Vertigo's place in the pantheon

[apterz]

So judging by various discussions / polls, it looks like general consensus is that shows like Dublin 3, Las Vegas 2, and Boston 12/4 were among the best of the Vertigo tour.

I'm curious as to people's opinion on where these shows rank relative to those considered "the best ever," e.g., 12/31/89, 11/8/87, or 8/25/01.

 

[tommycharles]

I can't speak to any specific shows....but from what I've heard and seen through bootlegs (my only access to live u2 so far...), I would rank Vertigo third in U2 tours.

ZooTV
Lovetown
Vertigo
Elevation
Popmart
Joshua Tree

It's got a lot of the things that made Lovetown great (a fairly flexible setlist, the band in amazing shape musically, etc.), and a lot of the things that made ZooTV great (the flash, the message, the feeling that it's about *now*)... but it doesn't quite hit the peaks that those tours did.

 

[u2rulesmyworld]

i would rank tours as

ZooTV
Elevation
Joshua Tree
Vertigo

and it is hard to compare a ZT or JT show to a Vertigo or Elevation show

 

[Theedge070]

1-ZooTV
2-Vertigo
3-Lovetown
4-Joshua Tree
5-Elevation
6-Popmart

Zoo was the most extravagant, imo. I'm reading Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas and he said it cost $250,000 a day to haul "that thing around." Its sets were awesome and although it was a change from Lovetown/JT, it was welcomed.

I love the Vertigo Tour, it has a message and while it may not be as action-packed as something like ZooTV, it holds its own. I think it has an advantage over the other tours because it's chronologically the furthest along, giving it more songs to work with.

Lovetown was the shortest tour with great sets and awesome performances. Bono's voice wasn't at its strongest during this tour but the band helped to make up for it.

 

[apterz]

so, if ZooTV is the best, would you take an average ZooTV show over the best Vertigo show?

 

[SiW87]

ZooTV
Lovetown
Vertigo
Joshua Tree
Elevation

 

[Chrisedge]

i would rank tours as

ZooTV
Elevation
Joshua Tree
Vertigo

and it is hard to compare a ZT or JT show to a Vertigo or Elevation show

You should have had to have seen them live to vote.

JT was awesome. ZooTV was better.

I would rank them
ZooTV
JT
War
PopMart
UF
Elevation
Vertigo

(Elevation and Vertigo could switch, but...)

The thing to keep in mind is both ZooTV and JT had awesome arena shows that videos don't do justice.

but all were great for me

 

[theoeiii]

I'm curious as to people's opinion on where these shows rank relative to those considered "the best ever," e.g., 12/31/89, 11/8/87, or 8/25/01.

As of 2002, I think the band ranked their best show the one at MSG right after 9/11. See Elevation DVD, the making of. I don't know if anything in the Vertigo tour would reach that level of emotion... (I didn't see that show, and I've only seen 10 or so, so what do I know?)

But these questions can never really be answered, can they? I mean, ask the board how they'd rank the grilled cheese versus the pb&j, ham & cheese, and the blt. You'd get the same varying answers with no real one.

(By the way, the grilled cheese rules, no?)

 

[tommycharles]

so, if ZooTV is the best, would you take an average ZooTV show over the best Vertigo show?

For polls like this you really have to only compare good shows to good shows. A mediocre show is a mediocre show, regardless of which tour it was on.

 

[Niceman]

#1 - Vertigo
#2 - Lovetown
#3 - ZOOTV
#4 - Joshua Tree
#5 - POPMART

 

[apterz]

cmon people! I was at Slane, I was at MSG 10.27.01, I saw 12 Vertigo shows, including the first, the last, and the last Bostons... I would gladly trade them all for any single, mediocre, run-of-the-mill ZooTV show. Is anyone with me, or am I crazy?

 

[U2mixer]

cmon people! I was at Slane, I was at MSG 10.27.01, I saw 12 Vertigo shows, including the first, the last, and the last Bostons... I would gladly trade them all for any single, mediocre, run-of-the-mill ZooTV show. Is anyone with me, or am I crazy?

You are both and

 

[DubbalinGirl]

cmon people! I was at Slane, I was at MSG 10.27.01, I saw 12 Vertigo shows, including the first, the last, and the last Bostons... I would gladly trade them all for any single, mediocre, run-of-the-mill ZooTV show. Is anyone with me, or am I crazy?

Like you, I saw 14 Elevation shows, including Slane 2, MSG 10/27 and all the Boston and Providence shows. I saw 9 on this tour including all in Boston. Nothing comes close to the last Boston show in 2001 for me. Boston 12/5/05 this year was fabulous, but just not at that level. I saw the St. Patrick's Day show in Boston in 92 and both Dublin shows in 93, and did not feel they had the energy of 6/9/01.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

popmart
zoo-tv
vertigo
elevation
war
joshua tree
love town

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

cmon people! I was at Slane, I was at MSG 10.27.01, I saw 12 Vertigo shows, including the first, the last, and the last Bostons... I would gladly trade them all for any single, mediocre, run-of-the-mill ZooTV show. Is anyone with me, or am I crazy?

no... you're not crazy.

i guess it all depends on wether we're comparing a tour as a whole or individual dates.

for me, there's no way in hell that these stripped down indoor shows can compare with the sheer size and scope of popmart and zoo-tv... even though individual shows might be special enough to do so.

i'm not a stripped down kinda guy... i want stuff to be an event... especialy if they're going to use generic set lists.

if they're gonna change the setlist drasticly every night but have a basic no frills stage ala springsteen or pearl jam? well now that would be the best tour ever... but if they're not gonna do that, i would prefer a huge light fuckfest spectacular.

 

[trabantland]

Based upon the tours I've been to see:

#1. ZOOMERANG [Melbourne - November 13, 1993]
#2. Unforgettable Fire [Melbourne - September 18, 1984]
#3. Lovetown [Melbourne - October 9, 1989]
#4. Vertigo [Chicago - September 20, 2005]
#5. Elevation [Chicago - October 16, 2001]

Based upon what I've seen live and videos....

#1. ZOO TV
#2. War
#3. POPMART
#4. Joshua Tree
#5. Unforgettable Fire
#6. Lovetown
#7. Vertigo
#8. Boy-Early Years
#9. Elevation

 

[Roland of Gilead]

1. Zoo TV
2. Lovetown
3. Vertigo

 

[theu2fly]

1. Joshua Tree
2. Lovetown
3. Elevation
4. Vertigo
5. Zoo TV

Popmart was too bland, ZOO TV was kind of boring, but made the list.

 

[cypress]

It's tough to evaluate concerts unless you have actually been to one physically rather than watching them on a video. Zoo TV blew me away more than any concert I have ever been to by any band and I've been to a lot of concerts. There was just something about the enormity, the extravagence, the time, and U2's musical message that all blended to give the most amazing "show" I've ever seen. I know Willie Williams cites Popmart as his most extravegant U2 production, but Zoo TV was his best.

Vertigo seemed to improve from the first to the third leg (which is a good thing). Those that saw only first-leg shows might rank it lower than those that saw second or third-leg shows. It's tough to just rank them like I'm seeing here, but I'd take Zoo TV over any other U2 tour by a good margin.

 

[DubbalinGirl]

I think too, you need to qualify what you're ranking. If you're looking at it purely from a production/technology standpoint, then how could you ever top Popmart? That is about as much of an over-the-top extravaganza as you'll ever see (or the band can try to top it, which no doubt someday they will) and Zoo TV was a complete assault on the senses. But for me, setlist-wise I really wish I'd seen a string of shows on Lovetown, to satisfy the anti-static setlist beast within me (and I'm still a deeply bitter American because we got robbed on that tour!). There's nothing I like better than going to a U2 show and hearing the first song and it's NOT what I expected (a la 6/9/01, 5/28/05).

 

[apterz]

think about it from a I'm a die hard U2 fan and I know every word to every song and I'd do anything to see these guys perspective. At the end of the day, what's the one show you'd die for, you'd pay a million bucks for, you could go to sleep happy if you could see.

I think the answer is Lovetown, without question.