"U2 has got the greatest live show"

[U2Man]

i've also heard that u2 fans that saw coldplay on their last tour had to admit that their show was better than vertigo.

 

[toscano]

are you calling songs such as the bends, fake plastic trees, just, high and dry and street spirit shite?

5 mediocre to good songs does not a show make, but personally I think Radiohead are the single most overrated band on the planet

 

[catlhere]

The Wiggles Live

[/Topic]

 

[Val]

I've seen a few concerts in my lifetime from Sly and the Family Stones to Alice Cooper to the Alman Brothers, to Bowie etc. , but all six U2 concerts I've been to were better. It's the spirit in the room that takes hold of you, shakes you around, and puts you back a better person for it.

I can't wait for the next tour.

 

[GibsonGirl]

- I saw Pink Floyd back in the early 90s - and I think U2 were a way better live band. And sometimes they still are (I hope we will see that in the U23D movie)

Division Bell tour, I assume? Or were you at the Knebworth festival? In either case, that's understandable, considering that you were seeing a...watered down version of the band.

 

[phillyfan26]

U2's a good but not great studio band.

Live, they're the best I've ever seen.

Release live albums for God's sake!

 

[perrypickwick]

Division Bell tour, I assume? Or were you at the Knebworth festival? In either case, that's understandable, considering that you were seeing a...watered down version of the band.

your right - it was the Devision Bell Tour (watered down ). Last year I went to Roger Waters Solo concert - was also o.k.

Pink Floyd was a great band without a doubt - but as a Live-act - (I never saw Pink Floyd in their original line-up) I think nothing can beat U2 -
I just love how Bono can handle the masses - a good live-band needs a good frontman - and I think Bono beats them all (even Robbie - I saw him also last year: his music sucks but he is a great entertainer).

 

[U2Man]

5 mediocre to good songs does not a show make, but personally I think Radiohead are the single most overrated band on the planet

that's probably because you don't get their music.

 

[Lancemc]

I would agree with that statement right up until I saw Arcade Fire two nights ago.

 

[Greenlight]

Pink Floyd was a great band without a doubt - but as a Live-act - (I never saw Pink Floyd in their original line-up) I think nothing can beat U2 -
I just love how Bono can handle the masses - a good live-band needs a good frontman - and I think Bono beats them all (even Robbie - I saw him also last year: his music sucks but he is a great entertainer).

Several of my friends, including my husband, saw Pink Floyd on their Wall tour (I couldn't get a ticket grrr) which they all said was out of this world amazing but most of them who have also seen U2, even if they aren't massive fans have said that although it's like comparing apples and oranges U2 have had the edge (no pun intended!) especially in their earlier tours.

I've seen many bands over the years and whilst a very small few I think have been better live than a couple of the U2 concerts I've seen (Queen at Wembley in 1986 being one) for me noone else can ever top the Zoo tour. U2 are still brilliant live but I don't think they can quite match the magic and passion of some of their earlier tours.

I also saw Robbie last year, got dragged along by a friend against my better judgement and I would have to agree that he is an amazing showman even if he's a complete prat (and getting well over 300,000 people at the same venue over 5 consecutive nights is no mean achievement,even if Take That are having the last laugh) but he's not in the Freddie (or Bono) league

 

[toscano]

that's probably because you don't get their music.

Oh I "get" it, I just don't care for it as much as you apparently.

It's called "having taste"

 

[Axver]

Oh I "get" it, I just don't care for it as much as you apparently.

It's called "having taste"

You win.

 

[xaviMF22]

Muse > U2

Muse shows so much energy.....

 

[xaviMF22]

U2's live show is great, but they're no Dream Theater.

 

[LPU2]

Let's not forget Pink Floyd.

Oh good Christ, who ARE you people?! I know, I know, everyone has a right to an opinion and there's probably some nostalgic reason you like Pink Floyd, like maybe you spoke to your first girlfriend on the phone while "Wish You Were Here" blasted from the 8 track. Or the first time you got stoned, "Comfortably Numb" was on the clock radio. Or maybe you actually thought "the wall" was a clever metaphor...whatever it was, suppress it!

Pink Floyd was a good enough band on record. Their live shows were big, to be sure, but it's difficult to be big and good. U2 is the ONLY band to ever accomplish that. If you think Floyd is comparable to U2, then I'm afraid you don't GET U2 and that makes me sad. What makes U2 special live, Floyd never had and never will.

...as you were...

 

[UberBeaver]

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I don't think there'd be much debate in here on this one. I think the opinion on them as a live act is almost the only unifying opinion in here.

They're not, in my mind, the best in any individual live category, as in, purely band-wise you will find more creative, energetic performances from others. For theatrics others are better as well. I mean, someone mentioned Robbie Williams. I have seen him live (don't ask) and yes, for a pure lights and fireworks and crazy stage sets and dancers and blah blah it's a spectacular show, but it's Robbie, it has zero substance attached and the music is pure numbness. He gets up there and races through pop song after pop song about getting drunk, getting laid, then waking up feeling guilty about it (wait, that's Achtung Baby as well... anyway). A few weeks before Vertigo I saw Michael Franti & Spearhead in a smallish theatre, and the energy coming from the band and the stage and feeding off into the crowd was something incredible that U2 - or really any band in a stadium setting - simply can't match.

So I guess you could say there are others who concentrate on the music, and do better at it because of that, ignoring 'the show' along the way. There are others who focus on 'the show' most likely to make up for the complete lack of anything great in 'the music' category. But U2 are the best at creating a perfect mix of both, so I agree. Bono's force as a frontman should not be underestimated as well.

I've always said to my U2 hatin' friends, you will change your mind if you see them live - and with the two I convinced to go to Vertigo, I was right. Not enough to convert them to 'fans' or to have them race out and buy up all the albums, but enough to gain them an appreciation of the band and many individual songs they used to rag on. Even Bono came off okay. They are an incredible force live. Most of the people here who disagree do so because they spend too much time analysing from show to show, not realising that 90%+ of the people in the crowd have no f*cking idea of what the setlist was last night, or that Bono's speech has been exactly the same for the past 12 months or whatever. And they most likely wouldn't care if you told them that.

 

[Blue Room]

5 mediocre to good songs does not a show make, but personally I think Radiohead are the single most overrated band on the planet

I dont think they are crap. But they are completely overrated. I have seen Radiohead in concert, they were OK. Its not even in the same stratosphere as a U2 concert.

 

[xaviMF22]

Oh good Christ, who ARE you people?! I know, I know, everyone has a right to an opinion and there's probably some nostalgic reason you like Pink Floyd, like maybe you spoke to your first girlfriend on the phone while "Wish You Were Here" blasted from the 8 track. Or the first time you got stoned, "Comfortably Numb" was on the clock radio. Or maybe you actually thought "the wall" was a clever metaphor...whatever it was, suppress it!

Pink Floyd was a good enough band on record. Their live shows were big, to be sure, but it's difficult to be big and good. U2 is the ONLY band to ever accomplish that. If you think Floyd is comparable to U2, then I'm afraid you don't GET U2 and that makes me sad. What makes U2 special live, Floyd never had and never will.

...as you were...

 

[dietcokeofevil]

i've also heard that u2 fans that saw coldplay on their last tour had to admit that their show was better than vertigo.

Coldplay's a stretch..

 

[GibsonGirl]

Oh good Christ, who ARE you people?! I know, I know, everyone has a right to an opinion and there's probably some nostalgic reason you like Pink Floyd, like maybe you spoke to your first girlfriend on the phone while "Wish You Were Here" blasted from the 8 track. Or the first time you got stoned, "Comfortably Numb" was on the clock radio. Or maybe you actually thought "the wall" was a clever metaphor...whatever it was, suppress it!

Pink Floyd was a good enough band on record. Their live shows were big, to be sure, but it's difficult to be big and good. U2 is the ONLY band to ever accomplish that. If you think Floyd is comparable to U2, then I'm afraid you don't GET U2 and that makes me sad. What makes U2 special live, Floyd never had and never will.

...as you were...

Good lord, I think one of my lungs just collapsed.

 

[Lancemc]

Radiohead > Pink Floyd

The Guy in the Superman Costume at the Flaming Lips concert > Roger Waters

 

[kingofsorrow]

Oh I "get" it, I just don't care for it as much as you apparently.

It's called "having taste"

you are my hero.

 

[GibsonGirl]

Confirmed: owing to the post after mine, my lung has indeed collapsed. I'll have to remember this thread next time I'm feeling down. You're really a laugh, you lot are!

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Radiohead fans and Pink Floyd fans slinging the exact same mud at each other makes me laugh.
"Radiohead are overblown blowhards!"
"No they're not, but Pink Floyd are!"
"Pink Floyd are not! But Radiohead IS!"
"You don't get it"
"You have no taste"

 

[kingofsorrow]

Radiohead fans and Pink Floyd fans slinging the exact same mud at each other makes me laugh.
"Radiohead are overblown blowhards!"
"No they're not, but Pink Floyd are!"
"Pink Floyd are not! But Radiohead IS!"
"You don't get it"
"You have no taste"

 

[Lancemc]

Confirmed: owing to the post after mine, my lung has indeed collapsed. I'll have to remember this thread next time I'm feeling down. You're really a laugh, you lot are!

Looks like ole Roger in your avatar's already suffered a couple collapsed lungs. You both have so much in common. No wonder you love him so much.

 

[GibsonGirl]

Nah, it's more the rather superior songwriting ability I appreciate. I mean, I suppose Superman suits are cool and everything, but...

 

[last unicorn]

I think it depends on what you prefer in a live show.
There will always be bands or artists that are consicered better or worse than someone else.
Personally, I have gone back in recent years to concentrating more on the music and atmosphere and less on the show and effects.
I have been listening a lot to U2's live stuff recently and also watched as many live videos as I could, and all I can say is that a U2 show is MAGIC. It just trigges something inside of me and I don't care if there are other bands out there who might be "better" at doing certain things.

 

[kingofsorrow]

how about this very progressive idea? each band has something special about them and their live shows?

















































































p.s. except Radioshack.....................err i mean Radiohead.