

Elevation may be more emotional in retrospect because of everything that happened that year.

I loved Elevation, but I loved Vertigo even more. I just listened to Kite from Sydney a couple of days ago and it is my favourite performance of that song. That and Bono's "operatic" voice are the keys to why I prefer the Vertigo tour. But both tours had special moments. Then again, I'm not a fan of PopMart.

I wouldn't mind them reducing the visuals and special effects for the next tour and return into a more intimate environment. I want to see the music take center stage again.

I loved the Vertigo outdoor stage, it was really impressive. The visuals not being really effective is a problem of summer open air shows, because of the long daylight.
Click to expand...

We agree in two points: I'm not a fan of Pop either, in contrast to Elevation, it seemed that everything was in the wrong place. His voice, the songs, the lemon, the outfits.
And Vertigo outdoor stage was really really impressive. The shows they made here maybe were the biggest production ever to land here. Was huge and beautiful. And the Zoo Station and The Fly section of the show was out of this world!
 
Performances were better on the last tour but Elevation was a better more complete live experience and it was a more fresh stage setup than Popmart or Vertigo.
 
I wouldn't use the term "fresh" when describing the Elevation stage, other than the heart it was pretty much a basic tour setup by today's concert standards.

It was certainly a departure from Popmart and Vertigo was almost a combination of the two...
 
I meant the heart; it was a new (fresh) idea.
Popmart to me was always trying to outdo Zoo TV at its own game (only far weaker in execution) and Vertigo was Elevation meets Popmart, the arena setup in particular. It worked better in stadiums.
 
last unicorn said:
I disagree about the tours.

Vertigo was better for me alone for Bono's voice.

It was more about the message, Elevation was more intimate and about the band being the band.

Elevation may be more emotional in retrospect because of everything that happened that year.

I loved Elevation, but I loved Vertigo even more. I just listened to Kite from Sydney a couple of days ago and it is my favourite performance of that song. That and Bono's "operatic" voice are the keys to why I prefer the Vertigo tour. But both tours had special moments. Then again, I'm not a fan of PopMart.
Click to expand...

Really? :hmm:

because I didn't get ANY real overt "message" from the Vertigo Tour.

ZooTV - was all about "sensory overload" and multimedia...you could never take it all in at once.

Popmart - was all about lavish excess and the idea of the music supermarket with all kinds of temptations and choices and how their music related to that (although it unfortunately never quite did)

Elevation Tour - was all about stripping things "back to the basics"; the sound of a band playing music together and bringing the audience closer and more intimate. The band had spent a decade staging very unintimate large concerts with massive stages that overshadowed the music and the fans...whereas Elevation was "all about the music and the fans" (which was a perfect 180 from what they were doing before)

Vertigo Tour - ????? It was basically a mish mosh of the last three tours with no real message...which is fine, everything doesn't have to have a message, but it seemed pretty weird since the band had been very conscious of themes and messages in prior tours.

Thats why I was saying what I said. I totally agree with you that Bono's vocals were a million times better on Vertigo Tour then on Popmart, and much more consistent and less strained then Elevation Tour. I was speaking specifically from the thematic standpoint.
 
War/African trilogy of the set had the theme of human rights, emphasized by the reading of Declaration and playing of Miss Sarajevo live.
 
I prefer Vertigo Tour to the Elevation one. Elevation had its moments, but the 3rd leg simply sucked setlist-wise. Yeah, I'm aware of the post-9/11 emotional experience, but I hated the fact that they kicked out the best songs from that tour (The Fly, Gone, Mysterious Ways to name a few) and replaced it with I Still Haven't Found and What's Going On.

Vertigo Tour had better and longer performances, Bono's voice was much better, the setlists varied more, it brought back so many lost gems (The Electric Co. was easily the highlight), the ZooTV encore kicked ass and so on.

I care more about the music and the setlist variation than the production. Let's hope U2 will bring some unexpected old horses next year, at least to an extent that Vertigo did.
 
But that was only a small section of the show (the africa trilogy etc) - The overall didn't have any real thematic thread running through it. Much as I loved the little ZooTV reprise in the encore I think it really pointed up the fact that Vertigo as a tour somewhat lacked it's own identity - it was shape-shifting in a way that the previous tours were quite conceptually pure.

I agree that vertigo had many attributes that were fantastic, not least the voice, and the variations in setlist. However U2 since the time of ZooTV have been the experts at putting on a "show", where theres a flow of themes and energy from start to finish that makes the "show" even greater than the sum of it's parts. The ZooTV, Popmart and Elevation concerts that I attended all had that whereas I found the Vertigo concerts to be a bit more disjointed visually and musically and lacking the overall impact of other U2 concerts I've attended. Maybe I was just spoilt rotten by being lucky enough to go to both Slane 1 & 2 which will be hard to ever surpass (Slane incidentally was probably the most basic outdoor production U2 have done in almost 20 years - just goes to show it's not all about the visuals or production by any means)
 
I'd also see a political theme for the Vertigo tour: Africa - Peace in the Middle East - Human Rights. And a lot of sub-themes like going back to the very old days, remembering the beginnings, personal stuff such as Bono's dad ... but over all I'd say Vertigo was more clearly designed as a more political themed show while Elevation was about the band going back to putting music in the center and presenting themselves as a band again, contrary to the visual overkill of their privious tours. I'd say the Vertigo tour was more about the music than the tours before, while ZooTV and PopMart ... well we all know what these were about. :wink:

Btw, as I said before I'm all for going back to a more basic production for the next tour, but the stage settings with the ellipse and/or b-stages for both Elevation and Vertigo were fine for me, I hope they keep that, maybe with a differently shaped stage, but still.
 
last unicorn said:
I'd also see a political theme for the Vertigo tour: Africa - Peace in the Middle East - Human Rights. And a lot of sub-themes like going back to the very old days, remembering the beginnings, personal stuff such as Bono's dad ... but over all I'd say Vertigo was more clearly designed as a more political themed show while Elevation was about the band going back to putting music in the center and presenting themselves as a band again, contrary to the visual overkill of their privious tours. I'd say the Vertigo tour was more about the music than the tours before, while ZooTV and PopMart ... well we all know what these were about. :wink:

Btw, as I said before I'm all for going back to a more basic production for the next tour, but the stage settings with the ellipse and/or b-stages for both Elevation and Vertigo were fine for me, I hope they keep that, maybe with a differently shaped stage, but still.
Click to expand...

I disagree.

The overall theme of a show is one thing, the overall theme of a section of songs is another. While they may have grouped songs together to form little packets of themes on the last tour: anti war or anti poverty....they've been doing that in some form or another on each of the tours I mentioned.

When talking about overall theme of the show (from Vertigo to Yaweh or 40 or Vertigo again in some shows) what was the main theme? There really was none.

Again, I'm not saying thats a bad thing per say. There's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes themes are bad. Ever been to a wedding with a theme? or a house decorated with a certain theme? UGH!!!! :down:

I'm just saying that when you compare the planning and execution of their last four tours, where overall theme and specific message are concerned Vertigo Tour felt mish moshy and less cohesive in my opinion. I still enjoyed it, but don't look back as fondly on the entire production as I did with the previous three tours. I tend to look back fondly on specific moments instead.
 
MrBTH said:
But that was only a small section of the show (the africa trilogy etc) - The overall didn't have any real thematic thread running through it. Much as I loved the little ZooTV reprise in the encore I think it really pointed up the fact that Vertigo as a tour somewhat lacked it's own identity - it was shape-shifting in a way that the previous tours were quite conceptually pure.

I agree that vertigo had many attributes that were fantastic, not least the voice, and the variations in setlist. However U2 since the time of ZooTV have been the experts at putting on a "show", where theres a flow of themes and energy from start to finish that makes the "show" even greater than the sum of it's parts. The ZooTV, Popmart and Elevation concerts that I attended all had that whereas I found the Vertigo concerts to be a bit more disjointed visually and musically and lacking the overall impact of other U2 concerts I've attended. Maybe I was just spoilt rotten by being lucky enough to go to both Slane 1 & 2 which will be hard to ever surpass (Slane incidentally was probably the most basic outdoor production U2 have done in almost 20 years - just goes to show it's not all about the visuals or production by any means)
Click to expand...

BINGO! :up:
 
Lobe said:
I can't wait to hear Van Diemen's Land again... It's been so long.... 18 years, right?? :cute:
Click to expand...

Not quite 18 years but a long time! They did do "Van Diemen's Land" a few times since Lovetown...

Ah, here we go... Including last Sunday... Here are the last 7 times U2 (or Edge/Bono) have performed "Van Diemen's Land".

  1. March 17, 1992: Boston, MA @ Boston Garden
  2. April 15, 1992: San Diego, CA @ San Diego Sports Arena
  3. August 07, 1992: Hershey, PA @ Hershey Park Stadium
  4. November 25, 1992: Mexico City, Mexico @ Palacio De Los Deportes
  5. May 07, 1993: Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Feyenoord Stadium
  6. July 06, 1993: Rome, Italy @ Stadio Flaminio
  7. December 07, 2008: Dublin, Ireland @ The O2
 
To me Elevation had a very strong theme, that of U2 re-connecting with the audience, embracing them (within the heart), making them a part of the show itself - from the band walking onstage and playing the first half of elevation with the house lights on to ending with the words of Walk On being projected all over the crowd. And they had the big, open hearted new songs like Stuck In A Moment, Beautiful Day, Kite, Walk On which fit the mood of the show perfectly. It was all quite sincere and quite intense, even the Fly was peformed relatively "straight".

Vertigo was very much like a "best of U2 live" experience, taking large chunks of Elevation, Popmart and ZooTV, mixing them up to great effect but ultimately losing the cohesion and (in my opinion) the power that is U2 at their live best. It was still an amazing show, it was just somewhat different to what U2 were doing previously since ZooTV and I'm sure some people preferred the experience of basically seeing a few different U2s in the one concert...
 
mgokelly said:
From what I understand, VDL and Desire were played to mark the opening of the O2 arena, after that Bono paid some form of moving tribute to Ronnie Drew, the songs probably aren't part of the tribute, (those songs wouldn't make sense in that context).
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Ah, so they are unrelated. That's what I thought. But then: when and where are we going to see this performance, if not Ronnie Drew related?


I just read this about the program:

'Gerry spent last Sunday filming footage for the programme with U2 stars Bono and the Edge at the new O2 arena, and said it should prove for must-watch viewing.

"I interviewed Ronnie shortly before he died so we have two hours of unseen footage. He had just come out of chemotherapy and I found it an incredibly moving, funny and poignant experience, and he said to me: 'If you can't get f***ing something out of that, you're f****ing stupid -- I'm going to die soon!'

"So we're just stitching together reflections about Ronnie from people who knew him like Bono, Shane MacGowan and Ronnie's children, too."

A family Christmas with the children for Gerry, despite split - Around Town, Entertainment - Herald.ie
 
Edge_Orchestra said:
Not quite 18 years but a long time! They did do "Van Diemen's Land" a few times since Lovetown...

Ah, here we go... Including last Sunday... Here are the last 7 times U2 (or Edge/Bono) have performed "Van Diemen's Land".

  1. March 17, 1992: Boston, MA @ Boston Garden
  2. April 15, 1992: San Diego, CA @ San Diego Sports Arena
  3. August 07, 1992: Hershey, PA @ Hershey Park Stadium
  4. November 25, 1992: Mexico City, Mexico @ Palacio De Los Deportes
  5. May 07, 1993: Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Feyenoord Stadium
  6. July 06, 1993: Rome, Italy @ Stadio Flaminio
  7. December 07, 2008: Dublin, Ireland @ The O2
Click to expand...

Oh, yeah... I didn't remember it was played a few times during ZooTv... thanks... :sexywink:
 
last unicorn said:
I don't see any "theme" with the Elevation tour, either. Not that it makes it any better or worse, I'm just saying.
Click to expand...

Thats probably because you are not looking at it from a broader sense.

I think you are looking at it in the context of simply the Elevation Tour...IOW, not comparing it to the prior tours that it followed. If you saw U2 for the first time ever, with no prior knowledge of their previous tours then yes you may not have noticed the "theme". But it was most certainly obvious for those who have seen other U2 shows over the years.

The band spoke about it in great detail, remember? "We're reapplying for the job" The theme was to strip things down, take away the excess, make things more intimate, and bring the fans closer. They didn't enter the stage with lights on because they couldn't afford the pyrotechnics. :wink:

They were "reapplying for the job of best rock band in the world". So it was about them and the music with no artiface. Simple as that. Thats why I think it was a tour that in the end was just as significant for the band as any other in their history.
 
MrBTH said:
To me Elevation had a very strong theme, that of U2 re-connecting with the audience, embracing them (within the heart), making them a part of the show itself - from the band walking onstage and playing the first half of elevation with the house lights on to ending with the words of Walk On being projected all over the crowd. And they had the big, open hearted new songs like Stuck In A Moment, Beautiful Day, Kite, Walk On which fit the mood of the show perfectly. It was all quite sincere and quite intense, even the Fly was peformed relatively "straight".

Vertigo was very much like a "best of U2 live" experience, taking large chunks of Elevation, Popmart and ZooTV, mixing them up to great effect but ultimately losing the cohesion and (in my opinion) the power that is U2 at their live best. It was still an amazing show, it was just somewhat different to what U2 were doing previously since ZooTV and I'm sure some people preferred the experience of basically seeing a few different U2s in the one concert...
Click to expand...


2 for 2....well put :up:
 
OK, we've got into a tour discussion here, well ... I really love both of their tours, still I prefer Vertigo, even thought I think I'm totally aware of the concept the band had for the Elevation tour. For me, there was no real theme except the band getting together to simply play music again and re-connect with the audience as some people here have pointed out as well, but for me, that's not a "theme". And Vertigo wasn't a greatest hits show, maybe it leaned towards being a greatest hits show during the very end of the tour, but all in all the show was about bringing back the very old stuff to live and mixing it up with the new songs. The setlists were more diverse and the band genereally showed more self confidence, especially Bono, with his new and improved voice. True that Elevation may have had the stronger emotional impact because of everything that has been going on, but I still say that Vertigo was better from various points of view. They were trying to bring back more visuals and effects and still concentrate on the music, I wouldn't say it was an incohesive mishmash, I just think it was their intention to make a show that was as "broad" as possible. And it worked best in stadiums.
 
After the highly emotional tours of the eighties, I always found ZOO TV a much colder and slightly more distant show. It was about the band trying to put some distance between their public and private selves, so I felt it lacked that emotional connection that the guys had strived so hard to achieve the previous decade.

One of the things I liked about Popmart was that it was much warmer, the big set pieces like Please and Streets seemed more resonant to me than anything on the previous tour. Bono's voice was off for most of the tour, but when it was on, I genuinely believe it was one of the groups greatest tours.

I think as ATYCLB was a reaction and response to Pop, Elevation was a reaction and response to Popmart. Maybe they felt they'd gone too far with the bigger and better theme and so decided to contrast it with something far more small-scale and simple. Bono realised before 9/11 that irony was out and intimacy was in, whatever you think of the songs or performances, ATYCLB and Elevation judged the mood of times perfectly.

Overall though, I never really 'got' Elevation, it seemed to lack true inspiration and spontaneity for me, the band seemed reluctant to really stretch themselves with the performances, the songs didn't seem to develop all that much or me, plus Bono's voice sounded so strained.

Vertigo was much better, more inspiration , more spontaneity, longer shows, better setlists, songs developing beyond their studio counterparts (Kite :drool:) and Bono managing to maintain the quality of his vocals throughout the entire show.
 
Hi guys,
I just read this article at atu2.com from RTE Bono and Edge mark end of the Point | U2 news article from @U2 .
Look what Bono says in the last sentence:

The Edge said: "This configuration is as good as you'll see anywhere in the world. It's an amazing achievement and we wish Harry the very best of luck with it. I'm sure it will see some fantastic nights to beat anything it's seen up to now."

Bono added: "And we'd better be one of them..or two...or three!"

Does this mean that U2 may play at the O2 Arena on the tour?
Nando
 
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