What was the Best US show of the year?

[Kinsa]

I only went to 4 shows this tour, thankfully, Vegas 2 was one of them (the others being Anaheim2, Phoenix2, and LV1).

To me, it was the best show I went to, not because of the setlist, but because of the overall energy/vibe that was in the house. It was electric, and I think everyone there felt it. I have seen many U2 shows since my first one on the Joshua Tree tour, and this one blew them away. It felt closer to a religous experience than a rock concert. Maybe it was because the venue was so small, it was by far the smallest venue I have seen U2 play. Hard to describe, maybe you just had to be there. Thankfully, I was.

 

[Angtre01]

Boston May 24...night 2. Classic

 

[mikal]

Chicago 9/21/05

out of 9 U2 shows i've been to, this was the best one i've ever seen.

Bad/First Time still sends chills down my spine even thinking about it!

 

[u2forlife]

Detroit2
NYC Oct 10th (where Mary J showed up)
and Philly 2 (1st leg)

Hey Mark Mary J showed up at the 10/8 show at MSG.

 

[gmplace0401]

Only went to 2 shows (NJ 1) and Ottawa.

Was way back in 300 level in NJ 1 and inside the ellipse in Ottawa. But I'd say NJ 1 was better.

It was the first time they did an 8 song encore and the ending was quite possibly the best and most original of the entire tour.

NJ 1 Encore:
Zoo
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
All Because of You
Original of the Species
Yahweh
40 -- band walks off stage except for Larry...does his regular drum solo ending but keeps it going...picks up speed and busts into the Vertigo rhythm for a huge Vertigo x2.

Anyone else there? agree?

Great show, but even I'd have to admit that without Bad, it can't be considered THE BEST show of the NA tour.

 

[divegirl]

Vegas 2!!! 11/5/05 was the best night of my life. Seriously. It was incredible - the entire audience was singing nearly all of the songs!!! We were sitting in the very back row, behind the stage, and I STILL had the best night of my life in terms of U2 concerts. I've been in the heart (last tour), I've been at the very edge of the tip of the heart, and Vegas 2 Vertigo doesn't even compare. This could be attributed to the fact I was there with the man I love (non-existant last tour), but I swear to you......if you can have such a great night in the nosebleed seats, you know it's the best concert on earth.

Oh - and by the way ---> because of this concert, I'm now totally into The Killers. I believe they have the potential to be the NEXT U2! How's that for crazy?!

 

[DubbalinGirl]

I voted for Boston 5/26 because it was a great show and the only one listed I thought was worth the vote. But I'd argue that the best of the 9 I saw on this tour was Boston 12/5. Sure, 12/4 was good, but only because of the unexpected encore...up to then it was just standard. For a real, true "Boston show" with the vibe and the crowd and all, that was the next night, 12/5, the Christmas show. That show was just phenomenal. It's closer what we come to expect of a last night in Boston!

 

[Kinsa]

Vegas 2!!! 11/5/05 was the best night of my life. Seriously. It was incredible - the entire audience was singing nearly all of the songs!!! We were sitting in the very back row, behind the stage, and I STILL had the best night of my life in terms of U2 concerts. I've been in the heart (last tour), I've been at the very edge of the tip of the heart, and Vegas 2 Vertigo doesn't even compare. This could be attributed to the fact I was there with the man I love (non-existant last tour), but I swear to you......if you can have such a great night in the nosebleed seats, you know it's the best concert on earth.

Oh - and by the way ---> because of this concert, I'm now totally into The Killers. I believe they have the potential to be the NEXT U2! How's that for crazy?!

Divegirl - I also had the worst seats I've ever had at a U2 concert(behind the stage, but only one section up) and it didn't matter AT ALL. There really was something magical about that show.

And I agree about the Killers - how yummy is Brandon Flowers??

 

[MTEdge]

I went to the following shows:

Philly 5/14 (Section 115)
NJ 5/17 (GA, third from outside rail)
NJ2 (BS)
NY1 (Section 40)

London 6/18 (Block 17)
London 6/19 (GA, outside the barrier)

NY 10/7 (GA, outside the ellipse towards soundboard)
NY 10/8 (GA, outside the ellipse towards soundboard)
NY 10/10 (GA, fourth row outside ellipse)
NY 10/11 (Section 63)
NY 10/14 (BS)
NY 11/21 (BS)
NY 11/22 (BS)
Boston 12/4 (GA, outside ellipse towards soundboard)

The US best shows on my list are NJ 5/17 (OOTS and also Vertigo after a full 40) and NY 10/7 (Crumbs, Fast Cars, WOWY (with a hot blonde ) as closer!) with NY 10/14 (the most varied NYC set of the tour), NY 10/8 (the cell phone incident, AIWIY, Wild Horses, the sikh gentlemen on stage for WOWY), and NY 11/21 (Instant Karma w/Patti Smith) just a notch off. Putting concert vibe (and the wacko ending) to the side, NY 11/22 will forever be the best moment I have shared with my sister.

The worst show on my list is NY 5/21. What a fucking pathetic crowd and lousy (technical) performance.

But my vote went to Boston 12/4, because it is the only show on the above list that I attended. FWIW, Boston 12/4 is woefully overrated. Like NY 5/21, the band gave a horrible technical performance. Rust crept in during the one week layoff. It was saved because of Bono's anger at the fan with the "Be spontaneous, do something different sign." Without it, we don't get a third encore.

Why is Portland even on this list?

 

[rock888nwo]

MTEdge...i really disagree with you concerning boston 12/4...U2 gave a great performance...and bono was great throughout the entire night....i didnt get any feeling whatsoever that the week layoff affected the show in any way....
anyway, it truly was a memorable performance, with possibly the greatest uteotw and mysterious ways i've ever heard up until that point (12/5 might have bettered it)...and the third encore was just great

 

[MTEdge]

MTEdge...i really disagree with you concerning boston 12/4...U2 gave a great performance...and bono was great throughout the entire night....i didnt get any feeling whatsoever that the week layoff affected the show in any way....
anyway, it truly was a memorable performance, with possibly the greatest uteotw and mysterious ways i've ever heard up until that point (12/5 might have bettered it)...and the third encore was just great

Listen closely to the Boston 12/4 bootleg, and count the number of mistakes Bono and The Edge made. But disagreement is the spice of life... One thing I forgot to add was that the Boston crowd carried the 12/4 show, not U2.

 

[alainn-la]

Vegas Two... "In a Little While" with Brandon Flowers makes me tear up. Amazing.

 

[Carek1230]

Vegas Two... "In a Little While" with Brandon Flowers makes me tear up. Amazing.

 

[Pop Artist]

I went to the following shows:

Philly 5/14 (Section 115)
NJ 5/17 (GA, third from outside rail)
NJ2 (BS)
NY1 (Section 40)

London 6/18 (Block 17)
London 6/19 (GA, outside the barrier)

NY 10/7 (GA, outside the ellipse towards soundboard)
NY 10/8 (GA, outside the ellipse towards soundboard)
NY 10/10 (GA, fourth row outside ellipse)
NY 10/11 (Section 63)
NY 10/14 (BS)
NY 11/21 (BS)
NY 11/22 (BS)
Boston 12/4 (GA, outside ellipse towards soundboard)

The US best shows on my list are NJ 5/17 (OOTS and also Vertigo after a full 40) and NY 10/7 (Crumbs, Fast Cars, WOWY (with a hot blonde ) as closer!) with NY 10/14 (the most varied NYC set of the tour), NY 10/8 (the cell phone incident, AIWIY, Wild Horses, the sikh gentlemen on stage for WOWY), and NY 11/21 (Instant Karma w/Patti Smith) just a notch off. Putting concert vibe (and the wacko ending) to the side, NY 11/22 will forever be the best moment I have shared with my sister.

The worst show on my list is NY 5/21. What a fucking pathetic crowd and lousy (technical) performance.

But my vote went to Boston 12/4, because it is the only show on the above list that I attended. FWIW, Boston 12/4 is woefully overrated. Like NY 5/21, the band gave a horrible technical performance. Rust crept in during the one week layoff. It was saved because of Bono's anger at the fan with the "Be spontaneous, do something different sign." Without it, we don't get a third encore.

Wow, that just goes to show you how subjective a lot of this is, and that we look for different things in them...we both went to all the NY and NJ shows and Boston 12/4, and my ratings are totally different from yours, and 5/17 is at the top of your ratings and at the bottom of mine.

 

[u2rulesmyworld]

Sometimes Great shows are made by one moment

 

[Popmartijn]

Sometimes Great shows are made by one moment

Or rather: Sometimes great shows are made by a ONE moment.

 

[EPandAmerica]

I voted for Vegas 2. Best U2 concert I've ever been to, and I've been to all tours since Love Town.

Here's my ranking for the ones I went to.

Vegas 2
MSG Oct 7 & 8 (a tie for me)
Phoenix 2
Dallas
Phoenix 1
Vegas 1
San Diego 1

 

[DubbalinGirl]

Sometimes Great shows are made by one moment

And sometimes great shows feel great from start to finish, which is what 12/5 was all about. It wasn't one-sided, like someone said earlier, 12/4 was carried by the crowd. But on 12/5 the crowd and the band were connecting like mad and I really felt like everyone in the arena was on the same page. Setlists do not make a good show. While they certainly help, if the show is delivered without energy, it just doesn't have the same edge that makes it a truly "great show".

 

[ramblin rose]

I thought 12/4 was a much better show than 12/5. In the end it's all subjective.

 

[trabantland]

#1: Chicago - September 20, DISCOTHEQUE!!!
#2: Chicago - May 10, coz my name was the last and biggest to scroll accross the big screens after One (and I got it on film).
#3: Chicago - May 7, 1st show of the tour I went to.

I wasn't at any other shows so only Top 3 for me.

 

[shaynar]

Canadians Rally!

Just out of curiousity, why are you not including the Canadian shows on this list? I understand if you want to make a North American list as those are all comparable (set list, stage, venues etc) but why leave out Canada??? In Toronto they totally mixed the set list up (Discothque, Fast Cars, need I say more?) and in Montreal the crowd was amazing and many (not just me!) say that it was one of the best shows on the tour.

5 of my 9 shows were in the US, so I do have some basis on which to compare. However, out of the US shows I must say that Boston 12/05 was the best.

 

[fredstab]

Montreal 28th was the best of the tour
Montreal 26th was second best on the tour
Boston 12/05 was awesome
Toronto 3 and 4 was REALLY GOOD too

 

[MTEdge]

Wow, that just goes to show you how subjective a lot of this is, and that we look for different things in them...we both went to all the NY and NJ shows and Boston 12/4, and my ratings are totally different from yours, and 5/17 is at the top of your ratings and at the bottom of mine.

No doubt that these ratings are subjective. Honestly, I was surprised to see 5/17 rank so low on your list. Maybe it was because of seat/GA location, but I thought the show had an edge to it that I didn't see in some of the other shows.

 

[MTEdge]

Sometimes Great shows are made by one moment

And, sometimes it's great to share those moments with everybody instead of hording them as collector's items.

 

[blindinglights]

Disclaimer - this is all subjective as noted above, here's my opinion on the three shows I saw.

NJ 2 on the 18th of may
NY 10/10
Boston 12/04

All were excellent shows. NJ was really solid all around, and had a perfect zoo station along with the spontaneous bank robbers playing ISHFWILF and ending with BAD.

NY 10/10 was a great show, probably best crowd I've seen. Bono had some voice troubles at the show, but disappeared by the end with an amazing version of Bad/pple have the power.

But, for me, the boston show blew them both away. not just because of the third encore, had it stopped at Bad I would have said the same thing. Bono was ON that night in a big way. Astonishing performances of OOTS, stuck, until the end of the world, mysterious ways, all because of you etc. I'm pretty sure that having that week off really rested his voice and he was just giving it his all. Not to mention Bad, which literally was among the best versions I've ever heard. Blistering performance, he absolutely nails the wide awakes, especially the last one. It also ended up being the last time the song was played on the third leg. So I haven't seen the other shows, can't give an opinion on them, but out of the three great shows I saw, boston on the 4th was the best.

 

[u2rulesmyworld]

And, sometimes it's great to share those moments with everybody instead of hording them as collector's items.

and 'sometimes' I do

you should go download one of the shows i 'sometimes' shared

 

[oktobergirl]

Los Angeles 4 on 11/2. I am surprised it is not on here. It was an amazing show, not just by LA standards which can sometimes be kind of eh, but against any other of the 8 U2 shows I saw this year.

The BAD/People have the Power ending, Streets on this night were just awesome!

 

[oktobergirl]

NYC MSG 10/8 has MY vote

Gah, that was a GREAT show!!!

 

[MTEdge]

and 'sometimes' I do

you should go download one of the shows i 'sometimes' shared

I know since that's what I said, and that's what I've done. FWIW, I have (or will soon have) uploaded video for each show I have attended on this tour except Twick 6/18.

 

[The OOTS]

Another vote here for Chicago 9/21, even though it's not on the list.

Best version of Bad this tour.