your favourite U2 tour

[babyman]

i go with ZOO TV

 

[U2Kitten]

I go with Elevation, because I was so close to the band

 

[U2girl]

Hmmm...it depends on the criteria.
Best Bono's voice tour was Lovetown, best band sound was Zoo TV, and setlist-wise Elevation IMO.

*edit* Not having seen any of the tours, from what I heard I'd say Elevation.

 

[Blue Room]

Best tour I didnt see: Lovetown
Best tour I saw out of JT, Zoo, Popmart, Elevation.

Popmart, I know its the whipping boy for most fans. But the tour was awesome. Dont believe the negative hype. Tied for 2nd would be JT and Elevation. Last place was Zoo for me. Great tour but something was missing musically for me.

 

[Popmartijn]

Difficult one that is. Of the three tours I've witnessed I have to say it's a toss between Popmart (the spectacle) or Elevation (the intimacy). Or maybe Zooropa (since it was also my first U2 concert).
Ah buggers, this is too difficult!

C ya!

Marty

 

[forbonou2]

for me-got to be Unforgettable fire tour-Tied with JT! UF was concluded with Live-Aide! My all Time fave concert!! Althought I loved ZooTV and POP!**Bono**! Looking forward to plenty more...I hope!

 

[OzAurora]

Zoomerang, Brisbane

but I rekon that had I got to go to Lovetown, then I would of liked that one best, but still the spectacle of Zoo was cool and my friend and I were about ten metres from the stage in the standing section- we had a great position

 

[beli]

The only one I have seen - Lovetown (3 times)

Rattle and Hum still makes me cry when I see it, the Lovetown memories that it evokes.

 

[greenlight7-11]

I only got to see Elevation and of course it was fantastic. But the best tour I missed is definitely ZooTV. I'm just so in love with that whole era.

 

[Axver]

Best tour setlist-wise: Anything pre-ZooTV.
But when you add in other elements, Popmart wins, if for nothing else than for the forty foot lemon, world's biggest TV screen, and the Sarajevo concert.

 

[Mullen-Girl]

I don't know...I think Popmart San Antonio cos of the spectacle but the emotion that was in it since Michael Hutchence died the day before the show.

 

[bayernfc]

I've only been to POPmart.... but from what I hear from the bootlegs... Lovetown (vocally) and ZooTV (well... just because, it's ZooTV) definitely.

 

[Lilac]

Zoo TV was the coolest.

 

[zoopop]

I don't know...I think Popmart San Antonio cos of the spectacle but the emotion that was in it since Michael Hutchence died the day before the show.

I was at that show too Mullen-Girl. They were so on that night. It was moving when Bono & Edge sang Staring at the Sun wiht Michael Hutchence on the screen.

The best show I saw was Elevation in Houston. If Popmart had some of ATYCLB with it, that would be the best show. Can you imagine hearing Beautiful Day at the Popmart.

 

[babyman]

If Popmart had some of ATYCLB with it, that would be the best show. Can you imagine hearing Beautiful Day at the Popmart.

yes, i agree with you, but i think that during the popmart they were sometimes submerged by the show, i mean, they performed some songs in a very bad way, they were really killing it! i saw popmart in germany, it was a grandious, shocking, crazy, fantastic event, a megalomania mixed to the best show effects ever seen...i've seen moreover a lot of videos of popmart, and i must say that sometimes the music was really missing, the mexico show for instance...i feel like historical masterpieces like gone, sunday bloody sunday, bullet the blue sky, with or without you, hold me thrill me kiss me kill me were a line under the respectable performance they deserve, in the same way they did the best versions of all the times of where the streets have no name, mysterious ways, one , staring at the sun and most of all please. now i really hope that they will do another tour like popmart, maybe in the zoo tv style , to take a revenge vs themselves and to show the whole world that they rule in music! first come U2...then all the others

 

[oliveu2cm]

Can you imagine hearing Beautiful Day at the Popmart.

My vote goes to Elevation, definitely. All for personal reasons of course - such great shows to me

Zoo of course would be my favourite if I could see all of them.

 

[zoopop]

Good point babyman. When I do look back on Popmart some of the new stuff was drowned out by the lights and glitter. I think the only songs off Pop that held their own during the Popmart were Mofo, Last Night On Earth, and Please. Miami too, it meshed well with Popmart but was taken off the 3rd leg.

I think U2 took notice of this early on as they took off quite a few Pop songs and plugged in some of their hits. Plus, they began turning off the entire screen during some songs.

What I met about Beautiful Day was U2 utilizing the screen and such. Imagine begining of BD comes on, crowd cheers, then the bottom part of the Popmart screen a sun comes up. Then BOOM Whole screen lights up with lights during chorus.

I hoping that U2 goes on a stadium tour next time.

 

[Blue Room]

yes, i agree with you, but i think that during the popmart they were sometimes submerged by the show, i mean, they performed some songs in a very bad way, they were really killing it! i saw popmart in germany, it was a grandious, shocking, crazy, fantastic event, a megalomania mixed to the best show effects ever seen...i've seen moreover a lot of videos of popmart, and i must say that sometimes the music was really missing, the mexico show for instance...i feel like historical masterpieces like gone, sunday bloody sunday, bullet the blue sky, with or without you, hold me thrill me kiss me kill me were a line under the respectable performance they deserve, in the same way they did the best versions of all the times of where the streets have no name, mysterious ways, one , staring at the sun and most of all please. now i really hope that they will do another tour like popmart, maybe in the zoo tv style , to take a revenge vs themselves and to show the whole world that they rule in music! first come U2...then all the others

Actually for me what you are saying about Popmart is sort of what I felt about Zoo. Zoo TV was great but the focus was completely on the technology and the new video aspect of the show. To me it felt like the music was almost a secondary thing and it actually got submerged as you put it in the over the top production of Zoo. The band themselves was quoted as saying many times "fans are coming to a rock concert and watching television". Now it was tongue and cheek but there was an element of truth to that statement. Instead of focusing on improving the music (which I think should be primary) the band focused on what production aspect or technology they could add to the show. I'am not saying they didnt work on the music also but it was definately secondary to the production. I think this is backwards. I saw some great Zoo shows, but I saw a few that just felt kind of empty to me in comparison. Part of it may have been the tour I saw before that was Joshua Tree which was really like seeing a different band. But I know other fans at the time were feeling the same thing.

Popmart came along and the production was obviously big as well. But the technology they wanted and/or needed was already there. Nothing to add, they had what they wanted. So for me the focus seemed to go back to getting the songs right during Popmart. After the first half of the first leg (which did have a rocky start obviously due to a lack of time) of Popmart I dont think U2 has been anymore musically tight and on top of it in their career. 3rd and 4th leg they were just outstanding musically. Now Bono's vocals were not his best, but it didnt have anything to do with the show itself. I also may have been more prepared for the production aspect after Zoo and was expecting it to be worse as far as the music. So I went in with lower expectations musically as a result and for me I was pleasantly surprised. So all that combined is why I prefer Popmart to Zoo and why Zoo is at the bottom my list of tours I saw. Dont get me wrong, I had a great time and enjoyed every Zoo show I was at. But in comparison to shows on other tours on the average it is at the lower end for me. Lets face it, ANY U2 show is better than 90% of the artists out there. I have noticed though there seems to be alot of nostalgia for Zoo and alot of it comes from fans that were not able to go. It was a great tour and U2 were going out on a limb and were rewarded on a critical level for it. But much like Popmart gets whipping boy status I think Zoo almost gets to much positive hype and credit over other tours. Really, they are similiar types of tours if you look at it. The difference was the critical acclaim and personally I dont let critics sway what I like and dont like.

 

[zoopop]

Popmart 3rd & 4th leg, U2 were really tight as a band. I think some of those shows they sounded their best ever. I think they took it personal when they were getting crap reviews from America from the 1st leg.

 

[babyman]

What I met about Beautiful Day was U2 utilizing the screen and such. Imagine begining of BD comes on, crowd cheers, then the bottom part of the Popmart screen a sun comes up. Then BOOM Whole screen lights up with lights during chorus.

a bomb, what a bomb!!

 

[babyman]

Zoo TV was great but the focus was completely on the technology and the new video aspect of the show. To me it felt like the music was almost a secondary thing and it actually got submerged as you put it in the over the top production of Zoo.

in the last lovetown tour show in dublin in 1989, bono said at the end of the concert that it was the end of that U2 period, it was the announcement of a big revolution like we know, the first U2 shows were more intimate, (elevation style), no big screens, just them, the music and the audience...when they presented achtung baby, bono said that it was about "4 men chopping down the joshua tree", it was clear that they wanted to do something grandious like zoo tv was. actually i don't think that the music was a secondary thing, they were mixing it all in a very good way, it was their first "crazy event" and moreover they rearranged a lot of songs, (running to stand still for instance, like many others) which really hit

 

[babyman]

they are similiar types of tours if you look at it. The difference was the critical acclaim and personally I dont let critics sway what I like and dont like.

this may be right, but you know what, i think after the zoo tv, after 2 full years were they gave 101%, the next tour should have been like elevation...i mean, what's about to do an intimate tour after zoo and then again a bomb? i think that if they would have done elevation before popmart it would have been totally different, even in the critics statements. i love popmart, personally, but sometimes they were just pushing too much and over their own abilities, that's why some real good songs went off during the performances, unfortunately...in the zoo tv they made the perfect mix between music, show, audience, in the popmart the show came before all the other things, that's in my opinion the difference to zoo tv, and at the same time other tours. too much lights, too much effects, less music...the right mix failed.but i say you this, they will sure do another tour in the popmart style...it's gonna be the REAL POPMART

 

[ouizy]

ZOOTV was the most interesting, but fo the music, I saw Joshua Tree outside stadium tour.

There was nothing like seeing 20000 people on the floo rof Giants Stadium (no seats - general admission)

now that is what a concert is about...

 

[Blue Room]

in the last lovetown tour show in dublin in 1989, bono said at the end of the concert that it was the end of that U2 period, it was the announcement of a big revolution like we know, the first U2 shows were more intimate, (elevation style), no big screens, just them, the music and the audience...when they presented achtung baby, bono said that it was about "4 men chopping down the joshua tree", it was clear that they wanted to do something grandious like zoo tv was. actually i don't think that the music was a secondary thing, they were mixing it all in a very good way, it was their first "crazy event" and moreover they rearranged a lot of songs, (running to stand still for instance, like many others) which really hit

I know the quote and I know what U2 were trying to do with Zoo. If you notice I prefaced everything I said as it was for me personally. I saw 8 Zoo shows indoor and outdoor. To ME the focus was on the production and not the music. Alot of my U2 friends at the time that were going to shows also were feeling the same thing. Look at the ABC special from the Lakeland rehearsals in 92. All they talked about was the screens and the videos and the trabbies. Not what they were playing. To me it showed the focus was on the production. I'am not saying there is anything wrong with it and I did enjoy Zoo. But I like U2 primarily for the music and how they play it live. Some spectacle is cool but not when it overwhelms the music. So for me, I thought Zoo was to focused on the production. I thought Popmart was similiarly to focused on the production. But as I said before the difference was that they had all the production in place from the get go (on Zoo it built as the tour went along) which they may have also learned they needed to do based on the Zoo experience. So they focused more on what they were playing for Popmart on the whole. Also the fact that the music was so screwed up initially for Popmart may have also caused them to work on it more thoroughly as well. That was my impression at the time and the impression I still have. That is why I preferred Popmart to Zoo on the whole.

You may be right about if they had scaled back after Zoo instead of going huge again. The band were talking like that was their plan a year or so after Zoo. Scale it back to basics. But they determined that they would do a stadium only tour next and decided they needed the heavy production again to do that and they also wanted another challenge. Going back to basics would have been the safe route. So they gambled and the critics killed them for it. Alot of fans here have done the same and I just think that is unfair. It really was a great tour. Most fans I know that went thought it was great. Those of you that think Zoo is way better than Popmart. What is your specific reasoning? I would be curious, I have given my specifics on my preference for Popmart. A statement like it was a better mix of production and music is a generalization, what are the reasons you think it was a better mix? I'am not saying you are wrong, just trying to understand where you are coming from. There is no right or wrong answer on this as it all completely subjective obviously.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

ZOO TV TOUR

 

[Queen Bee]

I've never been to any, so I suppose that my opinion doesn't really matter, but I enjoy listening to Zoo TV/Zooropa and Popmart concerts. Overall, Zoo TV would be my favorite.

 

[follower]

I surely can?t help being biased on the subject of U2 tours. Popmart is my fave, in all its grandeur. It was my only experience and it blew me away. The south american concerts were amazing.
So, I concur with Blue Room?s point of view, overall it was a great show. They might have had problems with the first concerts, and all the media bashing but their improvement is clearly visible in the shows that followed, to the point of reaching perfection in the end, during the 4th leg of the tour.


Cheers
MT

 

[babyman]

Those of you that think Zoo is way better than Popmart. What is your specific reasoning? I would be curious, I have given my specifics on my preference for Popmart. A statement like it was a better mix of production and music is a generalization, what are the reasons you think it was a better mix? I'am not saying you are wrong, just trying to understand where you are coming from. There is no right or wrong answer on this as it all completely subjective obviously.

because it was the first time in their career that they really went over the top in a massive and most of all positive way, under all aspects, they did 2 albums, probably their best, masterpieces like one, end of the world, the fly, acrobat, wild horses, so cruel, ultra violet, stay, lemon, numb, first time, connecting all the work to wonderful live shows, i mean, they did a super and superb work in the 2 years..... they really didn't any mistake, they were full of ideas, produced the best songs of all their history and didn't betray the fans aspectatives, in the studio production as much as in the "technological" live shows, and the result was a huge triumph, this is the right mix i'm talking about...then they made the batman theme, the passengers project, which actually wasn't so bad, and then they produced the pop album saying it wasn't finished, saying that if they would have had more time it would have sounded a lot different and much better...so, here's the beginning of the popmart's "failing", in my opinion, i mean, how much U2 can you be if you perform songs that you didn't finish? so all the megascreen grandeur, all the lights, all the effects, sometimes submerged them when they were playing songs that they didn't feel...do you know what i mean? i'm not saying popmart was a flop, i saw one show and during the performance i was feeling as they were blowing me away, but at home i realized i was blown away by the lights, the effects, the megascreen, the lemon...where was the music? in edge's cowboy hat? in bono's bathrobe? i remembered just please and streets, which really brought me in delirium, but almost all the other songs "passed through me like a ghost" (i'm not plagiarizing so cruel) this is just my point of view, but look:1991-1993 achtung baby, zooropa (and what albums!) 2 years on the road without failing a shot....1994-1998 pop, uncomplete record=not perfect tour (o.k, probably they were distracted by other productions, but you're U2, so take all your time to do the right record!) elevation was then the ambulance to popmart, i'm sure that if popmart would have run in a better way, bono would have prefered again a massive tour and now? they're taking their time, that's why the next album and the next tour will be their best!!!

 

[Blue Room]

So basically you are saying you liked Zoo better because they used technology for the first time and the album(s) they were supporting were better. Those are both true, but I dont think that has anything to do with the actual live performance which I was referring to. Its interesting, alot of the songs you refer to as being classics on the tour were either never played live or played seldom (IE Acrobat, So Cruel, Lemon, etc).

I agree that Popmart had a rough start musically (in fact I mentioned this in my posts). But I compare the shows at the ends of both tours. Look at the South American Popmart shows compared to the Australian Zooropa shows. The only cool thing about the Australian Zooropa shows for me was that they added some new songs. Otherwise it really looked like they were going through the motions at that point from the footage I have seen. Popmart on the other hand they looked like they were just on top of everything and kicking ass. Also, I have my own personal experience of 8 Zoo shows and 9 Popmart shows to compare. To me, Popmart was just better overall. I had more fun and the band seemed more accessable and laid back as they went along. Some of you will disagree and thats fine. I dont want it to look like I hate Zoo because thats not the case. I'am curious babyman, which Zoo and Popmart shows did you attend?

Its interesting also that the recent interview with Willie Williams he indicates that his favorite production was Popmart also.

 

[Saracene]

Elevation wins by default simply because it's the only one I've seen. ZooTV is probably the best one that I've missed out.